Microsoft's High School Opens in PA 601
Joopndufus writes to mention a CNN article about a Microsoft-planned high school, newly opened in the Philadelphia area. Funded entirely by that city's school system, Microsoft offered its management skills and personnel to design every aspect of the high-tech setting. From the article: "After three years of planning, the Microsoft Corp.-designed 'School of the Future' opened its doors Thursday, a gleaming white modern facility looking out of place amid rows of ramshackle homes in a working-class West Philadelphia neighborhood. The school is being touted as unlike any in the world, with not only a high-tech building -- students have digital lockers and teachers use interactive 'smart boards' -- but also a learning process modeled on Microsoft's management techniques."
More information (Score:5, Funny)
This informed them that the tannoy system was working and it was now safe to enter the building.
However, once the day got underway things quickly went downhill in the English letter writing class.
"Dear aunt, let's set so double the killer delete select all,"
Meanwhile the gymnasium had to be rebooted twice after some children overloaded the basketball hoops.
Several pupils were stuck in the changing rooms for a few hours until the scandisk procedure managed to locate all the fragments of the key to unlock the door.
The music class was interrupted because someone brought in an illegal sample of a track in mp3 format and forgot to include a verification document from the parents of the original composer signed in blood.
On top of all these problems, the school is hunting for the person responsible for posting "goatse" on every single whiteboard, this shocking image appeared at 14:21 and remained on screen for 15 minutes whilst technicians located and removed it.
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Re:More information (Score:5, Funny)
Deadlines. (Score:5, Funny)
Do they have deadlines on assignments?
Graduation was expensively assured in two years but it will probably take six or so. The graduates will have minor, mostly cosmetic, improvements and be as reliable and trustworthy as any other Microsoft release. Some students, like Bob, will never make it.
Attempts to dominate gaming will produce a few interesting plays but will ultimately be an expensive distraction.
Re:More information (Score:5, Funny)
No, no; management, not technical (Score:5, Funny)
...so before they can sit down, the kids will have to search the school to find where their chairs have landed.
And the principal will steal the core information from all of the textbooks to be used, change it so it doesn't crash their custom curriculum, then pay off the original publishers when they threaten to sue.
Students will only receive homework on the first Tuesday of every month, and only if they can prove that they are genuine students by showing the teacher their enrolment certificate.
Nah, I got nothin'.
At lunch, in the teachers' lounge... (Score:3, Funny)
"EDUCATORS! EDUCATORS! EDUCATORS!"
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"I see today we are trying to write a formal letter. Would you like help?"
Also, two students were expelled on the first day for giving an apple to the teacher.
Interesting 'idea' (Score:2, Interesting)
Does that mean that students only get help on the first Tuesday of each month?
Does anyone else see a problem with modeling a school after a management style better at spin than substance? Or with MS managers telling teachers how to do their jobs? I wonder if the lockers will have DRM built-in? The sheer magnitude of bullsh*t this promises is nearly limitless, based just the amazing lack of common sense found in the idea. Its
What are *you* doing? (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:What are *you* doing? (Score:5, Insightful)
As in steal ideas from others, lie to federal judges, violate federal laws, and spin faster than a top?
"and other big orgs" Of course, MS isn't a "big org", and knows so much more about education than, say, educators. There are people out there who do turn around schools, and they do it by addressing the fundamental problems, not throwing technology at the situation as some kind of utopian panacea.
"What have you done for education lately"
One doesn't need to be a sailor to know that a ships float better than stones.
Really, from the article, it looks like MS just wants to train future MS employees. And have somebody else pay for it. And then not hire them.
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From the article, it looks different:
"...Their laptops carry software that assesses how quickly they're learning the lesson."
. .
"Lessons will have more incorporation of current events to teach subjects. For instance, a question of whether Philadelphia is safe from the avian flu will teach students about geography, science and history."
MS is definetly getting involved in class content and the educational process itself. And of course, MS has no agen
Re:What are *you* doing? (Score:5, Interesting)
I don't think it is the lack of money...but, it is management of the schools. The teachers unions are a huge problem...the bureaucracy the entangles every aspect of public schools...and the corruption. (In NOLA pre-Katrina, a janitor made somewhere near $90K one year by filing bogus OT...he happened to be related to someone powerful on the school board).
I almost think we do need to somehow make US schools private run entities...or at least make the schools truely competitive, where people lose jobs and funding for lack of performance. Let the tax dollars follow the kids...lets schools compete for the students and the dollars that follow them. Hell, if school peformance is what drives what schools get the money...they will attract students...from all races I'd think...so, it might also end the dependance we have on busing kids all around.
Let the students decide where they want to go, let the dollars follow them, and possibly the school system can start to heal itself.
Re:What are *you* doing? (Score:4, Insightful)
It is a Hard Problem to measure the performance of a school, or even a teacher.
You allude to vouchers, as a stopgap measure, but that doesn't entirely solve the problem. A voucher is basically a way for individual parents to judge the school based on observations of their child. While this is more precise than a standardized test, it is not necessarily accurate, nor is it reliable on a schoolwide basis. In any event, it functions only in the presence of attentive, devoted parents.
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Agreed...but,seeing that parental behavior cannot be legislated, lets at least try something!
The current system is suffering. And as sad as it is...no system will help kids whose parents aren't interested in their progress, that is one aspect that noone but the parents can help.
So, given that there will always be some 'losers' out there due to bad parenting, lets at least open things up for the kids of parents that do
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Gotta call bullshit on that one. My parents both worked as I went through school, and they damned sure knew what I was doing. They didn't stand over my shoulder, but, if my grades slipped....my ass was grass.
They took the time to ask how school was, and often in discussion at the dinner table would ask what I was
Re:What are *you* doing? (Score:4, Insightful)
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Well, then that is NOT a case of money following the students. Schools should have to compete for their students. If a school is underperforming, it does not need to be funded better...it needs to be closes, sh
Re:What are *you* doing? (Score:5, Insightful)
Schools aren't businesses. Nations aren't businesses. Churches aren't businesses. This pretense that competence in business translates to competence in other areas is borderline insane.
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Since when did "having done something" become a requirement for criticizing something that many view with suspicion? Am I "not" allowed to complain about a landfill being built in my neighbourhood because I never built one myself?
Microsoft is a publicly trade company and as such is driven by shareholder value. They are not a charitable organization. Furthermore they have a track record of unethical and illegal behaviour. Around the world!
Why would you NOT be suspicious of thei
Re:Interesting 'idea' (Score:5, Interesting)
Because that isn't the answer. The current school systems are already being pumped cash, but still show horrible results. Especially when compared to private schools. What Microsoft is doing is not a bad idea. I just cringe at the idea of applying "Microsoft Management Procedures" as a panacea to all the school's problems. Most likely, all that technology will just mean that the students do just as badly, but in a high tech environment!
Of course, the problem really stems from poor elementry education. Students are rarely taught a solid foundation that they can grasp, and concepts like personal responsibility, individual talent, and academic achievement are wiped away as unimportant. Just so long as nobody feels they're special and nobody feels that they're not normal, then who cares if the academic bar is going lower and lower?
Unfortunately, I find it doubtful that things will change as long as Political Correctness rules our schools and parents see elementary as nothing more than free day care.
Re:Interesting 'idea' (Score:5, Informative)
That simply isn't true. The report came out a couple of months ago from a government study that privately run charter school students scored lower than public school students. The report didn't get a lot of press for obvious reasons. Here's the first google news link I found:
http://www.pww.org/article/articleview/9765/1/338
MOD PARENT UP (Score:5, Informative)
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No, but, the govt. regulations and bureaucracy imposed on the public versions of schools is what curses them. Political correctness, teachers unions, regulations....and lack of discipline kill all versions of the public model.
In private schools...they can at the very least discipline you, and kick your a
Re:Interesting 'idea' (Score:5, Insightful)
The current school systems are already being pumped cash, but still show horrible results. Especially when compared to private schools.
No, public school children show horrible results compared to private school children. The children of typically wealthy parents that care enough about their child's education to go to the effort of putting them in a private school perform better in school. Public schools could obviously be run better in many cases, but you sure as heck can't do a one-to-one comparison. Although I'm all for a test case, privatizing an existing, poorly-performing public school and forbidding an increase in expulsions (if you're going to do it on a large scale, you can't just send the less-exceptional kds off to public school to pad your "look how great the students that are still here do" numbers) and seeing how well things go. I'd absolutely love to see that data, 'cause I want there to be an easy fix. I just doubt there is one.
