Reply to Why are Maryland schools so anti-achievement?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Of course in my MCPS school district about half of the school is on the honor rolls and 20 to 25% of the school carries straight As.

But with all this abounding brilliance the dumb principals don't feel any of these kids merit advancement even when they present these sterling grades and outside grades/accomplishments and standards.  It seems all these fools do not believe in the grades they award.   Are these grades unreliable and invalid then?

The same kids go on to flunk external assessment exams in math and the dumb Superintendent says it's because this evaluation doesn't count and the kids did not study.
[b]
But, many of these so-called educational experts have their own kids they are pushing in the athletic clubs (soccer, lacrosse, swimming, gymnastics, tennis etc) and I watch them beat their puny, hairy pigeon breasts when coaches accelerate their kids for their achievements and performance.  They do not object when "Joe Montana" son is playing with the big boys or "Missy Franklin" daughter was just advanced to the higher training swim group because of her fast times.  They seem proudly blind to all the hypocrisy.[/b]

I have schooled and taught all over this globe and the educational leadership here is so anti-achievement and anti-academic and anti-intellectual.  They do not know what they want to do with education careening from one position to the next etch-a-sketch style like a yo yo.  They are definetely pro-sports and pro-athletics as a drive by the various high schools in our district.

What message do the schools send the students, the families, their constituencies when half the student body is on the honor roll, a quarter have straight As, but some how very few (to none) of these students are deserving or capable of doing more at a more advanced or accelerated level in their system.  The teachers, the Principal, the downtown offices put up time consuming road blocks (steeple chase fashion) to capable students only seeking opportunities for academic stimulation and challenge.

It is a damn shame that in Montgomery County it is so far easier for talented students in music and sports to get appropriate challenge and stimulation to match their achievements, accomplishments, performance, and ability than in reading, writing, mathematics, computer science and science.

Something does not compute.  But, one can't expect these characters to understand for absence of critical thinking ability.[/quote]

I agree with most of what you said.  The bolded part particularly bothers me.

My kids took swimming lessons for years at Kids First.  Once they mastered a level, they were moved up to the next level.  Regardless of age/size/skin color/weight/whatever other random characteristics MCPS bases it's stats on.  Why can't we do this in education?

Kids learn at different rates.  There is nothing wrong with that.  It took my DD several tries to move past Level 2 for some reason.  So, she stayed in that same level until she got it.  And then, something clicked and she moved along pretty quickly.

Works the same way for reading, IME.

Why do we let kids move up levels in swimming, but not in school?  It's crazy.[/quote]

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