Patterico's Pontifications

2/26/2008

Michelle Obama on Education and Other Details

Filed under: 2008 Election — DRJ @ 1:26 pm



[Guest post by DRJ]

Most elections are about the candidates, not their wives, but the speeches given by Barack Obama are short on details. His wife Michelle has been more forthcoming. For instance, last week in Madison, Wisconsin, Michelle Obama offered what has become a central theme of her husband’s campaign:

“Obama acknowledged that her speech was short on such specifics as environmental and health care policy, but said such details, while important, are secondary to leadership.”

However, Michelle Obama did specifically criticize standardized testing in education:

“During Monday’s speech, Michelle Obama criticized the Bush administration’s “No Child Left Behind” program, which she said is “strangling the life out of most schools.”

“If my future were determined by my performance on a standardized test I wouldn’t be here,” she said. “I guarantee that.”

How do we tell if America’s K-12 students are learning without testing?

Michelle Obama attended Princeton University and Harvard Law School. Most successful applicants to these schools have extremely high standardized test grades, and studies have shown that finding a good fit in college and graduate school is important to help students succeed. For instance, Obama’s antipathy to standardized testing is at odds with studies like this one that show a correlation between standardized test scores and performance in law and graduate school.

The Obamas’ views on education seem more like feel-good policies than good policies.

— DRJ

61 Responses to “Michelle Obama on Education and Other Details”

  1. How do we tell if America’s K-12 students are learning without testing?

    I wonder what Cindy McCain thinks about a single metric for all children — whether timed math tests correlate with future success.

    steve (b8d0b6)

  2. I would criticize Michelle Obama, and her rhetoric, as a POS; but, that would be wrong.

    Another Drew (f9dd2c)

  3. The problem with the standardized tests is that they are not really like the SATs or other college boards, which test the quality of thinking. They are more like bar exams, testing the quantity of thinking. And as a result the schools end up teaching what’s on the tests–and nothing else. So instead of making a baseline–a minimum that will show what every child should know–they establish a ceiling–a maximum beyond which the schools and teachers don’t care what the child does or does not know.

    kishnevi (db1823)

  4. kishnevi,

    Do you mean that the SATs are not standardized tests?

    ROA (8d9fdd)

  5. “If my future were determined by my performance on a standardized test I wouldn’t be here,” she said. “I guarantee that.”

    What exactly does she mean by that? That Barack wouldn’t have married her? Or that Barack wouldn’t be where he is without her help?

    L.N. Smithee (d1de1b)

  6. I see what you mean, Smithee. Since “here” amounts to nothing more than campaigning for her husband, one must ask how that correlates with her standardized test scores…

    Leviticus (68eff1)

  7. Just how did she get into university and law school?

    davod (5bdbd3)

  8. Michelle Obama attended Princeton University and Harvard Law School. Most successful applicants to these schools have extremely high standardized test grades, and studies have shown that finding a good fit in college and graduate school is important to help students succeed.

    Did Michelle O get into these schools based on race preference or affirmative action? If so, are the same standardized tests given or are there exceptions made? It would seem pertinent to the post.

    Dana (b4a26c)

  9. I should also say that maybe she was a true affirmative action entrant. Even she doesn’t believe she deserved to get into those schools on merit.

    davod (5bdbd3)

  10. davod, if I know one thing about Michelle Obama, it’s that she’s convinced of the boundless nature of her own merit.

    Daryl Herbert (4ecd4c)

  11. Kishnevi,

    With so many failing students at so many failing schools across the country, I’d be happy if teachers taught to a standardized test – especially in K-12 when basic concepts matter most. Mandatory testing makes it more likely American students have been exposed to basic concepts that some educational systems short-changed.

    In addition, testing is a great motivator and I think everyone learns better when they have to than when it’s a choice. Today’s educators prefer cooperative learning but competitive learning has benefits, too.

    DRJ (d8934e)

  12. I wonder what Cindy McCain thinks about a single metric for all children — whether timed math tests correlate with future success.

