Oregon Law Allows Students To Graduate Without Proving They Can Write Or Do Math (oregonlive.com) 337
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Oregon Live: For the next five years, an Oregon high school diploma will be no guarantee that the student who earned it can read, write or do math at a high school level. Gov. Kate Brown had demurred earlier this summer regarding whether she supported the plan passed by the Legislature to drop the requirement that students demonstrate they have achieved those essential skills. But on July 14, the governor signed Senate Bill 744 into law. Through a spokesperson, the governor declined again Friday to comment on the law and why she supported suspending the proficiency requirements. Charles Boyle, the governor's deputy communications director, said the governor's staff notified legislative staff the same day the governor signed the bill.
Boyle said in an emailed statement that suspending the reading, writing and math proficiency requirements while the state develops new graduation standards will benefit "Oregon's Black, Latino, Latina, Latinx, Indigenous, Asian, Pacific Islander, Tribal, and students of color." "Leaders from those communities have advocated time and again for equitable graduation standards, along with expanded learning opportunities and supports," Boyle wrote. The requirement that students demonstrate freshman- to sophomore-level skills in reading, writing and, particularly, math led many high schools to create workshop-style courses to help students strengthen their skills and create evidence of mastery. Most of those courses have been discontinued since the skills requirement was paused during the pandemic before lawmakers killed it entirely. The state's four-year graduation rate is 82.6%, up more than 10 points from six years ago. However, it still lags behind the national graduation rate averages, which is 85 percent.
Oregon's graduation rates currently rank nearly last in the country. But it's complicated because states use different methodologies to calculate their graduation rates, making some states appear better than others.
Boyle said in an emailed statement that suspending the reading, writing and math proficiency requirements while the state develops new graduation standards will benefit "Oregon's Black, Latino, Latina, Latinx, Indigenous, Asian, Pacific Islander, Tribal, and students of color." "Leaders from those communities have advocated time and again for equitable graduation standards, along with expanded learning opportunities and supports," Boyle wrote. The requirement that students demonstrate freshman- to sophomore-level skills in reading, writing and, particularly, math led many high schools to create workshop-style courses to help students strengthen their skills and create evidence of mastery. Most of those courses have been discontinued since the skills requirement was paused during the pandemic before lawmakers killed it entirely. The state's four-year graduation rate is 82.6%, up more than 10 points from six years ago. However, it still lags behind the national graduation rate averages, which is 85 percent.
Oregon's graduation rates currently rank nearly last in the country. But it's complicated because states use different methodologies to calculate their graduation rates, making some states appear better than others.
Killing a complete generation (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Killing a complete generation (Score:5, Interesting)
My brother isn't literate, and he got his HS diploma here in Oregon.
Instead of a "workshop" to help "show mastery," he just played on the football team. That's the truth of this change; it is already this way for certain people. Not everybody, some people they just flunk out. It depends on the biases of the school and district administration.
It turns out there are lots of jobs where everything is taught by saying and doing. He's had jobs like that in multiple fields, and even found that is generally respected. He can also barely use a computer, but he can still manage to go down to the public library and watch a youtube video that teaches him a new job skill.
The funny part is; I'm not even exaggerating.
Re:Killing a complete generation (Score:5, Insightful)
The rare example is a solution to nothing. The rare example is completely and utterly pointless, in the majority of instance, those people are totally and utterly screwed.
No problem, little writing and math test at future employment and they are done, gone and forgotten. Attempt higher education with bullshit grades and now have to read, write or do math, and shock horror, they are part of university car park syndrome. Chock a block fall for the first half the of year and well only about half full in the second half of the years, every year, year in and year out. Well it Oregon I guess car parks will be overflowing with the clueless only to be near empty in the second half of the year.
Basically they are just dumping the problem up the line to tech schools and universities, the mass loss of students mid year and having to do special remedial classes for the uneducated.
The real criminal act, the younger you are the easier it is to learn, not bothering to teach and dumping them in late teens on the street and well, tough luck. They will change it back, what they really want to hide is how extremely badly online learning performed (basically all children in Oregon lost a year and would fail this year if the administration did not cheat).
Of course you can not have different grading systems for different people, it is extremely racist and prejudiced. Want to fix the problem, well, you fucking bloody idiots, promote education over sport and not the other fucking way around, promote brains over brawn, make learning a socially preferred goal. Else continue to strive to fail, job well done, clearly already succeeding.
Comment removed (Score:4, Informative)
Re: Killing a complete generation (Score:3)
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A lot of them are service professionals making over double the median wage.
