<p>I have no problem with increasing the funding for vocational schools, but I’m troubled by the possibility of achievement tests being used to sort kids into the college prep and vocational tracks. I reject the notion that all stupid people don’t want to be in traditional schools. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m terrible at golf, but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy it.</p>
<p>he tries to address too many problems of the Ivies, imo.</p>
<p>he touches upon the elitism that they can instill, the injustice of legacies, and the inadequacy of the courses.</p>
<p>as far as i’m concerned, each of these could be a book unto themselves.</p>
<p>what i object to is that his writing seems to be largely depressing in tone and offers little in hope. It would be interesting to see what he proposes as solutions, or he is simply a 21st century muckraker</p>
<p>
This is exactly what I was saying, of course not everyone can be CEO’s and corporate managers, but that is irrelevant to whether they actually deserve a good education and the job that they really wish to pursue; some people learn at a different pace, etc. Ugh, I think I was suffering from miscommunication due to an overdose of…soda/games. Wait.</p>
<p>Btw, what’s a vocational school?</p>
<p>A vocational school prepares you for blue collar jobs (car mechanic, repairman, etc.).</p>
<p>This is where I think there’s a disconnect. Objectively, yes, we have spent lots of money. lots and lots. But schools are still dangerously underfunded, and what happens INSIDE the classroom isn’t necessarily what officials like to plot on charts. So it’s like there are the people that are saying what’s going on, and then what’s actually happening. In my state they’re trying this thing with failing schools called “academies”,where they split the 2000 student enrollment into three or four smaller “academies” with smaller class sizes. It took a lot of money. After the first graduating class of these programs, there was a report published that basically said: “uh… so we tried really hard, and gave them small class sizes, but… the dropout rates weren’t any lower and people are still failing. Maybe because we didn’t higher good teachers?”</p>
<p>Also, wouldn’t taking out the “stupid” people because they’re wasting time in school, only lead to a society of even MORE stupid people? If you’re in class and not paying attention, you have an infinitely higher ability of hearing something that sparks your attention or that you’ll remember than if you’re not in class at all to hear it. It’s like a catch 22 argument, they’re stupid so you take them out of school, and they’re stupid because they’re not in school. haha.</p>
<p>Just for distinction’s sake, there are more job opportunities than just being a doctor, lawyer, CEO, or car mechanic or repairman. There’s a lot in the middle that doesn’t require having a PhD, but still extensive formal education. I’m just saying that even if you’re not destined to be a lawyer, you’re not automatically destined to be a plumber.</p>
<p>As another note, I really do think it’s the self-value of education that leads to an individual’s good education, and like I’m sure I said somewhere above, that value isn’t often instilled, leading to people who don’t want to be in the classroom. So to really solve the core problem, what I think we really need is a huge, societal shift of personal value on education so it’s the norm. The agent of this plan? Magic! This, for one, would be a board room meeting that I’d like to sit in on. “all in favor of voting for educational values? All opposed?”</p>
<p>For the record, too, I agree with Weasel8488, I have no objections to raising funding for vocational schools, it’s the tests that determine your “self worth”, or any other implicit methods to sort people out that IMO are troubling.</p>
<p>@ colt45: I really am not sure what you were trying to say with that, but I’m sure it wasn’t relevant anyway. At least try to contribute to the discussion.</p>
<p>@ dontno: What exactly is your proposition? At what point would you want the education of those who do well to split off from those who don’t? Like weasel, I’m all for increasing funding for vocational schools (colleges now do jobs they probably aren’t best qualified to do), but it sounds like you’re suggesting to sacrifice some earlier education for this.</p>
<p>@ alfredenueman: I agree that the problem lies with educational values not being instilled. Unfortunate what a difficult problem that is to fix. The best attempt I’ve seen at the achievement gap is with University of Chicago’s Charter Schools. Though clearly this can’t fix the value of education problem for the people who really don’t care (students/parents do have to apply to get in, after all), you might be interested in reading about them. Their plan is to share their data with Chicago public schools and other inner-city systems in hopes of improving all inner-city education. Here’s one of the elementary schools: [Donoghue</a> Elementary School | Background and Statistics](<a href=“usi-schools.org - This website is for sale! - usi schools Resources and Information.”>usi-schools.org - This website is for sale! - usi schools Resources and Information.).</p>
<p>This topic is also being discussed in the Parent’s Forum if anyone is interested.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/526528-disadvantages-elite-education.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/526528-disadvantages-elite-education.html</a></p>
<p>JoeTrumpet: Thanks for the link! I’ll definitley check it out.</p>