Reply to 30yrs ago, children could read better

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]One can thank Lucy Calkins and Fountas & Pinnell for much of that decline. [/quote]
Other disasters: 
1. print first then cursive, followed by replacement of cursive with typing 
2. de-emphasizing wrote memorization particularly multiplication table/math facts 
3. technology in the classroom 
5. mainstreaming special needs kids in the classroom 
6. not expelling for academic underperformance and repeat behavior problems 
7. not requiring chapter books to be read from cover-to-cover 
8. finally and most controversially: whining about test prep. Some would call preparing for an exam studying (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!). If it is a well-written exam there is nothing wrong with teaching to it!

[/quote]

I agree with some of your points -- mostly the lack of memorization, technology, and chapter books.

Test prep, I agree -- if a teacher writes a test, it's fine to drill and prepare the kids to pass it. It's the relentless of standardized testing, and the pressure on teachers to make every kid pass, that made this go too far.
[/quote]
The exams should not be standardized, they should be pass/fail based on a certain percent of correct questions. If a student cannot get 95% on a multiplication fact test they should not be allowed to advance to 4th grade. A student who cannot read 3rd grade level chapter books should not be allowed to pass to 4th grade. Around the transition between 3rd and 4th students go from learning to read to reading to learn. Kids who cannot read properly must not be advanced.

The tests should be given twice, in the middle of the year and again at the end of the year so everybody knows who needs extra help before they are at risk of failing a grade. [b]The parents of struggling children need to be told their kids are struggling so both the parents and the school can pull together and remediate the child. [/b]Passing children to subsequent grades who are simply not at level is an unmitigated educational disaster. There is absolutely nothing wrong with testing. Evading testing is evading accountability, both from teachers to teach and parents to assist at home. There is absolutely no way to know where each of 30 kids in a classroom is academically without testing.

[b]A kid who got 5 minutes of flashcard drills daily at home starting the beginning of third grade absolutely will pass the multiplication fact test. [/b]Apparently we are learning the hard way such drilling is required. There's nothing wrong with common core drawing out the dots so the student understands what multiplication is doing, but at the end of the day they have to have the facts down cold to be able to comfortably move on to higher level math. The congestive load of doing algebra when multiplication facts are shaky is too heavy and it is unfair to the student. It causes the student to think they are stupid and bad at math.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with teaching to a third grade phonics or multiplication fact test. When teachers whine about this I really have to wonder what they would prefer to teach third graders over multiplication facts and [b]why they feel entitled to screw over a kids education in their apparent aim of prioritizing gluing cotton balls to paper plates (or worse).[/b] [/quote]

The first two bolded statements tell me that you are not a teacher. Not all children learn as readily as yours apparently do. Congratulations.

The third bolded statement is so inflammatory and offensive that I don’t even know how to address, but do I feel the need to, beyond cashing it out as bad behavior. If you can’t be bothered to go figure out what teachers are facing, I’m not going to type it out here. Just know that that entire post came off as ignorant. [/quote]

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