Discussion Question--Education Edition
Here's a question I've been kicking around for a while:
What minimum qualifications should a high-school graduate posess? I'm not talking about specialized college prep or vo-tech training, just basic skills that every budding adult should have.
Here's some ideas to get the ball rolling.
A graduate from a US high school should be able to:
--Balance a checkbook;
--Read and understand a typical newspaper article;
--Write a coherent letter to the editor;
--Plan and cook a week's worth of healthy meals;
--Perform basic hygiene of person and clothing;
--Run a continuous mile.
What else do y'all think is important?
What minimum qualifications should a high-school graduate posess? I'm not talking about specialized college prep or vo-tech training, just basic skills that every budding adult should have.
Here's some ideas to get the ball rolling.
A graduate from a US high school should be able to:
--Balance a checkbook;
--Read and understand a typical newspaper article;
--Write a coherent letter to the editor;
--Plan and cook a week's worth of healthy meals;
--Perform basic hygiene of person and clothing;
--Run a continuous mile.
What else do y'all think is important?
posted by Ted @ 12:11
14 Comments:
At 1/2/08 16:08 ,
KAISER ANDY I said...
They should be able to tell the difference between real and fake breasts. By feel.
Have I gone to the gutter too quickly?
Ok, Ok, they should also be able to make themselves understood in another language. Something that will get them to think about something other than their own little parts of the country.
At 1/2/08 21:43 ,
Jenny said...
Hey... I take offense at that! Speaking a second language has nothing to do with a knowledge of or a true appreciation of another region, country or culture. **THAT is what I find MORE important**
(That said, the kids and I are working on ASL.)
Wow, you have a pretty good start there Ted, let me think on it. I'm still in the mind process of what Dory and Jack should know before we REALLY start school.
BTW- with the abacus Dory can count, add and subtract just about anything 30 and below. We think that's pretty darn good for not even 4.
At 2/2/08 03:23 ,
RugbyGirlMD said...
Understand the basic mechanics of avoiding STD's & pregnancy.
At 2/2/08 03:24 ,
RugbyGirlMD said...
Drive a stick shift & parallel park.
At 2/2/08 11:00 ,
Ted said...
Andy recommends a second language as a surrogate marker of multi-cutural understanding. Based on Jenny's comment, I think "foreign" language might be a more appropriate term. But that's splitting hairs.
Jenny makes a good point about "true appreciation of another...culture", but "true appreciation" may be a bit much to ask for. Remember that we're trying to define minimum standards for 18-year-olds here.
Would some sort of World Civilization course be a better marker? I don't know; what do y'all think?
At 4/2/08 15:18 ,
KAISER ANDY I said...
I wrote make themselves understood in another language. The phrase "learn a foreign language" is a generic term used for the last thirty years by people who still think that rote linguistic mechanics is all you need to qualify for "learning a foreign language."
Picture someone with a deep southern accent trying to speek german or spanish, and the only people they had teaching them were other southerners who learned german or spanish from other southerners. Mein und Dein becomes myne und(soft d)dyne, etc. That is what is happening.
Spanish may be a bit different due to immigration, so don't jump on that.
We need to get kids to think past the ghetto/rich end of town/state/country.
I like the idea of wold civics, or something like that, but students are coming out of school not knowing USA civics.
At 4/2/08 15:21 ,
KAISER ANDY I said...
I forgot to add this in my other response:
Heather, you are correct. I think all people should learn how to drive on a stick shift, and parallel park.
At 4/2/08 19:05 ,
MelloYello said...
- Be able to locate at least the US and Iraq on a globe.
- Be able to educate themselves on political candidates and have the moral compulsion to vote.
At 4/2/08 20:06 ,
KAISER ANDY I said...
The geography section of the exit exam...I like it. That would have helped Ms. South Carolina!
At 11/2/08 09:33 ,
Ted said...
Geography--I like it. Easy to define and measure. "Here's an unlabeled political map of the world, kid. Identify all the continents and at least 50 countries or it's back to hustling french fries for you."
Civics--Great idea. A basic understanding of the roots of one's own culture is/should be a requirement for entry into adult life. Now where do we go with it? Start with Rome and Ancient Greece, through the development of Europe and England, then US history? What other cultures should we concentrate on? I mean, these days the Middle East seems pretty important, and at least some China/Far East stuff, but where do you draw the line? Does Australia need to be included? How 'bout Micronesia?
At 15/2/08 20:46 ,
Yankee John said...
I've always been a fan of Robert Heinlein's rules, which I remember as being a longer list, but this is the quote I could find:
"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."
At 21/2/08 16:00 ,
Ted said...
I challenge you to find a human being who can manage all of that list with any degree of competency. Besides, do we really want every high-school grad to be able to plan an invasion? Too many of them will try to put their plans into action.
At 27/2/08 04:06 ,
Yankee John said...
what are you short of ted? except for programing a computer I think i've got it licked. besides the essence of planning an invasion is combat loading and as we all know, combat loading means you don't put the toilet paper on top of the bullets. If you can balance accounts, give orders and cooperate, I'm pretty sure you can hire a geek to program your damn computer anyway.
At 8/3/08 01:24 ,
Ted said...
I think you're concentrating on tactics to the exclusion of strategy. There's more to planning an invasion than remembering where the bullets are (everything I need to know about invading I learned from playing "Starcraft"). Also, and don't take this the wrong way, but I'm never walking into or near a building that you designed.
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