Posted by manualblock [ 69.112.43.172 ] on March 06, 2006 at 18:37:48:
In Reply to: Re: Interesting site... posted by Mr Vinyl on March 06, 2006 at 17:53:49:
See up here; there are a sequence of State Assesment Tests given at specific intervals. Those tests determine where your child will be placed in the curricula. There is a major SAT at 4th grade then 8th grade then there are what is called the Math A and B competency tests given at the 8th or 9th grade depending on where your child is at in the grade levels. There are three levels; Regents/honors and AP or advanced placement. How you score on the standard tests determines whether you will be placed appropriately. Then once that descision is made they request input from the teachers and they take into account your grades previously. If you feel your child belongs in a more challenging course level then you can demand an accounting.
Once you have set the path though then by the ninth grade you are actually taking different classes than those in different levels so it's hard to advance since you haven't had the material.
For example in 8th grade an honors student will take sequential math while an AP student is doing trigonometry and pre-calc.
Anyway thats how it works here; hence my question regarding state tests and how the kids are placed if they are homeschooled. Here everyone must get a state regents diploma to be considered graduated from High School. So you must take the tests; there is no option.
I am not familiar with other systems so thats why I asked.
I see they do some pretty good work in the schools compared to when I went to HS. They are much more educated and have way more material to cover than I ever did until my second year of college.
As of now in the tenth grade I could not teach my son the tests; much of it's beyond my knowledge. I would like to see some more challenging lit work; some of the English required reading is kind of simple, but they do some good works; Shakespere and Hemmingway and Steinbeck.
That was one of the points they make regarding the stats for homeschooled children. That there is a huge drop-off in results from 4th to 10th grade, something like 80% of the kids homeschooled at 8 yrs old are no longer represented at 15 yrs old. That is a stat they can't account for. Where do they go?
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