Leftist, inclusive, diverse education yielding expected results

[Steeltime]

Detroit High School Valedictorian Struggles With Low-Level Math

The valedictorian of a Detroit high school is reportedly struggling with basic math in college. The development comes as colleges have increasingly rejected objective admissions criteria in the name of “equity,” with University of California poised to no longer require the SAT because of the racial impact it has on admissions.

“Marqell McClendon has struggled in the low-level math class she’s taking during her first semester at Michigan State University,” the news outlet Chalkbeat reported Nov. 15. McClendon, the valedictorian of her graduating class at Detroit’s Cody High School, was used to getting all A’s, but found herself asking strangers to help her with her college coursework, it said.

MSU has pushed for admitting more racial minorities in the name of diversity. Its “incoming freshman class is predicted to be the largest and most diverse in the school’s history, with more than 8,400 anticipated students,” the school stated in May 2018, noting that black enrollment was up 24%. But nearly half of graduates from Detroit’s main school district must take remedial courses when they get to college, Chalkbeat reported.

Bob Murphy, the director or university relations and policy for the Michigan Association of State Universities, told Inside Higher Ed that not requiring math will ideally “lead to more successful graduation outcomes.” [Sure as **** will. Hell, canceling ALL testing and homework and just handing out diplomas will guarantee a 100% passage rate. Oh, for the diverse college students, that means all of them.]

Nearly 1,000 MSU students a year — or 1 in 8 freshmen — took a remedial class course called MTH 1825 that didn’t count toward a college degree and covered material students should have learned in high school, the Lansing State Journal reported in 2018. It said MSU stopped offering that class and added MTH 103A and 103B, which spread out algebra over two semesters and count toward a degree. MSU said MTH 103 is “accessible to visual learners.” [Algebra counts towards a college degree. I remember algebra ... from 7th grade.]

McClendon, who could not be reached for comment, said she is majoring in biomedical laboratory science, which requires her to pass classes such as calculus, organic chemistry and advanced clinical chemistry. It will take her five years to complete the four-year program. She’s scheduled office visits with her professor, gone to math learning centers and joined an intensive program of mostly students from “underrepresented communities,” Chalkbeat said.

https://dailycaller.com/2019/12/03/detroit-valedictorian-math-msu/

She wants to be involved in biomedical research and can't do algebra in college?!?!? God help us.

 

[CharlesDavenport]

I posted this in another thread, and again here. Sowell talks about the devastating effect of liberal judicial activism and quotas on minority students starting at the 6:00 mark. This was in 1987. Things have only gotten worse.

 

[Steeltime]

All great empires fall. It is inevitable. However, no great empire other than the United States in the late 20th and early 21st century has sought to destroy ITSELF.

 

[Vader]

She will never graduate. If she does it's because the professors allowed it because of "diversity". If you can't do math you can't be in science. I took high school algebra in 9th grade. If you can't pass then you shouldn't get a high school diploma. Liberal colleges have destroyed the work of centuries of western society. Maybe she'll become a dr. and she'll operate on one of these morons.

 

[Steeltime]

She will never graduate. If she does it's because the professors allowed it because of "diversity". If you can't do math you can't be in science. I took high school algebra in 9th grade. If you can't pass then you shouldn't get a high school diploma. Liberal colleges have destroyed the work of centuries of western society. Maybe she'll become a dr. and she'll operate on one of these morons.

Agreed on all points. I was put in an advanced class in 7th grade along with 2 other students and we began studying algebra. By freshman year in high school, algebra was a rehash for me.

And the simple, undeniable fact is that the obsession with diversity and fairness is ruining our education system. As of 1960, the United States ranked as the greatest nation on earth in science, engineering, technology, and technological development. That advantage led to Americans landing on the moon in 1969.

Now, the United States is one of the worst countries among the 35 developed nations in math and science education. A huge percentage of our college students are incapable of even high-school level math abilities, to the point that most states have abandoned required testing before graduation.

Personally, I think all college students should show ability to pass a uniform, grade-level test before being deemed a college graduate. The testing would be in math, English and civics. Such testing would force college students to take courses in writing, composition, math, economics, government, and the law before graduating, thereby producing vastly more well-rounded and well-prepared college graduates.