My brother apprenticed for a famous artist, and even though he's not at all creative, he's a well-paid shop assistant.
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Point of order, this is about *English* literacy. The people graduating are not necessarily illiterate, they just might be literate in a language other than English.
Re: Killing a complete generation (Score:3)
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Functional literacy is different than complete illiteracy, and a lot of adults are functionally illiterate, basically stuck at an elementary school level.
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How the hell does he find a relevant video if he's illiterate?
He can handle small numbers of individual words. He's partially literate; if something has small words, and he sounds out each word, he can make it through. He won't understand many of the words. He will not understand how the grammar changes or even inverts the meaning of some words. But you don't need any of that for a web search. And if he spells it wrong, that doesn't matter either.
He can also ask a librarian for help.
Re: Killing a complete generation (Score:3)
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We need tree loggers, bricklayers, recyclable sorters, and many others, who apparently Oregon is happy to supply us with in the next generation. There's room for everyone, if this doesn't become a wider trend.
Re:Killing a complete generation (Score:5, Insightful)
We need tree loggers, bricklayers, recyclable sorters, and many others
And they all need to able to balance their checkbook, if they are going to function as adults. And that is the level of math we're talking about.
Oregon has become more of a third world banana republic and Louisiana.
Re: Killing a complete generation (Score:3, Informative)
Why would they need to balance their checkbook? Whatever they don't spend on the bare essentials they just spend at the local bars, titty and non-titty variety.
Tough in all seriousness, who actually uses checks these days? I'm 39 and I can only recall all of two checks I've written in my life, one was to make an earnest payment preceding a down payment (which was a money wire) for my house, and then I had to write a check to the company that installed my solar system. Literally everything else has been eft,
Re: Killing a complete generation (Score:5, Insightful)
The phrase "balance their checkbook" is often used as a metaphor for "manage their money correctly and wisely." At least, that's how I interpreted Taustin.
As eager as I am to chalk this up to stupidity on the part of Kate Brown, I am having a hard time accepting that any adult in her position would actually be THAT stupid. She MUST realize that this will only reduce the quality of education for all students, and all this will do is leave all or Oregon's children equally disadvantaged against the graduates of other states.
It almost makes me suspect there is a darker motive here. A conscious political effort at keeping "the masses" stupid. It would ensure they lack critical thinking skills, and therefore are completely vulnerable to manipulation from social media, as well as being completely dependent on the government for providence (given their unemployability). Or maybe it is an effort at preventing the well-known effect of people being dissatisfied and refusing to work jobs that they deem to be below their education level. If the level is low, then those menial jobs are more acceptable.
I dunno. I feel like a conspiracy theorist typing that. Though history has shown that all governments are capable of egregious evil, and a widespread effort at keeping people stupid is even a strategy that has been used in the past. So maybe it isn't so crazy. I dunno.
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I dunno. I feel like a conspiracy theorist typing that.
Agreed, you should pay attention to that instinct.
The bind that Brown is in is really obvious: (a) The pandemic learning has been devastating. (b) It's compounded, as the article says, by the remedial supports for the basic skills being removed entirely. (c) Systems get judged on graduation rates (as in summary), and those will clearly dip if the standards are maintained. (d) This always hits minority groups extra-hard, so she's on the line to be accused of running a racist system.
It sucks and you can tell
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Perhaps you have forgotten what it is like to be a high school student. They are not adults, and they do not think as adults.
Generally speaking, they are too young and immature to realize the importance of education. They have spent their whole lives provided-for by their parents, and have not experienced the realities of the working world. Given the choice, they would rather play video games, socialize, maybe play sports, watch TV, fling poo on social media, or any number of leisure activities, than do
Re: Killing a complete generation (Score:4, Insightful)
Your organizational skills are quite a bit above average.
I think most people are confused that their credit card bill never goes away no matter how many times they've paid it by paying the minimum amount shown. A lot of people going "why do I have to pay $200? I didn't use my credit card at all this month!"
Re:Killing a complete generation (Score:4, Insightful)
And they all need to able to balance their checkbook, if they are going to function as adults.
Haven't looked around lately at "functioning" adults, have you? I can assure you, they don't know the meaning of balance.
Also, these are the same people who won't have a bank account because a) the government can track them, b) they'll have to pay taxes on the interest, c) some other excuse such as not being able to properly read or write. Instead, they'll use a check cashing place or get paid under the table, then complain they're always short of cash.
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My HS proficiency test had me fill in a sample tax form, the simple version. Still a real world life skill, probably more vital than balancing a checkbook.
