Re: Some grave concerns to the US education

eric blair <"bordermine(cut)"@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>> It was well recognized in the "old days" that the one real
>> mathematics course below the upper division college level
>> was the "Euclid" geometry course, teaching axioms, theorems,
>> and proofs, NOT memorizing facts and computational methods.
>> This got perverted, and the algebra course got lowered, by
>> the aim to have everyone take the same programs.  Also, the
>> previously mentioned changes made memorization, routine, and
>> regurgitation the process, and getting grades the only goal
>> which anyone could see.
>
>There has been a kind of holy war in the ed schools against ANY
memorization
>(usually dismissed as "drill and kill") with the ultimate result that
many
>elementary school students can't absorb anything and have no foundation
upon
>which to build. Would anybody argue against memorizing the alphabet?

It's useful for alphabetizing and looking things up in the dictionary.
But it isn't worth spending a lot of time on.

>The 1990 California "framework" do***ent for the math curriculum did not
even
>make a statement on the question of learning the multiplication tables.
The 2000
>framework finally used the phrase "committed to memory" with respect to
>elementary operations on numbers, but couldn't plainly state "memorize
the times
>tables". If you don't know the times tables, when you get to algebra you
can't
>construct the various possibilities involved in factoring equations with
an "X
>squared" term in them.

Of course you can.  You look at a times table.  It may be inconvenient
and slow not to memorize it, but it is hardly essential.

>If you go to the web site for the U.C. Berkeley School of Education, you
can read
>a study financed by an $11 million federal grant where they watched jr.
high
>students do math problems in hopes of figuring out why there is a
persistent
>"achievement gap" between blacks and everyone else, especially in math.
The
>eggheads at Berkeley conclude....it's racism! Whitey won't lemme do mah
homewoik!

You seem to have changed the subject.  If the schools don't teach the
times table, then that would be reflected across racial lines.  If
there is a racial difference then it probably is not the gross
curriculum content.

And I'll bet you've misstated the study results.  Your description
does not contain enough information to find the study.

>They are so dead-set against admitting that there ever was a "basics"
that was
>gotten away from that they can't recognize a lack of basic skills when
they see
>it. So, the taxpayers are subsidizing a $9500/year lobotomy (that's 150%
of the
>state average) for the kids who were supposed to be helped by all the
special
>attention they have been getting since the 60's.

Which taxpayers?  Which kids?  I see lots of innuendo, and no cites.

>Interestingly, these same students seem to be able to recall every "rap"
music
>lyric they've ever heard. So maybe some enterprising educator could come
up with
>some math jingles; the problem is finding enough things that rhyme with
"*****"
>"ho" "mofo" "nigga" etc.

Subhuman racist slime.

lojbab
-- 
lojbab                                             lojbab@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 LeChevalier, Founder, The Logical Language Group
(Opinions are my own; I do not speak for the organization.)
Artificial language Loglan/Lojban:                 http://www.lojban.org