 

[Confluence]

Agreed on all points. I was put in an advanced class in 7th grade along with 2 other students and we began studying algebra. By freshman year in high school, algebra was a rehash for me.

And the simple, undeniable fact is that the obsession with diversity and fairness is ruining our education system. As of 1960, the United States ranked as the greatest nation on earth in science, engineering, technology, and technological development. That advantage led to Americans landing on the moon in 1969.

Now, the United States is one of the worst countries among the 35 developed nations in math and science education. A huge percentage of our college students are incapable of even high-school level math abilities, to the point that most states have abandoned required testing before graduation.

Personally, I think all college students should show ability to pass a uniform, grade-level test before being deemed a college graduate. The testing would be in math, English and civics. Such testing would force college students to take courses in writing, composition, math, economics, government, and the law before graduating, thereby producing vastly more well-rounded and well-prepared college graduates.

Racist

Sent from my SM-N975U using Steeler Nation mobile app

 

[Vader]

Agreed on all points. I was put in an advanced class in 7th grade along with 2 other students and we began studying algebra. By freshman year in high school, algebra was a rehash for me.

And the simple, undeniable fact is that the obsession with diversity and fairness is ruining our education system. As of 1960, the United States ranked as the greatest nation on earth in science, engineering, technology, and technological development. That advantage led to Americans landing on the moon in 1969.

Now, the United States is one of the worst countries among the 35 developed nations in math and science education. A huge percentage of our college students are incapable of even high-school level math abilities, to the point that most states have abandoned required testing before graduation.

Personally, I think all college students should show ability to pass a uniform, grade-level test before being deemed a college graduate. The testing would be in math, English and civics. Such testing would force college students to take courses in writing, composition, math, economics, government, and the law before graduating, thereby producing vastly more well-rounded and well-prepared college graduates.

Diversity, SJW culture, snowflakes ETC.. are killing education. I'm a science teacher and I see it everyday. I teach kids that read on 3rd or 4th grade level.

BTW since the dept. of education was formed U.S. test scores have gone off a cliff. Add to that the crumbling of the families that started in the great society and you have an absolute mess.

 

[Djfan]

I bet you can guess why this conservative left teaching after 18 years.

 

[Steeltime]

I bet you can guess why this conservative left teaching after 18 years.

I have no doubt as to why, and can say it is simply too damn bad. Public education is now simply a money pool for politicians. Pols vote for more money for schools, teacher's unions give millions of dollars to their favored candidates, who vote to give more money to the schools, and so the wheel turns.

Results? Nobody feeding off the trillion dollar government education trough is paid on results. What are you, a racist with your results obsession?

 

[wig]

She wants to be involved in biomedical research and can't do algebra in college?!?!? God help us.

In fairness, she CAN learn. If she truly is motivated and is willing to put in the work, it's not like the kid can't LEARN. Again, it should be pointed out that this is not the girl's failure. It is the failure of the educational system where she grew up.

We can point fingers and yell and shriek all we like. The fact is, as a country we have a social and moral imperative to educate our children to the very best of our ability. If that goal is not being accomplished it is up to ALL of us to find a way to resolve the situation.

Say what you like about Europe, but many countries there (France is the system I know best) requires students to pass cumulative tests every year or two before they are allowed to continue. They take education tracking very very seriously. If you don't do well enough early on to remain in an academic track, you are placed in a trades track. Fail in the trades track and you're just done. When I was there, (admittedly a very very long time ago) France didn't require you to go to school past what we would consider middle-school.

If you didn't have what it takes, you moved on with your life's work. McDonalds pays pretty well, all things considered.

Sure, that sounds harsh. Throw a kid out of school by the 8th grade if they aren't demonstrating proficiency. But, over the long term that produces students who are much more focused and driven. They work harder and do better. Of course the irony is that the system ought to be based on academic ranking. Each year only the top, say 75% go on. By the time you finish school you have dramatically fewer students in a class than when you started, but these students have demonstrated that THEY are the brightest, hardest working, most driven. THESE are the kids you send to college to be Doctors and Lawyers and Engineers.