Re: Killing a complete generation (Score:4, Interesting)
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In the past, those were entry-level jobs. They were harder physically and lower-paying since skills or experience weren't required. Also in the past, those were jobs you took until you had more skills and experience, then moved up. If the new crop of kids comes in with even fewer skills and training, how long till they can move up? If ever.
But then, why bother with HS? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:But then, why bother with HS? (Score:4, Insightful)
What is the point of a HS diploma if it doesn't actually confer any meaningful information
A high school diploma means you mostly showed up for 4 years.
When a prospective employer looks at an applicant's high school records, they are more interested in the attendance rate than the GPA.
Re:Killing a complete generation (Score:5, Insightful)
This is true. School isn't for everyone. College isn't for everyone. But to be a citizen, you have to be able to read, you have to have some appreciation of numbers.
As someone said upthread, this doesn't help anyone, much less the people it purports to help. And it makes a High School diploma meaningless, a joke.
Re: Killing a complete generation (Score:5, Insightful)
Why learn to read when someone on TV can just tell you what to think and be outraged about?
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15 bucks doesn't sound so bad, at least it wouldn't for me, what's the cost of living in your area?
Irrelevant. You said the jobs were disappearing. They aren't. Now you are shifting your argument to "Well, they don't pay well."
Guess what? An entry-level job for an 18-year-old kid has NEVER been enough to support a family of four, never will be, and shouldn't be expected to be.
Re:Killing a complete generation (Score:5, Insightful)
Garland ISD had great programs (Score:3)
> my school district (in north Texas), they just got rid of programs to give higher achieving kids the chance to take advanced classes. "It isn't equitable" is the exact excuse we were given. Might have to pull my kids out of this district
"North Texas" might be pretty near Garland ISD, which covers some neighboring cities like Sachse. GISD has several different programs for students who excel in different areas.
My daughter is in the "Academy for Excellence" program, which has slightly accelerated classes
How does this hold anyone back? (Score:3)
Standardized tests often have nothing to do with what you're being taught in class or what you need to know to move on to college or employment. When my kid was getting ready to graduate high school that was a constant complaint I heard from them and from othe
Lottery for Sports Teams? (Score:3)
We'll get everyone on a level playing field! ...they just got rid of programs to give higher achieving kids the chance to take advanced classes.
Do they also select members of school sports teams by random lottery? If not then the playing field is the one place where things are not level.
It always amazes me how the people pushing to make sure education is absolutely "equal" think it is ridiculous to apply the same concept to sports. The problem is that the reason for providing more programs for smarter students is the same as providing more training for those good at sports. Society as a whole benefits when we can all reach our maximum potential
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LMAO
So your telling me the Left liberals took over North Texas?
LMAO
Re:Killing a complete generation (Score:5, Insightful)
We'll get everyone on a level playing field!
That is a core value of the left. To make everyone (except themselves) exactly equal. And they know full well that there are a lot of people who are too lazy, stupid or dishonest to ever get ahead in life, so they only way they can make everyone (except themselves) equal is to reduce everyone (except themselves) to the same level of squalid, helpless poverty, utterly dependent on the government to even stay alive.
"The Left"? Really? In the first place, even in the most simplistic case we have a political spectrum - it isn't at all binary. And if you insist on political 'directions', a three-dimensional construct is a much more useful and accurate model. For example, I'd be pretty far left by your definition; but I'm all for doing everything possible to help people who are struggling to be more competent and powerful and to have more satisfying, fulfilling lives. Furthermore, I think a whole lot of the laziness and stupidity you talk about are actually fostered by our doctrinaire, corporation-serving educational system. (Read John Taylor Gatto's books, among others, if you'd like to know more.
You seem quite literate, and are probably even intelligent. Did you never learn to think critically and with nuance? Or are you just abandoning intellectual honesty in favour of knee-jerk emotionalism?
Re:Killing a complete generation (Score:4, Insightful)
That's a nice bit of fiction you've concocted for yourself there. Like all good stories it's based on a small nugget of truth, in that a core value of liberals is an equal playing field. However, then you just sort of branch off into the usual boogeyman construction rather than actually take the time to understand the motivations of liberals.
It's not that they want to make everyone equal, it's that they want to make sure everyone has an equal chance, not equal period. In a liberal "fantasy world" if you apply for a job at Company X, the only thing they will consider is your qualifications to do the job. Not your race, not where you went to school, not who you may know within the company, not your sex-gender, not if you're married, none of the usual discriminatory attributes. The only thing that matters is how well you could do the job. Same goes for pay rates/raises, promotions, the whole megillah.
