How I Joined Teach for America—and Got Sued for $20 Million

[Darth Wagtaros]

In Hong Kong, we teach to the test

You'd think that the utter failure of tests on the Confucian Classics to produce excellent leaders in previous generations would raise doubts about the ability of standardized math tests to produce excellent leaders.  

The point of the test isn't to produce excellent leaders.  It is to convince the masses that there exists a possible way to reach the top by hardwork.  Therefore, they are better off studying than planning revolts. 

But everybody must realize they'l never reach the top no matter how hard they work.

[Monoriu]

But everybody must realize they'l never reach the top no matter how hard they work.

As long as the masses are convinced that there is a chance of betterment through hard work, the system will have achieved its aim. 

[Darth Wagtaros]

But everybody must realize they'l never reach the top no matter how hard they work.

As long as the masses are convinced that there is a chance of betterment through hard work, the system will have achieved its aim. 

Bullshit.  The masses have no hope and are just dulled into a despairing routine of stultifying bureaucracy and aimless social grind.  How you get through a month without downing a bottle of Clorox I'll never understand.

[Jaron]

We teach to the test in America too.

It is just that the American spirit is in all our children, and they can't be convinced by such empty promises like 'hard work" in America.

[Korea]

That's a horrible story but an interesting read.

[Darth Wagtaros]

We teach to the test in America too.

It is just that the American spirit is in all our children, and they can't be convinced by such empty promises like 'hard work" in America.

Yeah.  MCAS is fucking st00pid when everyone knows its a crock of shit.  The teachers I worked with made no attempt to conceal their contempt for it while teaching.

[KRonn]

We teach to the test in America too.

It is just that the American spirit is in all our children, and they can't be convinced by such empty promises like 'hard work" in America.

Yeah.  MCAS is fucking st00pid when everyone knows its a crock of shit.  The teachers I worked with made no attempt to conceal their contempt for it while teaching.

Yeah, there has been controversy over the test; teachers complain about just teaching to the test. Though I'd think that at least gives some standards to go by. Also, the test was being praised for raising scores of Mass students, but still it seems quite a divisive issue.

To the educators out there. What is going on in US schools? Is the job of education getting done? I know some parents who do well with their kids getting an education, whether in public or private schools. There I keep hearing of problems, and how US students don't match up well vs foreign students. But talk of problems can get over blown. So I don't know. There are a lot of good, well meaning teachers doing a good job. I tend to feel the education system/industry is letting the teachers and students down. But I don't know really how problematic or not the education issue really is.

[Jaron]

The way they teach that shit out here is they want teachers to base their instruction on state provided standards, and that way when they take the standardized tests (which are also based on the standards), the students are prepared.

I don't think it is too bad a deal. It gives you a checklist of what to do for the year, but totally provides you the freedom to decide how to do it.

This is the one I did for my assessment.

10.9   Students analyze the international developments in the post-World War II world.

10.9.1   Compare the economic and military power shifts caused by the war, including the Yalta Pact, the development of nuclear weapons, Soviet control over Eastern European nations, and the economic recoveries of Germany and Japan.

10.9.2   Analyze the causes of the Cold War, with the free world on one side and Soviet client states on the other, including competition for influence in such places as Egypt, the Congo, Vietnam, and Chile.

10.9.3   Understand the importance of the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan, which established the pattern for America's postwar policy of supplying economic and military aid to prevent the spread of Communism and the resulting economic and political competition in arenas such as Southeast Asia (i.e., the Korean War, Vietnam War), Cuba, and Africa.

10.9.4   Analyze the Chinese Civil War, the rise of Mao Tse-tung, and the subsequent political and economic upheavals in China (e.g., the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, and the Tiananmen Square uprising).

10.9.5   Describe the uprisings in Poland (1952), Hungary (1956), and Czechoslovakia (1968) and those countries' resurgence in the 1970s and 1980s as people in Soviet satellites sought freedom from Soviet control.

10.9.6   Understand how the forces of nationalism developed in the Middle East, how the Holocaust affected world opinion regarding the need for a Jewish state, and the significance and effects of the location and establishment of Israel on world affairs.

10.9.7   Analyze the reasons for the collapse of the Soviet Union, including the weakness of the command economy, burdens of military commitments, and growing resistance to Soviet rule by dissidents in satellite states and the non-Russian Soviet republics.

10.9.8   Discuss the establishment and work of the United Nations and the purposes and functions of the Warsaw Pact, SEATO, NATO, and the Organization of American States.

I kinda skipped a couple, but most of the students I taught reached the expected range of 'Below Proficient'

[alfred russel]

What did you teach your students about the byzantine empire?

[KRonn]

Jaron, are those questions part of a test or something for students? I'd hope that high school, or college students, could do a decent job answering those. Given that such issues helped shape the world as it is today they are important enough to have some understanding of.

[Jaron]

What did you teach your students about the byzantine empire?

They don't teach that. The ancients are getting the axe as time moves on. With the depth 20/19th century gets, I wouldn't be surprised if in 10-20 years we give the Medieval years the high school axe.

[Jaron]

Jaron, are those questions part of a test or something for students? I'd hope that high school, or college students, could do a decent job answering those. Given that such issues helped shape the world as it is today they are important enough to have some understanding of.

The questions on the test are based on those ideas. These are aimed at 10th graders (15 year olds), so all this stuff is brand new to most of them.

[jimmy olsen]

What did you teach your students about the byzantine empire?

They don't teach that. The ancients are getting the axe as time moves on. With the depth 20/19th century gets, I wouldn't be surprised if in 10-20 years we give the Medieval years the high school axe.

I taught my kids Byzantine history last spring!

[Jaron]

What did you teach your students about the byzantine empire?

They don't teach that. The ancients are getting the axe as time moves on. With the depth 20/19th century gets, I wouldn't be surprised if in 10-20 years we give the Medieval years the high school axe.

I taught my kids Byzantine history last spring!

LUCKY!!!!!!!! I'd LOVE to teach that.

[alfred russel]

What did you teach your students about the byzantine empire?

They don't teach that. The ancients are getting the axe as time moves on. With the depth 20/19th century gets, I wouldn't be surprised if in 10-20 years we give the Medieval years the high school axe.

Don't you get discretion on your teaching program? If you are teaching world history, how could they condemn you for a two or three week detour through the Byzantines?