BryanJ, I agree again but I also don't think Dontee is wrong. Many parents today want to be best friends with their kids and many students don't feel they should have to do anything other than show up to get the grade. If they put in as much time on school work as they did on the aformentioned Nintendo imagine what they could accomplish, yet school work is "boring" or "hard" and many parents don't have the courage to take the games away. That being said, there's also a lot of uneducated parents out there as well, that certainly doesn't help.
Dontee, I thought that fell under Parent Involvement.
I know teenagers today who have just as much motivation as exchange students, and it's a result of exceptional parenting. Now I'm not saying that all Americans are bad parents, but a significant percentage of successful people were either highly encouraged by their parents to learn, or motivated them to spite their parents.
Bryan's four points are quite valid, but one valid point is missing ... the student's willingness to do more than just sit in the classroom and accept an education by osmossis. Do you have access to foreign exchange students? Talk with them. Their work ethic in and outside the classroom is far better than the average American student. In many cases, the level of education is a year or two ahead of Americans. Face it Ameerica, we're losing the education battle because we are lazy .. Nintendo is more important than Physics, basketball is more important than biology. We are lazy.
BryanJ, I would be perfectly fine with everything you suggested. I wouldn't necessarily disagree with making the day longer as well although, I know when I was in school I certainly was ready to be done by 2-3 O'clock.
Vauche, you're completely right, however, there's more to it.
It's widely known that US students are falling behind those in the rest of the world. Numerous studies have been done over the years to try and determine why. Collectively, they have determined that there are four major factors at play: length of school day, length of school year, structure of school year (when and how long breaks are), and parent involvement. One study showed that teachers spend roughly 20-25% of their time reviewing material from the previous year that students forgot.
If we get rid of this relic of the agrarian age that we call a school year, we can significantly change that. By starting the school year much earlier, having more days, and giving more and shorter breaks during the year, everybody would be better off.
Seems silly to go for a couple of days then have a long weekend. Not much is going to get done that week or you're going to burden students with homework and limit those last of the summer vacations.
Vauche
BryanJ, I agree again but I also don't think Dontee is wrong. Many parents today want to be best friends with their kids and many students don't feel they should have to do anything other than show up to get the grade. If they put in as much time on school work as they did on the aformentioned Nintendo imagine what they could accomplish, yet school work is "boring" or "hard" and many parents don't have the courage to take the games away. That being said, there's also a lot of uneducated parents out there as well, that certainly doesn't help.
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BryanJSebeck
Dontee, I thought that fell under Parent Involvement.
I know teenagers today who have just as much motivation as exchange students, and it's a result of exceptional parenting. Now I'm not saying that all Americans are bad parents, but a significant percentage of successful people were either highly encouraged by their parents to learn, or motivated them to spite their parents.
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Dontee
Bryan's four points are quite valid, but one valid point is missing ... the student's willingness to do more than just sit in the classroom and accept an education by osmossis. Do you have access to foreign exchange students? Talk with them. Their work ethic in and outside the classroom is far better than the average American student. In many cases, the level of education is a year or two ahead of Americans. Face it Ameerica, we're losing the education battle because we are lazy .. Nintendo is more important than Physics, basketball is more important than biology. We are lazy.
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Vauche
BryanJ, I would be perfectly fine with everything you suggested. I wouldn't necessarily disagree with making the day longer as well although, I know when I was in school I certainly was ready to be done by 2-3 O'clock.
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jswan65
Come on, let the family finish their summer and then go back to school (after labor day)
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BryanJSebeck
Vauche, you're completely right, however, there's more to it.
It's widely known that US students are falling behind those in the rest of the world. Numerous studies have been done over the years to try and determine why. Collectively, they have determined that there are four major factors at play: length of school day, length of school year, structure of school year (when and how long breaks are), and parent involvement. One study showed that teachers spend roughly 20-25% of their time reviewing material from the previous year that students forgot.
If we get rid of this relic of the agrarian age that we call a school year, we can significantly change that. By starting the school year much earlier, having more days, and giving more and shorter breaks during the year, everybody would be better off.
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Vauche
Seems silly to go for a couple of days then have a long weekend. Not much is going to get done that week or you're going to burden students with homework and limit those last of the summer vacations.
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