It's not too different from a conservative "fantasy world" really. It's not like most conservatives think it is right that a white person should get a job over any other race, even if they are objectively less qualified. Most conservatives have abandoned the idea that a woman's place is barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen. Really the difference tends to come in when there's an example of some kind of discrimination. Conservatives have a tendency to just shrug and say, "that's life" while liberals will get angry and try to do something about it. Sometimes they make it worse in the process, sometimes they take a good idea three steps too far, but sometimes they improve the situation too. There's a scene in the classic Britcom Brittas Empire where the manager who is usually mucking everything up has some mother come up to him and thank him for considering people like her daughter. If not for some obscure policy he created, the woman's daughter wouldn't have been able to use the facilities of the gym he managed because they couldn't afford it. It's exaggerated for comedic effect, but at the same time it demonstrates the liberal ideal. You shouldn't be shut out of opportunities because you happened to be born into a poor family.
Re:Killing a complete generation (Score:4, Insightful)
Not anymore. Now it's not "equal at the starting blocks" now it's "equal at the finish line." They moved the goalpoasts / tweaked linguistics again.
The old word was "Equality." Now they demand "Equity" with cute little art like this: https://e7q5u8c3.stackpathcdn.... [stackpathcdn.com]
The problem is, the game of Life isn't watching a ballgame, where "equity" means you all get different supports to see the game depending on your abilities.
No sir. The game of Life is do or die, sink or swim. You really think someone who lacks the qualifications for the job can survive in a meritocracy? No, they can't. The incompetent are readily identified and dealt with. A job is not watching a ball game over a fence. No one is going to prop you up.
Unless.... the company in question is union shop, where the unqualified are protected at the expense of others.
I'm not buying into your thinking, sorry. It was valid maybe 20 years ago, but now it's very clear they've shifted into pure communism: Everyone's the same save for the very top tier.
Or that's the way they want it. Over my dead body.
Re:Killing a complete generation (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: Killing a complete generation (Score:5, Insightful)
So without sarcasm let me say that you are a fucking moron.
Throughout history, businesses have shown themselves willing to act in all manner of vile ways which is what caused regulations to come about. Businesses cheated customers, forcing governments to provide honest scales and measurements when the market would not. This dates back to time immemorial; the Romans had regulations on weights and measures, the Bible forbids having two sets of measures, the Sumerians forbid it....
Impure food and drink used to be utterly commonplace, with water added to milk (cheated the customer and also a common vector for waterborne disease), chalk used as a filler for flour, dyes used to disguise the true color of rotten meat (sometimes using dyes that were themselves poisonous).
Drugs were sold that were ineffective, or had terrible side effects, or which were one thing but claimed to be another. (To some extent this is still happening because we let pharmaceutical companies get away with selling addictive drugs which they themselves try to get overprescribed)
And you can't even claim -- unless you lie, which I don't put past you -- that mere reputation would solve these practices, because the existence of regulation in so many societies, over so much history, again and again, shows that reputation doesn't work to restrain businesspeople from behaving in dangerous, sociopathic ways.
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Interesting. You were conversing with someone who disagrees with you, and you got so close to engaging. You almost listened to the person and updated your thinking based on encountering someone. Changing your mind? Not necessarily. But certainly considering a new thought.
Instead, you told GP what GP thinks. And what "they" think. You created the opinions and positions of the people you disagree with and then proceeded to disagree with them.
I especially like where you took an analogy drawing and dismi
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Agree completely. (Score:5, Insightful)
The metric "number of graduates" was made into a goal, and at that point it became worthless.
The education is where the benefit is, not the certificate. A bogus no-skills-proven certificate will not be respected by employers or colleges, and won't do the kids any good at all, and will harm the kids by removing the last incentive they had to study at all.
If we don't want to leave any kids behind, then we must see to their ability to show results. Maybe they must repeat a grade or two and graduate late. Maybe they need summer school and tutors. Maybe they need teachers who are themselves held to objective standards for teaching ability. Whatever their needs are, a certificate does them zero good if they don't have the skills, and the way we help them is by doing whatever it takes to impart the skills.
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Yes. Perverted incentives screw up anything.
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Indeed. And for those that can reach competency, it will be harder to find out how to get there. The people behind this probably cannot write or do math either.
