🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1993Jan8.040433.12644@julian.uwo.ca>, roberts@gaul.csd.uwo.ca (Eric Roberts) writes:
[comments referring to magnet schools in PG county]
>
>My first question is, how do you determine who has the ability and who
>does not?

   This is always going to be a controversial point.   One could always
test whether students can solve math problems, science problems,
write essays, etc., as a means of testing who gets in and who doesn't.
The drawback is that it may mean some minorities will fare poorly (though
in some locations like New York, if I recall, minorities are represented
in fairly large numbers) for one reason or another, and therefore people
may decide that this is inherently unfair.   Nevertheless, it may that without
magnet schools, the opportunities at local high schools may not be that 
good either, and while magnet schools do not promise great education to
everyone, there is something to strive for.
>
>Would it not be easier to allow those students to skip high school?
>It seems to me that the universities could do much more for them,
>and at the same time they would get a piece of paper that means
>something, not a useless high school diploma.
>
    I think this is unrealistic.   The most prestigious schools in the nation
assume that students entering have some background.   During the years of
high school, one can learn calculus, introductory sciences, learn a foreign
language, etc., and when they head to college, there will be other students
with similar skills.   Having these students go directly to college is,
in effect, having a magnet school.   Of course, placing 9th and 10th graders
in college would also pose interrelational problems, as someone who is
17 or 18 is likely to be more mature than someone at 15 or 16.

    Magnet schools provide the kind of challenge that schools ought to
providing, but unfortunately, do not.   Part of the success is not only
due to dedicate teachers, but much more importantly, to dedicated students,
who have parents that are aware of the value of better education.  I recently
read that Americans were tested in math skills and still fared just as
poorly as ten years ago.   When asked, typical American parents were
satisified with their children's education, while typical Japanese parents
were not.   While one might consider the Japanese system extreme, one advantage
is that, for many parents, education is at a premium.   Valuing education must
first come from the home, and then the school.   The best schools will not
help people who are unwilling to learn.

--
Charles Lin
clin@eng.umd.edu