h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Ah - I joined the Peer Review and Quality Control conversation - not sure that was such a smart move now - but frankly, the attitude of some of the researchers is just a bit too much:

<quote snip>
It sounds cruel, and it is, but really, if you can't write for the guide, then you shouldn't be a researcher for it.
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If anyone wants to join in the fun(?):
<./>F19585?thread=270267&latest=1</.>

Z - it is very normal for entries on the Front Page to only get one or two comments, when the PR thread was much longer and much more fun. To be honest I have found the Front Page something of a let down sometimes.

Doctors... ah there's a thing! To my mind, it is DEFINTELY the threapist rather than the therapy which does the trick. This is one of the reasons why I tend to go to alternative practitioners, another is that you get 30 or 45 minutes of their time, not just a swift 10 or so. Having said that, I have always had excellent service from the NHS GPs I go to, including my current one. And the NHS seems reasonably laid back about chopping and changing from one doctor to another, if you are flexible about when you can see them, of course.

B

MR - I would go beyond Marv .... I would say the purchased paper should get the student expelled.

Courtesy
*can't stand cheating or people who do not take responsibility for their actions*

On the subject of education, I referenced an article in the online New York Times this morning, on OTD. In Florida, Gov Jeb Bush instituted a yearly achievement exam known as the FCAT, whose intention is to ensure that a student has learned the basics of the established curriculum. You don't go forward to the next year unless you pass the test.

This year, 13,000 high school seniors failed the test. To judge by the reaction of what the article calls "minority leaders", the students who will not be allowed to graduate are predominantly hispanic and black.

The "minority leaders" are protesting. They want the exam set aside so that these senrior high school students can graduate even though they evidently do not have the requisite skills. A boycott is being organised, of Disneyland and of orange juice makers. I don't know why business is to be punished.


*goes to read front page article*

everyone I feel a lot better now, one nice comment on the artilce, it'snot the first medically related article I've had on the front page, (in fact i think it's the 4th) and none of the others got critism.

In the UK at least, I think (i'm notentirely sure) that the MRCGP, (GPs exam) includes communication skills, though in the past around 40 years ago, there weren't any futher exams to beome a GP, so by defination younger GPs should be better, but the older ones do have the experience..

There are so many good reasons to boycot Disney... But this is not one of them.

Trying to get the big industry to put pressure on the elected officials just shows how perverted our government system has become. This sort of boycott might work, but it really is the wrong way to do things morally. It just shows that our government is bought and paid for.

There are so many issues and controversies swirling around standard testing in the US and many legitimate complaints about its effectiveness in measuring students' competencies that I think a political/educational protest is warranted. However, what do the orange growers and Disney World have to do with testing? Do they provide a great deal of campaign funding for Bush Lite?



A recent magazine article has renamed the recent conflict in Iraq: Dubya Dubya II.

I always wonder about the individuals who fail at something and then blame everyone but themselves. If students in the same classes passed the test then the problem is with the students, not the tests.

Why can't people just accept that they failed and work harder?!? If I fail a certification exam, I don't boycott the product and blame society, I work harder, study harder and pass the next time.


Courtesy

I agree Courtesy. I did fail a cert exam. I then studied harder and went back tot he testing facility and nailed it.

It was my fault for failing the test, not the teacher who conducted the trainin (tho I won't go back to that instructor), not the company making the certification.

One of the reasons that I have not gone to Uni is that I am afraid of failing. I do no tknow that I have the discipline to succeed. That said, were I in school and I did fail it would be on my shoulders and not because of the teacher.

I agree Courtesy. I did fail a cert exam. I then studied harder and went back tot he testing facility and nailed it.

It was my fault for failing the test, not the teacher who conducted the trainin (tho I won't go back to that instructor), not the company making the certification.

One of the reasons that I have not gone to Uni is that I am afraid of failing. I do no tknow that I have the discipline to succeed. That said, were I in school and I did fail it would be on my shoulders and not because of the teacher.

I'm trying to find a way to say this without being offensive ....and I don't like treating people as stereotypes..... but this is typical of the mentality of many of our minority leaders. Nothing is ever their own fault - from crime to broken families to low test scores. It's all the fault of society. (Meaning my fault since I'm white.) I'm really tired of hearing it.

Good points Marv, Courtesy and Hypatia, but I don't think you can apply one standard test to every schoolchild in a nation where different states have different levels of funding and competency and everything is so wildly *unstandardized*. Yes, there are federal regulations and laws such as Title IX, but every district has their own teaching methods and budget available. On a recent 60 Minutes episode, they were discussing the New York City school system, which handles tens of thousands of children, has several different methods of teaching math and English, and has test scores all over the darn place.

