NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #31/NN_1992_31.iso/spool/misc/educatio/5625

Internet Message Format | 1993-01-03 | 2.6 KB

Xref: sparky misc.education:5625 soc.culture.african.american:13401
Path: sparky!uunet!paladin.american.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!hsdndev!news.cs.umb.edu!betsys
From: [e-mail] (Elizabeth Schwartz)
Newsgroups: misc.education,soc.culture.african.american
Subject: Re: What A White Person Learned in College About AfAm Culture
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Date: 4 Jan 93 02:06:54 GMT
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In-Reply-To: [e-mail]'s message of 3 Jan 93 20: 08:12 GMT
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I like the idea of Bridge programs, and also programs that go into the
high schools. I work in a CS dept (I'm a tech not a teacher tho) and
I'm not sure that you can cure years of inadequate math prep with a
summer course. Someone who is going to do college-level Calculus and
computer science should be doing Algebra in 7th or 8th grade and
should have mastered the basics in grade school.
  I have a nasty suspicion that the kids in the poor neighborhoods are
just not getting the math and science prep that they need. Once a
teenager has gotten fed up with math and graduated with Voc. Ed
courses instead of the hard stuff, not to mention graduating with no
idea how to write a research paper, that kid is not going to be able
to compete. Maybe a few really dedicated exceptionnaly bright kids
will fight their way out, but your average kid isn't going to make it.
   Go out to the rich white suburbs, and every kid is sweating through
research papers and enough math and science to meet admission
standards of most colleges, whether the kid has an aptitude or not.
   Go out to the rich white suburbs, and you won't find 1/3 of their
kids labelled slow learners or "emotionally disturbed." You won't even
find metal shops in the high schools, unless the art classes use them.
   I think busing is hell on kids, but I'd like to see someone switch
the kids in Roxbury with the kids in Lexington. Just take a week and
ship all the city kids out and all the suburban kids in. Let the
suburban kids play with the leaky radiators, and let the city kids at
the fancy computer labs. No later than 5th grade, and for two weeks.
  I bet you'd get a few more scientists out of that bunch of kids.


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