Connecting moms in Polk County, Fla.
Civics Test in Middle School...Really??
I don't know about everyone here, but this is crazy. The kids now a days have enough stress on tests to pass or else they can't move up. Now they got another one to worry about. We learned about government in Social Studies along with Native Americans, Afro-Asian Studies and so on.
It is sad that so much pressure is placed on kids. It is hard with kids with disabilities too. They already have enough to keep up on and then to add this. No more kids being kids. They took away so much when I look back at what we had in school. Some of the work they have now in 5th grade we did in 7th-9th grade (some even 10th-11th grades). Just makes me sick to my stomach to see kids stressing and being pushed to do their best. We tell Jesse we are proud as long as he does his best and not to worry. I see some parents that push their kids so hard and it makes me sad. It's like they have no time to be kids to explore and learn hands on.
I like the saying that goes around Facebook saying on how I grew up drinking from a garden hose, did not need to be home till the sun set, walked in the woods/swamps, rode bikes, hand wrote letters, talked on a phone with a time limit and so on.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Shane on -
It's about time that basic civic introduction is required of our students. We now have multiple generations that do not know nor understand how our municipal on up to our federal governments operates at its most simple functioning. These same individuals then are expected to be able to grasp and understand the multitude of issues that we are all faces with, then make a rational and logical political decison.
I challege the readers to ask a few simple civic questions of public school students thought of in advance, to every child between the age of 12 and 18 that you have a chance to interact with for a moment. You would be shocked in "most" school districts. Remember, keep it simple. Just the most basic of basic civic knowledge.
You will be disappointingly amazed.
As far as added stress to our students in learning an added needed challenge. The real stresses of life, are living a life without the resources to control most of one's own destiny. Ignorance is not bliss. Parenting means more than friendship and fun playing with one childs during child raising. Good parenting means work. Work from the parent, and the necessary work / learning from the child.
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Permalink Reply by Jen Flores on
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I could not agree with you more Shane!
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Permalink Reply by Tabby on -
I'm not saying parents should let their kids run amok and not learn a thing, but sometimes there's got to be a good balance. Yes kids need to learn but they also need to have some free time to be kids. I've heard parents talk about their kids saying they go to school, come home, do homework, do chores, study, and bed. It is like some are pushing their kids to hard. I heard a few parents say that if their kids don't get straight A's they get things taken away from them. I've even overheard kids at school (as early as 1st grade) say that if they don't get A's they are going to get punished. I have heard some of the parents of those kids say exactly that.
One dad I know took his child out of a brick and mortar school to home school because he did not believe in the testing. Well little did he know that the child still had to go to school to take those tests. Yes that child had learned more than in a regular classroom and can take classes for the next grade up. He did say one time that America is trying to keep up with other countries that push their kids towards collage. He did make a comment once that I thought was good. "America is pushing kids to go to college to get high paying title jobs, yet we still need people to flip burgers, deliver mail and collect trash". Not that those are stupid, they just did not chose to go to college.
I just think there needs to be a good balance for kids. I've seen a few friends commit suicide because they did not get straight A's (for a few report cards) and could not face their parents and disappoint them. I just hate seeing and hearing kids pushed or threatened to get straight A's. If our son wants to go to college, then great, if not still great. We support him in whatever he wants to do in his future.
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Permalink Reply by Shawn Spivey on -
Tabby, what's good about this site is we can politely reason, discuss and disagree in a friendly atmosphere in these forums. On this topic, I don't think I will agree with you completely.
I would agree with you there are middle school and high school courses that can fast track a student to college. Topics like chemistry and physics could be some of them. What's wonderful about those subjects are, they're not always mandatory. A science that has a more universal concept can be taken instead.
If one were going to pick, if chemistry was a must have subject or civics, then I would say civics for sure should be the most mandatory. Not everyone will use chemistry in their life, but, my goodness, all Americans should have at least a decent understanding of how, and why, our government operates the way it does.
Many folks have died for our country so we (citizens) can be part of the process of government. The least we can do is learn how it works.
I've long thought government and history are not highlighted enough in our school systems.
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Permalink Reply by MonsterMom on
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As a chemistry and physics teacher, Shawn, I will disagree with you about their usefulness in life :). The problem is that the state has made chemistry or physics mandatory. I agree with Tabby that not all students are going to college and forcing them to take chem/physics/algebra II, etc. will result in a lower graduation rate and will probably not improve their success at college. Just my two cents :)
Govt/history will be highlighted more now that end of course exams are being implemented and required for graduation.