Night be a tad racist too (Score:5, Insightful)
According to the governor, REMOVING "The requirement that students demonstrate freshman- to sophomore-level skills in reading, writing and, particularly, math" ...
will benefit Oregon's Black, Latino, Latina, Latinx, Indigenous, Asian, Pacific Islander, Tribal, and students of color."
According to the governor, not teach them to read and write, and not expecting that graduates be able to read and write at a 10th grade level, benefits everybody but white people. It sounds to me like the governor thinks only white kids can learn to read and write.
Either that, or the governor thinks they can learn to read it write, but "students of color" benefit from not being taught, they benefit from being illiterate, according to the governor.
The governor sounds a bit racist to me.
My ("black") daughter reads about 2-3 years above grade level. If the governor thinks that black kids can't learn to read, even at two years behind grade level, she's quite mistaken.
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They still have to pass their classes to get their diploma.
And we know the student has mastered the necessary material to pass the class by....?
Something tells me this is going to be movable goal posts all the way down.
So how are they going to get through four years (Score:3)
I'll be blunt, the vibe I'm getting from you is a vindictive one. I don't even know if you know you're doin
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Just because they aren't testing you on it specifically doesn't mean everyone graduating from Oregon schools is going to be illiterate and unable to do basic math.
I also find that if you dig into the details a bit more on subjects like this one, you find that the news summaries are often a bit simplistic and sensationalist with the actual proposal being much more nuanced and considered. However, most people (and I've been guilty of this plenty of times) would much rather just make a knee-jerk reaction based
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Just because they aren't testing you on it specifically doesn't mean everyone graduating from Oregon schools is going to be illiterate and unable to do basic math.
Yes it will, because if they are not testing these skills they will not teach these skills.
Re: Killing a complete generation (Score:5, Insightful)
But they all have such big smiles when they get their diploma, only to find they can't read the help wanted ads or balance their checkbook.
If you can't expect a 12th grader to read and do basic math, what the hell are you paying the teachers to do? Seriously, why even bother with schools, just admit your HS diplomas are little more than participation awards.
Re:Killing a complete generation (Score:5, Insightful)
This whole article is bait.
I also didn't have to take any tests to prove my proficiency before graduating high school. Most states don't have this. Oregon is eliminating these because... you prove your proficiency by passing the required classes.
What a load of wasted mod points on this flamebait bullshit.
Nice! (Score:4, Informative)
Less competition for my kids when they enter the workforce. Now if we can get California to do the same...
But they don't want immigrants doing startups here (Score:3)
I graduated based on credits for classes I passed (Score:2)
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This is what brought on No Child Left Behind (Score:4)
Re: This is what brought on No Child Left Behind (Score:3)
NCLB cut gifted and talented programs to better fund remedial and general curriculums - it was an effort to better serve the lower-performing students.
This just consigns under-performing students to the trash bin. Teachers can't be bothered to get their students LITERATE after 13 years of public school education? What in the holy hell are the teachers doing for 9 months a year, for 13 years (K-12)? I mean, how many YouTube videos can a teacher run and still feel good about themselves?
Well, if you won't be expected to teach. (Score:3)
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(so called) Elected leaders and educators (Score:2)
Racism by low expectations. (Score:5, Interesting)
Boyle said in an emailed statement that suspending the reading, writing and math proficiency requirements while the state develops new graduation standards will benefit "Oregon's Black, Latino, Latina, Latinx, Indigenous, Asian, Pacific Islander, Tribal, and students of color."
Basically, he is saying that these ethnicities are too dumb to learn the basics. Wokeness only seeks to lower everyone down rather than elevate everyone up.
Re: Racism by low expectations. (Score:3)
No, the "teachers" are incapable of teaching them, you can't blame the students for the teacher's failures.
They are cutting over to 'social promotion' and 'participation diplomas' for students, because forcing them to actually learn is too hard.
Re: Racism by low expectations. (Score:5, Insightful)
It takes two to tango. Some teachers are shit, but if the student wants to learn and is encouraged by their parents to learn they will. It starts at home.
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I wish had mod points for you, but at least I can back up your point. Maybe some gifted kids will do well in school and with their adult lives afterwards even if left alone, but for most kids parental support is essential. And a lot of parents think that boils down to complaining to the teachers if the kid comes home with a bad grade, which is utterly wrong.
Most parents are glad to offload the complete responsibility of education to the teachers. But if there is no substantial encouragement at home to achie
TLDR (Score:5, Funny)
...states use different methodologies to calculate their graduation rates, making some states appear better than others.
We're happy to announce that 100% of our students receiving diplomas has graduated.
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...*have graduated...
Sorry. Hasty edits and all...
