I wish....

[Beavah]

I was readin' a headline today about President Bush takin' credit for the gradual decline in teen drug use. Of course, when yeh read the actual study you discover that the decline began in the mid-1990s and has been progressin' ever since, and probably has nuthin' to do with any administration policy whatsoever.

 

I wish that just once, a politician would announce good news and not try to take credit for something that wasn't his (or hers).

 

The economy is doing better... thank you to the hard-working men and women in the country. Thank you to businessmen who are responsible and don't cheat. Thank you to people who save money and invest it. Thank you to bankers who are responsible with loans and don't go after short-term gains. Thank you to the inventors and creative folks. You guys did it, not me.

 

Kids do better on tests... thank you to the hard-working teachers, and to parents who spend their time readin' to their kids and makin' sure they do their homework. You did it, not me.

 

etc. etc.

 

Fact is, presidents and politicians have a heck of a lot less control over things than they claim. I wish they'd acknowledge that, rather than takin' credit where none is due.

 

Maybe that's somethin' to teach our kids, eh? Best for the SPL not to take personal credit for da work of the team, or for the weather, or for just plain good luck.

 

Beavah(This message has been edited by Beavah)

[OldGreyEagle]

Then again maybe it was Nancy Reagan's Just Say No Campaign, it just took awhile to set in

 

Like Baseball Managers and Football Coaches et al the lead person gets way to much credit when things are going well and way to much blame when they are not. But even successful coaches always praise the team when they win and blames themselves when they dont

 

It would be nice to have a politican apologize for something when its not part of a Rehab Tour because he had been found on some scandal

 

After the scout not ready for Eagle and this thread I find myself in violent agreement with Beavah. And it scares me then again maybe I should be happy that Beavah is finally seeing things my way, yeah, thats the ticket, Beavah is seeing the logic of my thinking and is adapting it, yeah, thats it. Question, can I sell this to anyone else?

[Gold Winger]

"Kids do better on tests... thank you to the hard-working teachers, and to parents who spend their time readin' to their kids and makin' sure they do their homework."

 

That's actually because the teachers spend their time teaching the kids EXACTLY what they need to know to pass the silly tests instead of teaching them to solve problems. I'v heard more than a few of my kids' teachers say, "that's not needed for the test so we won't cover it." It's not the teachers' fault, its the administrators.

 

Also, they make the tests easier. Look at the SATs. Analogies were and still are an excellent way to test language, vocabluary and reasoning. However, students were doing badly with them. So rather than say, "Hey there's a problem in the schools, we need to fix it" they eliminated analogies.

 

Just my observations. Every administration since Eisenhower has said that education was a priority but they we seem to keep falling behind. Like in Scouting, education needs return to the fundamentals and until the fundamentals are mastered, you don't get to do advanced work.

 

Real world case, a friend's daughter whos was taking AP English as a Junior was talking about another teacher and said, "I like Mr. Smith because he teached us good." Sounds like instead of AP she needs remedial.

[CalicoPenn]

Blame Canada

[scoutldr]

SATs are a farce, as far as I'm concerned. They don't get "easier"...but they do "recenter" the grading scale every coupla years, so that the students at the crest of the bell curve get 1000. Those who got 1200 SATs back in the 70s would score off the scale today...it ain't apples and oranges. All it does is compare your performance to those sitting for the test the same year you did, with 1000 being the mean.

 

In my state, we have "SOL" tests (I guess because that's what you are if you don't pass them!). "Standards of Learning". When I was in 3rd grade (1963), our teacher taught us French, because she was from Canada and thought being bilingual was important. I still remember some of it. That would never happen today...no time to be creative in the classroom, because we have to pass the SOLs so that the administrators get their raise.

[packsaddle]

Scoutldr writes,

"SATs are a farce, as far as I'm concerned. They don't get "easier"...but they do "recenter" the grading scale every coupla years, so that the students at the crest of the bell curve get 1000. Those who got 1200 SATs back in the 70s would score off the scale today...it ain't apples and oranges. All it does is compare your performance to those sitting for the test the same year you did, with 1000 being the mean."

