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Unread 28-05-2006, 15:42
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Re: U.S. Leadership in Science May Depend on 8th-Graders

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tristan Lall
More to the point, I'd have to say that it's more a matter of figuring out what the individual student needs, than arbitrarily setting a class size. The problem: just try to get a school board to fund that on a large scale—right now, it's limited to the "special needs" students (in every sense of that term).
The problem isn't getting the local school board to fund individualized instruction; the problem is that the taxpayers aren't willing to fund education at that level. Here in California, it seems that the more money we pour into public education, the worse the educational system becomes. I also can't foresee having enough trained teachers available to provide much individualized instruction.

Educators have to make arbitrary decisions in providing mass education; therefore mass education is bound to produce problems. For example, assigning grade levels on the basis of age makes about as much sense as assigning grade levels on the basis of shoe size, according to our school's founding vice-principal. Many children are ready to read at age 4, but many are not ready until age 8. The state assigned first grade (learning to read) to age 6 when I was little, but a few years later when my sister was in Kindergarten, 5-year-olds were expected to learn to read. And why has California lowered the age for learning algebra to 8th grade, when plenty of otherwise bright 9th graders are not ready for the abstract thinking required for that level of math? I cannot foresee that more students will succeed in math by having it made harder for them!

A workable solution might be to return to the old-fashioned system of assigning grade levels based on mastery of grade-level work. But there is too much stigma to being "held back" a grade, and with all the current emphasis on children's self-esteem, I doubt this will be implemented anytime soon.
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