NYT article on easing academic pressure and a cultural divide

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to school in this district about two decades when it was still majority white. It has always been a very academic and well regarded district but was not crazy competitive as described in the article. My class mates included Ethan Hawke ( who spent his last two years of high school in private school), the director Bryan Singer, the screenwriter Chris McQuarrie, and Jim Murphy of LTD Soundsystem. None needed the after school Kumon to be successful. iMO the superintendent is on the right track in bringing the school system where it use to be. For what it's worth, I went to a top 15 college and an Ivy League law school.

The school district maybe majority Asian at this point so maybe they should serve them instead of trying to *bring the school system where it use to be*

Yes, let's just keep going on this train with kids writing suicidal essays and creating art projects demonstrating unsustainable parental pressure so their parents can have bragging rights. Sometimes the educators are right, this school system has a track record for success for decades. The reason many of these kids can't get into Harvard, Princeton, Yale despite top grades is a lack of passion and creativity in learning because it has been beaten out of them in favor of rote learning.

Back to "rote learning". Again. Keep telling yourself that.

Did you even read the article? Clearly not. My dh is an interviewer for HYP, he sees plenty of kids with great grades and test scores who enirely lack intellectual curiosity (of all ethnicities). They don't get in. And yes, it is my opinion that the Kumon tutoring track stifles intellectual curiosity and promotes rote learning.

We already went through this up thread. Harvard is 18% Asian. Asians are competing against other Asians. Harvard would be majority Asian too if they did not look at race but purely merit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to school in this district about two decades when it was still majority white. It has always been a very academic and well regarded district but was not crazy competitive as described in the article. My class mates included Ethan Hawke ( who spent his last two years of high school in private school), the director Bryan Singer, the screenwriter Chris McQuarrie, and Jim Murphy of LTD Soundsystem. None needed the after school Kumon to be successful. iMO the superintendent is on the right track in bringing the school system where it use to be. For what it's worth, I went to a top 15 college and an Ivy League law school.

The school district maybe majority Asian at this point so maybe they should serve them instead of trying to *bring the school system where it use to be*

Yes, let's just keep going on this train with kids writing suicidal essays and creating art projects demonstrating unsustainable parental pressure so their parents can have bragging rights. Sometimes the educators are right, this school system has a track record for success for decades. The reason many of these kids can't get into Harvard, Princeton, Yale despite top grades is a lack of passion and creativity in learning because it has been beaten out of them in favor of rote learning.

Back to "rote learning". Again. Keep telling yourself that.

Did you even read the article? Clearly not. My dh is an interviewer for HYP, he sees plenty of kids with great grades and test scores who enirely lack intellectual curiosity (of all ethnicities). They don't get in. And yes, it is my opinion that the Kumon tutoring track stifles intellectual curiosity and promotes rote learning.

We already went through this up thread. Harvard is 18% Asian. Asians are competing against other Asians. Harvard would be majority Asian too if they did not look at race but purely merit.

Depends on what you call merit.

[Anonymous]

yes, it is my opinion that the Kumon tutoring track stifles intellectual curiosity and promotes rote learning.

I completely agree with this. Sometimes parents get caught up with wanting their kids to have the highest possible grades and to be "advanced" in the present, but they lose track of the long term goals of education. If a kid always has to have the right answer to the point where he becomes afraid of trying something new because it might be the wrong answer, then something is truly wrong and that kid's education has veered off track.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to school in this district about two decades when it was still majority white. It has always been a very academic and well regarded district but was not crazy competitive as described in the article. My class mates included Ethan Hawke ( who spent his last two years of high school in private school), the director Bryan Singer, the screenwriter Chris McQuarrie, and Jim Murphy of LTD Soundsystem. None needed the after school Kumon to be successful. iMO the superintendent is on the right track in bringing the school system where it use to be. For what it's worth, I went to a top 15 college and an Ivy League law school.