 

I wouldn't exactly call the SAT a farce. As you say, the SAT hasn't really gotten easier. And because, as you say, the scores aren't completely comparable, those of us who DO use the scores to judge applicants, look at the percentile rankings in addition to the actual scores. And that ranking CAN be compared across years. This system isn't perfect but it is what we have to work with.

Even within the same year it is useful for a pre-med student, for example, from south GA to be able to know how he ranks against a pre-med student from VA, both applying to the same university. Their high school grades might be comparable but if the SAT shows a large discrepancy, then further examination of other aspects of their records is warranted before making a decision. As a matter of fact I've had this discussion with some very concerned students. The differences between schools that teach to the test and those that teach to mastery can sometimes be detected by comparing SAT scores. For those who are ready, there awaits admission and opportunity. For the others, there will be opportunities to supersize the customers' fries. Either way, by the time they take the SAT, it is usually too late to worry. The die was cast long before.

 

But this is, I think, off topic for what Beavah originally intended. I think his point was that politicians often seem to take undue credit for some things. And you know, I'd be willing to give them some undue positive credit if they'd just be willing to take the blame that they actually do deserve at times. But the kind of self-deception that allows them to actually believe they deserve the credit also seems to cause them to reject responsibility.

That said, WE are the ones who elect them and this is OUR American political system...love it or leave it.

[Gonzo1]

Here's a case where I agree with Packsaddle on a political thing.

It's inevitable that a politician will TAKE credit for good news and DEFLECT bad credit for bad news. Imagine if the opposite were true in this news story: Teen drug use up, Bush to blame."

 

Remember, someone tried to blame GWB for Hurricane Katrina actually being directed to hit New Orleans.

 

During Bill Clinton's first campaign for president, he complained about how we had the worst economy in 50 years over and over again. Two days after the election, news reports were out that Clinton gets elected with an economy "poised for recovery". The truth was that GHWB had 9 consecutive quarters of positive economic growth!

 

It's all in the spin!

[SWScouter]

Gee, and I thought kids getting better grades was a direct result of "No child left behind." Thank you W

 

P.S. If my wife sees what I just wrote, I may end up sleeping on the couch.

[BrentAllen]

"When I was in 3rd grade (1963), our teacher taught us French, because she was from Canada and thought being bilingual was important. I still remember some of it. That would never happen today...no time to be creative in the classroom, because we have to pass the SOLs so that the administrators get their raise."

 

The kids at our public elementary school start taking German in Kindergarten and continue through 5th grade. Immersion. My wife teaches 3rd Grade there, and she says it is pretty amazing to hear those German teachers come in and never speak a word of English.

 

Kids today are learning things much earlier than when I did. We learned multiplication in the 4th grade; my daughter is learning it in 3rd. Whether it is learning cursive, math or science, the kids appear to be learning it a year ahead of when I did. Add in what they are learning about computers, and it is pretty amazing.

[local1400]

Brent, instead of German they should teach Yankee. I wish I had learned Southern before I moved to NC in 98. I had no idea that "youns" was a variation of "ya'll". Heres your lesson for today: I don't park my car, I paahk my caah.

[Gold Winger]

" Whether it is learning cursive, math or science,"

 

Cursive? They spent about three days on cursive at my kids' school. I was told that it was much more important to learn how to use a mouse. Don't know about that. I picked up a mouse for the first time in my 20s and figured it out in about 5 seconds.

 

Math? Don't get me started. A calculator in the second grade for basic arithmetic? I've lost count of the young people that I know who can't figure out a simple percentage in their head (What's 20% of 30? and out comes the cell phone)

[BrentAllen]

My son is in 6th grade, and I don't think he has ever been allowed to use a calculator, in any grade level. Not only must he be able to get the correct answer, he has to show how he arrived at the answer.

[evmori]

How many kids today can't read an analog clock!

[local1400]

Ed, how about actually "dialing" a rotary phone? I actually used a rotary payphone in Maine as late as 1998!

[evmori]

local,

 

Yeah! Dialing a rotary phone on a "party line"!