We could honestly just implement school busing for high schoolers too, and it would be such a win. It’s way more cost-effective than trying to build out massive infrastructure just to accommodate tiny classes of five students. Plus, kids would actually have more options to choose from. There are plenty of other countries that have already figured this out. As for people moving away, I’m really not going to mourn anyone who feels they’re better off elsewhere; if anything, I’m happy for them. Let's be real—if there aren't any jobs waiting for them once they graduate, they're probably going to head out in four years regardless.
In a democracy, every state gets exactly what it deserves. Ultimately, the people are responsible for the leadership they choose to put in power.
P.S. If you look at the current demographic trends, it's pretty obvious why teachers are seeing fewer and fewer students in their classrooms. Each new generation is smaller than the last, and that's compounded by everyone leaving the country.
I was just sitting here thinking about how quickly the season seems to be slipping through our fingers. It feels like only yesterday we were discussing spring plans, and now suddenly we’re staring down the heat of July. I find myself caught in this strange loop of wanting to soak up every last bit of sunshine while simultaneously craving the relief of an air-conditioned room! It reminds me of that conversation Michelle Nelson4 was having earlier regarding the local weather patterns. She made such an interesting point about how unpredictable the humidity can be this time of year. I completely agree; one minute you're enjoying a lovely breeze, and the next, it feels like you're walking through a warm sponge. Anyway, I hope everyone is staying cool and finding some way to enjoy these long evenings. Does anyone have any good recommendations for light summer reading? I feel like my brain is turning to mush from the heat, so nothing too heavy, please! kaže: I honestly have to wonder—do they just have no idea how many babies were born recently, or are they completely ignoring the data on how many kids will actually be enrolling this year? It feels like such a massive oversight. 🤔
They certainly know what's going on... but it’s the teaching staff that really tells the story here. It feels like there's just no real appetite to get things organized properly. I've mentioned this before—it isn't necessarily that we're running short on teachers (well, maybe if you count math and physics), but rather that there is a total lack of will to consolidate schools and actually distribute the faculty where they're needed most. Since these are schools focused on minority language programs, I suspect the whole situation is a bit too politically sensitive for anyone to want to touch it.
The high school in Memphis has been approved to enroll 60 students across three different vocational tracks in three separate classrooms, which is exactly what the school had hoped for. According to the initial proposal from the Department of Education, they were only slated to take in 40 students divided into two classes and two specific programs. For context, last year that same school only enrolled 13 students spread out over three different tracks.
So, basically, last year they barely had enough kids to fill half a classroom, and instead of the government just capping it at one class, the community pushed back and somehow ended up with three. Though, if I’m being honest, I suspect we might only see about ten kids actually show up this year.
It must be quite a lifestyle choice to be a teacher when you're staring down three different classes with only four students each. It makes me wonder—do they schedule everyone's math block at the exact same time so the teacher can just knock out all three groups at once? And then, what does the instructor do with the remaining hours of the day? Probably just heads out to the garden to plant some potatoes or something.☕
The principal from that top-tier prep school—one of those old-school administrators who actually knows her stuff—just shared some thoughts regarding this unique entrance exam. As I’ve mentioned before, there really isn't any need for these hyper-specific math tests just to get into a specialized STEM academy. Every student follows the standard national curriculum, and since they’re all coming straight out of the public elementary system based on that same official curriculum, testing them on anything outside of that feels redundant. ☕
I took a look at the material for the 10th grade, and honestly, it doesn't strike me as particularly difficult or even particularly challenging. Then again, I can't be the final judge on that, since my memory of what we covered in elementary versus middle school back in the day is a bit fuzzy! But from what I can tell, it’s certainly not some grueling competitive gauntlet; it looks more like a series of routine problems. I actually had a little fun sitting down and working through 😁
rowdypanther12 said:I’ve always wondered where people used to find actual black nail polish back in the eighties. Back in '91, I was basically just mixing ink into my clear coat to try and get a dark shade, and it wasn't until around '93 that a friend visiting from London finally gave me some real black polish. 😂
Haha, yeah—neither fruit yogurts nor black nail polish were exactly easy to come by back then!😂
I don't think I ever actually wore black polish myself; I guess I didn't have that specific teenage rebellious phase. My daughter, though, she’s all over it—she'll put it on, decide she hates it, and scrub it off immediately. She's just burning through money for nothing!☕
You can actually run the numbers on your computer for this—it gives you instant results. Basically, you need to score above the threshold for every single individual section, and then your total score also has to clear the overall cutoff. The person sitting next to you is dealing with a different set of questions entirely, since everyone gets a randomized batch of 200 questions, though they all maintain the exact same weight and thematic structure. It’s all stuff that was figured out and perfected ages ago, but I suppose some people just love reinventing the wheel.
Regarding the ABCD format—I went through something almost identical when I was sitting for my last certification. It was a grueling 200-question exam spread over four hours. They have you under such strict security, too; they do a full sweep of your area with a camera and run you through a metal detector before you can even sit down. You can't even sneak in your own little pack of tissues 😂. On top of all that, you have to finish a prep course through a major prep firm and then spend about three months grinding away at the material. There is absolutely no way to bluff your way through if you haven't truly mastered the content. Some of those questions are so dense that just reading and processing a single one can take over a minute. So, while everyone is busy complaining that the ABCD style is just making things needlessly complicated 😂, I think the real issue is simpler... a test needs to be designed properly from the ground up ☕ .
