[extropy-chat] it's all understandable, except

[Olga Bourlin]

From: "Al Brooks" <kerry_prez at yahoo.com>
Sent: Saturday, November 04, 2006 5:32 PM


> Yes, and it could be America is too large for the
> problem to be solved, it can only perhaps be lessened.
> What I wonder is: can it be one reason student
> performance is overall pretty low is because teachers
> and administrators not only inflate grades but also
> don't want to flunk ethnic students?

I don't know how relevant this is in 2006 - but when I was an "ethnic" 
student back in the late 1950s (I was an immigrant, and had just spent my 
first two school years in Rio de Janeiro, only knowing how to speak 
Portuguese and Russian when I arrived in the USA), I was surprised at how 
everyone in our American grammar school classes simply went on to the next 
grade - whether or not they could read, spell, do arithmetic, or behave - 
and as I remember it, there was nothing "ethnic" about the students in my 
class who were the laggards (I have a visual memory of them to this day 
...).  The school I attended in Rio was much stricter, and much, much more 
advanced in terms of scholastics - I was doing long division and 
multiplication, until I came to America ... when kids my age had barely 
gotten into long addition.  I was also surprised that schools in America 
taught art  - to me, it was "playtime" not school (I wasn't - and am not - 
complaining about this - just pointing out the differences in my early 
school experiences).  For all I know, schools in Rio have become more like 
North American schools now ... but when I went, it was like "military 
school" time - we wore uniforms, and unambiguous class rankings ... and the 
#1 student had to give up his or her "#1 medal" to another student if they 
got bested by another student in the class during the school year - the 
report cards we got several times during the year showed one's ranking, and 
that was that.

In Rio, it seemed like almost half my first grade class had to repeat that 
class - and I remember seeing rather tall boys in some of the classes 
(indicating to me they were put back once or twice or ...?).

Olga (ahem ... to this day, possessor of two #1 medals with Brazilian flag 
colors ...(lol!))