That's what my school is like. We do CATS testing.
Also, the special ed students' scores on the test are mixed in with everyone else's, while most schools in our area don't do that, so our schools' scores are some of the lowest in the area.
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Education in US
- Thread starter Jack_the_White
- Start date
That's what my school is like. We do CATS testing.
Also, the special ed students' scores on the test are mixed in with everyone else's, while most schools in our area don't do that, so our schools' scores are some of the lowest in the area.
Crazy Linoone
broke ASB
Hm, I think Massachusetts can be forgiven, too. I am a horrible speller, and if not for the red squiggly lines that appear whenever I type something wrong, my post will probably be unreadable. I guess it might just be a few careless mistakes (or that she's too lazy to spellcheck/proof read her work).
Because it's America. I think every state or something has their own standardized test because they have different criteria or something. And then there's the people who make up random tests and force people to take them so colleges will admit the people (coughSATcough).
And now there's this STAR (still have no idea what that stand for) test coming on, and we're pretty much cramming for this right now. In Biology, we're taking loads of practice tests so we can figure out what we don't know, and we just skipped quite a few chapters of Math so we can learn everything we need for the test. :/
I personally think that standardized testing does nothing more than teach the kids to just mass memorize stuff instead of thinking freely for themselves and learning teamwork. Even though USian schools are all shouting "teamwork!" and whatnot, the tests are pretty much the opposite of teamwork. After all, you can't share your answers with people, you can't ask others for help, nor can you cooperate with others and brainstorm up the answer. It's sorta stupid, really.
Alexi
The Religion section is now a joke
I'm a senior, so I don't have to take the STAR tests anymore, thank goodness, but that doesn't stop my mix-grade classes from cramming as well. Last year, my chem teacher just said "fuck it" and taught what she wanted, and even though I didn't know 45% of the chem STAR test, I still got a proficient on it, since the tests are more about test-taking skills than knowledge.
This reminds me of a book I read once called Story Time, about a school that only taught children to take tests and never let them learn anything at all. There was also some cool supernatural stuff. I don't remember the author though.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, the ROP school I go to is all about team work and learning, rather than taking tests. I love it. I've actually learned things there, and learned to be comfortable speaking in front of an audience. It's lovely.
This reminds me of a book I read once called Story Time, about a school that only taught children to take tests and never let them learn anything at all. There was also some cool supernatural stuff. I don't remember the author though.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, the ROP school I go to is all about team work and learning, rather than taking tests. I love it. I've actually learned things there, and learned to be comfortable speaking in front of an audience. It's lovely.
All right... I guess it was maybe because we were studying the US in World History that made me think it was a stupid typo. Eh. She spelled it as "Massechusetts".
StyliBoy
Help me build my weather machine my evil minions!
I hate the education in the U.S. It's like we're supposed to be a world superpower and probably half of our population works at freaking McDonald's because they don't know shit. I actually go to a pretty good school, but the city where I live has a school district, and guess it's graduation rate. 50%? No... 30%? No. 16% PERCENT GRADUATION RATE. I think that's just sad
Okay, I'm not sure if I'm supposed to forgive this person for this, but we were in science learning about gel electrophoresis and we worked on it for 5 classes, and once we have a quiz on it, someone asks, in these words:
...That is more about not listening and stuff, but I thought it was a good example of the stupidity of the U.S.
Okay, I'm not sure if I'm supposed to forgive this person for this, but we were in science learning about gel electrophoresis and we worked on it for 5 classes, and once we have a quiz on it, someone asks, in these words:
Girl in Science said:
...That is more about not listening and stuff, but I thought it was a good example of the stupidity of the U.S.
Ryan the Terrible
New member
I had to do a persuasive essay about this particular topic just a couple of months ago, and I have to say that I learned a lot about the system that makes me just plain hate it. Before, I was just one of the millions of naive students who think their schooling is normal and non-suckish. But do the teachers tell you about No Child Left Behind and what it's doing to destroy America's education? NO! Being in seventh grade, most people I know don't even know such a thing exists.
