On another post, Anonymous and Anonymous wrote:
I see no sign of interest whatsoever on the part of adminstration in top achievers. It is assumed that they will fend for themselves.
April 1, 2009 10:22 PM
I share the concern ( stronger word should be used) for the high-achieving kids of the PPS. At the PVASS (value added) presentation, the high achievers in the city were the ones that showed the least growth; it is not just our imagination that the high-achievers are not being challenged. As a parent and a former educator, this situation was one of the reasons that we chose IB. With its outside the district grading, the program is forced to meet higher standards. At Allderdice and other city high schools, AP classes and dual enrollment are used by knowledgeable parents and kids for the same purpose. A city school system should be meeting the needs of ALL of its constituents.
April 2, 2009 7:33 AM
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9 comments:
Can anyone name any initiatives that have been started or strengthened since summer 2005 that are aimed primarily at helping students who already achieve at high levels to reach their full potential?
Ha. These kids are own their own college path. They need no "help" (padded grades) to get to the pathway to the promise. Why bother with them?
Excellence for all.
Isn't there an 80/20 rule that enters into this discussion too? That must be chapter 2, or somewhere after the 50% rule.
Competition. Being competitive. Challenges. Clever. Those are 'coaching' words. Clutch performers. Catalyst.
Today's message is brought to you by the letter "C."
Have a good half-day on Friday! Is that another artifact of this 50-percent policy?
Mark, "have a good half-day"???? Sometimes I have to wonder exactly what your agenda is. Most teachers would rather work with kids than listen to administrators yak all afternoon. Most would rather be instructing than listen to individuals who either were failures as teachers or are pushing some fantasyland program that will get our bottom wrung students "onto the pathway."
Thanks for the laugh.
My "agenda" (with that post) was to make a giggle. Guess it worked.
BTW, Dr.Freud, you might be frustrated trying to psycho-analyze me via blog postings.
=;)
Again, if a PPS diploma is not worth the paper it is written on it WILL affect all the students not matter how high their achievement levels. All the grades will be affected by 'inflation' either directly or by association. So YES high achieving students are neglected (as are middle,low and non- achieving)
EXCELLENCE FOR ALL should not just be an empty slogan. It actually means that all students should excel equally, that is brighter students should no longer be achieving at higher levels than dumber students. It is really outdated elitist viewpoint to be worried about the needs of high achieving students in the PPS. If some students want to act smarter and achieve at higher levels then they should move to some suburb or else go to a private school. The most important goal of the PPS is to make sure that all students achieve at an equal level so that we can eliminate the achievement gap. What else could be more important than that? Please make sure that your children do not try to excel more than any other children, remember the important thing is that all children must be equally excellent in academic achievement. There is no such thing as higher IQ and lower IQ children, all children have the same IQs and all children are expected to show equal excellence in academic achievement. Pittsburgh city school parents--Please get with the program! If you have a bright child, tell him or her to act dumb so that other less bright children can feel just as smart. This is the only way we can equalize all students. What do we want? EXCELLENCE FOR ALL!!! When do we want it? WE WANT EXCELLENCE FOR ALL RIGHT NOW!!!
Galtonian, funny stuff. I am not a teacher but I was reminded of how much fun my kid had writing satire. I think I will print that to share with her.
The problem with satire is that some people believe that it is true. The real elitists in this system are the ones making the poor decisions and I don't believe they have the capacity or ability to understand satire.
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