Yes, studying and parental involvement are always at the core of a good school performance, but I don't see how you can expect a black child in rural Mississippi and a white child in California to ever score the same unless there is heavy local, state and federal involvement in bringing *all* schools up to par and encouraging personal initiative and community involvement.

That is a valid point FG. I just wonder how much can be blamed on the teachers. At some point there has to be personal accountability. I know that sure as hell did not exsist when I were a schoolboy. I
know all too well that you can get out of doing anything you feel like, if you try hard enough.

At some point in life, children need to learn personal accountibility. Age has really little to do with it. A 16 year old who kills someone is just as accountable as a 21 year old. The difference in age does not limit the accountability and responsibility. I know that this is an extreme example, but it is one we see in teh news all the time.

At what point should we as a people become held accountable for our actions, or inactions?

I won't pretend to know what it is like to be a Floridian student in this day. I don't know how they are taught. I do know that having a boycott against private companies for a standardization test is stupid. It stinks to me like someone shirking their responsibility to be accountable for their actions or inactions.

IMHO of course. I do know that the education that people recieve can change student to student in the same classes. Those who are unliked by a teacher will get less of an educcation than the pets.

FG - I agree that there are regional differences, and that the standardized tests should be regional specific.

However, the whole argument of bias is fallacious when even one student in the class passes the exam. If one student with the same teacher and materials takes the exam and passes, then it is the fault of the students who failed and not society or the teacher or the school or the test or the fact that three weeks ago the person had scrambled eggs for breakfast.

If all students in a class fail the test then it might be the teacher. If all students in a school fail the test then it might be the area. If all students in a state fail the test then it might be the state eductational system.

Since all students, even in the classes, aren't failing the test, then it is the responsibility of the student to pass.

Courtesy

As far as I know neither sons has downloaded papers from net, but as they can probably guess how I would feel about it, I don't suppose they would tell if they had

Just been watching 'The Day Britain Stopped', a docudrama about the consequences of a rail strike, Cup Final game, complete closure of the M25 and mid air collision over west London, all on the Friday before Christmas. Very well done, but ultimately anti-car. Or am I getting papranoid about the 4 cars parked outside the house?

Sounds to me more like "the day the South East stopped" to me. Did it really happen, or is it fiction? It irritates me how Londo-centric much of the UK news was, I cannot comment on it now, because I watch so little of it, but 3" of snow in Kent is on the national news, when 3" elsewhere is only on the weather reports.

"Dubya Dubya II" - BRILLIANT. I am going to use it. It unnerves me that people call the previous Gulf War the First Gulf War. I remember being convinced, age 10, during the first Gulf War - ie the one between Iran and Iraq in the early 70s (1) that this was going to cause armageddon and (2) I wouldn't see 40 as a result. Well, he jury is out on the first count, but I have been there and done that so far as 40 is concerned.

One of the problems is that the focus is on exams and certifications, not on education, knowledge and skills. On paper I am incredibly under-educated and have minimal qualifications, but I am told that I am better at my job than most.

And maybe, when we all learn to make a call and take the consequences, we will finally have grown up as a species.

B

Oh, and I know what else I was going to post, but didn't. About five years ago half of Gloucestershire and a slice each of Somerset and Avon were without telephone services for half a day, AND IT DIDN'T EVEN MAKE THE LOCAL PAPERS. Now I suspect that story was suppressed, but it makes the point. If the telephone and data lines in Westminster or the City went down, it would be national news....

B

Helloo Salonistas, dont really know what to say, so I shall just hover in teh corner quietly, fiddling with my cassock and wait for something to say, other than to congratulate Amy for modelling small Ant size khaki cassocks to such great effect! Its really rather pleasant to be home, on leave, and doing some top level chilling. Much been going on (Take pity on a poor disconnected monk) I had a quick look at the Blog but there does appear to be rather a lot!

Hey there, PWM! I'm sure we all agree you can have as much dispensation for ignoring the blog as you like.

On the Forida issue, how fair is it to blindly promote (called 'social promotion', so their poor ol' self-esteem won't suffer) these poorly learning students year after year and then blindside them with a test in their senior year that must be passed in order to graduate? I think any mandatory benchmarks need to be phased in at the lowest levels and moved up as that group of children ages.

*tears off a Backlog Excused Coupon and gives it to PWM* We're chugging on to post 4242 before we chuck this conversation and go on to the next. But DO check out our recent remodelling!
( http://www.asterlil.com/h2g2/aplannew.htm )

Glad to hear you're home -- does that mean you don't have to queue up to use the computer?

On education: Having worked in the Florida school system, I'm pretty sure that if kids didn't pass the FCAT it means they couldn't read. Where I worked we had a whole department dedicated to remedial literacy skills that full-time students had to attend before they could be formally enrolled in the Welding, Cooking, Cosmetology or whatever programs.

And seeing another layer of administrative reporting added to the system just makes me froth at the mouth.