Everyone else becomes Plumbers, Electricians, Contractors, Hotel and Restaurant Managers, Farmers, Laborers, and yes... Service Industry workers.

And if you just completely fail out... Clearly you arent' terribly useful to society, are you?

 

[wig]

The above in application:

Say you start testing students at the end of 4th grade, and only the top 75% of the class is allowed to remain in the academic track, while the remainder is split off into the trades track.

Assuming you are SERIOUS about performance, regardless of track, you also drop 25% of the trades track each year. They are basically "kicked out" of school.

If you started in 4th grade with 500 students in your class, 50 would graduate in the academic track and they would be your best and brightest. (They could be hard-working too.)

You would also have 337 students graduate in the trades track. Plenty of folks to do all the things in life that simply don't require the top academic skillset. There could absolutely be colleges that cater to the best of these students to learn business management, restauranteering, construction etc.

over the course of the 8 years you are limiting your student pool, you would lose 112 kids who were regularly at the bottom 25% of their class. Clearly motivation to focus and work hard.

Sound mean? Perhaps. Is that lower than the current dropout rate in some larger cities? What about the dropout rate combined with academic underperformance?

In very large cities, such a program would likely, over time, improve the system's overall academic performance by simply (I hate to say it) culling the weak.

Where it hurts is smaller towns where the academic performances tend to be a bit stronger. There you would have a number of students who would probably do better in a larger setting ultimately be removed from the educational process.

It seems it's not an ideal system, but is it better than what we have now? Hmmm.

 

[xjx]

It's probably safe to say that most students that enter college will be taking remedial classes for the first year or two. (Except Asian kids). It's because the kids aren't serious about education, but neither are the parents, or the school curriculum.

 

[Steeltime]

It's probably safe to say that most students that enter college will be taking remedial classes for the first year or two. (Except Asian kids). It's because the kids aren't serious about education, but neither are the parents, or the school curriculum.

Depends, xjx. Plenty of African-American and Hispanic kids go to great schools, with excellent backgrounds, and succeed. The significant percentage of white students do well in college and a substantial percentage graduate with relevant degrees in 4-5 years.

The problem, of course, is the obsession with "diversity" forcing a school to have "x" percent of this color or that. That process inevitably forces qualified students out of the system, and unqualified students into the system.

The clip from Charles Davenport by one of my favorite authors, Thomas Sowell, was incredibly portending. He warned that forcing Harvard or MIT to accept "x" percent black students would mean that those kids, qualified to do well in a large number of academic settings, were instead set up to fail.

How right was he? The failures became so endemic that colleges set up phony areas of study - race and gender-based, "African-American Studies, Gender Studies" - to allow the students to graduate with useless degrees and no usable job skills.

 

[CharlesDavenport]

Detroit High School Valedictorian Struggles With Low-Level Math

The valedictorian of a Detroit high school is reportedly struggling with basic math in college. The development comes as colleges have increasingly rejected objective admissions criteria in the name of “equity,” with University of California poised to no longer require the SAT because of the racial impact it has on admissions.

“Marqell McClendon has struggled in the low-level math class she’s taking during her first semester at Michigan State University,” the news outlet Chalkbeat reported Nov. 15. McClendon, the valedictorian of her graduating class at Detroit’s Cody High School, was used to getting all A’s, but found herself asking strangers to help her with her college coursework, it said.

MSU has pushed for admitting more racial minorities in the name of diversity. Its “incoming freshman class is predicted to be the largest and most diverse in the school’s history, with more than 8,400 anticipated students,” the school stated in May 2018, noting that black enrollment was up 24%. But nearly half of graduates from Detroit’s main school district must take remedial courses when they get to college, Chalkbeat reported.

Bob Murphy, the director or university relations and policy for the Michigan Association of State Universities, told Inside Higher Ed that not requiring math will ideally “lead to more successful graduation outcomes.” [Sure as **** will. Hell, canceling ALL testing and homework and just handing out diplomas will guarantee a 100% passage rate. Oh, for the diverse college students, that means all of them.]

