Big Changes Coming For Education In Georgia

The schools all should have copies of the new curriculum/performance standards available. Ragsdale had times set up last week to go over all of them with parents to help them understand the changes, etc. I'm sure they aren't the only ones.
 
Where do the fundamentals fit in? Don't the kids need to be proficient in the basics before going on to the higher maths? That was, and to some point still the problem with 12 year old. What does "introducing" mean? I'm not sure I understand the point of teaching the higher maths when the kids are barley grasping the basics.

Also who is going to help these kids with home work (assuming there is homework?) From the looks of this I'm wondering if the tutoring programs have a lobby in the capital.

A couple of other thoughts.
1. what textbooks?
2. I thought Ga. opted out of the "Race to the top" thing.
3. While our kids are learning this stuff, who's going to teach us parents this stuff so we can help them?

As a matter of fact 12yo did state that they were learning something in their (I think it was Math) that the teacher told them "your parents don't know how to do this." I will need to find out what it was.
 
Some of the counties applied and got a portion of the race to the top funds. Georgia signed on to the Common Core Curriculum.
 
Standards mean very little. What matters is what actually goes on in the classroom. Even textbooks don't have as much impact as people like to think.

We're implementing Common Core here in North Dakota. It will cause some changes, but none I would regard as sweeping. In general, Common Core is at a higher level than what we had, but not inordinately so.

The trouble with Common Core that I see is that it is a purely "college prep" set of standards. For those heading in other career directions, there is nothing.

On the other hand, my hope is that Common Core will get teachers to focus on teaching their grade level material and teaching it well. I'm tired of teachers thinking that the best way to prepare students for the next level is to teach the next level, particularly as this tends to occur at the expense of truly mastering grade level material.
 
Waski_the_Squirrel said:
Standards mean very little. What matters is what actually goes on in the classroom. Even textbooks don't have as much impact as people like to think.

We're implementing Common Core here in North Dakota. It will cause some changes, but none I would regard as sweeping. In general, Common Core is at a higher level than what we had, but not inordinately so.

The trouble with Common Core that I see is that it is a purely "college prep" set of standards. For those heading in other career directions, there is nothing.

On the other hand, my hope is that Common Core will get teachers to focus on teaching their grade level material and teaching it well. I'm tired of teachers thinking that the best way to prepare students for the next level is to teach the next level, particularly as this tends to occur at the expense of truly mastering grade level material.
Click to expand...

It is those who will not receive a degree beyond a high school diploma I worry about the most because they are the majority of those in public schools. When we make the core of education geared towards college, we're setting a lot of students who will not go to college up for failure. Our public school programs must offer strong vocational education as well.
 
Foxmeister said:
It is those who will not receive a degree beyond a high school diploma I worry about the most because they are the majority of those in public schools. When we make the core of education geared towards college, we're setting a lot of students who will not go to college up for failure. Our public school programs must offer strong vocational education as well.
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I get your overall point but I have to take issue with the underlined portion. While acknowledging that it only takes 51% to equal a majority I think you are underestimating today's kids. I do not believe that 51+% of public school kids are not college bound. "A lot" of them, sure. This is a very different time than even 10-15 years ago and there are more and more kids going to some form of college. Technical, community, state, etc. ... more and more kids are going. they may not all be completing or they are getting 2 year degrees instead of 4+ but they are going.
 
unionmom said:
Foxmeister said:
It is those who will not receive a degree beyond a high school diploma I worry about the most because they are the majority of those in public schools. When we make the core of education geared towards college, we're setting a lot of students who will not go to college up for failure. Our public school programs must offer strong vocational education as well.
Click to expand...
I get your overall point but I have to take issue with the underlined portion. While acknowledging that it only takes 51% to equal a majority I think you are underestimating today's kids. I do not believe that 51+% of public school kids are not college bound. "A lot" of them, sure. This is a very different time than even 10-15 years ago and there are more and more kids going to some form of college. Technical, community, state, etc. ... more and more kids are going. they may not all be completing or they are getting 2 year degrees instead of 4+ but they are going.
Click to expand...

Without some real numbers, I can't believe that. Not with the current drop out and failure rates.
 
Waski_the_Squirrel said:
Standards mean very little. What matters is what actually goes on in the classroom. Even textbooks don't have as much impact as people like to think.

We're implementing Common Core here in North Dakota. It will cause some changes, but none I would regard as sweeping. In general, Common Core is at a higher level than what we had, but not inordinately so.

The trouble with Common Core that I see is that it is a purely "college prep" set of standards. For those heading in other career directions, there is nothing.

On the other hand, my hope is that Common Core will get teachers to focus on teaching their grade level material and teaching it well. I'm tired of teachers thinking that the best way to prepare students for the next level is to teach the next level, particularly as this tends to occur at the expense of truly mastering grade level material.
Click to expand...
That is my concern. How many kids do not master even the very basics, yet are still expected to understand the higher information? Especially in math.