The school district maybe majority Asian at this point so maybe they should serve them instead of trying to *bring the school system where it use to be*

Yes, let's just keep going on this train with kids writing suicidal essays and creating art projects demonstrating unsustainable parental pressure so their parents can have bragging rights. Sometimes the educators are right, this school system has a track record for success for decades. The reason many of these kids can't get into Harvard, Princeton, Yale despite top grades is a lack of passion and creativity in learning because it has been beaten out of them in favor of rote learning.

Back to "rote learning". Again. Keep telling yourself that.

Did you even read the article? Clearly not. My dh is an interviewer for HYP, he sees plenty of kids with great grades and test scores who enirely lack intellectual curiosity (of all ethnicities). They don't get in. And yes, it is my opinion that the Kumon tutoring track stifles intellectual curiosity and promotes rote learning.

We already went through this up thread. Harvard is 18% Asian. Asians are competing against other Asians. Harvard would be majority Asian too if they did not look at race but purely merit.

Depends on what you call merit.

According to my gf who is head of all interviewers for HYP at a very large metropolitan city on the east coast, merit means having excellent grades, test scores, a measurable achievement in an area of interest - think Olympic caliber athlete, winning Intel competition, publishing original scientific research, etc. and/or overcoming great odds to achieve whatever outstanding "something", an interesting background story helps too. Like your father is a cab driver...

HTHs!

[Anonymous]

^. It is also very helpful if you are not applying from a major metropolitan area. Think flyover country middle of nowhere.

[Anonymous]

And Indian and Chinese parents know the meaning of "merit" too. They have taken over spelling bees and scholastic chess for the elementary school aged set. Sports too but they tend to focus more on individual sports like ice skating, tennis, golf, etc.

It's not so much Kuman but a race to get "well-rounded".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to school in this district about two decades when it was still majority white. It has always been a very academic and well regarded district but was not crazy competitive as described in the article. My class mates included Ethan Hawke ( who spent his last two years of high school in private school), the director Bryan Singer, the screenwriter Chris McQuarrie, and Jim Murphy of LTD Soundsystem. None needed the after school Kumon to be successful. iMO the superintendent is on the right track in bringing the school system where it use to be. For what it's worth, I went to a top 15 college and an Ivy League law school.

The school district maybe majority Asian at this point so maybe they should serve them instead of trying to *bring the school system where it use to be*

Yes, let's just keep going on this train with kids writing suicidal essays and creating art projects demonstrating unsustainable parental pressure so their parents can have bragging rights. Sometimes the educators are right, this school system has a track record for success for decades. The reason many of these kids can't get into Harvard, Princeton, Yale despite top grades is a lack of passion and creativity in learning because it has been beaten out of them in favor of rote learning.

Back to "rote learning". Again. Keep telling yourself that.

Did you even read the article? Clearly not. My dh is an interviewer for HYP, he sees plenty of kids with great grades and test scores who enirely lack intellectual curiosity (of all ethnicities). They don't get in. And yes, it is my opinion that the Kumon tutoring track stifles intellectual curiosity and promotes rote learning.

We already went through this up thread. Harvard is 18% Asian. Asians are competing against other Asians. Harvard would be majority Asian too if they did not look at race but purely merit.

So say the disgruntled students who didn't get in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And Indian and Chinese parents know the meaning of "merit" too. They have taken over spelling bees and scholastic chess for the elementary school aged set. Sports too but they tend to focus more on individual sports like ice skating, tennis, golf, etc.

It's not so much Kuman but a race to get "well-rounded".

This is just more of the same thing. Spelling bees are another form of rote memorization.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to school in this district about two decades when it was still majority white. It has always been a very academic and well regarded district but was not crazy competitive as described in the article. My class mates included Ethan Hawke ( who spent his last two years of high school in private school), the director Bryan Singer, the screenwriter Chris McQuarrie, and Jim Murphy of LTD Soundsystem. None needed the after school Kumon to be successful. iMO the superintendent is on the right track in bringing the school system where it use to be. For what it's worth, I went to a top 15 college and an Ivy League law school.