Nearly 1,000 MSU students a year — or 1 in 8 freshmen — took a remedial class course called MTH 1825 that didn’t count toward a college degree and covered material students should have learned in high school, the Lansing State Journal reported in 2018. It said MSU stopped offering that class and added MTH 103A and 103B, which spread out algebra over two semesters and count toward a degree. MSU said MTH 103 is “accessible to visual learners.” [Algebra counts towards a college degree. I remember algebra ... from 7th grade.]

McClendon, who could not be reached for comment, said she is majoring in biomedical laboratory science, which requires her to pass classes such as calculus, organic chemistry and advanced clinical chemistry. It will take her five years to complete the four-year program. She’s scheduled office visits with her professor, gone to math learning centers and joined an intensive program of mostly students from “underrepresented communities,” Chalkbeat said.

https://dailycaller.com/2019/12/03/detroit-valedictorian-math-msu/

She wants to be involved in biomedical research and can't do algebra in college?!?!? God help us.

It's a real ******* thing to do to report this. I feel terrible for that girl. She gets nationally embarrassed and its on the interweb forever. And what the **** is this?

McClendon, who could not be reached for comment, said she is majoring in biomedical laboratory science, which requires her to pass classes such as calculus, organic chemistry and advanced clinical chemistry.

She couldn't be reached for comment but she said that. Yeah.

 

[Vader]

Few points:

1. I don't know if she can pass or not. Some students aren't very bright. Sorry that's just the way it is. The idea that anyone can be whatever they want to be is a fairy tale. Everyone has limitations.

2. This isn't just the failure of the education system. It's the failure of the parents as well. You know what your child can and can't do... well unless you don't care, don't have dad at home, smoke crack ETC.. Then it gets tougher. Fact is that the vast majority of AA students live in a matriarchy with mom (or grand mom) at home. Not saying this girl is in that situation but most students are in that environment.

3. Wig's system is antithetical to the American system. I have 5 degrees that includes a M.A. But I was a horrible student early on because my parents divorced when I was young. I acted out a lot. So in his system I'm sweeping floors now instead of studying science and being one of the best teachers in the school. This isn't Europe.

What should happen is simple:

1. Get rid of all the worthless degrees in colleges. African American Studies, Women's gender identification studies, Trans-bi-necrophilia arts studies ETC....

2. Students are tested when they enter 1st grade. They are then tested on basic levels of competency at the 3rd, 6th, and 8th grade intervals. They do not pass those grades unless they pass their core competencies. If they fail twice then they are put into an alternative track that does not test but doesn't allow for graduation. When they enter into middle school or high school they are put on the "work" tract. This allows them to explore the trades. I would allow schools to work with local businesses to form a trade school to train them for these specific fields. We do some of that here on the community college level.

3. If they decide they want to go to college later on they can take the high school competency test as well as the SAT, ACT ETC.. and apply to college.

I could go on but I'll stop. The problem with any of this is that inner city students don't have the support from home or the environment to succeed on a high level.

 

[tapeANaspirin2it]

Depends, xjx. Plenty of African-American and Hispanic kids go to great schools, with excellent backgrounds, and succeed. The significant percentage of white students do well in college and a substantial percentage graduate with relevant degrees in 4-5 years.

The problem, of course, is the obsession with "diversity" forcing a school to have "x" percent of this color or that. That process inevitably forces qualified students out of the system, and unqualified students into the system.

The clip from Charles Davenport by one of my favorite authors, Thomas Sowell, was incredibly portending. He warned that forcing Harvard or MIT to accept "x" percent black students would mean that those kids, qualified to do well in a large number of academic settings, were instead set up to fail.

How right was he? The failures became so endemic that colleges set up phony areas of study - race and gender-based, "African-American Studies, Gender Studies" - to allow the students to graduate with useless degrees and no usable job skills.

I suspect the reason Obama never made his Harvard transcripts available is because 1. It would have noted him claiming to be from Africa and 2. He either had a horrible GPA or they set him up with some sort of pass/fail non grades on account of him being from Africa. He transferred into Harvard. There's something he's hiding on that transcript.

