All of the richer districts in San Antonio, Neisd, Alamo Heights, Nisd allow more than one science per school year so the above is not a problem. If the kids are truly gifted they can handle it. The problem is parents think their kid is special and over or underwhelm them.
Your child can do just fine as an engineer without Physics APC in high school.
The real cream rises. Parents may not like the idea that their kid is not gifted like the tests are designed to show.
Problem is most of them are not truly gifted - my ds included. Kinda su ious when he and my friends' gifted dc all get 130 on public school IQ test. Of course, it's all about the money - more money for gifted kids so any student anywhere near 130 gets a boost. It's supposed to be top 1% so only if there are 2500 kids in one grade should there be ONE 25-student gifted class.
A science class teaching evolution over creationism doesn't cons ute a liberal bias
A science class teaching evolution over creationism doesn't cons ute a liberal bias
We need to only allow those who will not be a drain on society.
If the left wants to continue to bring in low shilled workers, let them start a charitable society to pay for their subsidies instead of tax dollars.
I didn't say it does.A science class teaching evolution over creationism doesn't cons ute a liberal bias
Your confirmation bias is showing.
But the US does pick and choose. If you actually were aware of the requirements for obtaining a H1B visa (if you're not an outsourcing company gaming the system anyways), then you would know that you're legally required to demonstrate that you've advertised and looked at US workers first and failed to find a candidate, that you would be paying above the prevailing wage for the job, that you have to offer the same working conditions as your US employees, that the employer should not be undergoing a strike or lock-out, that the filing fees alone can go well above $1,500.00. On top of that, that type of visa is temporary and does not allow the employee to switch to another job without leaving the country first.
The system was designed properly to avoid what you're complaining about. The actual problem is that it's being gamed through contracting arrangements, and Congress has been aware and unwilling to close the loophole for obvious reasons... companies want to game the system and thus lobby to continue to do so.
I was under the impression that on the whole (not just H1B visas) our immigration policies tend toward familial ties (are you a relative of someone here) instead of personal merit. I apologize if that assumption is wrong.
Families can sponsor immigrants. That's another set of laws all together.
One thing I can't understand is how certain groups of people are ok with wide open borders and wasting tax dollars on people who will sit at home, out anchor babies, and collect a check becausemuh dreamers
But at the same time they are bent on making sure families, with intelligent enough kids, don't qualify for vouchers for private schools. This would pretty much eliminate the problem of sending your gifted student off to Hustlin n Shieeet High in the inner city where he'll get harassed by Tyrone and Jamal daily for being white. All because the vouchers use those tax dollars that are all of a sudden so precious because their political party supports the movement.
I'm glad you're looking out for your child but I've privately tutored in two of the most compe ive school districts in the Houston area and taking two AP Science courses at once is pretty much the minimum standard. I've met students that are taking SIX AP courses st once. Granted, there's a few in there that are your AP Psychs, AP Geos, but they all were doing AP Physics 1, 2, or C; AP Chem or Bio; and then Calculus AB or BC (one was even doing MultiVariable Calculus). These students are probably outliers but it shows that it can be done. Then again these parents were super wealthy and could afford me to tutor them regularly so they do have that advantage. (I wasn't cheap either, I'm not accepting anything less than $70/hour for BC Calculus rofl)
Most of them had some sort of social life but then there were the predictable few who were clearly overstressed and obsessed with getting 100's in everything.
He was taking 5 APs - AP Eng, Calc AB, US Hist, Chem, Hum Geo, SAT Prep and elective. That to me is heavy for him - as I said earlier, he's listed as gifted but not really. I'm not in any rush - it's a marathon, not a sprint - no sense in burning out in high school :-)
Glad to see that you are parlaying your knowledge into a very nice job - imo, there is a lack of good math/science teachers - his AP Chem teacher was beyond horrible - only 2 kids in the whole school passed the exam (and those are Harvard and John Hopkins bound outstanding students). It was so bad that they bumped up all her kids a letter grade - thought they'd get rid of her but I guess it's not easy to find AP science teachers. The math and ss teachers here are excellent though - guess you can't have everything and I'm willing to give up science for math :-)
tbh I'd be a terrible teacher, there's no way I could handle all the troublesome kids. I just private tutor on the side IMO.
I think you're handling it correctly, I was just pointing out that it could be done if you were really worried about him not taking enough AP courses. That said, being a well rounded person will end up positioning your child better in the long run. If he's really gifted, the cream will rise to the top as pgardn said. And that's good that you recognize your child's weaknesses. There's nothing worse than the combination of parents forcing their kids into heavy AP loads since they're such 'special snowflakes' (even more infuriating is the ones that push their average 2nd/3rd grader into taking the CoGat and then paying exorbitant fees to get PRIVATE tutoring by these slimy, unqualified test prep companies).
