Subj: [talk-kitchen] [ncte-talk] Honors Students

Date: 4/3/00 7:46:41 AM Pacific Daylight Time

From: patter@voyager.net (Nancy Patterson)

Sender: owner-talk-kitchen@ncte.org

Reply-to: talk-kitchen@serv1.ncte.org

To: ncte-talk@serv1.ncte.org

Ok. I've been awfully quiet lately.

But...

I continue to be troubled by classes designed for honor students, or classes

designed for "low" students. We need to understand that students of varying

abilities can have their needs met in the same classroom environment. When

we sort students out like beans, we, first, often sort them by how

teacher-pleaser-ish they are. And second, by how well they do on

standardized tests--notoriously inaccurate measures.

The current criticism for not including all students in a single classroom

is that the "low" kids will drag down the "high" kids and in some way damage

their education. Does anyone else smell a rat in this logic?

Nancy

Nancy G. Patterson

Portland Middle School, English Dept. Chair

Portland, Michigan

"To educate as the practice of freedom is a way of teaching that anyone can

learn.

--bell hooks

patter@voyager.net

<http://www.msu.edu/user/patter90/opening.htm>

<http://www.npatterson.net/mid.html>