<p>IP, if your kid doesn’t belong in gifted camps, and you’re not happy with the lack of rigor where he is (since you’re contemplating asking for more homework), and you don’t want to homeschool, where do you think he belongs?</p>
<p>iP - it feels like you want us to say – the US K-12 curriculum isn’t as rigorous as an international K-12 curriculum. Ok, I’ll say it. I agree. Now where do we go?</p>
<p>
Disney World.</p>
<p>"But isn’t giftedness measured by other tests nowadays, like IQ test?
The only way to confirm younger children’s [age 4-10] giftedness is by IQ tests administered by a trained psychologist.</p>
<p>I’ll try to help you understand IP:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>In India 25% of the population is illiterate vs. 1% in the US. What is wrong with this 25%? Are they just unable to keep up so they are immediately abandoned? (unfortunate, I’m sure a lot of wasted potential). OK, so now the bottom 1/4 never even made it to elementary school.</p></li>
<li><p>Only 15% of Indian students reach HS. 93 % of Americans go to high school. Only 7% graduate from Indian HS while in the US the number is at 80%. Obviously you cannot compare the two sets of graduates; even you can attest that not all engineers in a particular firm are of equal ability even though they all met the same prerequisites for employment. I suppose the US could make a curriculum that is only appropriate for the the top 10% of its students but that would be counterproductive.</p></li>
<li><p>Since the US education system focuses on a wider range of student interests and student abilities, it is not focused on only the specific subjects covered on the SAT. Students are not focused strictly on getting into a tec college or industry. The US produces a more well rounded work force than India does (although India is excellent in its IT industry, it is still full of urban slums and primitive villages) and thus needs workers with a much wider set of skills.</p></li>
<li><p>If you were to compare the top 1% of Indian students with the top 1% of American students (or should we compare the top 1% of Indian 17 yr olds to the top 1% of American 17 yr olds) you would probably find their skill sets to be similar in STEM areas but I imagine the American students would have an advantage in other areas (given the diversity they have been exposed to). I am also sure the the top 1% of American students probably don’t need prep books for the SAT and, like you, feel it is a relatively simple exam.</p></li>
<li><p>So why the market for the college prep books? Opportunity! Kids aren’t aced out of a college education by the time they are 10. Students that had a bad start (or middle or end) still have the opportunity to go to college. Even students who are just of average intelligence get the opportunity to go to college! But what college would be best for them? If they all took a test that was only appropriate for Cal Tech or MIT students, the results would be meaningless. Hence we need a test that will help differentiate between students that are not at the tippy top because we still have many jobs for non IT students.</p></li>
<li><p>OK, why should they have to prepare? Because believe it or not, all students do not retain information at the same rate and may need to review, refresh, relearn, or just plain learn. It doesn’t mean they should just give up and be forced to live in a slum. The USA sees value in all of its citizens. India knows this too but as of right now it is still a work in progress.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I think it is a shame IndianParent, that you are so full of your accomplishments (and yourself)that you cannot (OR WILL NOT) see the great expense that it came at and that you do not see how blatantly unfair the education system is in India. Then you have the nerve to come to a country that is TRYING (with a lot of problems) to offer an education to all of its citizens and complain about how it can’t compare to the education you got; how misguided it is, how silly its exams are, how silly that colleges look at things like EC’s etc. You should spend time with your son and maybe his mother (does she even exist?) and discuss how thankful you are for the opportunities you have been given. Then maybe you could discuss ways you could work on paying that forward instead of spending all your time criticizing.</p>
<p>You sound like a very bitter and lonely man. For someone who claims to have the intelligence that you do you sure ask a lot of questions that you should already know the answers to. I know you know but that you just don’t have anything better to do with your time. Maybe you should work on building a relationship with your son (or being nicer to his mother because I’m sure she has custody), you might see the world from a fresh perspective.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Exactly.</p>
<p>The question is: Why are so many people willing to feed this ■■■■■?</p>
<p>Notice that without his monologues this thread (and others) have trickled to a slow drip…</p>
<p>^^ remind you of someone else we both know jym?</p>
<p>What’s up with all the personal attacks?</p>
<p>He belongs in a more rigorous school, PG. Early AP courses seem interesting too.</p>
<p>PG, since my only goal in life was to make you say what you said, I think you and I are done now. I am relieved and will take a day off tomorrow to celebrate.</p>
<p>Who didn’t see that one coming?? Said so 2 days ago <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/13039473-post240.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/13039473-post240.html</a></p>