I worked at a test prep company as a tutor in college and it has to be one of the most unethical business practices around. It was so infuriating watching parents get screwed out of their hard earned cash.
So then where is the liberal bias in public schools.
Be specific.
they got all offended when he brought the wrong spreadsheets to a parent teacher conference.
"we".
How much do you have to say about it?
Through work I know a bunch of parents with HS students and I have a few friends that are AP teachers. I have followed up tutoring kids for free that had been tutored by a tutoring company. IMO those companies are horrible as you said. I'm thinking individuals that are good tutors need to advertise services in Craigslist or something. Put a write up that succinctly explains the above and how you are better and will undercut them in price "no middle man". Basically somehow write they are and expensive.
I got my name spread around and had to ask friends (people I work with) to stop "advertising" me because they realized how awful the tutoring companies are.I have found There is a real need for tutors as the college board attempts to redo exams. The Physics I AP exam has got parents screaming for tutors after the college board redo from Physics AP B. This exam is truly difficult with the way they score it. The APC physics is very predictable and straightforward. The Physics I exam requires much more writing and deeper conceptual understanding imo.
So, there is a real need for Physics I AP tutors from my experience. It's killing kids and teachers. I think the college board may have to adjust the exam.
NEW YORK (AP) - New York education officials are poised to scrap a test designed to measure the reading and writing skills of people trying to become teachers, in part because an outsized percentage of black and Hispanic candidates were failing it.
The state Board of Regents on Monday is expected Monday to adopt a task force's recommendation of eliminating the literacy exam, known as the Academic Literacy Skills Test.
But the literacy test raised alarms from the beginning because just 46 percent of Hispanic test takers and 41 percent of black test takers passed it on the first try, compared with 64 percent of white candidates.
The literacy test was among four assessments introduced in the 2013-2014 school year as part of an effort to raise the level of elementary and secondary school teaching in the state.
Leaders of the education reform movement have complained for years about the caliber of students entering education schools and the quality of the instruction they receive there. A December 2016 study by the National Council on Teacher Quality found that 44 percent of the teacher preparation programs it surveyed accepted students from the bottom half of their high school classes.
The reformers believe tests like New York's Academic Literacy Skills Test can serve to weed out aspiring teachers who aren't strong students.
But the literacy test raised alarms from the beginning because just 46 percent of Hispanic test takers and 41 percent of black test takers passed it on the first try, compared with 64 percent of white candidates.
A federal judge ruled in 2015 that the test was not discriminatory, but faculty members at education schools say a test that screens out so many minorities is problematic.
"Having a white workforce really doesn't match our student body anymore," Soodak said.
Kate Walsh, the president of National Council on Teacher Quality, which pushes for higher standards for teachers, said that blacks and Latinos don't score as well as whites on the literacy test because of factors like poverty and the legacy of racism.
"There's not a test in the country that doesn't have disproportionate performance on the part of blacks and Latinos," Walsh said
Backers of the test say eliminating it could put weak teachers in classrooms. Critics of the examination said it is redundant and a poor predictor of who will succeed as a teacher.
"We want high standards, without a doubt. Not every given test is going to get us there," said Leslie Soodak, a professor of education at Pace University who served on the task force that examined the state's teacher certification tests.
Kate Walsh, the president of National Council on Teacher Quality, which pushes for higher standards for teachers, said that blacks and Latinos don't score as well as whites on the literacy test because of factors like poverty and the legacy of racism.
"There's not a test in the country that doesn't have disproportionate performance on the part of blacks and Latinos," Walsh said
I could write a book on how bad these companies are but I'll try to keep it short since nobody wants a tl;dr. Since the thought of them infuriates me and the classic BUMP copypastas usually come when I'm pissed, I'll try to make this one atleast entertaining. So sit back and relax (looking at you DoK, mono, AaronY, jeebus, etc).
First of all, I'll get to the elephant in the room. They hire any swinging off the street. There are even people that FAIL these exams (way below their "minimum company standard etc blah blah blah) and still get hired because they are so desperate for a warm body to fill a seat. The summer I worked there, we had a guy who was essentially a snake oil salesman. He comes in saying "I can tutor [insert handful of classes he was definitely not qualified to tutor]." The program director gives him the tests to take, he bombs all of them, but still gets hired because he convinces them "he's got this" and just needs to refresh. Sure enough, when the students come in, this guy regularly gets stumped with stuff as low as Algebra II. And this is not as rare as you might think either. The hours there are , and there's a surprising amount of guys who want to go there and work full time. By wanting full time work, many of them overextend themselves saying they can tutor way more than they're qualified for. (More classes you can tutor the more hours! they promise) Parents of course don't know this.