    Tell us, steve…what does this wondering have to do with Michelle Obama’s comment?

    Paul (213adb)

  13. I’m with you, DRJ. If teaching to a test means that students have to “memorize” what a subject, verb, adjective, adverb, article, preposition, etc. are and how to use them, and also know how to convert a fraction into a decimal and multiply two two-digit numbers, then I am all for teaching to the test. This sort of stuff used to be called “knowledge.”

    Looks like the Obamas have developed an interesting strategy: Barack plays the unifying young JFK figure while Michelle plays the hard-core lefty partisan. Probably a good idea, but hopefully the right people will see through it.

    JVW (b082b5)

  14. What is the matter with memorizing something? Is it ideal for everyone, no. But I would venture to say that most of the folks that comment here learned their multiplaction tables, steve and cleo obviously skipped this part of school, by memorization and repetition.

    And what did Barry O’s wife mean? She was dumber than W and did poorly on standardized testing, but managed to get into Princeton and Harvard? For someone so smart, she is not so bright.

    JD (851cdc)

  15. ROA–of course they’re standardized. But my point is that they test something completely different from the tests administered in K-12 we are talking about here. The SATS test (unless they’ve significantly changed them since I last took a look at them) test how one thinks–quality. The K-12 tests test what one knows–quantity and content.
    To illustrate: suppose both tests present the students with the text of the 47th proposition of Book I of Euclid’s Elements. The K-12 test will ask what the name we moderns know this theorem by (Pythagorean Theorem) and perhaps ask them to restate Euclid’s physically based geometrical statement (“In right angled triangles, the square on the side subtending the right angle, etc.”)into modern algebraic form. (“For all right triangles, a-squared equals b-squared plus c-squared where a is the hypotenus, etc.”) The SAT would ask questions about the proof and its logic, without requiring the students to actually recognize the theorem involved.

    DRJ–in practice, standardized testing seems to work the opposite: the better schools are downgraded to teaching only the basic concepts, and the bad schools simply complain about lack of funding, and all the other excuses.

    kishnevi (2b3e28)

  16. Didn’t they used to give the Iowa Test of Basic Skills in gradeschool? I knew there was another reason why I didn’t like the children of the corn.

    JD (851cdc)

  17. They sure did, JD, and that bring up an important point: For all the caterwauling about standardized tests under the Bush Administration, the reality is that there has always been some sort of testing of schoolkids. The education establishment just doesn’t want it to mean anything and they don’t want any consequences for poor results.

    JVW (b082b5)

  18. Kishnevi,

    Is that a testing problem or a flaw in the education system?

    DRJ (d8934e)

  19. LN and Dana,

    This is long-winded but it’s something that interests me. Here goes:

    When Michelle Obama said she would not be where she was based solely on her standardized test scores, to me that indicated she was admitted to college and law school based on affirmative action (AA). Specifically, I think her statement meant that her SAT and LSAT scores were well below the median scores for Princeton and Harvard Law admissions at that time.

    I have some knowledge about college and law school admission issues and specifically the more competitive admissions of elite college and law schools like the Ivy League colleges and the top 15/20 law schools. My opinions are based on my experience helping our oldest son with his college and law school decisions, reading court cases that describe past UMichigan and UTexas Law School admission procedures (both top tier law schools), and reading books like Anna Ivey’s Guide to Law School Admissions. Ivey is a former admissions dean at UChicago Law School.

    Elite college and law school admissions are similar but colleges are more likely to consider the school/area the applicant comes from, not only because certain high school programs have excellent reputations but also to maximize geographic diversity. Elite colleges have so many applicants that they can afford to focus on students with special talents and accomplishments. In addition, the average applicant must have a stellar resume, including high SATs and high school GPAs, or they will not survive the first admissions cut at elite colleges. Historically, however, elite colleges were and are desperate for AA applicants because they are difficult to find. Competition has always been fierce for the better-qualified AA applicants.