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...*have graduated...
Sorry. Hasty edits and all...
I thought you were making a joke!
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...*have graduated...
Sorry. Hasty edits and all...
I thought you were making a joke!
And now I'm sorry again. Stupid education and ability to read!
clickbait, be better slashdot (Score:2)
This is a ridiculous headline. They demonstrate proficiency by taking and passing lots of math, science and language arts classes as per the Oregon State HS Diploma requirements: https://www.oregon.gov/ode/students-and-family/OregonDiploma/Pages/Credit-Req.aspx Good lord isn't there enough in the world to get upset about without creating controversy from nothing.
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This is a ridiculous headline. They demonstrate proficiency by taking and passing lots of math, science and language arts classes as per the Oregon State HS Diploma requirements: https://www.oregon.gov/ode/stu... [oregon.gov] Good lord isn't there enough in the world to get upset about without creating controversy from nothing.
If this is true then why would they need to suspend the reading, writing and math proficiency requirements, and how could it then benefit "Oregon's Black, Latino, Latina, Latinx, Indigenous, Asian, Pacific Islander, Tribal, and students of color."? Of what benefit could it be if they are proficient as you contend?
The reality is they are being promoted through to graduation without actually gaining these proficiencies.
This article is fear-mongering propaganda... (Score:5, Informative)
The actual text is here [oregonlegislature.gov]. You can read it yourself.
What the bill actually does is make it so that students don't have to take the proficiency exam (in crowded test taking classrooms) during any public health emergency. It also declares that that there currently is a health emergency (*ahem* COVID). It automatically causes the declared public health emergency to no longer be in effect in 2023 if the legislature does nothing.
It also calls for the education department to reevaluate the current "Essential Learning Skills" standard, and if the department concludes that the test isn't doing a good job, to (and I quote): "the department shall provide recommendations for alternative methods for students to demonstrate proficiency in skills or academic content areas that are not related to career and technical education"
So no, this really isn't the forever and for all time repeal of educational standards like the Oregonian (and its new right-wing Republican owner) is trying to pretend it is.
How racist can you get? (Score:4, Interesting)
From the article:
"Boyle said in an emailed statement that suspending the reading, writing and math proficiency requirements while the state develops new graduation standards will benefit "Oregon's Black, Latino, Latina, Latinx, Indigenous, Asian, Pacific Islander, Tribal, and students of color."
So only the white kids are graduating able to read, write and do math?
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Apparently Boyle is too stupid to understand white is a color. /s
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No, the asians will too, they don't need a proficiency test either since they studied all along. "Be kind? No, you no B kind, you 'A' Kind!" -- asian dad
Falling dominoes (Score:5, Insightful)
Clippy: Hey there! Your public school system is failing? Do you want a solution?
Governor: No, thanks, I will just graduate everyone, no more failure!
Clippy: Hello again! Your high school graduates are failing SAT and other tests. Do you need help placing them at college?
Governor: No thanks, I will just eliminate objective exams from admissions consideration. Now I can place as many students into college as I want.
Clippy: Sorry to bother again! Many of your students are unable to keep up and dropping out of college. And they are now saddled with loans with no jobs to show for it. Do you need help fix this mess?
Governor: Not to worry! I will add tutoring and remedial classes to improve their odds!
Clippy: Ahem, it looks like the professors just gave up, and handing out inflated grades. Our once prestigious institutions now graduate weaker alumni.
Governor: Not a problem! We will nicely ask companies to hire more local people, and have them catch up with internal teaching program.
Clippy: I think you should know, those companies are now hiring foreign graduates en masse, and we have an H1B problem...
Governor: I love H1Bs!
Clippy: ...
And almost all (0.99%) of Oregonians agree. (Score:3)
offshoring more jobs (Score:2)
https://worldpopulationreview.... [worldpopul...review.com]
Re:offshoring more jobs (Score:5, Informative)
Of course, it should be noted that Oregon's government is controlled by the Democratic Party (governor and Senate are Dem, House has 30 each Reps and Dems).
I've got no particular respect for any State's education system, but this particular case was implemented by the Democratic Party...
Idiocracy anyone? (Score:3)
They're so completely blurring the line between satire and reality, the south is going to drive The Onion out of business!
I see (Score:2)
Is this the Giuliani Alma Mater?
Soft bigotry of low expectations (Score:2)
See, we must challenge a system that simply shuffles children through grade to grade, without determining whether they can read, write, and add and subtract. It's a system -- see, I like to call it this: We need to challenge the soft bigotry of low expectations. If you have low expectations, you're going to get lousy results. (Applause.) We must not tolerate a system that gives up on people.