Also, it's funny because every company says they have the "secret formula" but it's all the same crap just copied and pasted from College Board with the questions rearranged depending on which company you go with. And the "high, rigorous hiring standard" these companies supposedly have is BS. Heck, I've gone to company websites where they say they only hire certified teachers with Master's Degree from top universities and then I'll go to Indeed.com and the same company will have a job opening that clearly says you simply need to atleast be in college with NO teaching experience requiredJust outright lying.
What else do the parents not know? These companies have a business to run which means keeping as few tutors as possible and bringing in as many kids as you can. Which means you can have up to SIX kids per tutor. And you'll be paying the same, oftentimes a higher price than a private tutor for your kid to receive maybe as few as 20 minutes in a 2 hour window depending on the needs of another student. Hopefully they don't have a big test coming up! All this when the tutor is not anymore qualified than a private tutor. Oftentimes less so because all the good tutors at these places will eventually leave once they see what a scam it is. Did I mention price? Yep, it's just as expensive as a private tutor because they need to keep the lights on as well as paying the office assistants to sit around and browse facebook all day. Last but not least, since they'll take anybody in, they will regularly mix high school kids (with an upcoming SAT on the horizon) with two 3rd graders who need to be babysat while screaming, running around, and making paper airplanes. What a great atmosphere conducive to learning for high schoolers!
I say all this but there are a few good tutors at these places who, only God knows why, choose to work there long term. It's usually 2-3 long term tutors with 8-10 guys who are there 3 months max so your kid will never be able to sit there and develop a relationship with the tutor because the lifers are always reserved while everybody else is just a revolving door. If your child only needs a little bit of HW help and is an absolutely terrible SAT/ACT student who would never have the discipline to study on his own without having his hand held, then maybe you will get something out of it. But everybody else is getting royally screwed out of their hard earned money and the people who run these centers should be rounded up, shot, then covered with fecal matter. Other than that, these tutoring centers are great!
Crap.I could write a book on how bad these companies are but I'll try to keep it short since nobody wants a tl;dr. Since the thought of them infuriates me and the classic BUMP copypastas usually come when I'm pissed, I'll try to make this one atleast entertaining. So sit back and relax (looking at you DoK, mono, AaronY, jeebus, etc).
First of all, I'll get to the elephant in the room. They hire any swinging off the street. There are even people that FAIL these exams (way below their "minimum company standard etc blah blah blah) and still get hired because they are so desperate for a warm body to fill a seat. The summer I worked there, we had a guy who was essentially a snake oil salesman. He comes in saying "I can tutor [insert handful of classes he was definitely not qualified to tutor]." The program director gives him the tests to take, he bombs all of them, but still gets hired because he convinces them "he's got this" and just needs to refresh. Sure enough, when the students come in, this guy regularly gets stumped with stuff as low as Algebra II. And this is not as rare as you might think either. The hours there are , and there's a surprising amount of guys who want to go there and work full time. By wanting full time work, many of them overextend themselves saying they can tutor way more than they're qualified for. (More classes you can tutor the more hours! they promise) Parents of course don't know this.
Also, it's funny because every company says they have the "secret formula" but it's all the same crap just copied and pasted from College Board with the questions rearranged depending on which company you go with. And the "high, rigorous hiring standard" these companies supposedly have is BS. Heck, I've gone to company websites where they say they only hire certified teachers with Master's Degree from top universities and then I'll go to Indeed.com and the same company will have a job opening that clearly says you simply need to atleast be in college with NO teaching experience required
What else do the parents not know? These companies have a business to run which means keeping as few tutors as possible and bringing in as many kids as you can. Which means you can have up to SIX kids per tutor. And you'll be paying the same, oftentimes a higher price than a private tutor for your kid to receive maybe as few as 20 minutes in a 2 hour window depending on the needs of another student. Hopefully they don't have a big test coming up! All this when the tutor is not anymore qualified than a private tutor. Oftentimes less so because all the good tutors at these places will eventually leave once they see what a scam it is. Did I mention price? Yep, it's just as expensive as a private tutor because they need to keep the lights on as well as paying the office assistants to sit around and browse facebook all day. Last but not least, since they'll take anybody in, they will regularly mix high school kids (with an upcoming SAT on the horizon) with two 3rd graders who need to be babysat while screaming, running around, and making paper airplanes. What a great atmosphere conducive to learning for high schoolers!
I say all this but there are a few good tutors at these places who, only God knows why, choose to work there long term. It's usually 2-3 long term tutors with 8-10 guys who are there 3 months max so your kid will never be able to sit there and develop a relationship with the tutor because the lifers are always reserved while everybody else is just a revolving door. If your child only needs a little bit of HW help and is an absolutely terrible SAT/ACT student who would never have the discipline to study on his own without having his hand held, then maybe you will get something out of it. But everybody else is getting royally screwed out of their hard earned money and the people who run these centers should be rounded up, shot, then covered with fecal matter. Other than that, these tutoring centers are great!
No wonder I was considered for help after these idiots ruined things.
Seriously, if I needed money, I would try to target areas in Houston that are wealthy and do Physics AP 1. The scores on this exam are abysmal compared to other exams. Absolutely off the charts bad, the college board has lowered the hammer. And many more kids are taking it compared to APC.
Im just thinking if one is competent, one is needed. I'm being begged for help but I just don't have the time. Houston has so much more wealth than SA.... I can see getting your name spread (provided you are good) and tutor the rich areas. And just turn down kids after you tutor them once and can tell are too far behind. Just tell parents it ain't gonna happen. May approaches... I'm getting pleads for help, there is a market.
If I did not like my job so much I would help in the poorer areas with the star students that are going to waste much more. But of course because I'm around people who have profited from our system they usually have the bucks that I don't take as a courtesy.
(And no rmt, from what I see, the bogus charters are NOT helping. At all.)
You don't have to apologize for anything. I'm just countering the notion that, at least with H1B visas, it's a free for all. The H1B system is gamed and has loopholes and it's abused. But it's not a bad system in and of itself, it simply has some flaws that over the years have been abused, and should've been patched up a long time ago.
The US immigration policies does give preferential treatment to family ties, but to get there you need somebody with at least a citizenship, which is a high bar.
They might be bogus where you are but not here. Long waiting lists to get in (especially Broward county).
You're definitely right. Houston has uber wealthy areas not too far from me that have a huge demand. I'm helping somebody with Calculus AB just down the street from me and somebody else from my church who's doing Physics AP 1. You are right, for some reason the scores are pretty abysmal but I think that's due to a lot of borderline kids trying the class out whereas AP Physics 2 and C are for the really gifted.
Out of curiousity, what's your background? Are you capable w/ AP Physics C? That's out of my league at this point in time. I've done it once before but time has passed and, like you said, there's just not that much demand so I'm not going to go out of my way to relearn it. Just too much time that I would have to invest in it. Math seems to stick forever with me but I'll lose Physics/Chemistry knowledge if I don't see it for awhile
They are worse than bogus actually.
They take people's money and then close up shop because the parents end ready to riot.
They hire terrible bounce around teachers. It takes time to establish a good school with good equipment. It takes experienced science teachers to even begin to know what is needed for labs etc.. These charters do zero labs and don't have skilled people. They are business people who are very good at lying and covering massive deficiencies. Profit first. Quick buck and gone.
Molecular Biology BS UT Austin
Biochemistry Masters UT Austin
I was a TA and I took it seriously.
My job requires knowledge in Mol. Biology and Physics. Because these are odd partners for most people I am necessary. I got lucky and worked with really good research people (many turned entrepreneurs) who valued my persistence in figuring out stuff they did not have time for. Name gets spread about... right time right place right people I'm very lucky. The best thing that happened to me is not going forward for my PHD because my prof lost his grants due to his testicles overriding his brain. That kicked me to some fantastic people. Luck.
Yes I have tutored APC. I know the physics much better than the math. The physics largely encompasses the usefulness of finding slopes for specific realationships. (Derivatives). And finding areas under curves for specific realationships. ( Integrals) There is some calculus with extended bodies in rotation that requires some tricks with integration. And same with air resistance and capacitor charging. But it's not bad.
Without being rude, many math heads don't necessarily see the utility of what they are doing, especially in 1st year engineering physics.
The beauty of using limits to find slopes and areas is fn incredible. Also very cool with battery charging, Electric fields. The math describes the "dying off" or reaching some max value that is God like imo.
The new Physics AP1 and AP2 require some really tough concepts though. Some that APC does not touch. And yep you are right. Kids just get tossed into these classes with very little background. At least APC requires a physics prerequisite. But not for the really gifted kids. This is why I say I see a big market for the first two AP classes. I also have some software where I just write and talk on a white background so I can help some emergencies from colleague's kids on specific problems out of town. Much better than Skype.
Last edited by pgardn; 03-14-2017 at 10:02 PM.
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