Students are rarely taught a solid foundation that they can grasp
Sure they are. They're taught until their teachers are blue in the face. But other than the 10% that are going to grow up to be the important people, the students just generally don't give a damn. You can't teach an interest in learning.
But you're right that Microsoft's stuff won't help much.
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I can say from personal experience that you're allowing your preconceptions to get in the way. Private schools are far from a playground for the rich. For example, the private school I send my children to actually has quite a number of low income families sending their children there. As a whole, the school has produced academically superio
The keyword being.... (Score:3, Insightful)
They key phrase there being "parents that care" regardless of what studies show the problem has nothing to do with public vs private schools or teachers not performing the problem is with parents.
All of my cousins (34 or so of them my grandfather couldn't keep his pants zipped) went to big time private schools in NYC, I went to one of
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That is so true. I have several friends who work in the Canadian school system, and parents make or break a student's education. Generally, if three students fail a test, one parent won't comment at all, one parent will try to get the teacher fired, and one parent will come to the school and ask how they can help their kid catch up.
Guess which kid actually moves forward in education and in life? The problem isn't primarily teachers. The problem is parents. Of course, eventually teachers get so tired of be
What?! (Score:4, Insightful)
You don't have to! Watch a kid sometime. No unopened box is safe from them. Their talk is an endless stream of "Why does ___?" and "How does that work?". Ever tried learning a second language? Hard work, right? Kids learn a first language quickly and fluently without anyone coercing them into "language school". They watch every move that adults make and try it out for themselves.
You can stop them from learning, by keeping them so hungry or abused that higher brain functions shut down. You can communicate that some places are not for learning, by turning those places into Lord of the Flies. But fundamentally "interest in learning" is something hardwired into all mammals and especially humans.
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Yeah. Go read a textbook. Any textbook. Assloads of information, most of it useful, I promise. Some better than others, but almost all good. Hardly any switch to Chinese in the middle, and those ones don't get picked very often, even with the evil, evil government doing the work.
Most of this is done locally rather than at the federal level
The local school board is trying to keep people dumb so they won't question invasions? I think you've l
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They may even do worse in some cases.
One of the things I really noticed in the article was the following: In addition, students at the school must apply to college to get a diploma.
Since they set up this school in an inner city area,
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And applying to college does cost money, but virtually every college will waive the fee if you can't afford
Re:Interesting 'idea' (Score:5, Informative)
Most schools I have been in are short on textbooks and those textbooks are usually outdated and worn out. If a teacher wants to offer something cool and educational to their students we usually are told there just isn't any money. I run a highly successful robotics club in my middle school which was largely funded in the beginning out of my own pocket. I also run a rocketry club after school which, once again, is largely funded by me. I spent my summer school paycheck on a complete hybrid rocket motor system and ground support equipment to use with the kids.
I can certainly tell you that the massive influx of money is NOT going towards my salary. Everyone I know with a college degree earns generally far more than I do. Am I complaining, yes, but it is the life I chose to live. I knew what I was getting into from the beginning, salary wise.
This brings me to my main point If we want to better the educational system in America we need to raise teachers' salary (among other things). As a teacher I am generally disappointed by the people attracted to education. I am a science geek, I live, eat, and breathe science, however, most science teachers I know (especially at the middle school level) are NOT science oriented people. They are not passionate about science and this disappoints me greatly. However, many of the people I know who are passionate about science and I think would make good teachers do not want to take a massive cut in pay. The argument is that the low pay attracts people who really WANT to be teachers. I do not wholly buy that argument.
In general, I think the educational system that we have in America is a very good system and that most of the problems are not intrinsic to the educational system. For example, I teach in a school that is over 79% economically disadvantaged. My students have very little support at home and I get little to no support from the parents. My students are mal-nourished and under cared for. In general when I have problems with a student I cannot get hold of the parents, much less get support from them.
I can tell you, from my own observations that the single greatest factor that influences whether a student gets a good education or not is the parents. The students that I have that do very well in school, are not behavior problems and are active in the school community have parents that are actively involved in the their life and supportive of them. The students that do not do well in school, are constant behavior problems and have little to no involvement in the school community have parents that simply do not care to be involved in their child's life and general well-being and expect the school to be their baby sitter. It does not their socio-economic or racial background.
