David Brauer wrote: Based on what I know of SLCs, Jim Grathwol is right. A kid chooses a medical magnet at Roosevelt - yes, a lot of the learning is applied through a medical metaphor. But the kid is no more locked into a medical career than anyone else.
It just means they learn concepts better through science. Mark Anderson responds: I think this gets to the heart of what the Mpls School System intends with their choices in so many narrow areas: they intend to put each student into small like-minded groups. This is supposed to help each kid learn to the best of his/her abilities (as David says, applying the "medical metaphor"). But I have a strong suspicion that kids don't learn well in such narrow groups. Back when I was in school, I was mostly in the math/science track -- my math/science classmates were the math/science nerds that were likely to major in such fields. The teachers taught us hard-core math and science. At least a couple of times I stupidly ended up in science classes that were designed for liberal arts kids who needed science class credits (I specifically remember one of these in high school and one in college). There was very little science taught in these classes. I hate to think that there are lots of otherwise well educated people out there whose entire exposure to science consisted of such classes. And I suppose I similarly missed some hard-core education in the liberal arts area because I focused more on the science track. I did end up majoring in Accounting in college, so I didn't stay in math/science. But when I took the math classes required to get my business degree, I stayed far away from those math classes that were designed just for business majors. I didn't want to waste my time in dumbed-down classes. I wonder if Michelle's daughter is stuck in the literature track now. If all her cohorts are literature types like her, I can just imagine the kind of math and science classes her group takes. I think the idea of small learning groups is a great idea -- our schools are too large, and they need to be broken down into smaller groups. They are also doing this to some extent in the Middle School where my son is, and I'm all for it. But eighth grade is too young to narrow down how kids are going to learn. I want my son to take hard-core math, science, history, and literature classes. I don't think this will happen if all his cohorts have the same interests as him. As I stated in my earlier comments near the beginning of this thread, from what I've heard through the grapevine, these special interest groups are mostly a mirage. The students in each interest group in a school can take any classes they want. That's good. But if so, what is the point of signing up for all these different groups? I had previously asked for input from people who've been through this, but from the thread I've read it sounds like SLG is only a couple years old. So there will be little experience out there. I guess I'm not real concerned as long as students retain the opportunity to take any class in their school. But the application process does seem a bit over complicated. Mark V Anderson Bancroft TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. 2. If you don't like what's being discussed here, don't complain - change the subject (Mpls-specific, of course.) ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