Oh if anyone has some resources that this old lady can use, let me know. I want to be able to help my son.
 
Madea said:
unionmom said:
Foxmeister said:
It is those who will not receive a degree beyond a high school diploma I worry about the most because they are the majority of those in public schools. When we make the core of education geared towards college, we're setting a lot of students who will not go to college up for failure. Our public school programs must offer strong vocational education as well.
Click to expand...
I get your overall point but I have to take issue with the underlined portion. While acknowledging that it only takes 51% to equal a majority I think you are underestimating today's kids. I do not believe that 51+% of public school kids are not college bound. "A lot" of them, sure. This is a very different time than even 10-15 years ago and there are more and more kids going to some form of college. Technical, community, state, etc. ... more and more kids are going. they may not all be completing or they are getting 2 year degrees instead of 4+ but they are going.
Click to expand...

Without some real numbers, I can't believe that. Not with the current drop out and failure rates.
Click to expand...
Ditto!
 
I will say that the high drop out and failure rate has a lot to do with the new math and the graduation tests. (and the lack of history taught..good grief) I believe with the math changing and the EOCT testing being used we will see a different number. I have already seen a difference in this years Junior class. Those that had already passed the EOCT's did not have to take parts of the GHSGT and they are on track for graduation.
 
Whew!! I'm thinking I'm glad all mine are graduated and either in college or doing pretty good on their own. All these changes are hard to keep up with. Here's hoping our graduation rates increase and our young folks actually learn what they need to make it in this big ole world.
 
unionmom said:
Foxmeister said:
It is those who will not receive a degree beyond a high school diploma I worry about the most because they are the majority of those in public schools. When we make the core of education geared towards college, we're setting a lot of students who will not go to college up for failure. Our public school programs must offer strong vocational education as well.
Click to expand...
I get your overall point but I have to take issue with the underlined portion. While acknowledging that it only takes 51% to equal a majority I think you are underestimating today's kids. I do not believe that 51+% of public school kids are not college bound. "A lot" of them, sure. This is a very different time than even 10-15 years ago and there are more and more kids going to some form of college. Technical, community, state, etc. ... more and more kids are going. they may not all be completing or they are getting 2 year degrees instead of 4+ but they are going.
Click to expand...

I found an interesting article. Only 40% of our young adults obtain at least an Associates Degree. Canada leads the world in college graduates with 56% of its young adults obtaining at least an Associates Degree. The US ranks 12th among 36 developed nations.

The article also stated 76% of our young adults start college. That's a high number not completing college.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/23/education/23college.html

I did a little research on what the numbers were for GA.

The number of college graduates is far less than the national average. Fewer than 14 of every 100 entering high school students have earned a college degree a decade later, a statistic significantly below the already weak U.S. average and perhaps half the rate of some European countries.
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http://www.gppf.org/pub/education/georgia's%20higher%20education%20system.pdf

Perhaps more high school students start college, but less than the majority actually graduate with an Associates or Bachelor's degree. So what has our public school system done to prepare this large number for the work force? It all comes down to my statement before, we are establishing a curricula in public schools geared specifically towards college prep. We should also be offering a strong vocational program for those who will not obtain a college degree.

I would be willing to wager if we had a strong vocational ed program in our public schools, we would see our high school drop out rate decline.
 
I so that I do need to back-track a bit and acknowledge that I read it as not going to college, not what you actually said "receive a degree beyond a high school diploma". So I will back off of my earlier statement on that and apologize for reading over that too quickly. Just all too often I have read on here about the kids that don't go to college, what about the kids that have no plans to go to college, etc. So based on past posts, I read that one incorrectly.

So then we go back to the matter of the courses being set up for those heading to college and it is clear that the strong majority do at least make the attempt at college. What was it your research said? 76% start college? That's a big number of kids that need to be prepared for what comes next. And I wonder, of the number of kids that don't graduate based on that study, how many of them do go back later to finish their degree?

Now I'm not a fan of a nationalized system. I'm certainly not suggesting we should all jump up and down and pat anybody on the back for this. It is clear that not everything works the same everywhere and the lack of a national standard is not our problem. We became the amazing country that we are today without one. Seems to me that something else is what is not working as we are starting to see our position slip in many categories when compared to other nations.

To get off on a tangent of sorts ... I think a lot of it comes from the turn this nation seems to have taken towards "don't hurt little Johnny's feelings" and "everything has to be fair and even." So many kids now are taught that there are no wrong answers or that competition is bad or any of the other lunacy that is going on in so many places. And then I saw where recently my beloved school district was under attack for demanding more of its students for their grades. For decades the system worked fine. You just have to work harder to get that grade that you want but now some parents have decided that it isn't fair that their little angel in one of the best school districts in the country has to work harder to get the same GPA as a student from another school district. They are worried that their child will be judged on only that number when looking at colleges, etc. and poor little boo boo baby might not look at special. Absolutely destroying this nation with this nonsense. Instead of teaching the child that sometimes you do have to work harder (nevermind that the better schools already know the difference in the quality of the education coming from that school district) and that sometimes life isn't fair, lower the standard. Ugh! Stop lower expectations and start teaching your children how to get there!



