NetNews Usenet Archive 1993 #1/NN_1993_1.iso/spool/misc/educatio/5711

Text File | 1993-01-08 | 3.5 KB | 71 lines

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From: [e-mail] (Eric Roberts)
Subject: Re: Magnet schools
Organization: Computer Science Dept., Univ. of Western Ontario, London, Canada
Distribution: na
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1993 20:19:21 GMT
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In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Charles Lin) writes:
>
>In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Eric Roberts) writes:
>[comments referring to magnet schools in PG county]
>>
>>My first question is, how do you determine who has the ability and who
>>does not?
>
>   This is always going to be a controversial point.   One could always
>test whether students can solve math problems, science problems,
>write essays, etc., as a means of testing who gets in and who doesn't.
>The drawback is that it may mean some minorities will fare poorly (though
>in some locations like New York, if I recall, minorities are represented
>in fairly large numbers) for one reason or another, and therefore people
>may decide that this is inherently unfair.   Nevertheless, it may that without
>magnet schools, the opportunities at local high schools may not be that
>good either, and while magnet schools do not promise great education to
>everyone, there is something to strive for.
>>
>>Would it not be easier to allow those students to skip high school?
>>It seems to me that the universities could do much more for them,
>>and at the same time they would get a piece of paper that means
>>something, not a useless high school diploma.
>>
>    I think this is unrealistic.   The most prestigious schools in the nation
>assume that students entering have some background.   During the years of
>high school, one can learn calculus, introductory sciences, learn a foreign
>language, etc., and when they head to college, there will be other students
>with similar skills.   Having these students go directly to college is,
>in effect, having a magnet school.   Of course, placing 9th and 10th graders
>in college would also pose interrelational problems, as someone who is
>17 or 18 is likely to be more mature than someone at 15 or 16.

I am not talking about everage children. There are those who know
advanced calculus before they ever enter high school.
The interrelational problems between those children and their classmates
are still greater.

>
>    Magnet schools provide the kind of challenge that schools ought to
>providing, but unfortunately, do not.   Part of the success is not only
>due to dedicate teachers, but much more importantly, to dedicated students,
>who have parents that are aware of the value of better education.  I recently
>read that Americans were tested in math skills and still fared just as
>poorly as ten years ago.   When asked, typical American parents were
>satisified with their children's education, while typical Japanese parents
>were not.   While one might consider the Japanese system extreme, one advantage
>is that, for many parents, education is at a premium.   Valuing education must
>first come from the home, and then the school.   The best schools will not
>help people who are unwilling to learn.
>
>--
>Charles Lin
>[e-mail]
>