Yes, this means that most of my classmates aren't aware that there was actually a time when the whole school year wasn't just prep for standardized tests. Really, it's not that big of a deal, but it sure sounds like it is from a student's perspective. And then, when it finally comes down to the two weeks the year has boiled down to, people still slack off, guess, and even purposefully get all the answers wrong. And the school gets blamed for it!
Now, because of a few students who think they're funny, the schools get lower budgets. And with lower budgets, the district can't pay for more exciting ways to learn. And without exciting ways to learn, the teachers just lose more and more students' attention, which just result in lower grades and worse scores on, yes, standardized tests.
And the cycle starts all over again.
Yes, this means that most of my classmates aren't aware that there was actually a time when the whole school year wasn't just prep for standardized tests. Really, it's not that big of a deal, but it sure sounds like it is from a student's perspective. And then, when it finally comes down to the two weeks the year has boiled down to, people still slack off, guess, and even purposefully get all the answers wrong. And the school gets blamed for it!
Now, because of a few students who think they're funny, the schools get lower budgets. And with lower budgets, the district can't pay for more exciting ways to learn. And without exciting ways to learn, the teachers just lose more and more students' attention, which just result in lower grades and worse scores on, yes, standardized tests.
And the cycle starts all over again.
Crazy Linoone
broke ASB
We're a world superpower because we have NUCLEAR BOMBS that can destroy the whole Earth a few times over. And we threaten other countries with MACHINE GUNS and TANKS so they don't make their own nukes. Not like it's working, but still.
And half of our population lives off money given to them by the government, payed by the other 49% who works at McDonald's.
.... 16% GRADUATION RATE??!! I think I will go in a corner and cry now... How can you fail the graduation test? Isn't it multiple choice? Unless, of course, it is not, which then I can sort of understand the low graduation rate. Not. The graduation test is made so that students can pass it.
I heard that, in my school, it is harder to fail the graduation test than pass it. Could be just my school though....
My school requires a "senior exit project" (now called "graduation project") that I don't know much about because this is my first year in high school, but the little information I do know about it is that it requires extensive research and data compiling in the form of a public speech. It's a requirement for graduation, and I can see why people who hate research or are scared of public speaking would have problems completing it. A guy I talk to regularly at lunch told me last week that he pulled all-nighters working on the project and he's a junior. He still has more than a year to go and he's working on it already. Yeah.
Ryan the Terrible
New member
'Ridiculous' is the only word that comes to mind.
Wall of Text!
In the end, all schools in the US really do prepare us for is standardized testing; probably because all the school itself cares about is getting good ratings. My school is an "AP Magnet", and it tries to force AP classes on people, because the only thing they're measured by is how many of their students are taking those classes. My friend had scheduled for a regular science class that had been dropped due to lack of students, so what do they put her in? AP Biology, which she promptly changes before the school year begins. Another friend was pushed into taking AP Bio and thought she could handle it, but it turned out it was too much for her, so she decided to drop it after the first semester. Dropping out of that class turned out to be a several week-long ordeal that involved getting permission from the principal, bringing her parents in to talk to the teacher, and so on. Fairly ridiculous. People drop ordinary classes at the semester all the time.
