Rock and a Hard Place
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Rock and a Hard Place
| Thu, 11-20-2003 - 10:45am |
There's something on this board that has been bothering me, and I hope I can articulate it.
| Thu, 11-20-2003 - 10:45am |
There's something on this board that has been bothering me, and I hope I can articulate it.
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Laura
laura
Wrong. Wrong. And wrong again. If a class is full of bright students, the class will move at that bright student pace. The average kid in the class of brights is in the same situation as the slow kid in the class of average ones. They can't keep up and the longer this allowed to go unaddressed, the bigger the gap between the average kid and the rest of the class will become. Until the average kid is no longer meeting average requirements. Learning does not happen simply in terms of raw ability. The way the material is presented and the pace at which the material is advanced are part of it. Average doesn't apply just to raw aptitude, but also to the pace at which material can be assimilated, the ammount repetition required, the degree of complexity or simplicity in which the material is presented. Average ability won't result in average performance in a class that is moving at an above average pace and with material presented in such a way that is perfectly suitable for those of above average ability. To say nothing of what this environmnent can do to the childs confidence and sense of self. A child performing below average in a class is NOT going to view himself as being of average academic ability. No matter how many times he is told he is average compared to all the kids in the world. The situation requires attention, and if all a parent knows is that the kid is meeting some sort of global requirements, the parent is not going to be aware of a huge peice of information that will most certainly affect the child in all kinds of ways in the years to come.
Laura
Don't be so hard on yourself - I'm sure you'll catch on sooner or later!
They are a little short sighted. The Canadian system would say nothing needs to be done because the child is at least meeting expectations, and is in an environment that will allow the child to progress at an rate appropriate to her, rather than JUST the rate appropriate to a national average.
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Again the child in Case 3) needs a different kind of assistance than the child in Case 4). Part of the assistance provided to kids who don't fit in addresses the issue that they spend alot of time in a class that moves at a rate that doesn't suit them. THIS child does not have that problem.
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This kid is probably enduring a faster pace and a more complex delivery than the child in case 4). He has additional issues to be addressed.
<< Case 1, if a single classroom is used as the point of comparison, could lead to a child being expected too much of if they had the bad luck to end up (as an average to above average student) in a class full of very much above average kids. >>
No, thats what happens when the class data isn't avail to parents. There are two cases. Either the kid gets As because the teacher grades to a national standard, in which case most of the class gets As and the marks don't reflect the underlying class distribution, just the class performance in terms of a national average. Or the kid gets Bs because the teacher grades to the class standard. Without a discussion of class distribution, the parent is left to conclude "My child is above average and gets As so I need to see some concrete evidence that this child is being challenged I must persue this with the teacher". or "My child is above average but gets Bs rather than As. My child is therefore bored and needs extra challenge I must persue this with the teacher.". The discussion of class distribution is absolutely essential in order for this parent to understand what is really going in either case.
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I take it the whole "my child is smart but gets Bs rather than As because they aren't challenged in the classroom" mentality doesn't exit in Sweden? Not to mention "My bright child gets only Bs something is wrong with the teacher/school"?
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Nobody said general standards weren't used. The question is whether class standards ARE used. The whole point is that the comparison against general standards by themselves don't give parents enough information to make decisions, to help direct the child, or even just to just passively understand what is going on with their child.
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