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Permalink Reply by Shawn Spivey on
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Lol, you go girl! You have my eternal admiration for knowing those subjects well enough to teach.
Maybe I should clarify advanced and college placement level chemistry and physics when referencing my above comments. I wouldn't think it's used often in everyday life for most. Not for me anyway. There's some "stuff" my IB son has brought home I hope to never see again. :)
MonsterMom said:As a chemistry and physics teacher, Shawn, I will disagree with you about their usefulness in life :). The problem is that the state has made chemistry or physics mandatory. I agree with Tabby that not all students are going to college and forcing them to take chem/physics/algebra II, etc. will result in a lower graduation rate and will probably not improve their success at college. Just my two cents :)
Govt/history will be highlighted more now that end of course exams are being implemented and required for graduation.
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Permalink Reply by Tabby on
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It is amazing how things have changed so much since I went to school and what state I went and graduated from. I was in High School from 1984-1988 in NY (Long Island, NY near the Hamptons). During that time you had Regular Classes for those that were not looking to go to collage and then there was Regent Classes for those that were looking to go to college. For the Regular Classes we had the following:
Math--2 years (one yr regular & 1 yr basic Algebra)
Science--2 years (one yr regular & one yr Biology)
Social Studies--2 years (one year Afro-Asian Studies & one regular History)
English---4 years
Home Education--2 years
Health--2 years
Phys Ed--4 years
Typing--1 year
Elective--4 years (business, language, music, or other courses they had that were consecutive)
If you were going to college they offered advanced, more in depth classes. Of course I had no interest in college so I took the basic. My junior and senior year I took Book Keeping/Accounting and Marketing and I wish I had taken them sooner because I really enjoyed it and passed with A's. Of course I could have still went to college after graduation, but I ended up meeting someone before school ended and getting married a year later (divorced 10 yrs later).
Our son has issues from being a preemie and we stress about FCAT because he is not immune to the test or the grades. Basically if he didn't pass he wouldn't have moved on. Had he stayed back he would be going into 5th grade rather than 6th grade. I worry because I never know how he is on those major test days. Plus if it's a subject that does not interest him he is not going to give it his all. It's the same for reading. I always hear from other teachers, parents, doctors and such that he has to learn things that he may not find interesting, but it is so much easier said than done. It is hard to explain things on a level that he not only will understand but try to remember. He has always been just below grade level in a couple classes, but it's fine because of his IEP. He is very smart but chooses when to show it. When he does show it the teachers and us are shocked.There are a bunch of things I learned in school that I have NEVER used since learning them in school. It just has not been called for me to use everyday. In 5th-6th grade we were taught all 50 States and Capitals. He was not taught that at all in Social Studies. So in some areas we were ahead back then of what this generation is learning, but this generation is ahead in a bunch more. His 5th grade Math he brought home was mainly taught in Advance Math in 9th-10th grades when I was in school.
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Permalink Reply by Wendi Fellner on
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Here's another perspective.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/story/2012-07-09/school-too-...
I was pretty horrified when I pulled up the test scores for our local high schools and discovered that the schools that were earning a B score based mostly on FCAT were only scoring at the 30th percentile on the SAT or ACT. How many of those low-scoring students were bored in class due to the lack of challenge and then had a rude awakening when they hadn't learned what they needed to even get into college, let alone succeed there. It's hard to know if it's the administrators, the teachers, the parents, or the students (probably a combination of all of the above), but our educational system in Florida is really failing our kids. I believe they're victims of low expectations.
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Permalink Reply by Kim Boone on
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I like the idea of a civics exam, but not to base the student's entire life on the results. Hopefully the test will be created with the help of certified teachers. I wonder if it will encourage more kids to build a path toward politics at a younger age.
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Permalink Reply by Kim Boone on
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I'm thinking it would be nice to track the scores of a civics test, but not base if a kid can go to high school on a test. If they are teaching Government now in High School, that would be a huge age gap to require this information be learned. Middle School as I remember is a varied group of kid maturity levels. It might get expensive and difficult to coordinate if many kids aren't jumping on the bandwagon. What subject was deleted for this new course I wonder? The iCivics sounds like fun:)
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