In addition to our pointless state-level standardized test that no college looks at, we have to take a writing assessment that's graded by a fucking computer. When I took it a week or two ago, my prompt was on why texting while driving is bad or something; I sat there and typed about how it was invented by the communists, and how it inhibits your ability to evade the police during a high-speed chase, and how my grandma has cancer because of texting while driving. Because I threw in key phrases related to "texting while driving" and used big words, I got a pretty decent score. :\
In my area, the shorthandedness of teachers is ridiculous, and in the end it's the students who suffer the most from it. Last year my real Algebra teacher was on maternity leave for an entire semester, and the only long-term substitute they could get was this old man who assigned us things only to forget about them a day later and made us color pictures of teddy bears. He couldn't teach or handle the students at all, and eventually the counselors more or less took over the class for him - which only made things even worse. The counselors went into his grade records and failed everyone for not doing assignments where he'd never even made the due date clear, and then gave us assignments of around 30-40 math problems and made them due at the end of the 45-minute period. Not only is that too many problems for such a short amount of time, but they were things that we haven't even been taught how to do. Basically everyone was failing the class by this point. Parents were complaining like holy shit.
Eventually, presumably without consulting the counselors first, the old substitute tried to make it up to us by allowing us to make up for our missing grades by doing 5 problems out of the book for every assignment we had out. I went through the first chapters and did simple inequalities (8 > 4) and other bullshit and ended up with an A for the semester. Yes, that looks good for college, but I still didn't learn a damn thing and am more or less fucked for the SAT.
Now, there are some very good teachers at my school, and I do have a lot of respect for the AP Classes - I am learning so much in AP US History this year, and for the first time in my life I'm actually finding my country's history interesting. You can get a good education at my school, I think, if you put effort into finding the right classes, but things like what happened in my Algebra class are still inexcusable. There need to be higher standards. :\
In the end, all schools in the US really do prepare us for is standardized testing; probably because all the school itself cares about is getting good ratings. My school is an "AP Magnet", and it tries to force AP classes on people, because the only thing they're measured by is how many of their students are taking those classes. My friend had scheduled for a regular science class that had been dropped due to lack of students, so what do they put her in? AP Biology, which she promptly changes before the school year begins. Another friend was pushed into taking AP Bio and thought she could handle it, but it turned out it was too much for her, so she decided to drop it after the first semester. Dropping out of that class turned out to be a several week-long ordeal that involved getting permission from the principal, bringing her parents in to talk to the teacher, and so on. Fairly ridiculous. People drop ordinary classes at the semester all the time.
In addition to our pointless state-level standardized test that no college looks at, we have to take a writing assessment that's graded by a fucking computer. When I took it a week or two ago, my prompt was on why texting while driving is bad or something; I sat there and typed about how it was invented by the communists, and how it inhibits your ability to evade the police during a high-speed chase, and how my grandma has cancer because of texting while driving. Because I threw in key phrases related to "texting while driving" and used big words, I got a pretty decent score. :\
In my area, the shorthandedness of teachers is ridiculous, and in the end it's the students who suffer the most from it. Last year my real Algebra teacher was on maternity leave for an entire semester, and the only long-term substitute they could get was this old man who assigned us things only to forget about them a day later and made us color pictures of teddy bears. He couldn't teach or handle the students at all, and eventually the counselors more or less took over the class for him - which only made things even worse. The counselors went into his grade records and failed everyone for not doing assignments where he'd never even made the due date clear, and then gave us assignments of around 30-40 math problems and made them due at the end of the 45-minute period. Not only is that too many problems for such a short amount of time, but they were things that we haven't even been taught how to do. Basically everyone was failing the class by this point. Parents were complaining like holy shit.
Eventually, presumably without consulting the counselors first, the old substitute tried to make it up to us by allowing us to make up for our missing grades by doing 5 problems out of the book for every assignment we had out. I went through the first chapters and did simple inequalities (8 > 4) and other bullshit and ended up with an A for the semester. Yes, that looks good for college, but I still didn't learn a damn thing and am more or less fucked for the SAT.
Now, there are some very good teachers at my school, and I do have a lot of respect for the AP Classes - I am learning so much in AP US History this year, and for the first time in my life I'm actually finding my country's history interesting. You can get a good education at my school, I think, if you put effort into finding the right classes, but things like what happened in my Algebra class are still inexcusable. There need to be higher standards. :\
... yowch. I guess I'm lucky enough to have been landed in a high school that's rated somewhere in the top hundred in the country with a World History teacher that actually tries to make learning history fun (with a teacher whose baby is due around the end of the year, too) and an Earth/Environmental Science class that I absolutely adore, because seriously, that can't be very good.
