Gally Regional Deaf Academic Bowl

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learner

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As the parent of a Deaf student, I attended a regional playoff for the first time. Guess what? Our kids are in trouble. All of them. They are the "best and brightest" from Deaf and mainstream high schools, and they are not reading or doing math on any kind of competitive high school level. It did not matter whether they were Deaf, HOH, ASL-ers, CIs, oral etc. Only a handful of kids were anywhere near junior high level. Out of 90 plus questions in each competition, the highest score was in the seventies (rare), with many in the teens,twenties, and thirties. On top of it, I would defy similar hearing kids to know answers to some of the obscure questions: ex-what was the name of the city in which Hamlet lived? Saudia Arabian News Agency? Am I supposed to be impressed, Gally? I doubt if your college kids know the answers. This for kids who can't read anywhere near high school level? Don't you have to give them a couple of years of remediation when they come to you? Maybe its in your interest for them to stay behind-after all, it may be keeping you in your job. Also, answers provided from the answer sheet were wrong! For example: Langston Hughes wrote "A Raisin in the Sun"? I think not. The esteemed Deaf judges themselves did not catch/know. Not to mention the math problems. A word problem asking what the remainder was of a simple division problem was lost on both competitors, who answered the quotient ONLY. At the end, a Gally representative and everyone congratulated the students on how smart they are! Where are the outraged Deaf professionals? We are setting these kids up for a lifetime of dependence/poverty by pretending they are doing so wonderfully. Gally has a 50% graduation rate-of course, because by that time its too late. Why is it okay to delude our kids? All kinds of Deaf/deaf/hearing adults should unite and insist on a radical revision of education so that these kids can get the basics up to snuff. Then and only then will they be able to go on to gain a full understanding of the rest of the subjects.
 
I wouldnt like it either. I will have to look into that and find out what's up.
 
Well you know, that is exactly why I think that the gross majority of dhh kids should -either start out at the State School for the Deaf, or an affiliated program. Then we need to get really good teachers, raise expectations etc.....
 
learner said:
As the parent of a Deaf student, I attended a regional playoff for the first time. Guess what? Our kids are in trouble. All of them. They are the "best and brightest" from Deaf and mainstream high schools, and they are not reading or doing math on any kind of competitive high school level. It did not matter whether they were Deaf, HOH, ASL-ers, CIs, oral etc. Only a handful of kids were anywhere near junior high level. Out of 90 plus questions in each competition, the highest score was in the seventies (rare), with many in the teens,twenties, and thirties. On top of it, I would defy similar hearing kids to know answers to some of the obscure questions: ex-what was the name of the city in which Hamlet lived? Saudia Arabian News Agency? Am I supposed to be impressed, Gally? I doubt if your college kids know the answers. This for kids who can't read anywhere near high school level? Don't you have to give them a couple of years of remediation when they come to you? Maybe its in your interest for them to stay behind-after all, it may be keeping you in your job. Also, answers provided from the answer sheet were wrong! For example: Langston Hughes wrote "A Raisin in the Sun"? I think not. The esteemed Deaf judges themselves did not catch/know. Not to mention the math problems. A word problem asking what the remainder was of a simple division problem was lost on both competitors, who answered the quotient ONLY. At the end, a Gally representative and everyone congratulated the students on how smart they are! Where are the outraged Deaf professionals? We are setting these kids up for a lifetime of dependence/poverty by pretending they are doing so wonderfully. Gally has a 50% graduation rate-of course, because by that time its too late. Why is it okay to delude our kids? All kinds of Deaf/deaf/hearing adults should unite and insist on a radical revision of education so that these kids can get the basics up to snuff. Then and only then will they be able to go on to gain a full understanding of the rest of the subjects.
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jillio said:
You are preaching to the choir.
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AMEN!

Its the same issue with the "hearing" schools as well.
 
Agreed. So many of those pro mainstreamers yap on and on about how hearing schools are better then deaf schools. Not nessarily. Like for example a school in Gary Indiana or Holyoke MA or an inner city school, like in Cabrini-Green or Bed-Sty (in Brooklyn NYC) wouldn't nessarily be better then a deaf school.
 
deafdyke said:
Agreed. So many of those pro mainstreamers yap on and on about how hearing schools are better then deaf schools. Not nessarily. Like for example a school in Gary Indiana or Holyoke MA or an inner city school, like in Cabrini-Green or Bed-Sty (in Brooklyn NYC) wouldn't nessarily be better then a deaf school.
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True. Too many schools do not have the funding or the means to fully educate their hearing students. How are they going to address the needs of any student needing accommodations?
 
Not to mention that most mainstream teachers really don't have the training to teach kids like us. I went to a state college (high number of teachers) and I knew more about educating dhh and other classicly disabled kids, then did my ed (even special ed) major friends!
 
For example: Langston Hughes wrote "A Raisin in the Sun"? I think not.
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Well he DID write the POEM "A Raisin in the Sun"............He didn't write the play however.
 
learner said:
Am I supposed to be impressed, Gally? I doubt if your college kids know the answers. This for kids who can't read anywhere near high school level? Don't you have to give them a couple of years of remediation when they come to you? Maybe its in your interest for them to stay behind-after all, it may be keeping you in your job.
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Everybody at Gally knows very well that the standards are too low, but the problem is at the K-12 level. Gally can't raise its standards so high instantly, because nobody would be able to get in. We have to start the reforms at the beginning of the education process, not the end. JMHO.
 
What kind of questions did they give at the academic bowl?

Give us sample questions?
 
Etoile said:
Everybody at Gally knows very well that the standards are too low, but the problem is at the K-12 level. Gally can't raise its standards so high instantly, because nobody would be able to get in. We have to start the reforms at the beginning of the education process, not the end. JMHO.
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*nodding*
 
Etoile said:
Everybody at Gally knows very well that the standards are too low, but the problem is at the K-12 level. Gally can't raise its standards so high instantly, because nobody would be able to get in. We have to start the reforms at the beginning of the education process, not the end. JMHO.
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Exactly!
 
learner said:
On top of it, I would defy similar hearing kids to know answers to some of the obscure questions: ex-what was the name of the city in which Hamlet lived?
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I looked up Hamlet online and can't find the name of the city. The scene take place in Elsinore Castle in the country of Denmark. I don't think the name of the castle also is the name of the town.
 
In the hearing system, we have kids that can barely master the English language and high school algebra, and yet we are wanting these same kids to enroll in Advanced Placement? I think its a waste of time myself.

We need to get back to basics rather than try to get fancy.
 
Dixie said:
In the hearing system, we have kids that can barely master the English language and high school algebra, and yet we are wanting these same kids to enroll in Advanced Placement? I think its a waste of time myself.

We need to get back to basics rather than try to get fancy.
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Do you mean deaf kids or hearing kids? :confused:
 
Etoile said:
Do you mean deaf kids or hearing kids? :confused:
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I don't know which Dixie meant, but there are any number of hearing students being graduated that are deficient in basic skills. Expecially since NCLB.
 
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