(I know there are exceptions and there are resources in place to help the kids that need help but that shouldn't mean everyone should have a lower goal.)

Off my soapbox for now.
 
unionmom said:
To get off on a tangent of sorts ... I think a lot of it comes from the turn this nation seems to have taken towards "don't hurt little Johnny's feelings" and "everything has to be fair and even." So many kids now are taught that there are no wrong answers or that competition is bad or any of the other lunacy that is going on in so many places. And then I saw where recently my beloved school district was under attack for demanding more of its students for their grades. For decades the system worked fine. You just have to work harder to get that grade that you want but now some parents have decided that it isn't fair that their little angel in one of the best school districts in the country has to work harder to get the same GPA as a student from another school district. They are worried that their child will be judged on only that number when looking at colleges, etc. and poor little boo boo baby might not look at special. Absolutely destroying this nation with this nonsense. Instead of teaching the child that sometimes you do have to work harder (nevermind that the better schools already know the difference in the quality of the education coming from that school district) and that sometimes life isn't fair, lower the standard. Ugh! Stop lower expectations and start teaching your children how to get there!
Click to expand...
Can't tell you how much I agree with the above. I do think there should be other tracts for students who do not intend to go to college and I was under the impression that GA was developing some.
 
newsjunky said:
... I do think there should be other tracts for students who do not intend to go to college and I was under the impression that GA was developing some.
Click to expand...
I agree 100%. I hate to keep referring back to the school system I was in but ...

In addition to having higher expectations, they also had options. Graduation requirements were the same across the board but they were realistic and the electives available were sold career oriented electives. They were taught with the same level of expectation, etc. as the more traditional classes. The school district had a vocational high school as well as the advanced sciences high school. You got what you needed to set you up the best way possible for your future. Don't live close to any of the specialized schools? Didn't matter ... they had buses running from other area high schools to these schools so that you could still go.
 
unionmom said:
newsjunky said:
... I do think there should be other tracts for students who do not intend to go to college and I was under the impression that GA was developing some.
Click to expand...
I agree 100%. I hate to keep referring back to the school system I was in but ...

In addition to having higher expectations, they also had options. Graduation requirements were the same across the board but they were realistic and the electives available were sold career oriented electives. They were taught with the same level of expectation, etc. as the more traditional classes. The school district had a vocational high school as well as the advanced sciences high school. You got what you needed to set you up the best way possible for your future. Don't live close to any of the specialized schools? Didn't matter ... they had buses running from other area high schools to these schools so that you could still go.
Click to expand...
Exactly! My school was that way too.
 
newsjunky said:
unionmom said:
To get off on a tangent of sorts ... I think a lot of it comes from the turn this nation seems to have taken towards "don't hurt little Johnny's feelings" and "everything has to be fair and even." So many kids now are taught that there are no wrong answers or that competition is bad or any of the other lunacy that is going on in so many places. And then I saw where recently my beloved school district was under attack for demanding more of its students for their grades. For decades the system worked fine. You just have to work harder to get that grade that you want but now some parents have decided that it isn't fair that their little angel in one of the best school districts in the country has to work harder to get the same GPA as a student from another school district. They are worried that their child will be judged on only that number when looking at colleges, etc. and poor little boo boo baby might not look at special. Absolutely destroying this nation with this nonsense. Instead of teaching the child that sometimes you do have to work harder (nevermind that the better schools already know the difference in the quality of the education coming from that school district) and that sometimes life isn't fair, lower the standard. Ugh! Stop lower expectations and start teaching your children how to get there!
Click to expand...
Can't tell you how much I agree with the above. I do think there should be other tracts for students who do not intend to go to college and I was under the impression that GA was developing some.
Click to expand...
:thumbsup You are right they are. I had posted some stuff about it the last time Fox brought up that not everyone should/wants to go to college. They are developing having more diploma options.
 
newsjunky said:
unionmom said:
newsjunky said:
... I do think there should be other tracts for students who do not intend to go to college and I was under the impression that GA was developing some.
Click to expand...
I agree 100%. I hate to keep referring back to the school system I was in but ...

In addition to having higher expectations, they also had options. Graduation requirements were the same across the board but they were realistic and the electives available were sold career oriented electives. They were taught with the same level of expectation, etc. as the more traditional classes. The school district had a vocational high school as well as the advanced sciences high school. You got what you needed to set you up the best way possible for your future. Don't live close to any of the specialized schools? Didn't matter ... they had buses running from other area high schools to these schools so that you could still go.
Click to expand...
Exactly! My school was that way too.
Click to expand...
Mine too.
 
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