http://www.fox26houston.com/news/144576205-story

Quote:HOUSTON (FOX 26) - Out of the 700 or so students set to graduate from Chavez High School, at least 300 of them don’t have the required credits or time spent in the classroom to graduate.

[...]

“It’s their way of bringing up the numbers so that the graduation rate is not so low,” said a Chavez High School teacher who asked not to be identified.

The teacher is the second one from that school to tell us about what seniors were told during an assembly last Friday.

“That this was their last opportunity to graduate,” the teacher said. “For the next four days, they would spend two hours in a credit recovery class and they would get their credits back and be able to graduate.”

In other words, a couple anonymous teachers feel that a sizable amount of that school's senior class won't legitamtely graduate because they're taking a last minute, cop out credit recovery class that's a couple hours for just a few days so that they can graduate with their peers and, for most, on time. The school district's idea is that they show they've mastered the material but the classes (as best as I can tell) are computer based and last only a few days.

They feel despite that explanation, it's just a way to up the graduation rate and get students out the door.

My mom was a substitute teacher at my old high school after retiring from teaching full time and she often sat in the credit recovery lab. She said it was an absolute joke and most time was spent on their phones playing games or just sitting around wasting time. The school districts came up with 'credit recovery' to allow kids to graduate that had basically been passed through with failing grades for years on end.

Just everybody gets a trophy writ large.

My guess is the numbers game has everything to do with Federal aid maybe?

I don't understand how this helps the failing students. Some lack motivation and some simply aren't cut out for education. What about making them dig ditches or harvest crops? For those not cut out for education, it might instill some work ethic. For those that can do better, but lack motivation, what better motivator than seeing that your lack of performance, drug/alcohol use, etc. is going to lead you to a life of manual labor and poor quality of life and the only way out is to get your schit together? Instead, we give them the participation trophy and a pile of food stamps and cash to do nothing while hiring illegal immigrants to do the manual labor.

(05-25-2016 07:18 AM)200yrs2late Wrote:  My mom was a substitute teacher at my old high school after retiring from teaching full time and she often sat in the credit recovery lab. She said it was an absolute joke and most time was spent on their phones playing games or just sitting around wasting time. The school districts came up with 'credit recovery' to allow kids to graduate that had basically been passed through with failing grades for years on end.

no body listens to a substitute...

(05-25-2016 07:39 AM)EverRespect Wrote:  I don't understand how this helps the failing students. Some lack motivation and some simply aren't cut out for education. What about making them dig ditches or harvest crops? For those not cut out for education, it might instill some work ethic. For those that can do better, but lack motivation, what better motivator than seeing that your lack of performance, drug/alcohol use, etc. is going to lead you to a life of manual labor and poor quality of life and the only way out is to get your schit together? Instead, we give them the participation trophy and a pile of food stamps and cash to do nothing while hiring illegal immigrants to do the manual labor.

The issue starts with inadequate parenting, IMO. Kids learn from their parents. Sure, there may be some that no matter what one does they are just idiots/lazy, etc; however, those are small in comparison to all the others.

(05-25-2016 07:43 AM)VA49er Wrote:  

(05-25-2016 07:39 AM)EverRespect Wrote:  I don't understand how this helps the failing students. Some lack motivation and some simply aren't cut out for education. What about making them dig ditches or harvest crops? For those not cut out for education, it might instill some work ethic. For those that can do better, but lack motivation, what better motivator than seeing that your lack of performance, drug/alcohol use, etc. is going to lead you to a life of manual labor and poor quality of life and the only way out is to get your schit together? Instead, we give them the participation trophy and a pile of food stamps and cash to do nothing while hiring illegal immigrants to do the manual labor.

The issue starts with inadequate parenting, IMO. Kids learn from their parents. Sure, there may be some that no matter what one does they are just idiots/lazy, etc; however, those are small in comparison to all the others.

You are always going to have your 10%, but me thinks the numbers are much greater. By the time the kids are 18 year old high school seniors, even the good parents have little say or influence. Time to put them to work before they have 12 kids to feed.

(05-25-2016 07:47 AM)EverRespect Wrote:  

(05-25-2016 07:43 AM)VA49er Wrote:  

(05-25-2016 07:39 AM)EverRespect Wrote:  I don't understand how this helps the failing students. Some lack motivation and some simply aren't cut out for education. What about making them dig ditches or harvest crops? For those not cut out for education, it might instill some work ethic. For those that can do better, but lack motivation, what better motivator than seeing that your lack of performance, drug/alcohol use, etc. is going to lead you to a life of manual labor and poor quality of life and the only way out is to get your schit together? Instead, we give them the participation trophy and a pile of food stamps and cash to do nothing while hiring illegal immigrants to do the manual labor.

The issue starts with inadequate parenting, IMO. Kids learn from their parents. Sure, there may be some that no matter what one does they are just idiots/lazy, etc; however, those are small in comparison to all the others.

You are always going to have your 10%, but me thinks the numbers are much greater. By the time the kids are 18 year old high school seniors, even the good parents have little say or influence. Time to put them to work before they have 12 kids to feed.

I can see that. Need to have a vocational track to identify those not cut out for academic work much earlier than high school. That way at least some could maybe find something that interest them and they could get the skills necessary to find work and not become a leach on society, etc.

The libs want dumb azz graduates so as they can get them on the government payroll and get their votes for life. Dems could care less if they are educated. They just need cattle to vote for them

(05-25-2016 07:39 AM)EverRespect Wrote:  I don't understand how this helps the failing students. Some lack motivation and some simply aren't cut out for education. What about making them dig ditches or harvest crops? For those not cut out for education, it might instill some work ethic. For those that can do better, but lack motivation, what better motivator than seeing that your lack of performance, drug/alcohol use, etc. is going to lead you to a life of manual labor and poor quality of life and the only way out is to get your schit together? Instead, we give them the participation trophy and a pile of food stamps and cash to do nothing while hiring illegal immigrants to do the manual labor.

