Unit 6 Matching Dreams with Education (II)
Part I Warming up A. Tapescript:
There is a great demand for graduates with high-tech degrees, but fewer students were going for them. A new study by 'the American Electronics Association found that high-tech degrees declined by 5 percent between 1990 and 1996.
Preliminary findings from 1997 and 1998 indicate the trend is continuing. The Association blames the education system, saying that elementary and secondary schools must do more to get students ready to tackle high-tech education. Among the states, California Colleges awarded the most high-tech degrees. It also had one of the greatest declines, awarding 1,600 fewer degrees in 1996 than in 1990. Nationwide unemployment rate for high-tech careers is extremely low. B. Tapescript:
A decade long study has found that students in smaller classes do better than students in bigger classes. The study says that students in classes of 13 to 17 pupils have higher grades, better graduation rates, and they are more likely to attend college. It also says that minority and poor students were helped even more. The study involves Tennessee public
school students' who are randomly placed in three class-sized groups. The regular size is about 25 students. The Clinton administration and Senate democrats are citing the study in their call for nearly one and a half billion dollars more for their plans to reduce class size nationwide. C.
1. We all tend to be night owls around here, so we're more of a night family.
2. Home-school advocates say they have cooperatives where a lot of students gather for sports and other activities.
3. The second thing is that of course you can document that the media stories have become more favorable.
4. Information that researchers gleaned from these tests is the closest thing this country has to a national report card on students' academic progress.
5. Private school students outperformed public school students, but math and science scores for private school students have remained flat since 1980.
Part II Home schooling Outline
I. Home schooling -- one of the fastest growing trends in American education
Definition: parents teaching children at home instead of sending them off to school II. People taking part in home schooling A. Those taking part
1. Twenty years ago: mainly some people who rejected formal education 2. Today: many people from mainstream America B. Number of home schooling students 1. A decade ago: 300,000 2. Today: 1,500,000 III. A specific example about Jean Forbes and her boy IV. Major arguments against home schooling A. Standards set by state laws being too relaxed 1. No teacher's certificate or undergraduate degree required 2. Only 26 states requiring an annual standardized test B. Lack of socialization V. Future of home schooling in Patricia Wines' view: slowly gaining broad acceptance A. The Gallup poll: ratings going up to support people's right to try home schooling though most Americans still do not really approve of it as an educational method
B. Media stories becoming more favorable VI. Percentage of home-schooled children in America: 1.5% B.
Questions Answers
1. What was Jean's opinion of leery / kooks / underground home schooling? movement / scary 2. Why did Jean choose home dyslexia / school not handling schooling for her boy Aaron? well / not afford private schools 3. How does Aaron feel about loved it / excited / never wanted home schooling? to go back
4. What is the schedule like relaxed / night owls / not get up for Aaron? early / either chores or school first / no grading system / different approach 5. Does Jean give any tests to occasionally / not very often Aaron? Tapescript:
A--Announcer R--Reporter J--Jean P-- Patricia
A: One of the fastest growing trends in American education is called home schooling. It means that one or both parents teach their children at home instead of sending them off to school.
R.. About twenty years ago, most Americans wouldn't have considered it an option. People who tried it were few and far between, basically some fundamentalist Christians and former hippies who, for different reasons, rejected formal education. Today it is legal in every state. The number of
home schooling students is estimated at 1.5 million, up from 300,000 a decade ago, and many are from mainstream America.
Jean Forbes, of Alexandria, Virginia, a former actress and mother of two boys, is one of the new generation of home schoolers. J. I did not know anything about home schooling and I was a little leery. I thought it was a bunch of kooks out there. You know, some underground movement that was a little scary. And I was wrong. I also found out that there are probably almost as many reasons for home schooling as there are home schoolers. People who have ... gifted children who are learning disabled, for instance. It's a huge growing sector of the home-school community.
R: Six years ago Jean and her husband, Jan, pulled their boy, Aaron, out of a public school. The boy has dyslexia, a reading disability. Jean Forbes says the school wasn't handling it well at all.
J. We decided we maybe could do a better job. We also couldn't afford private schools. So we didn't feel we had a whole lot of options. The only thing left was home schooling. R: And how does he feel about that?
J: He absolutely loves the idea. He was very excited and every time ... he's now a freshman in high school ... we're still home-schooling him as well as his younger brother and he's never ever wanted to go back. Every time I've said, \is this you, you want to go back to school? ....
step by step4-6