-- Bush II, in a 2006 speech to the NAACP [nytimes.com]
It seems to me there are five general cognitive classes in society:
* the cognitive elite
* cognitive upper class
* cognitive middle class
* cognitive lower class
* cognitive underclass
Gearing different academic tracks for the different groups would probably be to the benefit of the individuals and also to society.
The solution proposed in Oregon is that, instead of shoehorning everyone in a cognitive upper class or middle class track, they're shoehorning everyone into a c
Latino, Latina, Latinx (Score:2)
Latinx is some stupid shit that idiot white leftists are trying to socialize. The vast majority of Hispanics don't self-identify that way, but white people know better for sure.
From: https://www.billboard.com/arti... [billboard.com]
Although the term “Latinx” can be often found in English-language press releases, especially when pertaining to U.S. born or raised artists, it’s a rarity in Spanish language releases. Most telling, very few (if any in recent memory) Latin artists self-describe as Latinx, even
I lived in various parts of Oregon for years (Score:2)
When living in Newport, Oregon, I used to take my bottles into the local grocery store for the five cent refund. I soon discovered that the kid whose job it was to count the bottles couldn't to over about fifty. I used to count them for him. This was over twenty years ago. I can't imagine that it has gotten any better in the interim.
People of color are too dumb to test (Score:5, Insightful)
Basically, what Oregon is saying it that their Persons of Color aren't smart enough to perform well on tests. Instead of teaching kids so they understand the material, they will just not test.
Isn't that insulting to the LatinX and African-American community?
Why hold kids back? (Score:2)
Kids who don't want to learn are just waiting for the bell. Holding them back just interferes with their ability to go find gainful employment in a trade and do something productive. Kids who are in garbage schools need to escape as soon as possible and not be held back from attending a community college if they want to make up for what they didn't get in K-12.
There is nothing to be gained by withholding a diploma.
Kids who want to learn will learn. Kids who don't function well in an antiquated education
Re: Why hold kids back? (Score:3)
Learning to read a ballot or calculate income taxes are not 'high level' cognitive skills, if you can't teach a child how to read and do basic math after 13 years of public education, you aren't a teacher.
Please, describe all the 21st century jobs that don't require literacy or basic math? Pumping gas requires math skills, as does working the register at your local fast-food restaurant, but then again, it's very risky for a restaurant to hire anyone that can't tell sugar from rat poison because they can't r
What could possibly go wrong? (Score:2)
In 2020 there were 13 high schools in Baltimore that didn't even have ONE STUDENT in the entire building that could read or do math at GRADE LEVEL.
Let that sink in.
That means their valedictorian, salutation, and so on were all performing below grade level at math & reading.
Now Oregon is waiving the requirement that high school graduates be able to do math & write? Why? Is it because the students found the tests insulting, or was it because teachers find it hard to get their students to meet such lof
Horrible admission (Score:3)
will benefit "Oregon's Black, Latino, Latina, Latinx, Indigenous, Asian, Pacific Islander, Tribal, and students of color."
By stating this, she's admitting these groups of people aren't able to come up the standard of that other group. Either that, or that these groups are incapable of learning basic English and math. Take your pick.
Re:Horrible admission (Score:5, Interesting)
will benefit "Oregon's Black, Latino, Latina, Latinx, Indigenous, Asian, Pacific Islander, Tribal, and students of color."
By stating this, she's admitting these groups of people aren't able to come up the standard of that other group. Either that, or that these groups are incapable of learning basic English and math. Take your pick.
You can't expect them to "act white", you racist. From: https://www.newsweek.com/smith... [newsweek.com]
"The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture recently unveiled guidelines for talking about race. A graphic displayed in the guidelines, entitled "Aspects and Assumptions of Whiteness in the United States," declares that rational thinking and hard work, among others, are white values. In the section, the Smithsonian declares that "objective, rational, linear thinking," "quantitative emphasis," "hard work before play," and various other values are aspects and assumptions of whiteness.
That chart from the Smithsonian is a real eye-opener. If that's what it means to be white then I wonder what it means to be anything else.
From the summary: (Score:4, Insightful)
Boyle said in an emailed statement that suspending the reading, writing and math proficiency requirements while the state develops new graduation standards will benefit "Oregon's Black, Latino, Latina, Latinx, Indigenous, Asian, Pacific Islander, Tribal, and students of color."
How?