    Law school admissions are more likely to be based on numbers — what many schools refer to as the index — that is based on the applicant’s LSAT score and undergraduate GPA. (Some law schools may adjust the GPA slightly based on the law school’s judgment as to the difficulty of the applicant’s major and undergraduate college, while others don’t.) Elite law schools generally deny it but there is little doubt that the first analysis of law school applications is solely based on numbers, and candidates with very low index scores are rejected unless the application demonstrates a reason for special consideration like AA or, in today’s parlance, socioeconomic disadvantage. Likewise, applicants with very high index scores are generally admitted based almost exclusively on numbers. Further review of their admissions files are done solely to make sure there is no obvious reason to exclude them from admission, such as adverse recommendations or glaring personal problems.

    After that, applicant files that meet a base index score but are not in the top tier are given holistic evaluations that take into account extracurricular activities, writing samples, recommendations, disabilities, socioeconomic status and other factors. After the 2003 US Supreme Court decision in Grutter vs Bollinger, law schools cannot consider minority status as a predominant factor in admissions but it’s clear that, in the past, law schools considered and gave significant weight to the applicant’s AA status which typically preferred native Americans, blacks and Hispanics, but not Asians.

    I don’t know if Barack Obama was an AA admission and, to me, his position on the Harvard Law Review suggests he probably wasn’t. Either way, both Barack and Michelle Obama did well in college and law school and in their careers, proving they were able to take advantage of their opportunities to attend elite schools. That’s what AA was supposed to do and it supports Michelle Obama’s point that standardized tests shouldn’t matter. However, at some point you need a method to decide who gets to attend the most selective schools and who doesn’t.

    One of the main reasons standardized tests were developed was to avoid the cronyism of admissions based on legacies, connections, and religion (some of these institutions have a history of anti-Semitism in their admissions policies). To me, tests seem like a fair way to level the playing field but I also think there is a role for holistic admissions. The problem seems to be in finding a good balance, but that’s one of life’s universal problems.

    DRJ (d8934e)

  20. I appreciate DRJ’s informed comment. I find it contrasts very favorably with “Even she doesn’t believe she deserved to get into those schools on merit.”

    OK, but what is “merit”? Does davod have a history of similar remarks about alumni children? Scholarship athletes? My personal view is that systems like Michigan’s were way over the line, but “merit” is an abstraction of little use in examining admissions processes.

    Andrew J. Lazarus (7d46f9)

  21. Kishnevi, then why don’t you say the problem with existing standardized tests is that they are inadequate? The impression teachers give when they criticize standardized tests is that they want no milestone or benchmarks. No one else is capable of evaluating performance. Just give teachers more money and leave them alone regardless of how students turn out.

    It would be much easier to think teachers actually care about what their students were learning if they were willing to describe what improvements need to be made to existing standardized tests to make them relevant.

    ROA (8d9fdd)

  22. DRJ, thank you for the great explanation. And its a reasonable expectation that there has to be a necessary ‘standard’ to be met. If not, wouldn’t that then open up the door to challenge any sub-standard grade or score received? A standard based on something being relative isn’t really a standard at all…

    On a sidenote, my daughter who is a card-carrying American Indian graduated out of UCLA. There was absolutely no consideration given to her heritage by the university (hence, no tuition break!) but instead she had to get in like everyone else, high SATs & a strong educational resume. And that is a level playing field.

    Dana (2f922c)

  23. Congratulations to your daughter, Dana. The UC schools are highly competitive and provide excellent educations. I know you are very proud.

    DRJ (d8934e)

  24. Thanks, DRJ, and I am proud. She is preparing to apply to law school and I’ll be curious to see if the ethnicity checked on the app matters in any way.

    Dana (2f922c)

  25. OK, but what is “merit”? Does davod have a history of similar remarks about alumni children? Scholarship athletes? My personal view is that systems like Michigan’s were way over the line, but “merit” is an abstraction of little use in examining admissions processes.

    Now that we’ve disposed of “merit,” remind me what the job description of an elite school’s admission director reads? This seems to me to be a twisty way of asserting that Princeton should admit all comers, no more, no less. And since we’ve disposed of “merit,” what would the problem be with U. Michigan? They were over what line? If +10 points for favored-race-status is okay, why not +25? +1000?

    People who disdain Princeton’s admissions policies certainly shouldn’t apply there. It’d be interesting to see whether alumna Michelle Obama’s views match AJL’s.

    AMac (d2f2ae)

  26. Steve Sailer writes,

    Mrs. Obama’s attitudes about race are significant for multiple reasons.

    * First, Mr. Obama says she’s important to him. Newsweek’s gushing 2/25/08 cover story on Michelle, Barack’s Rock by Richard Wolffe, reports: “Onstage, Obama has introduced Michelle as ‘my rock’—the person who keeps him focused and grounded. In her words, she is just making sure he is ‘keeping it real.'”

    * Second, because Michelle Obama lacks her husband’s remarkable verbal facility, she provides a keyhole into how the stealth candidate actually thinks and feels on those rare occasions when he can be himself. She’s more of a regular person with a normal human desire to be understood.

    * Third, she’s a classic example of what affirmative action, which her husband promises to give us more of, does both for and to blacks.

    His essay, “Michelle Obama And The Rage Of A Privileged Class” is here.

    AMac (d2f2ae)

  27. Kind of off-topic, but my better half and I were searching for quality daycare for our soon-to-be newborn, and they asked for our college transcripts and our 6 year olds school records. I thought that was a little over the top.

    JD (851cdc)

  28. ” Today’s educators prefer cooperative learning but competitive learning has benefits, too.”

    The Educrats push a system that absolves them of any responsibility for the disaster that results.

    Whereas, the most effective bureaucracy that exists in government today, the US Military, insists on competitive learning, and is closest thing to a true meritocracy that we have today.

    Every soldier is a teacher – the more experienced teach the less experienced. To do otherwise endangers unit cohesion, performance, and survivability. This is true in all facets of the system, both combat, and non-combat units.

    If we could slot-in experienced ex-soldiers into the educational system, particularly at the K-12 level, and weed-out the Ed-School deadwood, we would probably be amazed at the increased academic performance of the nations’ children.

    Of course, I may be prejudiced, as my K-12 experience was heavily laced with vets of WW-2; who, for the most part, were dedicated, inspirational teachers at all levels of the system (mostly without the “benefit” of Ed-School pedagogy).

    Another Drew (8018ee)

  29. Will they bring back OBE or force sex education into grammer schools?

    krazy kagu (1ced21)

  30. Never underestimate the influence of a wife who bitch-slaps her husband in public. Early in Obama’s campaign, Michelle Obama could not restrain herself from belittling the senator. “I have some difficulty reconciling the two images I have of Barack Obama. There’s Barack Obama the phenomenon. He’s an amazing orator, Harvard Law Review, or whatever it was, law professor, best-selling author, Grammy winner. Pretty amazing, right? And then there’s the Barack Obama that lives with me in my house, and that guy’s a little less impressive,” she told a fundraiser in February 2007.

    “For some reason this guy still can’t manage to put the butter up when he makes toast, secure the bread so that it doesn’t get stale, and his five-year-old is still better at making the bed than he is.” New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd reported at the time, “She added that the TV version of Barack Obama sounded really interesting and that she’d like to meet him sometime.” Her handlers have convinced her to be more tactful since then.

    “Frustration” and “disappointment” have dogged Michelle Obama these past 20 years, despite her US$300,000 a year salary and corporate board memberships. It is hard for the descendants of slaves not to resent America. They were not voluntary immigrants but kidnap victims, subjected to a century of second-class citizenship even after the Civil War ended slavery. Blackness is not the issue; General Colin Powell, whose parents chose to immigrate to America from the West Indies, saw America just as other immigrants do, as a land of opportunity. Obama’s choice of wife is a failsafe indicator of his own sentiments. Spouses do not necessarily share their likes, but they must have their hatreds in common.

