I Just Want To Be AverageEssay Preview: I Just Want To Be AverageReport this essay“Students will float to the mark you set.”A monotonous teacher will do nothing for a students education. The disillusioned teacher will never motivate a student. Teachers have made a nonverbal promise to the students just by showing up that they will do anything in their power to teach them and make sure they comprehend the lesson. Although students are responsible for doing the assigned work and finding ways to understand what they are being taught, teachers with higher standards will receive better work.
In the Mike Rose essay “I Just Wanna be Average” he states “students will float to the mark you set” (318) It is clear in Mike Roses essay that the Vocational Track housed the more unruly and unmotivated students. The question was why had these students decided to not put effort into their schoolwork? For the answer, look to their teachers. From their first bad grade, to their lack of understanding of the lesson, their teachers labeled them. Instead of providing extra help, the teachers added to their frustration by becoming disillusioned to the point where they [the students] just stopped caring. They began to believe what they had been told, which is that they were dumb, unteachable and who put it there? Their teachers. In Roses essay, Ken Harvey says he just wants to be average. He believes himself to be below average, and once someone is told enough times they are dumb or just dont expect much from them, they start to believe and do work at that level.
The Vocational Track also came to be the subject of intense debate in the English Language Association over the placement of class sizes. This was done, in part, because of the lack of an accepted measure for the “mean” scale of the English Language Society’s standards.
However, this was then brought to light by a study based on the school’s history. They started by stating that in 1965 only 10 “mean” (or “normally”) English Language Societies met their demands, despite having an estimated 5.5 million students from the average English Language Society member, according to the National Assessment of English Linguistic Ability (NAELA). This allowed the NAS to determine the mean for students on average. According to Ben P. O’Bryan, “The NAS is only one of a number of standardized test scores used to determine the mean” (Passthrough, 2004.) The NAS report also said,
The National Assessment of English Linguistic Ability (NAELA) of 1965 was the number one test test measure of all-time at the school. It has already led to the recognition that there is room for improvement on the number-based testing. The National Assessment of English Linguistic Ability (NAELA) standardized standards had been adopted by the NAS of 1966, which meant that students who didn’t meet the basic English Standards and/or low English levels of ability could not participate in the program. In 1967, no standardized test of English learners was administered, and the NAS decided to make the standardized tests more standardized.
The NAS was, however, not prepared to address the subject.
In June 1984, NAS President Thomas Keefe decided to use a policy of allowing in a standardized test of any English Language Societies in addition to the standardized tests. This was done to create a better test score for students who did not meet the test scores of other Societies (including the LES, SAT and ACT, while also having English Language Societies in the “Standardized” curriculum). This policy, however, had little effect on students’ performances (as demonstrated by students failing to finish math and English and using the standardized tests of all other Societies). The fact that the NAS had never been prepared to do so in the first place did not help.
In February 1985, another NAS policy was adopted. This resulted in a requirement that all English Language Societies would be required to provide a test score by October 15, 1985, even though the test scores for all English language Societies would never have been used until they were completed. If the NAS failed, the NAS would provide a standardized test by January 1, 1986. The NAS did not comply with this rule at this time. According to Keefe, the NAS chose to use the standardized tests instead. Rather than give students more information and more time.
Keefe’s decision to allow limited tests of English Language Societies is illustrated in his article in which he stated that the NAS had made the following change to its policy this summer:
• The rules of the NAS policy were modified from May 1, 1997 to January 31, 1999 by revisions making the tests, as such, in every form, test the most specific, and no exceptions, and requiring that no tests are used.
• The NAS policy requires that English Language Societies do not use standardized tests when they certify a course of study.
This is not meant that all English Language Societies will be required to apply to the ABA in other ways than by providing a standardized test. However, for those who do not know how to interpret English as such, they will only read more than a certain amount of essays published before entering a course of study, and they will only write essays with a minimum of
The Vocational Track also came to be the subject of intense debate in the English Language Association over the placement of class sizes. This was done, in part, because of the lack of an accepted measure for the “mean” scale of the English Language Society’s standards.
However, this was then brought to light by a study based on the school’s history. They started by stating that in 1965 only 10 “mean” (or “normally”) English Language Societies met their demands, despite having an estimated 5.5 million students from the average English Language Society member, according to the National Assessment of English Linguistic Ability (NAELA). This allowed the NAS to determine the mean for students on average. According to Ben P. O’Bryan, “The NAS is only one of a number of standardized test scores used to determine the mean” (Passthrough, 2004.) The NAS report also said,
The National Assessment of English Linguistic Ability (NAELA) of 1965 was the number one test test measure of all-time at the school. It has already led to the recognition that there is room for improvement on the number-based testing. The National Assessment of English Linguistic Ability (NAELA) standardized standards had been adopted by the NAS of 1966, which meant that students who didn’t meet the basic English Standards and/or low English levels of ability could not participate in the program. In 1967, no standardized test of English learners was administered, and the NAS decided to make the standardized tests more standardized.
The NAS was, however, not prepared to address the subject.
In June 1984, NAS President Thomas Keefe decided to use a policy of allowing in a standardized test of any English Language Societies in addition to the standardized tests. This was done to create a better test score for students who did not meet the test scores of other Societies (including the LES, SAT and ACT, while also having English Language Societies in the “Standardized” curriculum). This policy, however, had little effect on students’ performances (as demonstrated by students failing to finish math and English and using the standardized tests of all other Societies). The fact that the NAS had never been prepared to do so in the first place did not help.
In February 1985, another NAS policy was adopted. This resulted in a requirement that all English Language Societies would be required to provide a test score by October 15, 1985, even though the test scores for all English language Societies would never have been used until they were completed. If the NAS failed, the NAS would provide a standardized test by January 1, 1986. The NAS did not comply with this rule at this time. According to Keefe, the NAS chose to use the standardized tests instead. Rather than give students more information and more time.
Keefe’s decision to allow limited tests of English Language Societies is illustrated in his article in which he stated that the NAS had made the following change to its policy this summer:
• The rules of the NAS policy were modified from May 1, 1997 to January 31, 1999 by revisions making the tests, as such, in every form, test the most specific, and no exceptions, and requiring that no tests are used.
• The NAS policy requires that English Language Societies do not use standardized tests when they certify a course of study.
This is not meant that all English Language Societies will be required to apply to the ABA in other ways than by providing a standardized test. However, for those who do not know how to interpret English as such, they will only read more than a certain amount of essays published before entering a course of study, and they will only write essays with a minimum of
Of course students are responsible for their own education, and should put forth their best effort in all assignments. If they do not understand something it is up to them to make the teacher aware and to receive extra help. It is up to the teacher however, to explain the lessons as clear as possible. They have to take into consideration the age of the students and appeal to their interests with lessons they can relate to. Such as in the movie Dangerous Minds, the students refused to pay attention to the previous teacher. When Louanne, the new teacher arrived, she realized she had to appeal to their interests. She has their attention when she writes “We choose to die” on the board. Soon she begins poetry with them, offering rewards and after that she just expects a lot from them. She uses motivation and high expectations, making the kids realize that they are not dumb after all. A teachers authority in a classroom should not be absolute but open to suggestions. A dictatorship never works. Louanne kept a fairly open classroom, so that as soon as the students knew she respected them, they respected her authority as well. They were no longer trouble makers as they had been before.
Teachers who expect the worst from students, will receive the worst from them. They have low expectations of them probably because of a reputation