9486 in the collection
Effort to boost high-school standards fails
The good news is that this Standardisto effort failed. Three cheers for this teacher!!
Adam_W comment (on newspaper site):
I can probably speak for almost all math teachers (which is an admittedly daring thing to do) when I say that requiring Algebra II is a horrible idea. It will result in more students either dropping out or not being able to earn a diploma. Students who disliked math enough to stop at Liberal Arts Math (the followup to Geometry) aren't going to suddenly go on to become engineers because they were forced to take Algebra II senior year. This country doesn't need every single person to be able to calculate the foci of a parabola. My father, who is a college graduate and an extremely successful businessman, failed geometry and probably couldn't have passed Algebra II. We don't need high-level courses for everybody- we need appropriate courses for everybody. Right now, the lowest-level four-year track would be Algebra I, Geometry, Liberal Arts Math, and Algebra II. In my opinion, the lowest-level four-year track should be Algebra IA, Algebra IB, Geometry, and Financial Literacy.
By Amy Hollyfield
TALLAHASSEE -- The first major piece of education legislation declared dead this session is the push to raise graduation standards for high school students.
Sen. Thad Altman, R-Melbourne, said Wednesday that SB 2654 won't be heard on the Senate floor -- though the proposal passed the House two weeks ago -- because there's just not time.
Former Gov. Jeb Bush's Foundation for Florida's Future has been pushing to raise the curriculum requirements for high school students, phasing in algebra II and geometry as required math classes, and biology I and chemistry as required science classes. In addition, the proposal would have increased the required graduation score on the 10th-grade FCAT to 3 from 2.
''The bills got farther than I ever expected this year,'' Altman said.
While the push to raise standards enjoyed widespread support, even with Democrats, the FCAT provision was controversial. Altman said they talked about taking out the FCAT part, but it was more than that.
''I think the main thing was having the time to really vet these additional standards,'' Altman said. ``I mean, that's a big thing, when you change standards.''
Altman pointed out that committee meetings start again in the fall.
''We'll be right back at it,'' he said. ``And we'll have more information, and we'll be able to talk with more of the stakeholders, and we'll be better prepared.''
Patricia Levesque, executive director of the Foundation for Florida's Future, said she still has hope for this year, but also, ``If it's not going to pass this session, it will be disappointing and it will be another year wasted in the lives of kids that need to be prepared for the future that awaits them once they leave high school.''
— Amy Hollyfield
Miami Herald
2009-04-30
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/education/story/1025373.html
INDEX OF OUTRAGES
Pages: 380
[1] 2 3 4 5 6 Next >> Last >>