    Spengler (e47998)

  31. The descendants of slaves, particularly ones of means such as MO, always have the opportunity to select that society that they wish to live in, and move there. The gates to the US swing in both directions. If they aren’t willing to make a positive contribution here, they are always free to do so somewhere else.

    I, like the other children of immigrants, did not select the US as my country. It was a choice made for me. But, having seen other parts of the world, I think I can say without fear of contradiction, that staying here is the best of all possible actions.

    Those of us born into US citizenship, are the true winner’s of life’s lottery – at least in this world.

    Another Drew (8018ee)

  32. AMac,

    Steve Sailer’s post was very interesting but I’m not sure where that gets us. During the past 40+ years of affirmative action, we’ve used special standards to measure minority scholastic achievement and to govern minority hiring in the workplace. I’m not surprised that, as a group, American-educated blacks are resentful and conflicted about their abilities and talents. There are valid reasons for affirmative action but it has its downside, and this is one.

    As we used to say in my much younger years, it’s their baggage and we all have baggage. If Obama is elected, let’s hope he and his wife deal with it in the least destructive way possible.

    DRJ (d8934e)

  33. JD,

    Congratulations on your soon-to-be newborn!

    DRJ (d8934e)

  34. AMac, the issue is not whether some abstract merit exists. The issue is whether standardized test scores with or without GPA constitute this “merit”. They may well constitute a reasonable predictor of success, and so admissions committees who want students who excel have reason to rely on them. Even if that were true, I don’t see the connection to “merit”.

    And you ducked the question how, say, alumni children’s admissions boost (which is significant at Princeton and many other private colleges) could possibly be described as “merit”.

    Andrew J. Lazarus (fe4871)

  35. Thanks DRJ. My better half starts bed rest next week, which I suspect is some sort of matriarchal term that means “make JD miserable”. Due date in April, but the doc says that given her history, anytime in March, so it is right around the corner.

    JD (851cdc)

  36. AJL…
    Merit vs Legacy
    Legacy admissions reward the “merit” of the alumni for succeeding in graduating, and in life. Therefore, it rewards the good sense of the institution in making the original decision of admission. And, I’ve got a bridge in Brooklyn we should talk about.

    Another Drew (8018ee)

  37. Spengler #30, you bring up a point that I am also somewhat troubled by but am not convinced its an issue – yet – of real concern.

    Its always a red flag when a wife (or hub)publicly belittles their spouse and treats them like one of the children, and perhaps equally as troubling when the behavior is habitual. Her statements re her husband seem to evidence a disdain and disrespect for him at a certain level.

    She is not runing for office but she will be an immense influence on him and is obviously not afraid to speak her mind. I just want to know that he himself, if he gets into office, is also not afraid whatsoever to speak his mind as well – especially to the Putins, Ahmadinejads, and Kim Jongs of the world.

    Dana (2f922c)

  38. JD,

    I’m not going to go all feminist on you and defend pregnant women BUT: There is nothing more uncomfortable in the whole world than being 8/9 months pregnant and forced to lie down. You can’t breathe or get comfortable.

    Also, I’m sure you know that pregnant women get pretty emotional. I suggest you buy her stuff, like one of those full-length body pillows and/or a mother’s ring or necklace that has gems for each child’s birth month. Get whatever you think she wants, but spoil her a little.

    DRJ (d8934e)

  39. DRJ – I joke about it, but I sympathize for her. Sleeping has been brutal for her, and her lack of sleep is becoming brutal on me, being the natural outlet.

    Full length body pillow – check
    Mother’s ring with a big honking diamond for her, and each of our daughters – check
    Spa day every Tuesday afternoon on bedrest – check

    I am trying. Last night, at 3:30 AM, I got hit with the body pillow and yelled at for, and I quote “breathing too damn loud”. lol

    JD (851cdc)

  40. Nice timing, DRJ. I was just about to mention that it could also be viewed as an opportunity to express his appreciation to her for enduring this immense discomfort for their family…and nothing says appreciation like that full body pillow and lots of foot massages.

