What is Digg?259 Comments
- inactive, on 10/11/2007, -7/+294Lets give the kids a gold medal everyday just for showing up. Then hug them and tell them they're all winners!!
- Renton, on 10/11/2007, -10/+123*****. If you want to ease their stress from test taking, make the teachers stop giving their tests. Standardized tests are the closest things we have to "fair" in terms of comparing academic abilities of students.
Grades are *****, because some students can get a really easy teacher, while others get a really hard one. - xrisnothing, on 10/11/2007, -10/+101I'm sorry, but if a school test has you too stressed out at 16, you've already failed at life.
- iomegaboy, on 10/11/2007, -6/+92Let's just ban life. It's too stressful.
- Aeaus, on 10/11/2007, -8/+84I was going to question that, but in the end I think you're right.
But I also think there's no stress caused by such standardized tests either, I mean for ***** sake, why even have an education, all it causes is unneeded stress... - Bigzz, on 10/11/2007, -0/+52I'm 17 and I have taken a lot of these tests. As much as I don't like them, anyone who thinks that getting rid of them will some how alter the entire attitude most of my peers have towards school just makes me laugh...
- AKBryant54, on 10/11/2007, -3/+51aegisgfx
We basically do. - MaxPayne3476, on 10/11/2007, -14/+51Actually, we should just give a gold medal to birkoph for making himself look like a tool and a dumbass.
In the United States, saying that school period causes stress for the majority of students is utter *****. Wanna know what causes stress in the US? Being a teenager and all the ***** pressure that comes from that which only takes the focus away from education.
Uniforms should be mandatory. ***** classes like vocational ***** (floral design? ceramics? how many florists and pot-makers do we need?) need to be cut. We need a Back To Basics approach with an emphasis on a global community (4 years - Math, History, Science (3 lab), Computer Science, English, Foreign Language (Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Hindi, and Arabic). Not this "elective *****" courses that are currently offered. We need to also instate a all-year round school with 3-week breaks in between quarters (total of 40 weeks or 200 days) Japan goes 220. Disciplinary-wise, we need a zero-tolerance policy. Want to bring drugs, weapons or violence into school? That's fine, you're expelled. No meetings. No "remediation". You're out for the year and you loose your state and municipality monetary support. We also need a "voucher" program where every student is offered a voucher of the total aid that provided through the state and local taxes. This voucher can be used for all public schools and non-religious affiliated private and charter schools. While I would like to rid of tenure to keep teachers on their feet, I would raise it to at least give. This way, the best teachers are hired, schools must strive to be the best if they hope to stay open, and we don't just push students through a crumbling school district over and over again (this means you Abbott district - Camden, Pemberton, Neptune, Willingboro)
My goal in life is to be appointed to the New Jersey Department of Education and change the course of education of the 1.4 million students in this grand state. - Gir53457, on 10/11/2007, -31/+66In the US they're too unmotivated to care.
- inactive, on 10/11/2007, -13/+47Lets give the girls a gold star for every baby they can have before they turn 16.
- Scheissen, on 10/11/2007, -0/+29Lets just separate the smart ones and others that want to learn from the "ghetto-fabulous" ones.
- pkakira88, on 10/11/2007, -0/+22@MaxPayne3476
I think you mean "***** vocational classes". Seriously some classes like shop, auto, and a variety of other work oriented vocational classes may be the only chance that some students have at a decent future. Not to mention the fact that the variety of classes wont force schools to place kids in classes that arnt suited for them. - GirSaysDoom13, on 10/11/2007, -10/+32@ birkhopt
"Sounds like Bush wants to dumb down the nation, so that he will be the smartest person in the country.
Basically, you're all fuked."
either that was the best joke-ironic ending to a statement ever, or it was just ironic. - sronbheatha, on 10/11/2007, -3/+24People are stupid enough as it is.
- mpn401, on 10/11/2007, -3/+21Not all U.S. kids are not "unmotivated"...we just teach them to get grades and the diploma instead of teaching them actual material.
There is a natural desire to learn; that dies when all you're taught is to get high marks. And in addition to that, right after the test is finished, you forget everything because hey, I already got the good mark. I've seen people get perfect 100s in subjects and know jack ***** when the final comes or when we needed to use the material next year. Kids are told to "stay sharp" over the summer...people need tons of review in college...what does this say about the kind of education people get?
If learning is something that needs to be a struggle to get it down kids' throats, maybe its time we rethink the educational system. - DivisibleByZero, on 10/11/2007, -0/+18I keep telling my boss I'm too stressed out at work and she should just pay me for doing nothing all day, so I see this as a step in the right direction. Victory for lazy peo....
- inactive, on 10/11/2007, -0/+17is that supposed to be a penis or a syringe?
- hamandcheese, on 10/11/2007, -2/+19My biggest stress causer was personally projects. I'd much rather do an hour long test, than design and construct a poster about Alexander Graham Bell, where only an eight of the effort is put into research. That's neither learning or fun.
- guywhodoesstuff, on 10/11/2007, -1/+16My God we have low standards....