 

[deljzc]

Just like policing, the left-wing in this country have been feeding minorities the bullshit that the "system" is agains them. They distrust education and "standardized" tests as being systemically racist because they are told it.

There is NOTHING racist about a test that qualifies whether or not you can do Algebra, but our media and left-wing politicians have confinced America that any discrepancy of outcome must be an inherant flaw of the system, even if the opportunity is equal.

This is all about "victim class" ideology. It can't be me that is responsible for my bad grades, it must be something wrong with the system.

I hear it every day, on every news program, in every op-ed. Pick an outcome you don't like, create a victim class because of it, create an imaginary "systemic" reason for it happening, and then argue for bigger government or regulation to fix it. Wash, rinse, repeat.

It is a sad world when we strive for equality of outcome over equality of opportunity. Imagine what sports would be like if we didn't reward excellence and demanded a sport where everyone could do it at exactly the same outcome/ability/result?

 

[Ron Burgundy]

It's probably safe to say that most students that enter college will be taking remedial classes for the first year or two. (Except Asian kids). It's because the kids aren't serious about education, but neither are the parents, or the school curriculum.

I taught business and economics part-time at assorted community colleges in PA and OH for 20 years (until I decided to go to mortician school) from 1993 when I got my MBA until 2013. Over that time I saw the students get progressively more stupid.

 

[Steelworth]

I taught business and economics part-time at assorted community colleges in PA and OH for 20 years (until I decided to go to mortician school) from 1993 when I got my MBA until 2013. Over that time I saw the students get progressively more stupid.

Like the movie "Idiocracy" stupid, or lazy and ignorant kind of stupid?

And it sounds like our school systems could use a heavy dose of mandatory Thomas Sowell.

 

[jitter77]

I have a math minor and my freshman year of calculus was almost identical to my senior year in HS. I received a perfect on my final and the professor took off half a point because I didnt dot the I in my name (just as a joke). Once I got to differential equations I was in a bit over my head. I am not a theory person..... Anyways this story is sad on a lot of levels. First the student is set up for failure and it is not her fault. Pushing her through is certainly not being beneficial to her. Also another more capable student lost out on a scholarship due to this non-sense. Third this stuff trickles out into the job market where qualified people are not being hired due to diversity rules. To me it is like reverse racism.

 

[Ron Burgundy]

Like the movie "Idiocracy" stupid, or lazy and ignorant kind of stupid?

"Idiocracy" stupid.

 

[Tim Steelersfan]

And California leading the way! Viva La Liberal Education!

Least-Educated State: 2,471,189 California Residents 25 and Older Never Completed 9th Grade; Highest Percentage in Nation

California once again ranked No. 1 among the 50 states for the percentage of its residents 25 and older who have never completed ninth grade and 50th for the percentage who have at least graduated from high school, according to new five-year estimates (2014-2018) released Thursday by the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey.

California, as CNSNews.com reported last year, also ranked No. 1 for the percentage who never completed ninth grade and No. 50 for the percentage who had graduated from high school in the five-year estimates (2013-2017) the Census Bureau released in December 2018.

In California, according to the new five-year estimate, 2,471,189 residents 25 and older had never completed ninth grade.

That equaled 9.4 percent of the state’s total 2018 population of residents 25 and older.

 

[Steeltime]

Hmmm, California, Texas and New Mexico in the top 4. They seem to have something in common. What is it, what is it ... sharing a border with a 3rd world country, and infested with illegals with no education? Nahhh, that can't be it.

 

[DBS1970]

I taught business and economics part-time at assorted community colleges in PA and OH for 20 years (until I decided to go to mortician school) from 1993 when I got my MBA until 2013. Over that time I saw the students get progressively more stupid.

I attended college on the GI bill. The college level history and math classes I was taking were teaching things I had learned in High School 15 years before. The public schools taught things designed to indoctrinate rather than educate. I am sure it has gotten worse since.

 

[tapeANaspirin2it]

It all started with getting schools to use Zinn's revisionist America hating history texts where the major American historical figures are pushed and labeled racists. It also whitewashes communism