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Michigan, United States
a registered yoga teacher, and a Thai/Yoga Bodywork practitioner.

Monday, September 17, 2012

This American Life & testing

Listening to "This American Life" on the radio last Saturday. Coincidentally it's about back to school and, specifically, TESTING.

http://podcast.thisamericanlife.org/podcast/474.mp3

The point that made me sit in my car long after I needed to was how what predicts success later in life is not high school. It was found that kids who drop out and take the GRE GED perform poorly at other tasks later in life. The key is not the content of high school, though.

It is learning to stick with something. The kids who stayed in school did not gain advantage from the classroom content. They were kids more likely to stay through until the end of something.

What gave kids an advantage through life was having support from a trusted adult and a demonstration of "values" or "character traits."

It's being the mother duck to the ducklings: here's how we do this, how we do that.

Teachers don't get that latitude. Parents have the edge at raising successful people--as long as they know their power.

Please give a listen. 


2 comments:

  1. I am definitely going to listen to this. My husband dropped out of high school. he came from a chaotic, dysfunctional home and he wanted to move out and needed a full-time job so he dropped out of school. he has since been very successful in his career.

    We homeschool and I think the take away message for me here is to have my children start and complete projects, stay with things.

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  2. