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MarkT

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Posts posted by MarkT

  1. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/08/10/cuny-initiative-sees-early-success-remedial-education

    Of course ultimately we should fix K-12 education but I agree with a commenter couldn't this be done cheaper through a HS post-graduate charter school (my invented name just now)?

    My mother taught math many years at an expensive prep school which is known more for it's sports than it's academics. It has a long standing post-graduate (PG) program where the wealthy or low income (scholarship) talented students play their sport in a very competitive prep school environment and take remedial classes to try to qualify for D1 college programs. So this idea is very old. The regular middle class students are pretty much shut out.

    The CUNY colleges could even provide classroom space and teachers (such as our hard-working adjuncts) to provide similar services skipping the sports aspect completely. 

    I would just like to see this needed remedial effort moved out of colleges to somewhere more appropriate.  

    • Like 1
  2. 48 minutes ago, Joyful said:

     

    I guess, I'm thinking of something more "descriptive." I somehow remember referring to a couple of books back in my day that in addition to data and student comments, gave an overview of the of the various schools. Is there such a thing?

    "Fiske Guide to Colleges" has something like that but only for a few hundred colleges - try to borrow it 

    • Like 2
    • Thanks 1
  3. DS moves into the dorm this coming Thursday - I have most of his "supplies".  Got a few text books but waiting for his class to start because many optional books listed.  His Math/Calc text is digital but I think a used hard copy is available. I asked DS to email the instructor but he is wary about doing that.

    • Like 1
  4. 17 hours ago, wed1998 said:

    I would very much appreciate recommendations for really good online honors or AP Physics classes for a STEM student.

    Which AP are you looking for C or the 1&2 series?  By the way, if you take AP Physics 1 and/or 2 college STEM majors do not get credit for this class. My DS took AP Physics 1 and  2 as an "honors" type algebra based Physics but he did not take either AP exam.  He starts his Honors Calculus based Physics 1 Mechanics class on Aug 20th.

  5. Hopefully the sales are still on - I think Target had it on sale - look for $90 or less sale price

    update not looking good for online purchase $119.99 at Walmart.com  (sold by Office Depot)  - Amazon was higher

    the B&M Walmart or Target stores may have them at the back to school price depending on where you live

    our high school students are ALL back to school here but back-to-school seasonal area still there in store - picked up some notebooks for DS' college classes

    Staples
    https://www.staples.com/ti+84+plus+ce+graphing+calculator/directory_ti+84+plus+ce+graphing+calculator
    $124.99 for all colors - Walmart charged more for colors

    Staples emails me discount coupons all the time so maybe sign up for their program
    they closed the B&M stores here so I don't shop there much anymore
    I just looked - coupon excludes graphing & scientific calculators - what a scam

    they do have a good price on TI-Nspire CX Graphing Calculator for $119.99 (much different interface so not recommended in this case)

    Item #: 321965 | Model #: TINspireCX 
    https://www.staples.com/Graphing-Calculators/cat_CL90003

    ebay  for used etc - they are pretty durable

    https://www.ebay.com/b/Calculators/9972/bn_1643100

     

     

     

    • Like 1
  6. many colleges use placement tests for foreign language - this student would be rusty if they did not review

    at some point while actually in high school they may want to take the CLEP test for a particular foreign language - easiest way I know how to get credit - I would check with the colleges on how old a foreign language CLEP exam could be

    https://clep.collegeboard.org/world-languages/spanish-language

     

     

    • Like 1
  7. On ‎8‎/‎5‎/‎2018 at 12:44 PM, Arcadia said:

    ..

    Figalli had a taste for science, but his parents wanted him to study the classics, and he went along with this willingly.

    “I said: ‘Why not?’ Usually there are more girls in a classics high school than a scientific high school, so that was another selling point,” he said.

    …“

     

    Love it - this kid ain't no dummy!  ?

    But my DS had more female friends at his B&M Charter Science HS than guy friends. The school was about 50/50. 

    Observation: More of the female students went Pre-med versus the males in the last couple of years (while my son was attending).

  8. This is a positive trend for D1:

    https://www.ncaa.org/academic-based-revenue-distribution?division=d1

    on same site:

    ==========================================================================================
    The myth
    All Football Bowl Subdivision athletics departments net millions of dollars and pour more institutional money into athletics than other Division I schools that are not in FBS.
    The reality
    Believe it or not, big names, big wins and big facilities don’t necessarily equate to big profits in the world of Division I athletics. This myth is not only inaccurate – it’s far from the truth. Only 20 Division I athletics departments out of nearly 350 – just over 5 percent – generated more money in 2013 than they spent.
    A profit is not a given even among teams in the so-called “revenue-generating sports” of football and men’s basketball. Only 56 percent of FBS football programs last year operated in the black, and in men’s basketball, 53 percent of FBS schools did.
    The second piece of this myth is equally off the mark. In terms of average institutional dollars spent each year on athletics in FBS, Football Championship Subdivision schools and Division I schools without football, the numbers are nearly identical. Each year since 2004, the amount of institutional funds invested in sports at FBS and Division I non-FBS schools has increased in increments that are striking in similarity. Regardless of subdivision, the average Division I athletics department spent approximately $11 million more than it generated in 2013.