Go ahead, flame me.
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Ok, you asked for it...
Having taken an interest in school systems and their results, I take exception to the fact that incredible amounts of money is being spent, but that this money is not finding its way into the education. As you say, you may end up with an $800.00 budget for science experiments. Yet a school might invest hundreds of thousand to mi
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Crash Course? (Score:5, Funny)
Ok, i'm done.
Forgot One (Score:4, Funny)
It replaced their Communications courses.
Who wants to bet... (Score:5, Insightful)
"Say, that's a nice school we helped build... wouldn't want any open-source in there, that would mean bad things, and we don't want bad things to happen, right?"
Re:Who wants to bet... (Score:5, Funny)
Maybe I've watched too many B movies (Score:2)
Maybe I've watched too many B movies, but I've got a bad feeling about this. I can't quite put my finger on it...something about creating monsters maybe?
--MarkusQ
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Fresh Prince of Microsoft (Score:2, Funny)
My life got flipped, turned upside down
And I'd like to take a minute just sit right there
I'll tell you how I became a student owned by Microsoft
In West Philadelphia born and raised
On Slashdot where I spent most of my days
Chilling out, maxing, relaxing all cool
And writing some code outside of the school
When a couple of guys said "we're up in no good"
Started making trouble in my neighbourhood
I hacked into one little computer and my mom got scared
And said "you're going to tha
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the sticker said "pwned" and the dude had flakes in his hair
if anything i could tell that he was ready to throw a chair
but i thought nahhhh forget it wait
YO HOLEMS YOU SMELL WAREZ?
I
pulled
up to my laptop around 7 or 8
and yelled to the teacher
yo melinda page ya later
i looked at my kingdom
it was all white and bare
and there it was known as MS High School despair.
Sorry i had to finish the song.. geez
vista (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:vista (Score:5, Insightful)
Exactly what I was thinking. When I read "[Microsoft] didn't pay the $63 million cost -- that was borne by the Philadelphia School District -- but shared its personnel and management skills" in TFA, my reaction was: it would have been better for them to just donate a big stack of cash and keep their 'skills' to themselves. Money is something Microsoft have more than enough of; 'management skills' - doubtful at best.
And even if they did have 'management skills' - they have no idea of how to teach those skills to children. All their experience is with hiring already-skilled adults.
Had I heard "Microsoft donates $1 billion to the Philadelpha public school system", I would have applauded Microsoft for their generosity (despite everything I have against them). But this project just sounds like a bad idea to me.
What the ... (Score:5, Insightful)
$63 million
Supporting 170 students
$370,588 per student right now.
That's a lot of resources thrown at very few students.
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It's a lot of money, but the building will probably be used for the next 50 years or so.
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Re:What the ... (Score:4, Funny)
Ron
Re:What the ... (Score:4, Informative)
There is also the yearly cost of teaching and maintaining the grounds, but that is a separate statistic.
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You forgot a word... needlessly...
That's a lot of resources nedlessly thrown at very few students.
I wonder what it would be like if that money went towards regular supplies, like paper and pencil for all the other schools in the district, how far that amount of money would go?
I also wonder if before this happened they analyzed Microsoft's Management skills, perhaps with a case study on Vista?
This looks like a fun idea but it sounds like one giant Mi
That would be 'school of the Past' (Score:2)
Sadly I doubt that the technologies that are actually be relevant to these kids' future -- Open Source, ODF, OS X, Solaris, BSD, basically anything not-MS -- will be represented in their computer labs...
But it's consistent with MS' time honoured motto: "Spreading Ignorance and Low Expectations."
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Also, it looks really bad to attribute the entire cost of long-term infrastructure (the cost of the land and building, for example) to the first crop of students.
Finally,
Re:What the ... (Score:5, Insightful)
Exactly. Speaking as someone who lives in Philadelphia, this has not been very well received here. The school system in this city is grossly underfunded, but now we suddenly have this new $63 million school, where all the freshmen get laptops and the lockers open with smart cards. The entire building is wireless, the students don't even have textbooks. A commentator on NPR this morning declared the school to be, in regards to money well spent, "a total waste"
Just the other day, there was a
Perhaps I'm sounding like a luddite, but I fail to understand how having interactive whiteboards & plasma TV screens all over the building are going to make kids learn calculus or a foreign language. I find this entire thing a bit ridiculous. Mind you, the students seem to love it, but apparently they're more interested in the bathrooms [philly.com] than the classrooms:
Where's that emoticon of the head banging against a brick wall?