The school district maybe majority Asian at this point so maybe they should serve them instead of trying to *bring the school system where it use to be*

Yes, let's just keep going on this train with kids writing suicidal essays and creating art projects demonstrating unsustainable parental pressure so their parents can have bragging rights. Sometimes the educators are right, this school system has a track record for success for decades. The reason many of these kids can't get into Harvard, Princeton, Yale despite top grades is a lack of passion and creativity in learning because it has been beaten out of them in favor of rote learning.

Back to "rote learning". Again. Keep telling yourself that.

Did you even read the article? Clearly not. My dh is an interviewer for HYP, he sees plenty of kids with great grades and test scores who enirely lack intellectual curiosity (of all ethnicities). They don't get in. And yes, it is my opinion that the Kumon tutoring track stifles intellectual curiosity and promotes rote learning.

We already went through this up thread. Harvard is 18% Asian. Asians are competing against other Asians. Harvard would be majority Asian too if they did not look at race but purely merit.

So say the disgruntled students who didn't get in.

The Asian population in the US is around 5% so 18% at Harvard means they are very over represente.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And Indian and Chinese parents know the meaning of "merit" too. They have taken over spelling bees and scholastic chess for the elementary school aged set. Sports too but they tend to focus more on individual sports like ice skating, tennis, golf, etc.

It's not so much Kuman but a race to get "well-rounded".

This is just more of the same thing. Spelling bees are another form of rote memorization.

So what. What is your 6th grader national champion at?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is just more of the same thing. Spelling bees are another form of rote memorization.

Spelling bees do not involve a lot of critical, analytical, or creative thinking. Yes, you can analyze the roots of words and group them together in various ways, but the main skill used is memorization.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to school in this district about two decades when it was still majority white. It has always been a very academic and well regarded district but was not crazy competitive as described in the article. My class mates included Ethan Hawke ( who spent his last two years of high school in private school), the director Bryan Singer, the screenwriter Chris McQuarrie, and Jim Murphy of LTD Soundsystem. None needed the after school Kumon to be successful. iMO the superintendent is on the right track in bringing the school system where it use to be. For what it's worth, I went to a top 15 college and an Ivy League law school.

The school district maybe majority Asian at this point so maybe they should serve them instead of trying to *bring the school system where it use to be*

Yes, let's just keep going on this train with kids writing suicidal essays and creating art projects demonstrating unsustainable parental pressure so their parents can have bragging rights. Sometimes the educators are right, this school system has a track record for success for decades. The reason many of these kids can't get into Harvard, Princeton, Yale despite top grades is a lack of passion and creativity in learning because it has been beaten out of them in favor of rote learning.

Back to "rote learning". Again. Keep telling yourself that.

Did you even read the article? Clearly not. My dh is an interviewer for HYP, he sees plenty of kids with great grades and test scores who enirely lack intellectual curiosity (of all ethnicities). They don't get in. And yes, it is my opinion that the Kumon tutoring track stifles intellectual curiosity and promotes rote learning.

We already went through this up thread. Harvard is 18% Asian. Asians are competing against other Asians. Harvard would be majority Asian too if they did not look at race but purely merit.

Depends on what you call merit.

According to my gf who is head of all interviewers for HYP at a very large metropolitan city on the east coast, merit means having excellent grades, test scores, a measurable achievement in an area of interest - think Olympic caliber athlete, winning Intel competition, publishing original scientific research, etc. and/or overcoming great odds to achieve whatever outstanding "something", an interesting background story helps too. Like your father is a cab driver...

HTHs!

THis is a fair point - asian parents need to look at what Jeremy Lin did. He got into harvard because he could dunk and play ball.

That said, it is disingenuous not to admit there isn't a soft quota at HYPSM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to school in this district about two decades when it was still majority white. It has always been a very academic and well regarded district but was not crazy competitive as described in the article. My class mates included Ethan Hawke ( who spent his last two years of high school in private school), the director Bryan Singer, the screenwriter Chris McQuarrie, and Jim Murphy of LTD Soundsystem. None needed the after school Kumon to be successful. iMO the superintendent is on the right track in bringing the school system where it use to be. For what it's worth, I went to a top 15 college and an Ivy League law school.

