Klarinet Archive - Posting 000910.txt from 2004/03

From: Don Alfonso <donaldj@------.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] not just the music department
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2004 22:47:52 -0500

I'm as concerned as any parent about the "No Child Left Behind", in the
late 60's early 70's an English Lit Professor at a well known eastern
university had to write a program for tenure, as I recall, and his
program was called "Outback something or other". His theory suggested
that children need not be able to read or write to make a living. This
program was picked up by several colleges and was taught to many
prospective teachers.

I used to be a corporate instructor and after I retired in 1987 I did
nothing until 1998 when I began to substitute teach at a local
elementary school. I couldn't stand it none of my students could write,
only print, they could not spell, only read and when I spoke to the
teacher about all this, was told that the students pick up spelling by
reading. Only then did I realize that some of the "outback" program had
succeeded in sending some of those who were taught, to Texas. And I
think it is being taught in some higher education institutions today.
The objective of the "Outback program"?
To create a cadre of worker bees. My point, NCLB reminds of that program.
Sorry to bend you ear. Ormondtoby, I feel you pain.

Money talks, chocolate sings:

Ormondtoby Montoya wrote:

>Okay, since both Tony and Sue asked, the following is first hand
>information, not hearsay.
>
>One of my childen lost 1/4 of her brain tissue during an accident. She
>is an ordinary kid in many respects. She walks and smiles normally,
>speaks clearly, has no scars, etc. She can think her way through many
>word problems, such as: "If you had three buckets, one of them capable
>of holding 20 quarts, another 9 quarts, and the third 4 quarts, explain
>how you would measure out exactly 18 quarts." But she cannot remember
>addition or multiplication tables, nor can she count backwards. Thus
>she can solve the problem above if she has a calculator to do the
>subtactions.
>
>The "No Chld Left Behind" law resulted in a regulation that any child
>who uses a calculator will be penalized. Thus kids who don't need
>calculators are not affected, and most kids are not allowed to use
>calculators during the tests.
>
>The calculation of the penalty is complicated, so much so that I can't
>explain all the details. But just to give you a taste of what happens,
>under some circumstances which I am unable to define, the child who must
>use a calculator will receive the lowest score achieved by any other
>school in the system, regardless of what the child can do on his/her own
>with a calculator.
>
>Schools in our district feel that they have been penalized excessively
>for having "special education" students in their district, and thus they
>have lost funding for reasons over which they have no control.
>However, it turns out that if they take calculators away from the few
>children who can't survive without them, the district's total score will
>not decrease as much as if they had allowed these few students to use
>calculators.
>
>So our schools are considering "no calculators for handicapped kids" as
>a strategy to get their full share of federal funds.
>
>(By the way, fast food restaurants insist that all employees use the
>cash register to calculate the proper change for any purchase.)
>
>
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