    Dana (2f922c)

  41. Dana – Foot massages … not gonna happen. Amongst the every growing list of things that I am phobic of, other people’s feet rank pretty high up there.

    JD (851cdc)

  42. Then you’ve done all you can, JD. Take a couple of Benadryl and get some sleep now, while you can.

    DRJ (d8934e)

  43. And, I am an atrocious typer.

    JD (851cdc)

  44. So, while I am veering waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay off topic, my 6 year old told me she was nervous about the baby, because she does not know how to be a big sister.

    JD (851cdc)

  45. JD, I’m sure whatever you do for her, she’ll be very grateful!

    Dana (2f922c)

  46. JD,

    I have all boys but mine were each 5 years apart and they felt the same ambivalence about having a sibling. They are old enough to know it’s not always going to be fun.

    Of course, every family handles it in their own way but I told my kids that I was excited but also nervous about having a new kid. I also told them it’s okay if they didn’t feel a lot of love at first. That will come. As I recall, we also talked about patience.

    Then buy them some cool toy and tell them it’s from the new baby. Do you see a pattern yet in how I deal with things?

    DRJ (d8934e)

  47. Having to live in a hotel while our house is undergoing reconstruction has made this process much more difficult on her. I just try to make sure that I do not add to anything, and that whatever I do, it makes things better/easier/simpler/calmer for her.

    JD (851cdc)

  48. DRJ – I am a huge proponent of that very same pattern. I have yet to find anything that cannot be cured with a diamond something, a new Coach purse, or some Hanna Montana stuff. lol.

    JD (851cdc)

  49. Keep us posted, JD.

    DRJ (d8934e)

  50. I will. Thanks, DRJ. You are good folks.

    JD (851cdc)

  51. Notice that was plural. The whole lot of you, good folks. Even Christoph. But alphie and miss cleo, not so much.

    JD (851cdc)

  52. I think her statement meant that her SAT and LSAT scores were well below the median scores for Princeton and Harvard Law admissions at that time. – DRJ

    Why is this a subject of conjecture? Michelle Obama said in the same speech she was admitted lacking the customary “extremely high” test grades:

    Every step of the way, there was somebody there telling me what I couldn’t do. Applied to Princeton. “You can’t go there, your test scores aren’t high enough.” I went. I graduated with departmental honors. And then I wanted to go to Harvard. And that was probably a little too tough for me. I didn’t even know why they said that.

    steve (65f8cb)

  53. Why, exactly, is Mrs. Barry O, so mad then?

    JD (851cdc)

  54. The perceived “trauma” of victimization is best left to the wife. They need to prove to black folk that he is down for the cause and prove to whites that he is non-threatening. Obama’s appeal to whites is that he doesn’t trigger white guilt. She’s tending the other garden.

    steve (65f8cb)

  55. Steve #52,

    LN Smithee #5 asked about Michelle Obama’s comment regarding her test scores and I offered my thoughts. Is that what you were asking?

    DRJ (d8934e)

  56. I think DRJ nailed it in the last sentence of his post, and I did not see anything in the comments to change my mind:

    The Obamas’ views on education seem more like feel-good policies than good policies.

    All politicians tend to get into a rhetorical swing and say things for effect rather than to actually convey information, and this is the sense in which I interpret Mrs. Obama’s remarks about her own experience with standardized tests. It is also the way in which I interpret her fatuous comments about her lack of pride in the America that existed before Obama’s ascension.

    I find it difficult to take either her or her husband seriously, and they in turn show little evidence of taking thinking voters seriously.

    sherlock (b4bbcc)

  57. Going way back on the thread to DRJ’s and ROA’s replies to my reply. (This is what happens when you live in an earlier time zone than every one else.)

    I was commenting on the comparison of the K-12 tests to SATs, GREs, etc. I didn’t think it was valid: it was like comparing pears to peaches. Both are fruit, but the differences between them are huge, much more than a simple phonic difference in their anglophone names: large enough that they can’t be compared against each other except in the most basic senses. To say that SATs do what they are supposed to do does not mean that all other standardized tests do the same thing.

