"We confuse how we feel with knowledge."

[Michael]

[web:f83a8984f3]http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21239.htm[/web:f83a8984f3]

[Arizonaffcep]

Sad huh?

[akflightmedic]

Makes me recall several books I read in elementary school.

I was/am huge Aldous Huxley fan and I will never forget the image that Brave New World left upon my 4th grade brain. I read it again several times throughout my life, each time being able to draw more from it due to life experiences, but a good read none the less.

[JakeEMTP]

What a sad state of affairs. One can almost read any thread here to realise the context of the article is true.

I have to admit, I haven't purchased a book this year other than some textbooks. I am however, a frequent patron of the library.

[itku2er]

This all falls back on the parents and the school system the schools for not teaching them to read and parnets for not paying enough attention to their kids to see that they can not read. But like everything in life there are exceptions to the rules like disabilities and things like that, but I am saying that the more involved you are in your kids life the more we could work to fix this problem. Alot of times people just get pushed through life because no one pays enough attention to them to help them. But then in some places the parnets havent been taught themselves so they dont think there is anything wrong.

Off my soap box for now.

[ccmedoc]

What a sad state of affairs. One can almost read any thread here to realise the context of the article is true.

This is so very true. Sad, but true.

This from the same individuals that claim to be professionals :shock:

This is not simply the schools fault, or the parents (parnets ?) fault. This is society as a whole changing values and accepting low standards as to not upset the feelings of the lowest common denominator.

Obviously if the trend is to change, then parents must become more involved with their children's scholarly ambitions and less concerned with their professional (or not so professional) endeavours. When a person decides to have a family and children, the focus of their energy should shift from themselves to the well being of that child, or children. To often, the school system is nothing more than a babysitter for these families, and simply making it through a grade is enough. This is, sadly, the rule and not the exception.

Simply being from an impoverished upbringing, inner city school, or unsavory household is not excuse enough for the plight of our young students. Examples to the contrary are shown every day. As long as society is comfortable with the status quo, and more concerned about hurting someone's feelings than improving their place in society, this will not change in the near future, at least for the better..

(edit)-As usual, just my opinion

[HellsBells]

...No child left behind.

[firedoc5]

I know that basic military manuals are written on a 4th or 5th grade level. And there were a few that had to be tutored by others.

One of the things I am so proud of my son is that he is a big reader. Of course he watches TV and has video games, but despite having all those distractions he still reads a lot.

[Ridryder 911]

Yes, its sad that families do not enforce or mandate reading or even worse; increasing one's knowledge. If there is any emphasis placed, it is to memorize to pass or have the best score on a test. Knowledge of the material is irrelevant to many. Just get the score to succeed!

As a professional educator it is becoming more and more difficult to teach from EMS textbooks that are written at a 6'th grade level. Even worse is the majority of the students are still having a hard time comprehending the material or the new generation attitudes of wanting it to be "spoon fed" to them. Whining and making excuses seems to be the new agenda instead of studying. I have had students that actually failed open book quizzes at home on their computer with no time limit(s). Is this what we are producing and expect to save lives?

We have lost one important thing in today's society. Common sense. One should know reading is essential in life, spending more than you make causes you to go in debt, not being employed will not bring in money to pay bills.

I do disagree with the author "that those of the Christian Rights are completely unmoored from reality". When in reality, we realize that a "pied piper" cannot change anything. Politicians (no matter which party) lies & only tell you what you want to hear, as well NO single politician can ever correct the problems. As those of the right side does promote private education and harder standards in lieu of bureaucratic government mindless programs. It has not worked yet over forty years and we still attempt to make it work. We still attempt to change the standards and qualifications instead of how to reach those standards.

I believe it is going to get much worse than we want. Hopefully, some basic values and common sense can reemerge. Educational knowledge will be required and rewarded respectively, hard work will make you succeed, that money is NOT the whole purpose of life. Unfortunately, many have never been taught any different, we will see the results of this.

R/r 911

[Arizonaffcep]

I would be curious to find out where the most problematic schools/school districts/systems are located. Anyone know of a link off hand? Why do I have a feeling AZ scores pretty low....