- TheBigBrother, on 10/11/2007, -2/+16yeah, this will prepare the students JUST RIGHT when they grow up in the real world where everyone makes sure that you get the least amount of stress possible in your cubicle
- Crazychipmunk, on 10/11/2007, -3/+16This is ridiculous.
The kids should go through all the pain that we did, because its called "preparation". So don't screw the kids over, let the kids learn. - kent1146, on 10/11/2007, -0/+12All this is going to do is to teach kids that results don't matter... that "doing your best" is good enough.
I'll probably get dugg down for this... but "your best" means $h1t. If you can't get the job done, you better learn to start saying "Would you like fries with that, sir?" The United States rose to power in 200 years because of hard working immigrants. If the US wants to retain its status, it needs to retain the presence of hard work in its culture.
We already don't teach our kids how to save, spend wisely, or think logically. Now we're not going to teach them how to deal with stress? - manamizer, on 10/11/2007, -3/+15@birkoph
Considering the article is about the UK, I'd say you didn't even bother to read the article before making a stupid Bush comment.
cdnyny beat me to it :) - chefdazza, on 10/11/2007, -1/+12We spend too much time trying to protect our kids self esteem and not enough preparing them for the real world, a real world where you have to work hard,STFU and do what your boss says.
- s1mph0ny, on 10/11/2007, -0/+11Well in Texas you'll have the ridicule of the internet as your parents march around yelling "Let ARE kids walk".
- iRoy, on 10/11/2007, -1/+12Screw this, I had to take 'em so all those little bastards should as well.
- inactive, on 10/11/2007, -1/+11Dumb article. Let's actually have smart kids instead of just kids who don't feel bad.
- sfmj, on 10/11/2007, -2/+11@NikoKun
"Stress in ANY form, is always counter productive"
I feel compelled to comment on what a trite and stupid assertion that is -- stress, in many forms, can be a powerful motivator and cause of personal growth. To offer but one example, stress from not being able to find the right band-mates lead me to picking up the guitar and learning it myself, and in turn to become a more well-rounded musician.
Think a bit before using the word "any" when stating what you believe to be a fact, and make sure that level of certainty is really justified. - dreambucket, on 10/11/2007, -3/+11Unfortunately, standardized tests don't create smart kids. They're all awful. Any multiple choice, standardized test can be taught to and learned - you can do well even if you don't have a firm grasp on the material. They don't even serve the function they were designed for.
This isn't a call for the end of testing - just standardized tests for 5th graders. - Zique, on 10/11/2007, -1/+9This is just insane. I still remember what a letdown it was when in elementary school I found out we were only going to get graded "good", "ok", and "improvement needed". I wanted to get actual grades and compare them with everyone else so badly, which didn't happen until 4th grade.
To be honest, I think the real problem here aren't the kids, but the teachers who (although somewhat understandably) don't want to grade their pupils, since grading them would also mean telling someone they're bad at something. - togra, on 10/11/2007, -0/+8You all missed the point of the article, which is underatandable because it is an issue specific to the current UK education system. No-one is saying that kids shouldn't sit tests becasue they are hard - sorry all you right wing jerk-offs. The issue is that the current government is so obsessed with ***** testing school children that teachers are having to spend all their time coaching pupils for the tests: As a result athey are no longer able to do their job which is - you know - teaching stuff to kids. Also the exams in question are completely worthless anyway: Their sole purpose is to cast the government in a good light by showing continuous year-on-year improvements, which are achieved by making the exams more and more trivial and dumb. Anyone who read the story on digg a couple of days ago about the new Physics GCSE exam will know what I am talking about.
- linkcma, on 10/11/2007, -0/+7This is another reason why the whole education system needs to be reformed.
- philba, on 10/11/2007, -0/+7I'm glad that at least some people making comments understand the realities of life. Life is full of stress. I think we need to teach our kids how to handle it, how to be resourceful, how to solve problems. I think it's crazy to remove stress from their lives. Too much of both English and American societies are about making it easier for our children. All that will do is continue the children's expectations of entitlement and that some one else will take care of them.
As for testing, that is the stupidest article I've ever read. How can you determine the effectiveness of a curriculum with out standardized (standardised?) testing? How can you determine the level of education with out the tests? How can a college or university select applicants with out some standardized way of evaluating them. Life is full of tests, formal or informal. - deathsquad75, on 10/11/2007, -7/+14oh no, not the dreaded SATs, if i fail those things....well, nothing happens....thats just too much stress for a young one.
- xrisnothing, on 10/11/2007, -5/+12but the rich stupid kids get a free pass?
I think Americans should adopt the German school system and have schools branch out for students who just can't handle it. I think it would reduce the number of drop outs and allow the students who do well to get a better education, instead of having the slower students drag them down.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Germany - JoeDiggsIt, on 10/11/2007, -0/+7As a less than 16-year old, I would like to say there is very little stress put on us by these standardized tests and this entire article is lop-sided. They say the "influential teaching body" said this but the majority of teachers don't even know what is going on with their students.
- Skavenblight, on 10/11/2007, -2/+8I like how the worst grade you could get is "Improvement needed" not "Horrible".
