Quote:
Originally Posted by gacook
I'd beg to differ about the quality of today's education (public). When I was in school, tests were not open book, and they were not multiple choice. It was a mixture of fill in the blank and essay questions. We were NOT allowed to use calculators. Fast forward to today. My step-son is a Freshman in high school. His finals are this week. Every test he's had is multiple choice, and only multiple choice (even English). Calculators were a REQUIREMENT that he had to bring to school from day one. I will say they've had him read some pretty decent books, though. Furthermore, he's had actual homework maybe twice all year. Most classes, he doesn't even have an assigned book that he can bring home to study from; they share books among the classes. So...I'd say education has gotten pretty damn crappy.
|
Schools are treated as if they were sausage factories: just keep the targeted graduation percentage and get funded. Schoolbooks are political footballs, with zealots advocating for what they feel should be included or excluded. Somehow, many school systems consist of more administrators than teachers. And to top it off, most parents have no involvement until their child fails a test or a grade, and then (in instances I've heard of) they demand a correction -- often accompanied by an attorney.
The result can be seen (I hate to say it) here on this forum every day in the quality of grammar and spelling, which can be abysmal. So the problem is not new.