General Frustration and Disappointment

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My students who come back to visit me their freshman year of college largely report that college is much easier than their high school experience, so I think they're well prepared.

I also think the experience (especially in elementary) is very non-standardized. My own child has been writing 5 paragraph essays since 3rd grade, so the anecdote about being overwhelmed by an essay is odd to me.

Writing a 5 paragraph essay in 3rd grade is not developmentally appropriate.

Aren’t they pretty much doing that now with Benchmark?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was just reading Freddie DeBoer on test scores and it turns out (I had no idea until I read this) that around 2008-2012 was the peak of test scores for developed nations globally (in general, obviously there are specific outliers/trend-buckers) and developed countries have been going down since then.

So whatever's happening can't be all that political or even Covid, because it predates Covid and it crosses national borders.

But it could still be tech .

Scores started declining around 2015, which is right around when tech was widely rolled out. It's tech.[u]

+1 million

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was just reading Freddie DeBoer on test scores and it turns out (I had no idea until I read this) that around 2008-2012 was the peak of test scores for developed nations globally (in general, obviously there are specific outliers/trend-buckers) and developed countries have been going down since then.

So whatever's happening can't be all that political or even Covid, because it predates Covid and it crosses national borders.

But it could still be tech .

Scores started declining around 2015, which is right around when tech was widely rolled out. It's tech.

It is tech, but not school tech. It is social media and attention spans. It is parents that have given up fighting their kids about devices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was just reading Freddie DeBoer on test scores and it turns out (I had no idea until I read this) that around 2008-2012 was the peak of test scores for developed nations globally (in general, obviously there are specific outliers/trend-buckers) and developed countries have been going down since then.

So whatever's happening can't be all that political or even Covid, because it predates Covid and it crosses national borders.

But it could still be tech .

Scores started declining around 2015, which is right around when tech was widely rolled out. It's tech.

It is tech, but not school tech. It is social media and attention spans. It is parents that have given up fighting their kids about devices.

+1

Parents are at least 75% to blame. They start putting devices into their kids' hands even as toddlers, and they set no limits on tech as their kids grow because they have become hands-off about all parenting. They don't want to take any responsibility for their children's learning or success, and they teach their kids zero manners.

I have been disgusted by the lack of social skills I see in kids when I volunteer at my kids' schools or attend their concerts. Kids don't hold doors for people behind them, show zero awareness of the needs of those with disabilities, never cover their mouths when they sneeze or cough, throw trash all over the floors of classrooms and gymnasiums, talk back to adults, have little to no empathy for others, and are outright rude to custodial staff at the school. It is appalling.

Our society is in trouble. People walk around like zombies looking at their phones, conduct FaceTime or speaker phone conversations in very inappropriate places, are on phones even when at dinner with others, and seem to be unable to function without constant access to their phones. They are passing that dependency onto their kids, which means we are in a death spiral with regard to devices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was just reading Freddie DeBoer on test scores and it turns out (I had no idea until I read this) that around 2008-2012 was the peak of test scores for developed nations globally (in general, obviously there are specific outliers/trend-buckers) and developed countries have been going down since then.

So whatever's happening can't be all that political or even Covid, because it predates Covid and it crosses national borders.

But it could still be tech .

Scores started declining around 2015, which is right around when tech was widely rolled out. It's tech.

It is tech, but not school tech. It is social media and attention spans. It is parents that have given up fighting their kids about devices.

No. Many of us here restrict screens, and are still underwhelmed like OP. Even in the AAP classrooms, standards feel lower.

You raise a good point, that social media and home use is a factor, but it's not the whole or even most of the story.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was just reading Freddie DeBoer on test scores and it turns out (I had no idea until I read this) that around 2008-2012 was the peak of test scores for developed nations globally (in general, obviously there are specific outliers/trend-buckers) and developed countries have been going down since then.

So whatever's happening can't be all that political or even Covid, because it predates Covid and it crosses national borders.

But it could still be tech .

Scores started declining around 2015, which is right around when tech was widely rolled out. It's tech.

It is tech, but not school tech. It is social media and attention spans. It is parents that have given up fighting their kids about devices.