- inactive, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6The only thing I would want removed would be homework. Or at least give homework that is productive, not busy work.
- DivisibleByZero, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6The problem with that is the gray area. There are some kids with a lot of potential who're just too lazy to realize it. Without somebody kicking their asses to improve, they'll go to the fast food school and throw their lives away.
- rubbers0ul, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6As well as welfare, I'm sick of my damn tax dollars going to people who breed like rabbits and then can't give their child a good life.
- Bob042, on 10/11/2007, -1/+7They don't need to ban standardized tests, but they do need to do something about them. They're stupid and most students don't really care about them.
I remember our big standardized math test having questions like "What shape is a basketball?
A. Pentagon
B. Sphere
C. Cube
D. Rhombus"
And then it had a picture of a basketball there in case you got confused. - EnterDaMatrix, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6These tests have got to be the least stressful part of my regular schoolwork. Whenever we have standardized testing it is a great break from the regular homework. The most stress comes from trying to do all homework in preceding classes. Oh, and this last year I never did a single piece of homework at home. 3.7 GPA. I'm 16.
- mikemil828, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5Contrary to popular belief, tests don't actually make you smarter, they are supposed to test what you should already know, it doesn't actually benefit you since you would or would not know it if there was a test or not. They are to help the teacher determine what their classes know and to 1. Focus their teaching on where it needs to be focused and 2. Get a general estimate on how much an individual student has learned.
That's the theory anyway, unfortunately now a days they are being used as a cure-all for all of the ills of education instead of doing something a bit more effective (give more money to schools so they can attract better teachers and so on). If you were a politician, what would you do, raise taxes or test the students to kingdom come without having to raise taxes? The Do or Die tests (In which both the student and the school is at stake), only really benefit politicians trying to get reelected for being 'tough' on education. - SquigglyP, on 10/11/2007, -1/+6@MaxPayne:
I agree with pretty much all of that. I don't know what the education system is like in the UK, but here it's a disgrace. My mom taught English Literature in a college and wanted to work with younger students, so when we moved she took an English teaching job in a highschool. Occasionally i would pick her up for lunch and i often felt that i was in great danger while i was there. Cops were crawling all over teh place all the time and i witnessed a few fights just by dropping by for a minute every other week. it was a mad-house.
The thing, tho, about testing too much is that the teachers HAVE to focus on preparing for the tests. the schools don't want to lose their funding so they emphasize the test results more than they do the actual education of students. Thus, they end up learning things for about one semester, then going back over the same information for the rest of the year to make sure they test well the other 4 or 5 times they get tested. This way the school will keep their funds for the next year.
The problem is that they've turned the education system into a struggle for funding instead of a platform for education. The voucher idea is great, but in practice there are flaws. People will generally want to send their children to 'good' schools, the ones known for providing the best educations etc. The problem is that those schools end up becoming far too overcrowded while the schools that recieve fewer students then take a cut in funding. Thus they end up amphasizing the test scores even more that year to make sure they don't lose any more funding, and so they might attract more students the following year. But then they also will pander to the students who aren't doing well, and thus the entire level of education is dragged down to the lowest common denominator. Teachers won't move forward until the dumbest kid in the class can pass the tests they take CONSTANTLY to prepare them for the real tests.
The schools literally cannot afford to let students fail. Even if the test results were spectacular, the students still wouldn't be learning much of anything beyond the bare minimum to pas the test, and they have that information drilled into them for an entire school year. it's unfair to the students that aren't borderline retarded, or who give a ***** about their future. Walk through a mall and pick out the dumbest, most obnoxious, idiotic teenager you can find. The stuff that student knows is the level of education that all of our students are recieving because they are the focus of the education system currently. Why waste all that time on the students who are there to learn? - idonthack, on 10/11/2007, -1/+6I got shot once, let's shoot at all the kids.
EDIT:
Dear FBI,
Not really.
Very safely, idonthack - shadus, on 10/11/2007, -1/+6The bad thing about tests in school is the teachers teach you to pass the test not the information they should be imparting... because they have to keep a certain percentage of passing scores to keep funding and if they taught the actual information that would later be useful a lot of kids would fail the test... so basically our school system has become devoid of real content and just has information on how to pass the tests.
- rabidjade, on 10/11/2007, -1/+5The "Political Correctness" ship has docked at yet another port. The PC culture is why our kids are spoiled and protected compared to our generation. School sucked but looking back at it, it wasn tough compared to life. Kids shouldn't need it any easier.
- mikemil828, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4pkakira88
Don't kid yourself, standardized tests aren't all that much better from regular tests, the teacher stuffs you full of knowledge you may or may not ever need again, then you vomit everything onto a piece of paper once the day comes (as one of my college teachers liked to put it). Usually what the test does is to determine 1. How well your teacher is in stuffing you full of isoteric knowledge 2. How good your short term memory is 3. How your mood was during the test (if you own a pet, hope to god it doesn't die the day prior) and not particularly if you learned anything. - robbh66, on 10/11/2007, -2/+6Absolutely retarded. The only time I actually got stressed when taking tests when I was OVER 16 and realized that ***** might be important.
Marked Inaccurate. -
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