It looks like they can read, they’re just not understanding what the concepts are. I think it’s like having face blindness or ADHD, you try to work around it, with some being more successful at it than others.
It’s worth pausing here to point out that you can’t really blame younger people for struggling at what were once seen as academic basics. The school system is in shambles, their education was bisected by the COVID pandemic, and they’re been reared in a world that’s increasingly deemphasized reading in favor of videos, voiceovers, and other emerging forms of communication.
Everyone in the education system, at every level, is incentivized to inflate grades and pass more students.
When I was in university too many kids started failing the intro classes so they had to add additional mandatory intro classes that used to be covered at high school.
Government don’t want to pay teachers, teachers don’t want to get called out for failing kids who were under-equipped for their class, so they pass them, then the next year teacher has to do the same, or they look bad. The government adds standardized tests, which become the target, because that what will make the schools look bad. Then the colleges/universities want higher enrolment for more money. They don’t care what happens after kids graduate.
I think the answer is standardized testing needs to become more holistic, universities need to do entrance testing instead of relying on standardized tests, teachers need to get funded so they can teach kids instead of spending all their time dealing with a few problem students, and we need to let kids fail and re-introduce “streaming” teaching where smart kids can get into classes with smart kids, and unmotivated kids can get put into classes that refocus their learning and fix their fundamentals.
and we need to let kids fail and re-introduce “streaming” teaching where smart kids can get into classes with smart kids, and unmotivated kids can get put into classes that refocus their learning and fix their fundamentals.
You might be interested to learn that “gifted” classes were introduced as a reaction to integration of black students and students with disabilities. It was always about keeping privileged kids away from the rabble and has little to do with student performance or ability.
We had streaming in Canada, where there was never segregation. It was to allow teachers to focus on a more advanced level for those who could handle it. It allowed teachers to also focus on basics more with groups that needed it. It was all about capabilities, not skin color. Yes, people with mental handicaps didn’t get in the advanced streams. But do you want your future doctor or scientists to have been educated at the lowest common denominator, or as best as possible?
we need to let kids fail and re-introduce “streaming” teaching where smart kids can get into classes with smart kids
They’ve been doing “stream” since I was in school and it made me a worse person. I was pigeonholed into the remedial classes with no way out. No pleading would do it. I was never given target grades to reach to get out. And that was just when I was trying to get into the average classes. At one point, I tried bypassing the and testing into Honors/AP. I was told I failed, but recently, I learned by accident that I passed those tests, but was lied to. The guidance counselor who leaked that to me was surprised I wasn’t happy about that and refused to say it was wrong. By the end, they were just telling me that the better classes were full, so I told them I would drop out 3 months from graduation and try again the next year. They thought I was bluffing.
Remedial classes do not focus on fixing anything. They’re just dumping grounds for undesirable students. The students are en mass, are unmotivated and bully anyone down that think doesn’t belong. I literately heard “What do you expect? We’re remedial students” from one of my classmates one time. The teacher just dropped her head.
You want to fix things? Start holding students back. Throw out the participation awards the boomers forced on everyone. Don’t just pipeline everyone into community colleges. Or make an actual High School track available in community college. My state supposedly has one, but they make it hard as hell to get any info on it.
same here in late 2000s, and this was in a community college, a large amount of people struggle in remedial math, as well as english, english i can understand because they almost never teach grammar/writing in k-12, but MATH.
Some states have rules in place that if you graduate from a high school in that state, you’re automatically given acceptance into a state college.
Also, as someone who took a couple gap years and managed to completely forget Algebra II and Calculus, you can enter college and take remedial courses to (re)educate yourself. That said, I don’t know how that would work with something as fundamental as basic reading skills.
CALIFORNIA started doing this because the state unsi suffered from years of low enrollment due to covid, and pre-covid they had to this to survive. the reason behind it was mostly very low-job prospects for most majors, at least for the school i went to. they had to raise tuition and rent prices for (apartments they owned that are for students), and the students are so incensed they tell thier friends, or younger siblings to not attend the school or even go to college. also thier high propensity to transfer to a better 4 year from state uni because the current school sucks ass in career enrichment;development. also the lack of “volunteer experience for stem too which is extremely problematic and only if somehow found how to get into a PI lab”.
and the faculty interviewed in these school, blamed it on LOW birth rates,yea no thats the least of the problems.
there are people struggling in remedial classes too, in my cc people have taken 2-3 times for remedial and the verge of being blocked from taking the same class in the cc more then 3rd time. 3rd time requires approval by the school to even take.
some school has pre-calculus, pre-chemistry test before you even register for a higher level class. if you dont pass you cant get into these courses.
you know the old stuff where teachers are like, you need to do math manually, youll never always have a calculator in your pocket (of course in retrospect its almost the opposite given smartphones). this particular case was TOO accommodating, and allowed her to use text to speech services to do work, so she never learned how to “read”
This might be a dumb question, but how did they get into college?
