Well, yes, it's different, but making this point implies some vague
expectation that we should accept some lower level of discipline in
school. I don't buy that. And I've witnessed well-run classrooms where
the teacher maintains an effective level of both discipline and
educationability (I just made that up; hope you like it).
My point would be: the level of discipline tolerated at MJHS had gone
through the floor. This puts teachers and students in an impossible
situation. Until the administration gets back to reality, we're wasting
our time discussing peripheral issues like salary, textbooks, academic
requirements and promotion. Make no mistake, this was a conscious
administrative decision. They've betrayed our trust.
As a UI professor, I have the opportunity to speak to numerous HS
graduates, inc. several from MHS. I filter their comments through my own
BS detector, but the pattern that emerges is not pretty. HS is weak.
Grade inflation hasn't yet been mentioned in this thread, but it's another
ugly fact of life. MHS has about a dozen 4.0 grads per year! Gad! Back
in the 1950s-60s, it was extremely rare to have one 4.0 grad in a decade.
The result is seniors who have limited their options, instead of exploring
more choices. The holy grade is the sole objective.
Sure, some students emerge from HS with credible backgrounds, but far too
many have never been forced to achieve significant attainments. The norms
are appallingly low. This is why cries for more support fall on deaf
ears.
Until a person is asked to do more than was thought possible, that person
never discovers just how much is possible.
Robert Probasco rcp@uidaho.edu