CHARLES BEAMS spoke of More Of The Same to DAN TRIPLETT on 11-30-96
CB>DT>I agree that many more children could be brought up to a higher
CB>DT>level  than they are.  I have been told that it is not legal to
CB>DT>withhold a  students high school diploma simply because they are
CB>DT>sub-standard.  If  they complete the required work, even at a
CB>DT>sub-standard level, they are  entitled to a diploma.
CB> 
CB>Improve the standards so that students never reach graduation, or 
CB>even 12th grade, until they are able to read and write at the 12th 
CB>grade level.  My point exactly - we need a a yardstick at every 
CB>grade level to ensure that children do not progress until they have 
CB>mastered the work at that level.
I think that this is exactly where Washington State is heading.
CB>DT>I am speaking developmentally.  If a child is not developmentally
CB>DT>ready  for a concept, no effort will bring about understanding.
CB>DT>But this is  not to say that this child should be exempt from
CB>DT>meeting the minimum  standards.
CB> 
CB>We do not yet have the capability to adequately diagnose such 
CB>problems, so we'll never know for sure whether or not a child is 
CB>incapable or just failing.  We can only treat the problem - 
CB>remediation, summer school, retention, or alternative programs.
I'm not sure what you mean about "diagnosing such problems"......what 
problems do you mean?  I think we do have a pretty good idea of what 
children at a particular age can understand (generally) but when it 
comes to diagnosing individual kids and answering the question "Is it a 
learning problem or a lazy problem?"....that might be more difficult to 
accurately diagnose.  Is this what you had in mind?  
Dan
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