OMG, TMI, LOL “Nor are they [colleges] sending a signal to the nation’s high schools that high school level reading is needed for college readiness. Indeed, they seem to be suggesting that a middle school level of reading is satisfactory, even though most college textbooks and adult literary works written before 1970 require mature reading skills.”
Read more at http://www.inquisitr.com/1743621/study- ... BAb8S86.99"

That's the sorry state of American public school educational system as run by lib-tards. No one can fail. If too many kids are failing, then the tests must be too difficult so dumb it down again and again until you achieve a 98% passing/graduation rate, and then everyone is happy.

Yeah, but it wasn't just Public Schools.

Soi Dog wrote:That's the sorry state of American public school educational system as run by lib-tards. No one can fail. If too many kids are failing, then the tests must be too difficult so dumb it down again and again until you achieve a 98% passing/graduation rate, and then everyone is happy.

Comments like this are not helpful. "lib-tards?" The Common Core Standards were developed to address these problems, the English and Mathematics deficiencies, and comments like yours belittle the effort of all those working to improve the educational system in the U.S. The Common Core Standards are mostly higher than the ones they replaced, not lower. There are many disagreements over standards and how they should be implemented but nobody is seeking to lower standards simply to improve graduation rates. Talk about a "straw man!"

^ Some disagree with your assessment.

State math exam scores have risen - but it's because tests have gotten easier

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/edu ... e-1.375819

or read "Kill the Messenger" by Richard Phelps
https://books.google.com/books?id=i370N ... 3F&f=false

Very good points Soi Dog. I don't disagree, we have all seen grade "inflation" take place in many places. And standards are often set state by state, and sometimes even county by county. Educators face many problems. What should be on the test, should teachers spend time "teaching the test," or is study time better spent in more creative processes. You can learn spelling and grammar, but still not be able to present ideas in an intelligent fashion in an essay. Do you need trig more than finance, English more than science, etc. etc. So it is not enough to question how well you are doing this year on a test vs last year, but how well does that particular test measure what you will need for life. And are educators spending time in the correct areas. When teachers are rewarded by politicians only for high test scores, predictably they will teach the test to the exclusion of other subjects. My only objection with your comment was the disrespect you showed for educators, as if they only wanted higher scores without regard to the students well being. My experience has been totally the opposite from that. You know most of the elementary teachers in So. California that I have known spend $500, even up to $2000 of their own salary each year on supplies for their students that the state doesn't provide? Education is difficult, and educators have lots of issues to deal with, test scores are only a small part of that question.

I blame the whole 'digital life' these days. Attention spans are definitely on the decrease.

The other day, Liam Neeson was on TV promoting Taken 3. He said that after the first film in the series, which has his 18 year-old daughter being kidnapped whilst on a trip to Paris, he met American school teachers who told him that in the wake of the film parents were withdrawing their kids from school trips to Europe, etc.

That is an indication of just how much Americans will overreact to a piece of fiction. Now imagine how much they'll overreact to what some of them are stupid enough to believe is an actual news channel*(FOX) when a so-called "terrorism expert" tells them that Britain's second city is basically Tehran 2.0 and that Muslim gangs go around beating non-Muslims in London for not dressing in Muslim dress.

CaliforniaGuy wrote: My only objection with your comment was the disrespect you showed for educators, as if they only wanted higher scores without regard to the students well being.

Point taken. I should have directed my comments to school boards, administrators, and policy makers, not to the teachers.

Milord wrote:That is an indication of just how much Americans will overreact to a piece of fiction. Now imagine how much they'll overreact to what some of them are stupid enough to believe is an actual news channel*(FOX) when a so-called "terrorism expert" tells them that Britain's second city is basically Tehran 2.0 and that Muslim gangs go around beating non-Muslims in London for not dressing in Muslim dress.

I do remember seeing (on the BBC News channel, not Fox) video of an English MP trying to speak at a gathering of locals in an area of London heavily dominated by Muslims. The MP was verbally harassed, shouted down and threatened by members of an angry mob that formed, with some particularly vocal asshats shouting "You have no right to come into OUR AREA..." ("Our area" being "Muslim's area", to them).

I also recall a news story not long ago where a couple English citizens were drinking beer at an outdoor drinking establishment in another Muslim dominated area were assaulted by some locals for such behavior.

These stories may be unusual cases, but if they did happen as reported, then they are newsworthy.