Re:What the ... (Score:4, Insightful)
Isn't that a little shortsighted? Wouldn't the appropriate thing to do is punish the student? Because if they don't copy wikipedia, they same student will just copy another website or perhaps a book which is harder to track.
Anyway, on the issue of tech in the classroom - it's actually good in areas where technology just works. Think, for instance, about Graphing Calculators. Aren't they pretty good? I know I probably checked out a lot more functions than if I had to draw it by hand. Of course, I still know how to draw it by hand..... (thinking of all the cashier in places who can't add/subtract change w/o the register).
Technology tends to break down in the classroom when it stops being a pretty focused tool that's simply convenient and turns into some ill-defined and ill-focused panacea and prevent the student from thinking on their own.
There were lots of uses of technology which gave me a better understanding of the subject material, like in science classes there was Carl Sagan's excellent Cosmos series (I still consider the simple TV&VCR tech in the classroom). And Lego's mindstorms are pretty damn creative and a good intro to programming (thinking in that way).
But I haven't seen that many good software titles. When learning foreign languages, I'm still looking for a decent Japanese software title - but most edutainment (is that what they still call it?) sucks.
And learning/thinking still is hard work for many people. You can't sit the student in front of the computer and expect them to be taught. The programs/tools need to be focused on the job, and environments where you can just fire up the ICQ/browser when you should be working (speaking of which....) is a terrible temptation - especially for the young.
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No wait, that's not right....
thinkofthechildren (Score:2)
Your children will be assimilated.
Cool (Score:2, Insightful)
Anyway, hwo much of you really wouldn't want to study at the school which is run by the world's biggest (I think it is) software company, which's products are used on 95% of computers?
I would not. (Score:5, Insightful)
Read the article. The library does not have books. It's all "digital".
That right there would be enough for me to avoid it.
Microsoft is great at MARKETING their products. They do not write great software.
And there is nothing to indicate that they know ANYTHING about education.
Jennifer Government .... (Score:4, Interesting)
Anyway in the book they describe how the main female characters daughter attends school owned and run by Mattel
Aaron
Re:Jennifer Government .... (Score:5, Funny)
As a side note, "Bush" I believe comes from the long history of stupid twats in his family.
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We have a lot of this in the UK already... (Score:4, Informative)
Whilst not many schools here have digital lockers (lockers aren't popular here full stop like in the US) we do have things like card systems for pupils to register entry into the toilets with (kinda big brotherish I know, I'm against it but the technology is cool) so there is a paper trail if someone vandalises or smokes in the toilets. The cards double up as well as being able to provide dinner ladies with information on what kids don't need to pay for school meals and such due to their family being poor and on benefits, some schools the few that do have digital lockers - the swipe cards also work for these.
Certainly schools here in the UK have come a long way in the 8 years since I left, they were only just replacing blackboards with those nice whipeable whiteboards when I left!
As for a learning process modelled on Microsoft's management techniques, I've also seen evidence of this in the schools for kids with behavioural problems who are there because they've been expelled multiple times from elsewhere, the main evidence being that they've often threatened to "fucking kill me" and thrown chairs about the room
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I get it.. (Score:2)
And this gives highschool nerds ultimate power, to hack - disable and otherwise compromise other people's lockers. At least with my locker (back in the day) there were a limit number of very physical actions you had to take to "crack" or denial-of-service a lock. This just adds "oops, the machine just took a crap" to a longer list.
In oth
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Uh-huh...? (Score:2)
I work for a small Local Education Authority where all secondary schools use interactive whiteboards, as do the majority of primaries.
There is a school in London that uses fingerprint-scanners at the classroom entrances instead of registers (a little more reliable than a perfectly portable ID card? I dunno.), and there are numerous examples of the effective use of decent technology to impact attendance and learning. Automatic texts to parents' mobil
Eek! (Score:2)
If Microsoft's management techniques is good enough for Vista, it's good enough for our children.