The school district maybe majority Asian at this point so maybe they should serve them instead of trying to *bring the school system where it use to be*

Yes, let's just keep going on this train with kids writing suicidal essays and creating art projects demonstrating unsustainable parental pressure so their parents can have bragging rights. Sometimes the educators are right, this school system has a track record for success for decades. The reason many of these kids can't get into Harvard, Princeton, Yale despite top grades is a lack of passion and creativity in learning because it has been beaten out of them in favor of rote learning.

Back to "rote learning". Again. Keep telling yourself that.

Did you even read the article? Clearly not. My dh is an interviewer for HYP, he sees plenty of kids with great grades and test scores who enirely lack intellectual curiosity (of all ethnicities). They don't get in. And yes, it is my opinion that the Kumon tutoring track stifles intellectual curiosity and promotes rote learning.

We already went through this up thread. Harvard is 18% Asian. Asians are competing against other Asians. Harvard would be majority Asian too if they did not look at race but purely merit.

So say the disgruntled students who didn't get in.

The Asian population in the US is around 5% so 18% at Harvard means they are very over represente.

You do realize that jews at 2% of the population and are 20-25% of Harvard population - ie double/triple the 'over-representation'. no one ever points that out. The whole 'over-representation' thing is such a ridiculous argument.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to school in this district about two decades when it was still majority white. It has always been a very academic and well regarded district but was not crazy competitive as described in the article. My class mates included Ethan Hawke ( who spent his last two years of high school in private school), the director Bryan Singer, the screenwriter Chris McQuarrie, and Jim Murphy of LTD Soundsystem. None needed the after school Kumon to be successful. iMO the superintendent is on the right track in bringing the school system where it use to be. For what it's worth, I went to a top 15 college and an Ivy League law school.

The school district maybe majority Asian at this point so maybe they should serve them instead of trying to *bring the school system where it use to be*

Yes, let's just keep going on this train with kids writing suicidal essays and creating art projects demonstrating unsustainable parental pressure so their parents can have bragging rights. Sometimes the educators are right, this school system has a track record for success for decades. The reason many of these kids can't get into Harvard, Princeton, Yale despite top grades is a lack of passion and creativity in learning because it has been beaten out of them in favor of rote learning.

Back to "rote learning". Again. Keep telling yourself that.

Did you even read the article? Clearly not. My dh is an interviewer for HYP, he sees plenty of kids with great grades and test scores who enirely lack intellectual curiosity (of all ethnicities). They don't get in. And yes, it is my opinion that the Kumon tutoring track stifles intellectual curiosity and promotes rote learning.

We already went through this up thread. Harvard is 18% Asian. Asians are competing against other Asians. Harvard would be majority Asian too if they did not look at race but purely merit.

Depends on what you call merit.

According to my gf who is head of all interviewers for HYP at a very large metropolitan city on the east coast, merit means having excellent grades, test scores, a measurable achievement in an area of interest - think Olympic caliber athlete, winning Intel competition, publishing original scientific research, etc. and/or overcoming great odds to achieve whatever outstanding "something", an interesting background story helps too. Like your father is a cab driver...

HTHs!

THis is a fair point - asian parents need to look at what Jeremy Lin did. He got into harvard because he could dunk and play ball.

That said, it is disingenuous not to admit there isn't a soft quota at HYPSM.

In the same way there is a soft quota for upper class white kids these days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm Asian, and I don't like the uber competitiveness and stress that some of these kids are going through. Having stated that, I do find it curious that many white parents are now complaining about this type of competitive culture that Asian American kids bring to the table, but all was ok when the wealthier white kids were able to succeed, but the poorer kids (mostly minorities) couldn't keep up. This reminds me a bit of the recent article about how the public wants to treat drug addicts differently now that it's affecting more affluent white kids.

Ding Ding Ding.