Well said, and it also relates to how we approach college. Not everyone is wired for 4+ years of textbook heavy academia, nor should we pressure and shame people if they elect not to go that route. For some, learning a trade, apprenticeship, blue-collar labor, etc., is simply a better path.

(05-25-2016 07:34 AM)Kaplony Wrote:  Just everybody gets a trophy writ large.

Damn, you beat me to it.

It's the logical conclusion to the "social promotion" scam to support a child's self esteem.

(05-25-2016 07:49 AM)VA49er Wrote:  

(05-25-2016 07:47 AM)EverRespect Wrote:  

(05-25-2016 07:43 AM)VA49er Wrote:  

(05-25-2016 07:39 AM)EverRespect Wrote:  I don't understand how this helps the failing students. Some lack motivation and some simply aren't cut out for education. What about making them dig ditches or harvest crops? For those not cut out for education, it might instill some work ethic. For those that can do better, but lack motivation, what better motivator than seeing that your lack of performance, drug/alcohol use, etc. is going to lead you to a life of manual labor and poor quality of life and the only way out is to get your schit together? Instead, we give them the participation trophy and a pile of food stamps and cash to do nothing while hiring illegal immigrants to do the manual labor.

The issue starts with inadequate parenting, IMO. Kids learn from their parents. Sure, there may be some that no matter what one does they are just idiots/lazy, etc; however, those are small in comparison to all the others.

You are always going to have your 10%, but me thinks the numbers are much greater. By the time the kids are 18 year old high school seniors, even the good parents have little say or influence. Time to put them to work before they have 12 kids to feed.

I can see that. Need to have a vocational track to identify those not cut out for academic work much earlier than high school. That way at least some could maybe find something that interest them and they could get the skills necessary to find work and not become a leach on society, etc.

Yes, I am all for vocational tracks. Our system actually has a pretty good one and our largest employer, Newport News Shipyard, also has an apprentice school for HS grads as well. Vocational high school isn't easy though and the Apprentice School is probably as competitive to get into as a mid-tier college like Charlotte or ODU. We need a track for the bottom 20% as well.

(05-25-2016 07:43 AM)UofMemphis Wrote:  

(05-25-2016 07:18 AM)200yrs2late Wrote:  My mom was a substitute teacher at my old high school after retiring from teaching full time and she often sat in the credit recovery lab. She said it was an absolute joke and most time was spent on their phones playing games or just sitting around wasting time. The school districts came up with 'credit recovery' to allow kids to graduate that had basically been passed through with failing grades for years on end.

no body listens to a substitute...

It was entirely computer based. She was essentially a computer lab monitor for that 'class'. There weren't even tests given. The students just had to show up, click through the material, and acknowledge that they read it.

My mom taught second grade for about 5 years, then taught REI and Chapter 1 for over 20 years and had worked with many of the kids when they were in elementary school that ended up in the credit recovery class. She said some had legit learning difficulties, but many were there because they simply didn't do the work, knowing they would graduate anyway.

(05-25-2016 07:18 AM)200yrs2late Wrote:  My mom was a substitute teacher at my old high school after retiring from teaching full time and she often sat in the credit recovery lab. She said it was an absolute joke and most time was spent on their phones playing games or just sitting around wasting time. The school districts came up with 'credit recovery' to allow kids to graduate that had basically been passed through with failing grades for years on end.

I took advantage of it as well, although ours was over the course of an entire semester.

It's a joke, I agree and I didn't deserve to graduate high school, at least based on mastering the material given (I've made my displeasure known before on what the current curriculum and requirements are and what should be omitted).

My gf told me that she was not able to fail kids anymore and progress reports could not have 0s on them.

(05-25-2016 08:37 AM)UTSAMarineVet09 Wrote:  My gf told me that she was not able to fail kids anymore and progress reports could not have 0s on them.

The lowest grade that can be given in my county's school system is a 70.

(05-25-2016 08:39 AM)200yrs2late Wrote:  

(05-25-2016 08:37 AM)UTSAMarineVet09 Wrote:  My gf told me that she was not able to fail kids anymore and progress reports could not have 0s on them.

The lowest grade that can be given in my county's school system is a 70.

and we wonder why there is an entitlement generation, these kids have been pampered by liberal policies

(05-25-2016 07:43 AM)UofMemphis Wrote:  

(05-25-2016 07:18 AM)200yrs2late Wrote:  My mom was a substitute teacher at my old high school after retiring from teaching full time and she often sat in the credit recovery lab. She said it was an absolute joke and most time was spent on their phones playing games or just sitting around wasting time. The school districts came up with 'credit recovery' to allow kids to graduate that had basically been passed through with failing grades for years on end.

no body listens to a substitute...

At my school we did. It was the student teachers who got trouble from the kids. More specifically the student teachers who walked in thinking despite the fact they were in college and barely four or five years older than us that they were so much wiser.

The ST's who presented themselves as "hey I'm a student learning to be a teacher" got treated pretty well. The "Sit down because I know as much as your regular teacher" had a harder go of it...

HISD has been a joke for decades.

In fairness to them though, if you held back all of the kids that didn't read at grade level or had no business graduating the system would collapse under the weight of hundreds of 15 year olds in the 4th grade. And, that isn't necessarily unique to HISD. In fact, it's far from it.