Public schools

[craigwatanabe]

Re: Public schools

Okay so the President says it's wrong, Abercrombie says it's wrong, so what, lay em off entirely? Is that the solution cuz raiding the Hurricane fund ain't. As a homeowner, raiding this fund is simply wrong ESPECIALLY DURING HURRICANE SEASON! We have $60M in the BOE's Rainy day fund. It's there, it's raining...USE IT!

[craigwatanabe]

Re: Public schools

So as a parent I did my part by helping out a family with two boys to come stay the thursday evening and Friday all day at my home to watch while furlough friday took place. I think if all parents banded together most kids could have been accomodated.

Instead parents, students and teachers staged a rally and used that time to protest instead of using that time to study, teach and supervise. More complainers than improvisers.

[Amati]

Re: Public schools

Recently I was in the movie theater and saw some ads run by the state. And I see state funded ads often on TV. How about taking some of those advertising dollars and putting it towards education? A few months of "less ads" will not matter that much, but a near year of 3.5 days/week of school is going to matter a lot to students!

[acousticlady]

Re: Public schools

So you want to start a discussion by miffing the audience? Is that a Don Rickles approach?

Here's a thought. If America's / Hawaii's educational systems suck as much as is widely publicized, then ideally all the non-U.S. students (and some really bright American students) would go to fine Nigerian educational institutions. Yet it seems to me that foreign students are clamoring to get into U.S. undergraduate & postgraduate schools, and businesses are swamped with the demand for H-1B visas. If the U.S. education system is so bad, then why are all the non-U.S. citizens trying to get in?


Thanks, TG, you're preaching to the choir-- I'm a USNA grad myself. But NROTC does help make fine institutions like Rice, Notre Dame, and UH more affordable... or at least a "lower" price than I paid.

NROTC wants:

Not sure what UH wants.

OK, yes, maybe I do want the audience to be a little miffed (in the nicest possible way of course). We should all be a little miffed. Our public education system is in shambles.

The colleges and universities are a little different matter. Those from Nigeria (or where ever) are clamoring to get into the undergrad and grad programs (and ideally, to Harvard, Columbia, Stanford), not K - 12 (at least not for the educational opportunities).

I got involved in this because of what I see when they do get to college. One of the biggest complaints is that students do not know how to think. They are however, very good at spitting back exactly what we feed them.

Did a little research on average combined SAT scores:

As you already pointed out - NROTC - 1050


public institutions
UH - 930 SUNY - 1100


private institutions
Skidmore - 1290 Harvard - 1495

[acousticlady]

Re: Public schools

More complainers than improvisers.

Here, here! That is it in a nutshell.

What would we all do if suddenly the government failed and there was no more money for education?

[craigwatanabe]

Re: Public schools

Here, here! That is it in a nutshell.

What would we all do if suddenly the government failed and there was no more money for education?

If this protest at the capitol featured teachers teaching students and parents helping out (as it should have been on any given school day) I think it would have garnered more sympathy from the general public.

[Amati]

Re: Public schools

Did a little research on average combined SAT scores:
As you already pointed out - NROTC - 1050
public institutions
UH - 930 SUNY - 1100
private institutions
Skidmore - 1290 Harvard - 1495

Maybe you can help me with a generic question. My highschooler is in the midst of taking the SATs. There are three sections, and UHManoa requires approx 510 (I might be a few points off) in each of the areas. That would be 1530 total. How come that is different from the average combined SAT scores that you listed above (930)? What am I missing in the details? Thanks. Signed: Parent of a SAT-student

[Glen Miyashiro]

Re: Public schools

I suspect acousticlady is thinking of the old SAT, which had a verbal section and a math section, both with maximum scores of 800 each and an average of around 500. In 2005, a third section was added: the essay, also with a maximum score of 800 and an average of around 500.

[Kalihiboy]

Re: Public schools

Let's go back nearly 9 years ago when the teachers went on strike (Cayetano was the lame duck Governor at the time, sound familiar?), I honestly do not remember any backlash from the parents whatsoever. Adjustments were made by all, even those with special needs.

I think about 3 weeks of school were lost CONSECUTIVELY!! Wasnt gained back was it??

In 1973 another strike lasted nearly as long. Okay now there is a problem about 17 Friday's being lost this school year. In 2001 during the strike I remember parents dropping off food, drinks, etc. for the teachers. It was the teachers against the governor and it was nasty, but it ended finally. So now 8 and a half years later (is it because of the poor economy?) it seems the parents are claiming the teachers are selfish, greedy and don't care about their own students. Why are things so different now than then?

A few times I've heard suggestions why not have the school year simply end in the last week of April or first week of May, so the 17 days can be consecutive, the teachers would know well ahead of time to plan out the year, the parents would know school's ending earlier, but can make adjustments well ahead of time. I don't know why this wasn't thought of in the process and if it was it must have been shot down for some reason.

Aj

[acousticlady]

Re: Public schools

Maybe you can help me with a generic question. My highschooler is in the midst of taking the SATs. There are three sections, and UHManoa requires approx 510 (I might be a few points off) in each of the areas. That would be 1530 total. How come that is different from the average combined SAT scores that you listed above (930)? What am I missing in the details? Thanks. Signed: Parent of a SAT-student

I suspect acousticlady is thinking of the old SAT, which had a verbal section and a math section, both with maximum scores of 800 each and an average of around 500. In 2005, a third section was added: the essay, also with a maximum score of 800 and an average of around 500.

My bad.......... I just did a search for the average sat scores of students in these schools and that is what came up. I imagine that if we checked the latest average scores that each school would go up accordingly.

I was actually unaware that another section was added. Interesting........ the colleges yell that the sat (or act) is not a good measure of student ability and what do they do? Add yet another test............

[Nords]

Re: Public schools

Maybe you can help me with a generic question. My highschooler is in the midst of taking the SATs. There are three sections, and UHManoa requires approx 510 (I might be a few points off) in each of the areas. That would be 1530 total. How come that is different from the average combined SAT scores that you listed above (930)? What am I missing in the details? Thanks. Signed: Parent of a SAT-student

I suspect acousticlady is thinking of the old SAT, which had a verbal section and a math section, both with maximum scores of 800 each and an average of around 500. In 2005, a third section was added: the essay, also with a maximum score of 800 and an average of around 500.

My bad.......... I just did a search for the average sat scores of students in these schools and that is what came up. I imagine that if we checked the latest average scores that each school would go up accordingly.
I was actually unaware that another section was added. Interesting........ the colleges yell that the sat (or act) is not a good measure of student ability and what do they do? Add yet another test............

We visited five schools on our 2007 college tours-- Rice, Notre Dame, Carnegie-Mellon, Renssalaer, and USNA. None of them paid much attention to the written portion of the SAT. They're totally focused on the verbal & math sections and their contribution to the whole-candidate multiple, although an exceptional written performance (in either direction) may be noted.

SAT scores can be improved with practice, especially if the student is hesitant to guess. Just a few questions separate the 600 and 700 scores, some test dates have easier tests than other dates, familiarity breeds confidence, and a hard-charging guessing strategy can generate significant improvement. Our kid took the test three times (with Test Success Hawaii's classes in between) and added over 100 points to her written/verbal sections.