OT to dabum3: I strongly disagree with much of B. Long's post and explained my point of view in a PM to him.
My high school education was identical to yours. NYC has 4 or 5 academically oriented high schools where admittance is determined by a city-wide entrance examination; I attended one of those schools. Disciplinary problems were rare and were not tolerated. You were expelled for serious violations and then attended your local high school.
Briefly, my bone of contention with B. Long's comments is that students DO have varying abilities, aptitudes, work ethic and interest in academics. Grouping them accordingly permits these students to motivate and encourage each other, subsequently permitting these students to work at a faster pace. This is not elitist or undemocratic; to do otherwise and not identify and encourage academic talent is "dumbing down" to promote a false sense of equality and "democracy". You would never think of doing this with a high school football or basketball team -- all of the team members are not given equal amounts of playing time so that everyone's self-esteem is raised. The best players get the most time on the field or court and, if you work at your game and improve, you get increased playing time. The use of public schools for misguided social experimentation explains why they are so ineffective in preparing students for college and why the US is incapable of producing sufficient numbers of students to fill the science and engineering slots in US colleges. If the US didn't fill these slots (and subsequent positions in high-tech industry) with Asian and Indian students, our country's leadership position in technology and innovation would be seriously hampered.
If I may paraphrase B. Long, his point (I believe) is that this should not be done at another student's expense and that the less academically gifted shouldn't be tossed aside. Rather, they should receive equal attention and be permitted to achieve their full potential in a caring, supportive environment rather than being labelled and forgotten. I couldn't agree more; regrettably, since many US high schools have all they can do with emotional baggage and disciplinary problems many students have, they do not have the resources to accomplish this. However, ignoring the aptitudes and varying talents of students is a prescription for mediocrity and results in concerned parents pulling their children from public schools to attend private or parochial schools; or, it results in these families moving from cities to the suburbs. No one wins when this occurs. |
