tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3493437990574291998.post3027083994405065494..comments2023-10-15T05:04:21.811-04:00Comments on The Mind of Dr. Pion: Grade 13 at Ishkabibble Community CollegeDoctor Pionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12513786840852469648noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3493437990574291998.post-340206240027939082009-03-03T19:59:00.000-05:002009-03-03T19:59:00.000-05:00Thanks. Although Zucker comes at it from the angl...Thanks. Although Zucker comes at it from the angle of teaching the third semester of calculus to first semester freshmen at an elite university, his comments resonate across the curriculum and across a wide range of institutions. <BR/><BR/>I share your experience of having been taught critical reading in a HS class (senior "advanced composition") that put me way in front of my peers when I went to college - which was about when the early NCLB proponents were in college. <BR/><BR/>My only nit-pick with your closing remark is that I always hope I am EDUCATING them, even though I know I am mostly training them.Doctor Pionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12513786840852469648noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3493437990574291998.post-29987148256181337022009-02-22T13:52:00.000-05:002009-02-22T13:52:00.000-05:00Great post! Thanks for linking to it from FSP. As ...Great post! Thanks for linking to it from FSP. <BR/><BR/>As I was reading this, I was thinking about the high school I came from. I went to a private Catholic high school where there was no standardized testing and where the reputation of the school for graduating college-ready students was more important than teacher's pass rates. The mentality was "your parents are paying a lot of $$$ to get you ready for college, so we're going to do just that even if it means holding you back a year."<BR/><BR/>I struggled at this high school, mostly because I didn't give a crap. I was looking forward to college where I could choose what I wanted to study. But I excelled in higher education because I had the right tools and the experience, regardless of how crappy my grades had been. <BR/><BR/>It is my view that the standardized testing implemented in public schools since I graduated has killed college prep. They are being TAUGHT to cram for tests by teachers whose jobs and pay depend on whether those students pass. They're not taking literature courses and learning how to discuss and critically think about texts, they're learning how to answer multiple choice questions about a paragraph they read. They're not learning science at ALL, because it's not on the test, so why worry about something that doesn't affect whether or not you graduate. <BR/><BR/>No Child Left Behind is focused too much on competencies in K-12 education, while ignoring the effects it's having on college educations where we're (theoretically at least) training students for careers.JLKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05396471022931966499noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3493437990574291998.post-1272160452810981962007-09-05T22:22:00.000-04:002007-09-05T22:22:00.000-04:00Wow, I wish someone had told me all that way back ...Wow, I wish someone had told me all that way back when! I'm going to have to print this out and save it for when my kids are ready for college.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com