    ==========================================================================================

    IMHO Colleges spend too much money on sports teams. Of course they have seemed to have cut back on Intramural sports from when I went to college a few decades ago.

     

     

  9. 11 hours ago, Farrar said:

    As a humanities person, it's harder for me to evaluate the science and math exams beyond just the basics of knowing that they have changed the configuration, such as for physics. But I can absolutely see differences in the social studies and English exams over time. Particularly when I look at AP European - which I took as a student, taught briefly in the classroom, and have followed since they revised it - it now requires less memorization and more "critical thinking." But is that good? Honestly, with the memorization at least it represented that a student with a higher score had mastered a certain body of information. Now there's a lot more about gaming the test, at least as I see it. It's a double edged sword. On the one hand, we don't want to emphasize memorization - we want kids to do something with that information. On the other hand, those things are much harder to quantify on standardized tests and tend to lead to more test prep over actual engagement with the material. And there's still a fair bit of memorization. So now it's a mix of rote learning and test prep. And there's still high level stuff there... but I don't think kids coming out with 5's on the APEH are more prepared for college history than 20 years ago. And I think they might be le

    I'm a STEM person (who loves history) but it seems that critical thinking over memorization is what is desired. When I see blogs against AP it usually boils down to that. What "gaming" - yes review books probably give general tips but in the end the essay prompt on a history AP exam could be any covered topic.

  10. 4 hours ago, Roadrunner said:

     

    So where would you take kids adter AOPS Calculus? Do you think upper level math at CC is worth it? Or should we just hire a tutor and continue that way? My kid wants to major in theoretical physics.

    my son's best friend is wrapping up a challenging theoretical physics class at Harvard summer school - PM me if you want more details 

    taking sophomore level math classes at CC is probably fine - if your student wanted to be a math major then NO

  11. On ‎8‎/‎6‎/‎2018 at 6:41 AM, TCB said:

    Critical Thinking in US History 

    looks like some good stuff - with all of the discussions about creating AP courses worthy of being college level - it would be great if folks here would use materials like this and hopefully not just cram for the AP exam?.

    • Like 1
  12.  

    3 hours ago, alewife said:

    For example, Dartmouth stopped awarding credit for APs a few years ago.  I remember reading various posts when this happened that Dartmouth's action was proof that AP classes are not actually college level classes and instead are watered down versions of college classes.  However, Dartmouth never stopped recognizing AP exam scores, they just stopped awarding credit for graduation based on AP exam scores.  A student with a 5 on the AP Calc exam begins the math sequence at Dartmouth at a higher level, but he is no longer granted credit toward graduation based on this score -- he now just has the opportunity to take higher level math classes that will fulfill his graduation requirements.  Harvard has a similar, but less rigid, policy about awarding credit for graduation based on AP exam scores.

    good point and I have no issue with Dartmouth's approach to AP 

    see for details:

    https://math.dartmouth.edu/undergraduate/first-year-students/ap-info/

    https://math.dartmouth.edu/undergraduate/first-year-students/suggested-courses/

  13. 10 hours ago, yvonne said:

     

    AP courses are "opened up to the masses." AP exams are also available to anyone who wants to take them. However, the AP exam scores still differentiate between students' levels of ability or mastery of the exam material. Whether or not colleges give credit for AP scores doesn't change the fact that the exams do allow for this differentiation.

    This is a bad trend and not all schools follow this - for example they use honor courses as pre-reqs.   Not everyone makes the varsity basketball - we all have are gifts.

  14. 2 hours ago, alewife said:

    I agree.  Imo, replacing the year-long AP Physics B course with two separate year-long courses, AP Physics I and AP Physics 2 is a good example of a revised course that now has been watered down.  

    I will disagree in the use of the term "watered-down".  My DS took both parts, 1 at his B&M charter and 2 at UC Scout online via his B&M charter. Yes they force you to take two classes to cover similar content ( I believe that 1 & 2 cover a little more material than B but the approach is less plug n chug) because it seems the CB's newer philosophy for math and science classes is to cover one college semester over the course of one high school year.  As a STEM major in college DS did not take either AP exam since no credit or advancement would happen.

    Will they apply this philosophy to AP Physics C in the future?   Many high schools and online courses cover AP Physics C over one complete high school year. I think this is best for all but the really smart and motivated students.  His best friend took DE math through the local CC which is a pretty good school but his Calc 2 and 3 were "watered down" versus most flag-ship state Unis per his father.

    DS' B&M charter dumped C because not enough students signed up for it. They now offer these through UC Scout since I gently harassed them into adopting UC Scout APs for ones they don't offer. If only UC Scout would improve their courses year to year (they seemed to ignore any small improvements we suggested to them oh well).

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