Dumbing Down Higher Education
By Linda Chavez, Yahoo News
January 11, 2008

...a UC policy-making board is considering sweeping changes in the admissions process that threatens to lower standards for admission for all students in the hopes that it will boost admission of more blacks and Hispanics (Asians already account for about 40 percent of the students). This board proposes lowering the GPA required to 2.8 and dropping the requirement for students to take SAT II tests in at least two academic subjects, among other changes. The effect will be to lower standards — and the ultimate aim is to erode support for any objective measures of academic achievement.

If adopted, this plan will have far-reaching impact. In the academic world, as California goes, so goes the nation. The diversity crowd has long sought to eliminate standardized testing as an important factor in college admissions because blacks and Hispanics, on average, do worse than whites and Asians on standardized tests. But the problem is standardized tests are the most objective way to measure students' academic qualifications against each other.

for full article:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/uc/20080111/...lchx/op_204940

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"In war, there is no alternative but to apply every available means to bring it to a swift end. There is no substitute for victory. War's very object is victory, not prolonged indecision." General Douglas MacArthur

“Democratic civilization is the first in history to blame itself because another power is trying to destroy it.” Jean-Francois Revel

Sooner or later they will dumb it down so far to include the jerks that like to post articles without further comment. It's a natural thing, don't you know?!?!!?!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

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Psychoblues

Turning Mississippi Blue, Again,,,,,,,One Red Assed Republican At A Time

The only step down from there is to include people who read the article, and then proceed to slam the poster, rather than commenting on the article.

It's a natural thing, don't you know?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Well stated, Shattered. I'm so bored with people who shoot the messenger rather than try to have a decent discussion.
Dumbing down is nothing new; it's been happening for decades. Make it easier and easier and not just on the basis of ethnicity, race, gender. It's the on-going "I bought it; you broke it; I'll buy you a new one" concept that was the cultural result of WWII following so quickly upon the Depression. That generation had one hell of a rough period there for a while.
Your article also goes to political correctness run amok again.
My view rejects bandaids for matters that cannot possibly be resolved and equity of education is one of those unresolvables. Easing requirements for one or more groups eliminates another group. Makes no sense in the final analysis.

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Repetition does not turn a lie into the truth...FDR

very racist policy, in the guise of so called diversity

the solution is to let kids in the ghetto go to better schools so their not trapped in failing schools, more leadership to fix broken schools, and getting the black community to see education as valuable in the inner citiies.

More economic resources to build up poorer neighborhoods, and more cops

without security and economic opportunity (jobs), these kids have nothing to look forward to, and we cant allow that

Its morally wrong

I don't know what you're talking about, shattered. I generally comment when I post an article. I thought it only prudent.


To post an article without comment only encourages others to do the same and we both know what that ignorant practise produces. Or do we?

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Psychoblues

Turning Mississippi Blue, Again,,,,,,,One Red Assed Republican At A Time

This has to do with what I was saying on the other thread about the way that schools are funded. How about we spend the same amount of money on each child instead of letting some of the schools hoard the money? If rich people want their kids going to luxury schools, let them pay for it and go to private schools instead of using taxes for it.

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"What's this world coming to Cratchet? You work all your life to make money, and then people want you to give it away!"
Scrooge, Mickey's Christmas Carol

Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.
Buddha

There are certainly issues here, but allocation of funds isn't one of them as I see it. And, frankly, lower performing schools get more Federal funds via Title VII than high-performing schools.

There is nothing wrong with gifted and talented programs and gifted and talented schools. And kids who don't belong in those programs shouldn't be in them. Teachers teach to the bottom third of the class and gifted kids shouldn't be bored to tears or not get the education they deserve because someone else's mom DIDN'T read to them and take them to museums and participate in their education from the time they were born. And just because you have a gifted kid doesn't mean you're in a position to pay over $20,000 a year for private school.

