4 ms·

It is absolutely not exaggerated. In NYC there are: - Pre-school admissions counselors for 2 year olds. (This is one of many -> http://www.privateschooladviso

It is absolutely not exaggerated. In NYC there are: - Pre-school admissions counselors for 2 year olds. (This is one of many -> http://www.privateschooladvisors.com/ http://www.privateschooladvisors.com/) - $500 dollar an hour services that can find tutors who got an A with the specific teacher and specific class that your child is struggling in. - 20+% of the kids qualify at 97th percentile for public gifted and talented, yet only a third pass state exams. http://www.wnyc.org/blogs/schoolbook/2013/aug/07/fewer-one-third-new-york-city-students-pass-state-tests/ http://www.wnyc.org/blogs/schoolbook/2013/aug/07/fewer-one-t... This contributes to very fragile rich kids who get shell shocked in college. Of course there are services for that too. (http://fulshearranchacademy.com/blog/college-for-emotionally-fragile-young-adults/ http://fulshearranchacademy.com/blog/college-for-emotionally...) It also means kids very prepped for entrance exams but little else.

Spooky23 13y ago
Fyi. The 20% pass rate was a result of implementing a test that measured progress against a curriculum that wasn't taught.
- mathattack 13y ago
  Yes, though it's a low 30s %. (The school in my neighborhood was low teens %) The 20% is kids passing the 97th percentile of past test takers. And this is very much an exam that is taught to. That's the real point - that there's a lot of test prep, and look what happens when you don't prep for it.
  - Spooky23 13y ago
    I don't know if I agree with that, after looking at the sample questions. http://www.engageny.org/resource/new-york-state-common-core-sample-questions http://www.engageny.org/resource/new-york-state-common-core-... These are different types of questions that require you to think more than the tests that I took in 5th to 8th grade. IMO, the biggest issue here is that its a hard test. Tests have been very easy for the last couple of decades. When I was in high school in the 90s, our teachers in 10th grade gave us a 1969 nys regents exam for math 2 and earth science as a practice exercise. They were an order of magnitude more difficult that the actual exams given in 1994/1995. The biggest problem here is that they are making everyone take the tests. Back in ye olden days, the college prep kids took the hard stuff only. You're not going to get a lot of good results in tests that require abstract thinking in poor districts -- the parents are idiots and let the kids stay out too late, don't enforce homework rules, etc.

Spooky23 13y ago

Fyi. The 20% pass rate was a result of implementing a test that measured progress against a curriculum that wasn't taught.

mathattack 13y ago
Yes, though it's a low 30s %. (The school in my neighborhood was low teens %) The 20% is kids passing the 97th percentile of past test takers. And this is very much an exam that is taught to. That's the real point - that there's a lot of test prep, and look what happens when you don't prep for it.
- Spooky23 13y ago
  I don't know if I agree with that, after looking at the sample questions. http://www.engageny.org/resource/new-york-state-common-core-sample-questions http://www.engageny.org/resource/new-york-state-common-core-... These are different types of questions that require you to think more than the tests that I took in 5th to 8th grade. IMO, the biggest issue here is that its a hard test. Tests have been very easy for the last couple of decades. When I was in high school in the 90s, our teachers in 10th grade gave us a 1969 nys regents exam for math 2 and earth science as a practice exercise. They were an order of magnitude more difficult that the actual exams given in 1994/1995. The biggest problem here is that they are making everyone take the tests. Back in ye olden days, the college prep kids took the hard stuff only. You're not going to get a lot of good results in tests that require abstract thinking in poor districts -- the parents are idiots and let the kids stay out too late, don't enforce homework rules, etc.