It is partly both - but FCPS in-school tech use is excessive, particularly in ES, and parents who minimize / eliminate tech at home have NO way to opt-out their kids from the mandatory in-school tech.

We know an FCPS middle elementary math teacher from church. She complains that the cliff for math scores dropping precipitously was when FCPS eliminated her printed math textbooks and went electronic.

With printed math textbooks, nearly all kids would follow along as she taught (no electronic distractions in those days). With electronic textbooks, there are so many tech distractions that very few pay attention when she teaches. Not using the electronic texts is not an option for her. Some edict from Gatehouse staffers requires use of electronic crap in class -- and this is enforced by many FCPS ES principals.

FCPS needs to cut the electronic crap out and go back to using printed textbooks, at least for the elementary schools. Argh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was just reading Freddie DeBoer on test scores and it turns out (I had no idea until I read this) that around 2008-2012 was the peak of test scores for developed nations globally (in general, obviously there are specific outliers/trend-buckers) and developed countries have been going down since then.

So whatever's happening can't be all that political or even Covid, because it predates Covid and it crosses national borders.

But it could still be tech .

Scores started declining around 2015, which is right around when tech was widely rolled out. It's tech.

It is tech, but not school tech. It is social media and attention spans. It is parents that have given up fighting their kids about devices.

+1

Parents are at least 75% to blame. They start putting devices into their kids' hands even as toddlers, and they set no limits on tech as their kids grow because they have become hands-off about all parenting. They don't want to take any responsibility for their children's learning or success, and they teach their kids zero manners.

I have been disgusted by the lack of social skills I see in kids when I volunteer at my kids' schools or attend their concerts. Kids don't hold doors for people behind them, show zero awareness of the needs of those with disabilities, never cover their mouths when they sneeze or cough, throw trash all over the floors of classrooms and gymnasiums, talk back to adults, have little to no empathy for others, and are outright rude to custodial staff at the school. It is appalling.

Our society is in trouble. People walk around like zombies looking at their phones, conduct FaceTime or speaker phone conversations in very inappropriate places, are on phones even when at dinner with others, and seem to be unable to function without constant access to their phones. They are passing that dependency onto their kids, which means we are in a death spiral with regard to devices.

Yes they said that about electricity no one lights a fire or candle anymore

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was just reading Freddie DeBoer on test scores and it turns out (I had no idea until I read this) that around 2008-2012 was the peak of test scores for developed nations globally (in general, obviously there are specific outliers/trend-buckers) and developed countries have been going down since then.

So whatever's happening can't be all that political or even Covid, because it predates Covid and it crosses national borders.

But it could still be tech .

Scores started declining around 2015, which is right around when tech was widely rolled out. It's tech.

It is tech, but not school tech. It is social media and attention spans. It is parents that have given up fighting their kids about devices.

+1

Parents are at least 75% to blame. They start putting devices into their kids' hands even as toddlers, and they set no limits on tech as their kids grow because they have become hands-off about all parenting. They don't want to take any responsibility for their children's learning or success, and they teach their kids zero manners.

I have been disgusted by the lack of social skills I see in kids when I volunteer at my kids' schools or attend their concerts. Kids don't hold doors for people behind them, show zero awareness of the needs of those with disabilities, never cover their mouths when they sneeze or cough, throw trash all over the floors of classrooms and gymnasiums, talk back to adults, have little to no empathy for others, and are outright rude to custodial staff at the school. It is appalling.

Our society is in trouble. People walk around like zombies looking at their phones, conduct FaceTime or speaker phone conversations in very inappropriate places, are on phones even when at dinner with others, and seem to be unable to function without constant access to their phones. They are passing that dependency onto their kids, which means we are in a death spiral with regard to devices.

Yes they said that about electricity no one lights a fire or candle anymore

You're ridiculous comparing electricity to screens and social media.

Next, please compare filtered water to heroin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My students who come back to visit me their freshman year of college largely report that college is much easier than their high school experience, so I think they're well prepared.

I also think the experience (especially in elementary) is very non-standardized. My own child has been writing 5 paragraph essays since 3rd grade, so the anecdote about being overwhelmed by an essay is odd to me.

Writing a 5 paragraph essay in 3rd grade is not developmentally appropriate.

Aren’t they pretty much doing that now with Benchmark?

+1