Clippy (Score:2)
It looks like you're trying to record a video for yout^H^H^H^H MSN Funny Videos. Do you want to:
Say What You Want... (Score:5, Interesting)
There needs to be new ideas and new blood running things in the schools. Most administrators are former teachers, and just like good programmers don't always make good IT managers, so do good teachers have a spotty history at becoming good administrators. If this ushers in an era of trying new things to improve schools, then I'm all for it. Microsoft has the name recognition and technology chops to get its foot in the door, but other companies should give it a go. Imagine a GE-led school using Jack Welch's management techniques...
Graduation (Score:5, Funny)
B: Yup.
A: When do you graduate?
B: I was supposed to graduate in 2002. But I got held back. Then it was supposed to be 2003, 2005, then 2006.
A: Yikes! Are you that dumb?
B: No, they just tried to teach me too much unnecessary stuff. They kept cutting classes out of the requirements hoping I'd make it.
A: So, when are you graduating?
B: Right now, they're saying 2007, but many think it'll be 2008 or later.
Microsoft Management Techniques? (Score:5, Funny)
How Long to Graduate (Score:2)
Based on these techniques, when can student's expect to graduate? Do they have to go through Beta year as a junior, then become a Release Candidate in their senior year?
The problem is, with Microsoft's track record, they'll have seniors that stick around for years. What happens when MS decides to change its techniques? "Sorry...you have to go back through four years of school to remain compatible."
crippled? (Score:2)
Nothing like enforcing your monopoly like buying out the schools... or at least making them think you bought them out...
Tom
Meanwhile, in Drew Elementary School (Score:5, Interesting)
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It's hardly an unreasonable stance to suggest that adequate funding for all of the schools is better than underfunding the majority and overfunding a minority.
Gates Foundation high schools (Score:2)
costs (Score:3, Interesting)
Also using smart boards and digital lockers seem like overkill for school and if there a hardware brake down the kids may have there stuff stuck in there lockers and the teacher may have a hard time teaching with out the smart boards.
Instead of a cafeteria, there's a food court with restaurant-style seating. How long is there lunch? Cafeteria style lets you have more people in there at the same time.
Also in the high school I was at the food cards did not work that well and the kids where getting doubled billed and the system was down from time to time making the cafeteria workers take the id number buy hand.
Students have scheduled appointments with teachers, typed into their online calendars, instead of being limited to structured times for classes. Their laptops carry software that assesses how quickly they're learning the lesson. If they get it, they'll dive deeper into the subject. If not, they get remedial help. I like the idea but how many teachers do you need to make that work and there are a lot of state mandated things that must be learned.
In addition, students at the school must apply to college to get a diploma. Sounds like a good idea but what do you with the people who can't pay for it?
This sounds like a good program but public education funds can be better spend on brining all schools up to a better level then just having one real good one.
Yet Another Fad? (Score:2)
Thand and only then will we know if it is just a marketing ploy or a serious attempt to improve education. And how successful it is.
Also, am I the only one that feels uneasy about using kids and their future as part of a large scale sociological, psycholog
I want to go there! (Score:4, Funny)
Microsoft management practices, eh?
Sigh. (Score:2)
Because a company with virtually no accountability and the most infamous monopoly in the world and has essentially unlimited revenue is the ideal model for a taxpayer-funded cash-strapped public school system. Exactly what qualities are they planning to transfer from Microsoft's management to the school. Let's see ... what qualities do we have, here?
* The complete lack of vision and focus on imitation instead of innovation? (Copying is
At least someone is trying (Score:4, Interesting)
Jesus Christ, there are a lot of sharpshooters in here. Everyone knows the US K-12 system, particularly in big cities, sucks goats through a straw. Philadelphia and MS are trying something new. Maybe it won't work, but at least they're trying to do something to fix the problem.
If I were a kid lucky enough to win that lottery, I'd be happy to have the opportunity to go to a one of a kind, modern school. I'd feel like someone actually gave a damn about my education. Why are so many urban schools so fucked up? Part of the problem is that the facilities are ancient, crumbling edifices left over from the 1800s. I'm not suggesting that every school in the country be razed and rebuilt, but it's no secret that the physical design of schools is a huge factor in the overall learning environment.
Bringing modern technology into schools isn't enough in itself, but I think it's worth trying. As for Microsoft's involvement, if you're badmouthing it, when is the last time you volunteered at a school?