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"Trust none of what you hear And less of what you see" Springsteen
When the Founding Fathers protected our right to free speech, I think that meant we were supposed to use it.
69 days left http://www.backwardsbush.com/

Change_Agents_In_The_Schools-Barbara_Morris-1979-310pgs-EDU.
sml.pdf
A remarkable book which exposes the goals of American education by a respected researcher and author of many books on American education. Barbara Morris cuts through all the semantic deception dished out to parents and teachers on a regular basis. A must read in every way! One excerpt follows:
“The purpose of most of the activity that takes place in public, and often, in private and church schools, is not to change the child by developing his intellect, teaching him skills and a traditional body of knowledge. Rather, the purpose is to eliminate existing traditional beliefs, values, attitudes and behaviors and to replace them with new beliefs and behaviors that will render the child susceptible to manipulation, coercion, control and corruption for the rest of his life. To substantiate the above definition, the scope and
effect of change agentry will be unfolded in many ways throughout this book . It should also be kept in mind that the term "change agent" is not an invention of the author, but the creation of the government and education establishment .”

Behavioral_Science_Teacher-Education-3pgs-EDU.sml.pdf
Write up of the most important federally funded teacher education program geared to change teacher from transmitter of facts (content) to behavior modifier, using values clarification, etc. Bettye Lewis, one of the nation's most prominent education researchers, possessed the multi-volume Behavior Science Teacher Education Program (BSTEP) and was able to critique it in detail. This is the teacher re-education program which resulted in many good school superintendents leaving their profession, realizing that their raison d'etre (the promotion of academic education) would be a thing of the past.


21st_Century_Schools-Kent_Tempus-No_Date-1pg-EDU.sml.pdf
Article entitled "21st Century Schools Will Offer Learning for All Citizens" covering important speech in the mid nineties by William Lepley, State Supt. Of Schools, Iowa. Lepley, a major change agent, said "schools will be hub of community…centers for family and social services open year round…lifelong. In the ideal community the superintendent coordinates children and family services, in addition to education."


http://americandeception.com/index.p...9e7c6984f68879

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"This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it or their revolutionary right to dismember it or overthrow it." -- Abraham Lincoln, 4 April 1861

Remember, remember, the 11th of september The Gunpowder Treason and plot;
I see of no reason why Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.....

I'm not talking about that kind of thing Jillian. I'm talking about schools where money is spent on things that are luxuries that have nothing whatsoever to do with education. Paying your employees bonuses for working out, buying reptiles and hiring people to maintain your two story tall tropical tree collection has nothing to do with being gifted or not.
I think it's entirely possible for someone to get an outstanding education without those things.
I went to a HS where kids were spending hours and hours a day on a bus just to have the opportunity to go to my school. I always wondered why we couldn't just redistribute the wealth, take out some of the turtles and lizards and stop spending money on the tropical trees, all the extras that serve no other purpose than to make people feel rich.

__________________
"What's this world coming to Cratchet? You work all your life to make money, and then people want you to give it away!"
Scrooge, Mickey's Christmas Carol

Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.
Buddha

If I misunderstood, Benny, I apologize. But your comment was "If rich people want their kids going to luxury schools, let them pay for it and go to private schools instead of using taxes for it". "Luxury schools" doesn't have anything to do with inappropriate perks taken by administration. On that, I'd agree with you. But in terms of "redistributing wealth" from good schools to bad schools, what I've found under "no child left behind" is that the good schools get penalized for being good. They don't get Title VII money. They don't get money for more classrooms/teachers because people are shipping their kids over from elsewhere and the only standard for class size is under 50 kids per class... and that's in elementary school.

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"Trust none of what you hear And less of what you see" Springsteen
When the Founding Fathers protected our right to free speech, I think that meant we were supposed to use it.
69 days left http://www.backwardsbush.com/

I agree as I expect some comment on why they are sharing this information. One doesn't know if they agree, disagree, or are just filling the site with propaganda.

My wife has taught math for over 20 twenty years and here I thought all these math tests and problem work were about math. You mean hidden in all these problems and formulas are change agents. Boy, I gotta look harder as I must be dumb too.