... to be honest I haven't yet noticed a lot of what my teachers call "teaching to the test" (aka teaching everything for the sake of the standardized tests), although I have heard teachers say "we have to cover this because it'll be on the midterm" or "the end-of-year test doesn't cover this, so we're going to skip it" and such, so I suppose it's based around standardized testing like any other school.
... man, I want to get an education somewhere else. ;~;
- Pronoun
- he/him
Why is it ridiculous? IB requires a 4000 word, extensively researched and sourced essay. I think it's a good idea, because anyone intending to go to university had better get used to writing them. And this is in addition to the subject requirements, most of which have something similar on a slightly smaller scale.
Harlequin
Active member
To be fair, opal, the IB is a lot harder than the courses the majority of students in the United States do. The closest thing they have to the IB is the AP class, and that's only roughly equivalent to an A-level - which is easier than the IB.
StyliBoy
Help me build my weather machine my evil minions!
The only good part about my school is it has IB, but apparently there were two kids that are at Cornell and had 6 IB credits. Cornell only accepted 2, which is really stupid because if those kids went the extra mile for IB courses, they should accept all their credits.
I also have another sad story. Today at school, there was this kid that was researching the Capitol Building for our trip to D.C. He found a website, and printed it out and everything, and I take a look because I'm helping him out. It's a site for the White House. I ask him why he printed it out, and he says it's because the White House and the Capitol are the same.
................... (That's what I said to that remark)
I also have another sad story. Today at school, there was this kid that was researching the Capitol Building for our trip to D.C. He found a website, and printed it out and everything, and I take a look because I'm helping him out. It's a site for the White House. I ask him why he printed it out, and he says it's because the White House and the Capitol are the same.
................... (That's what I said to that remark)
Mirry
New member
Oh god, I also think the PSSAs are the lamest standardized tests ever (hello to my fellow Pennsylvanian -- I live two hours north of Pittsburgh :P).
And my school has a graduation project requirement, too, which I just gave a presentation on and passed last week. I think it's pretty dumb myself, though -- you can do literally ANYTHING you want and you're pretty much guaranteed to pass. It's not necessarily productive, and it doesn't necessarily teach you anything. One of my classmates "hunted for Bigfoot" for his project -- his advisor approved this, mind. If you're going to make students do a graduation project, it might as well be something /intellectual/... otherwise, I think that passing all your classes should suffice.
In conclusion, I am going to be so glad when I get to escape the crappy US public high school system and to attend a private university.
And my school has a graduation project requirement, too, which I just gave a presentation on and passed last week. I think it's pretty dumb myself, though -- you can do literally ANYTHING you want and you're pretty much guaranteed to pass. It's not necessarily productive, and it doesn't necessarily teach you anything. One of my classmates "hunted for Bigfoot" for his project -- his advisor approved this, mind. If you're going to make students do a graduation project, it might as well be something /intellectual/... otherwise, I think that passing all your classes should suffice.
In conclusion, I am going to be so glad when I get to escape the crappy US public high school system and to attend a private university.
Ryan the Terrible
New member
I just don't think educators should assign a project so huge it pressures students to pull all-nighters a full year before it's assigned.
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Dannichu
Tragically unbeyachted.
Hehe. Everyone I know at uni (especially myself) is well and truly DOING IT WRONG X3
But I think essays and coursework are a fairer way of judging someone's ability than a single two-hour exam at the end... the way some exams are set out (like the god-awful teiring system in UK GCSEs) are the most stupidly unfair things I've ever seen... but maybe that's just me.
The great thing about university-level academics is you can see what modules are examination- or coursework-based and pick the ones that work best for you. Everybody wins!
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