It seems 44% of all graduates of Aberdeen Central High School require remedial math when they go on to college, and the same is true for just below 20% regarding remedial English. The school district seems to take this as bad news. I take this as a scandal. Why should universities spend their scarce resources teaching subject matter to students that the students should have learned in high school? How can one graduate from high school and not be capable of basic college math and English? What, then, does the high school diploma mean? I'd be interested in hearing opinions from around the state regarding how our schools prepare young people for college. Is Aberdeen Central the exception or the rule? It looks like there is one math teacher at Aberdeen Central who gets it, though:
Why expectations dropped: For approximately the last two decades of the 20th century, the tendency in education was to look at each student's individual needs and learning styles, which McQuillen said often resulted in a dumbing-down of the curriculum. "Expectations of our students went down considerably," she said.
For example, educators may have noticed children who weren't very good at math and created a low-expectation math course for them under the banner of "meeting their individual needs," McQuillen said.
That kind of system results in all kinds of low-motivated kids taking the easy math courses, even though they are capable of higher level math, she said.
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