    I think that fundamentally, it is a flaw in the education system–but until we get rid of the reasons for that flaw, the standardized testing for K-12 is actually negative in its effects. The flaw in the system is, so to speak, systemic–the one outlined by ROA in describing teacher reactions to the tests.

    kishnevi (e4fabe)

  58. I stumbled over this blogpost, which which gives a mother’s-eye view of what’s wrong with the FCATS, the Florida version of the test. It will give you a good idea of is wrong with the K-12 standardized tests.

    What I object to in this standardized testing environment is the way preparation for these tests is being handled. Last year, for instance (which for #1 Son was not a pass/fail year…something that is not specified to parents, btw, you have to find that information for yourself), it seemed to us that everything outside of prep for the FCAT writing exam just stopped. Math disappeared, science disappeared…you know, the important subjects. And then after the testing in early March, the teacher tried to cram in a half year’s worth of math before school ended in mid-May. And I’m not the only one who has noticed this trend.

    Everyone with school-aged kids knows the schools teach TO these tests, instead of just teaching the material. They do this in Florida because their jobs literally rely on how well the kids do on the tests. Jeb Bush’s A+ Plan, grades schools “depending on student performance and the degree to which the bottom 25% of the school has improved compared to its past performances,” and pulls/delivers Title 1 funding appropriately. This is wrong, creates a seriously stressful environment for all involved, and will result in knowledge-gaps that our kids will pay for down the road.

    The end of the post recounts another reason for what’s wrong with the schools, involving the administration, that might be of interest, but not directly ontopic to this thread.

    kishnevi (8731ef)

  59. @ kishnevi, That is one of the problems with the Los Angeles Unified School District. They take a month off to cram for the test.

    The private school my child now goes to teaches what the student’s need to know during regular class time. Where LAUSD teaches a curriculum that doesn’t help a student pass the standardized tests, the private school’s curriculum does.

    Testing isn’t the problem, a dumbed down curriculum is the problem.

    Tanny O'Haley (578fbb)

  60. Not for nothing, but what exactly has this “brilliant” woman done, beside get jobs solely because her hsuband was elected to the Senate?

    What extraordinary contributions has she made to the legal profession?

    drjohn (9268df)

  61. Can some one please explain some thing to me of all the great work they (Michelle,and Barack )have done why is no one ever heard of him till now when he started to run for president? And i know I’m going to be hated for this but if she doesn’t like it here so much then why don’t she move back to Africa or is because she knows life is not good there but she says she can do so much for them then why hasn’t she? As for school testing I’m glad it is done the schools turned out enought brain less people who could not add or write al least the schools are making changes and trying to get kids to learn.
    They are opening up more to students now than ever before my daughter was on a I. E. P. plan from first grade on do to a medical mess up she had a spinal tap and it did not close so as she laid on her side her spinal fluid leaked out when she sat up they say her brain rested in her skull so whe she started first grade her teacher paid attention to her and saw she was a bright young girl she would pick up a book have problems reading it then lay it down pick it up again and it was like a new book stumbled over same words as before but our teachers did not give up on her thanks to( no child left behind )and she has now just went off it going into her last year in schooland is wanting to go to college and now has a chance to do it because of this no child gets left behind plan they would have put her in a LD class and forgot about her but they didn’t yes she got help and I’m glad for it,but it is not because our school systems are bad but because they are now checking our kids seeing whats wrong all it takes are for parents to want to help there kids. Be involved in there kids school in stead of saying the school is the one that raises our kids do something get off your lazy butts and help our kids not hurt them and teach them. So maybe I’m wrong but as she states she wouldn’t be where she is now if testing was done then that tells that her families money got her where she is now and she doesn’t need to be there if she feels our nation is so bad she is a true lawyer talks out of both sides of her mouth.

    ray kidder (f10367)


Powered by WordPress.

Page loaded in: 0.0927 secs.