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I Live Near This School (Score:2)
Everyone knows the New York City school system is the most pathetic, poor and inept one on the planet, even though it is the most richest city in the United States.
Philadelphia's system is similarly bad, since most people with any means raise their kids in private or parochial schools if they live in the city. Ev
Sounds great, but... (Score:5, Funny)
Technology isn't the problem (Score:5, Insightful)
However, the real problem with schools is the insistence upon including everyone and teaching to the lowest common denominator. The more we can get the high achievers into more advanced programs where they spend time around other high achievers, the better. The entrance requirements for this school shouldn't have been a lottery, but a skills test and teacher recommendations. The best colleges in the country don't use a lottery for admission, and neither should the best schools.
I'm sure there are a long list of other things that could be done. For example, we need ways to find and reward teachers that engage students and truly educate them. I have a hard time remembering the teachers that taught from a book, but the ones that brought in dry ice and had us build model rockets are at the top of my list. The first management technique that MS should have brought to the table was the proper identification of what the problems are and how they can find and implement the best solutions. Sadly, this was more about money and publicity than it was about fixing a problem.
Mascot Ideas (Score:5, Funny)
BOB!! The yellow face from the BOB OS!
BILLY GOAT!! With a face like Bill Gates who couldn't love him!
DEAD PENGUIN!! Picture a penguin that's been fucking killed by certain CEOs
BLUE SCREEN!! Nothing scares opposing teams like a looming crash!!
THE ARROW!! The cursor can run around "right clicking" on the opponents cheerleaders, if you know what I mean.
stop hating already (Score:3, Insightful)
You LINUX sheep are so typical in your responses. Why can't you just love your distribution of choice and stop hating MS? There is nothing that MS can do that you can see in any other light than negative (at best) or illegal and malevolent (at worst). For all of your bitching about how horrible MS is, you likely haven't spent near as much time helping your local alma mater better their education processes. Typical armchair quarterbacks.
So, maybe this new antiseptic, all-digital approach isn't right, but who are any of us to sit here and say that it is worse than the status quo for education in this country? Do you have a better idea? I hear some say "just give the money to the school system, we don't need your management style", and I think that is about the most ignorant thing they could do. There is no shortage of money in the education system, though it is disproportionately focused on administration and not on the educators. Pumping more cash into the system will not help one iota, just as throwing money at any situation without a focused plan to use that money, and a way to make those in charge of those disbursements _ACCOUNTABLE_FOR_THE_USE_OF_THE_MONEY_, is a terrible way to manage any process, business, or endeavor in general.
I am excited to see some change in the education system in this country, and if it fails then at least they tried, hopefully learned a lot from the experience, and aren't too discouraged to not try again with an improved approach.
This is stupid (Score:5, Interesting)
Oh, and Fossil Ridge has SmartBoards too - but only in a few rooms. The lockers are manual, students aren't given laptops (although there are 180 laptops in "mobile labs" that teachers can bring to classrooms, and nearly 700 desktop PCs), and the rooms don't have plasma TVs. And, of course, students still use textbooks and good old pencil and paper.
In a district that has budget problems (as this PA district apparently does), building a "super-school" that costs 3x as much as a conventional school just doesn't make sense. In the real world, we have a term for that - incredible waste.
only good thing is the start time (Score:3, Insightful)
It's like some kind of holdover from farm days or something.
Money is not the problem - c'mon /. (Score:5, Informative)
1970 4,625,224
1975 7,350,355
1980 13,137,785
1985 16,701,065
1990 23,198,575
1995 31,403,000
2000 34,106,697
2002 46,324,352
2003 57,442,854
2004 62,864,595
Note that this is federal spending. There are billions more collected at the state and local level. For example, the estimate in 2003 was nearly $450 billion nationwide. That's just for K-12. FOUR HUNDRED AND FIFTY BILLION DOLLARS.
Democrats and Republicans alike have both tried to throw money at this problem for a loooong time. Increases in education spending far exceed inflation or personal income. The problem is not money! You can google those facts all day long.
Microsoft may or may not be an answer to the problem, but the fact that they're getting in there and trying to fix the problem should be embraced.
I encourage you to poke around www.schoolmatters.com, which is a free service provided by Standard & Poors. They specifically ask that you don't take numbers out of context, so I won't post anything here. It's better to see then in context anyhow.
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