It looks like they can read, they’re just not understanding what the concepts are. I think it’s like having face blindness or ADHD, you try to work around it, with some being more successful at it than others.
Was this article written by a Gen Z author?
Are you a Gen Z?
Nice reading comprehension.
What if the real gen z was the me
How many coke bottles did you accidentally?
Everyone in the education system, at every level, is incentivized to inflate grades and pass more students.
When I was in university too many kids started failing the intro classes so they had to add additional mandatory intro classes that used to be covered at high school.
Government don’t want to pay teachers, teachers don’t want to get called out for failing kids who were under-equipped for their class, so they pass them, then the next year teacher has to do the same, or they look bad. The government adds standardized tests, which become the target, because that what will make the schools look bad. Then the colleges/universities want higher enrolment for more money. They don’t care what happens after kids graduate.
I think the answer is standardized testing needs to become more holistic, universities need to do entrance testing instead of relying on standardized tests, teachers need to get funded so they can teach kids instead of spending all their time dealing with a few problem students, and we need to let kids fail and re-introduce “streaming” teaching where smart kids can get into classes with smart kids, and unmotivated kids can get put into classes that refocus their learning and fix their fundamentals.
You might be interested to learn that “gifted” classes were introduced as a reaction to integration of black students and students with disabilities. It was always about keeping privileged kids away from the rabble and has little to do with student performance or ability.
I’m actually quite angry to learn that, do you happen to have a source that backs that up?
We had streaming in Canada, where there was never segregation. It was to allow teachers to focus on a more advanced level for those who could handle it. It allowed teachers to also focus on basics more with groups that needed it. It was all about capabilities, not skin color. Yes, people with mental handicaps didn’t get in the advanced streams. But do you want your future doctor or scientists to have been educated at the lowest common denominator, or as best as possible?
They’ve been doing “stream” since I was in school and it made me a worse person. I was pigeonholed into the remedial classes with no way out. No pleading would do it. I was never given target grades to reach to get out. And that was just when I was trying to get into the average classes. At one point, I tried bypassing the and testing into Honors/AP. I was told I failed, but recently, I learned by accident that I passed those tests, but was lied to. The guidance counselor who leaked that to me was surprised I wasn’t happy about that and refused to say it was wrong. By the end, they were just telling me that the better classes were full, so I told them I would drop out 3 months from graduation and try again the next year. They thought I was bluffing.
Remedial classes do not focus on fixing anything. They’re just dumping grounds for undesirable students. The students are en mass, are unmotivated and bully anyone down that think doesn’t belong. I literately heard “What do you expect? We’re remedial students” from one of my classmates one time. The teacher just dropped her head.
You want to fix things? Start holding students back. Throw out the participation awards the boomers forced on everyone. Don’t just pipeline everyone into community colleges. Or make an actual High School track available in community college. My state supposedly has one, but they make it hard as hell to get any info on it.
same here in late 2000s, and this was in a community college, a large amount of people struggle in remedial math, as well as english, english i can understand because they almost never teach grammar/writing in k-12, but MATH.
as long as the college gets their money…
If it was anything like me 20ish years ago, the check cleared…
Some states have rules in place that if you graduate from a high school in that state, you’re automatically given acceptance into a state college.
Also, as someone who took a couple gap years and managed to completely forget Algebra II and Calculus, you can enter college and take remedial courses to (re)educate yourself. That said, I don’t know how that would work with something as fundamental as basic reading skills.
CALIFORNIA started doing this because the state unsi suffered from years of low enrollment due to covid, and pre-covid they had to this to survive. the reason behind it was mostly very low-job prospects for most majors, at least for the school i went to. they had to raise tuition and rent prices for (apartments they owned that are for students), and the students are so incensed they tell thier friends, or younger siblings to not attend the school or even go to college. also thier high propensity to transfer to a better 4 year from state uni because the current school sucks ass in career enrichment;development. also the lack of “volunteer experience for stem too which is extremely problematic and only if somehow found how to get into a PI lab”. and the faculty interviewed in these school, blamed it on LOW birth rates,yea no thats the least of the problems.
there are people struggling in remedial classes too, in my cc people have taken 2-3 times for remedial and the verge of being blocked from taking the same class in the cc more then 3rd time. 3rd time requires approval by the school to even take.
some school has pre-calculus, pre-chemistry test before you even register for a higher level class. if you dont pass you cant get into these courses.
If you need an actual example story on how something like this can happen.
you know the old stuff where teachers are like, you need to do math manually, youll never always have a calculator in your pocket (of course in retrospect its almost the opposite given smartphones). this particular case was TOO accommodating, and allowed her to use text to speech services to do work, so she never learned how to “read”
Umm, yes?
Incredible. Small thing, but I was surprised to read “Connecticut.”
participation grades, and they waived the SATS during covid. also LOTS of money.