A little blog from an upstart theologian that will do its best to exemplify Christ while sharing a thing or two along the way.
|
|
| Preachin's Blog A little blog from an upstart theologian that will do its best to exemplify Christ while sharing a thing or two along the way. |
|
|
Wednesday, April 07, 2004 Houston's Plan for Academic ExcellenceAnother example of American education at its finest is presented in this article from the Houston Chronicle. The article states: "Houston high school students who've failed core subjects such as English or math would get to move on to the next grade under a proposal HISD trustees are considering as part of the district's effort to reduce its dropout rate." This is obviously a brilliant proposal put together by a board of enlightened educators. So what if Johnny cannot read, write, or add? Who really uses these skills in everyday life? I believe we should allow those students who cannot master the basic elements of education to continue on to the next level because these subjects really have nothing to do with the real point of education: making our young people feel good about themselves. Obviously the main point in life is making sure everyone is walking about feeling good... One of the greatest plagues brought upon our contemporary educational system, and it has inevitably filtered across to the pulpits, is that we should pursue therapy above teaching (theology.) The Houston ISD is attempting to keep their drop-out rates low and the self-esteem of the children attending their schools up so they can look good. (Let us not forget that this article even mentions the district was nominated for a national award.) A great blight upon the modern education system (other than the NEA) is the system of standardized testing which has infiltrated our school systems. Teachers no longer get the opportunity to teach and educate children properly, rather teachers have become simple drones in filling children's minds with the information required to pass the various state standardized tests. Teachers teach for the test. Principals roam the halls of their schools nervously as youngsters stare down at answer booklets attempting to distinguish between nouns, verbs, gerunds, and adjectives. State regulators sit at their comfortable government bought desks reviewing the raw data from the tests, trying to ferret out the "bad" schools from the "good" schools. The system is eating itself alive. This latest move by the Houston ISD is not surprising for the observer of contemporary American culture. After the "No Child Left Behind" initiatives were put into place, the American public can rest assured that minimal parental involvement and lackadaisical student brain functions will indeed be rewarded at some point with a high school diploma. While we are graduating students who can barely read their diplomas, much less calculate their GPAs, we can hear the apathetic yawns of the masses yearning for more spoonfeeding. The next question is: who is on the other of the spoon? posted by Preachin Jesus | 12:17 PM | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
||||
|
|||||
Read my Profile