If you have a, b, c, d, e, and then a 50% chance of passing, you definitely aren't clearing the bar if all your answers are c. On another note, I still remember that pure shot of dopamine back in college when they finally implemented instant grading. There was nothing quite like grinding through those problems, bubbling in your Scantron, and actually getting your results that same afternoon—instead of playing that agonizing waiting game for two weeks or more, which is how some professors used to handle grading tests 👍
I’m not entirely sure how people are ranking these things lately, but it seems like some folks have this misguided idea that students at MIT or the College of Arts and Sciences are somehow less capable just because they relied on their high school diplomas rather than taking an entrance exam 😁
Susan James said:Honestly, I don't think it ended—it just evolved. Now we see points being awarded for health issues, divorce filings, or random competitions that don't even seem relevant to academics. The people who used to rely on old-school connections are now using insider influence to secure their spots 🤷
...all while riding the wave of grade inflation from elementary through high school.
Everyone technically has the same shot at earning points or acing their SATs; after all, the admission requirements are public knowledge and available to anyone. But apparently, only the well-connected can "arrange" things so someone fakes a score on a college exam to push them above the cutoff line while some poor kid gets pushed out. Or they get a little whisper about what questions will be on the test. So, you can tell yourself that this way, only the "better" students are getting in 😁
Besides, regardless of how someone performed on their standardized tests, the actual quality of the students graduating from a university is ultimately the responsibility of the university itself.
I remember back in my day, certain well-connected people used to slide into university spots through these shady little side channels. It was only when we implemented the centralized application and grading system based on standardized testing that those loopholes finally started closing. Giving universities the power to manage admissions entirely on their own is just asking for trouble; it’s essentially reopening the door to all those old, corrupt ways of doing things. To give you a specific example—back when the internet was still a relatively new thing here in the States and hardly anyone was online yet—a close friend of mine was checking her college entrance results. She went to look at the published lists and saw her name sitting just below the cutoff line. I checked the website myself and saw a different list where she actually had higher scores and was safely above the line. I called her to let her know, and when she went to request a review of her exam scores, they gave her this "oops" excuse. They basically told her, "Oh, sorry! We just accidentally entered your points incorrectly, but don't worry, you're actually in!" Yeah, right... ☕
By all means, keep rooting for these decentralized, individual admissions processes. We'll just end up seeing the exact same thing happening again, if not worse, especially since the level of corruption in the country seems to have jumped to an entirely new level overnight.
Personally, I think the national standardized testing system is actually a fantastic concept, though it could use a little fine-tuning. If we moved away from those rigid A and B scoring tiers and just reported results as a straight percentage—while clearly defining the passing threshold before anyone even sits for the exam—it would be much more efficient. 😁 Once you make those tweaks, it becomes an incredible tool for students heading into specialized degree programs.
I also fully support the current flexibility that allows students to apply to similar universities across the country without any hassle; it really encourages mobility. For instance, a colleague’s daughter moved from her hometown to study in San Diego, another student headed from the East Coast over to Seattle, and others have made moves to St. Louis or Savannah... In my day, everyone was practically fighting for a spot in New York City, and once they got there, nobody ever left! Usually, they might spend a year out West or in the Midwest, but by sophomore year, they were all scrambling back to the big city.
It feels like several different things are getting tangled up here. I remember going through entrance exams for high school, college, and even university, and back then, we weren't dealing with any of this modern credit system or Bologna nonsense—it was a completely different structure entirely. 😛 And honestly, there wasn't such a thing as a standardized group exam for everyone; you just showed up wherever you wanted to test. For those in the math and physics programs at the state university, they actually offered a second attempt, but if you were studying chemistry or biology, you were pretty much out of luck after the first try. I can't quite recall if the teaching certification tracks had a third chance or not, but it’s a bit fuzzy now. 🤔
I’m not quite sure I agree that UCLA wasn't considered a top-tier destination. Back when I was in fifth grade, I had already set my sights on getting into UCLA, so by the time I hit third grade, I was working hard to master English—which I hadn't even started studying at that point—just because everyone said you absolutely had to be fluent to have a shot there. Even though I ultimately decided not to enroll, back in school, the consensus was definitely that UCLA was the place to be.
My mom didn't have a car, and since she was working as early as seven in the morning, she obviously couldn't give me rides. I’m out there on the ice starting around 8:00 or 9:00 AM, and if her school happens to be somewhat on my way, I’ll absolutely drive her if she wants. Honestly, knowing how much she loves to sleep in, she’d probably really appreciate those extra 20 minutes of rest. 😁
I don't see any lack of independence here; it just looks like avoiding unnecessary morning stress. 🤷 Besides, she’s already been handling those commutes on her own for quite a while now because of her training schedule.
It strikes me as incredibly telling how much the landscape shifts from one generation to the next. There’s been this constant state of chaos surrounding these requirements for decades now. Honestly, I can’t quite recall if I applied to three different colleges or just two—I think I ended up applying to two, and luckily, I got into somewhere nearby. I vividly remember sprinting out of the building just to catch my bus right as the staff at the local community college were locking the entrance doors. Looking back, I was so grateful my mom advised me to steer clear of that particular school 😁 My friends used to start getting ready an hour earlier just to be safe 😵
I’m positive she takes a shower and dries her hair before heading out—that usually takes at least 15 minutes, though obviously, she skips the blow-drying during the summer months. Besides, if they wrap things up between 11:00 AM and 2:00 PM, they have a solid three-hour window. That is more than enough time to get home, grab some lunch, and pick up their school backpack.
Showering? On mornings when she has training, it runs from 8:30 to 10:30, so she’s usually back home by 11:15 at the latest. We’re actually dealing with a similar situation right now, though we've managed to make it work somehow—she works from home twice a week, so either Grandma gives her a lift, or she just heads home on her own. Nowadays, since the weather is getting nicer, she might just hop on an electric scooter, or head over to her evening practice (which is much easier now that they've lifted those group restrictions from the pandemic era). And if all else fails, we can always just call an Uber, which is $8.25.
Looking ahead to the 16th, I'm really hoping we'll see something like this 😁