"Leaders from those communities have advocated time and again for equitable graduation standards, along with expanded learning opportunities and supports," Boyle wrote.
Yes, technically "no standards" is equitable, but can it be called "education" if graduates can't read or do basic math?
You found basic math and writing requirements "in-equitable"?
The requirement that students demonstrate freshman- to sophomore-level skills in reading, writing and, particularly, math led many high schools to create workshop-style courses to help students strengthen their skills and create evidence of mastery.
Well for goodness sake, wouldn't want to force anyone to actually learn basic skills!
Most of those courses have been discontinued since the skills requirement was paused during the pandemic before lawmakers killed it entirely.
Please, out of respect for others, please stop calling yourselves educators - you are classroom monitors now - continuing to call yourselves teachers would inevitably give your 'students' the impression they might learn something while in your presence... that, sadly, is no longer the case.
Not surpised (Score:5, Interesting)
After working as a developer for a couple of decades, I took an offer to teach CS/Robotics in a private HS -- just finished my 5th year, then quit. First 2-3 years were challenging, tiring, but enjoyable -- the focus being on programming and robotics. But in the last 2 years, CRT and identity politics completely took over the school (supported by admin, so I had little power to do much), I couldn't stand it. I literally got in trouble for not including identity politics in my intro programming courses -- the school decided DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) had to be included in EVERY piece of curriculum, including yes, even programming. They also, without my input, dropped our AP Comp Sci A class (the Java based OOP course), because it suddenly didn't fit into their new model. I have a high exam pass rate (100% in some years) and it was a popular, well attended course. But standardized tests are suddenly bad and biased or not part of this new 'vision'. It's insane. The school is planning to eventually drop all APs and replace it with with their own 'stuff', I can only imagine.
It's ALL about your identity group now, and where you fit on the hierarchy of the oppressed, it's as bad as you've heard.
To be clear, I'm not a Trumper or even a Republican, so you know when a lifelong liberal is losing his mind over this sh*t, it's THAT bad.
Oh yeah, the summer before my final year, all faculty HAD to read Kendi's "How to be an anti-racist" amd attend book" discussions". And it wasn't discussions, it was clearly the new dogma that you had to accept or become a pariah. I felt like I was suddenly in a cult...
Mission Accomplished! (Score:3)
What could be more equitable than making your standard—a diploma—meaningless for everyone? Mission accomplished. Everyone and everything is "equitable".
Though I have a sneaking suspicion that this may have been driven out of concerns that fewer students would be successfully graduating due to not taking things as seriously during COVID. Eliminating the requirement may be a way of covering up that shortcoming.
Asian students outperformed other students in OR (Score:5, Insightful)
They synergy between this (Score:4)
Re: (Score:2)
Not only that its going to literally cause some people to fall back on racist stereotypes and likely unfair associations to make decisions.
As perspective employer I might go - well both these candidates graduated JFK High School, I can see Shaniqua has a few volunteer activities here and Janet does really list anything outside school. I am going to go with Shaniqua looks maybe the extra activies indicate she has some drive.
Now though knowing that JFK will hand out a diploma even if to someone who can't tell
Re: (Score:2)
Hasn't actually changed that much. The RKoP private schools still open a lot more doors than the cake-eater schools. Another thing that hasn't changed is that some kids will get pushed through without actually learning anything. That's how it was in the 70s when I graduated and all the standardized testing hasn't changed that (IMHO). Not gonna pull percentages out of my ass, but I doubt the numbers are all that different.
Re:These tests aren't free (Score:5, Informative)
According to TFA, this particular state's tests aren't required to be expensive or lock people into any particular providers:
Re:Closest They Can Still Get (Score:5, Insightful)
Their goal isn't necessarily to prevent everyone from learning how to read and write, they just don't want whites to have better average scores than other ethnic groups -- it's bad optics.
Re:Good! (Score:5, Insightful)
If everyone is getting a participation trophy for showing up instead of a grade then how can they tell when someone is falling behind? The world isn't just black and white (am I allowed to say that?), and I don't think Pass/Fail is enough to gauge how a student is doing.
Have they dumbed down the curriculum that much?
- Disclaimer: I was lucky to grow up in a top rated School District during the 80s. So take my opinion for what it is: free.
Re:Latino, Latina, and Latinx? (Score:5, Informative)
LATINO covers Latino and Latina, Latinx is gibberish from obese white saviors who made a word that can't even be pronounced in Spanish and has been ignored or overwhelmingly rejected by hispanics and latino people. This in combination with Latino people saying it's a slur means it's a racist slur and an example of colonialism.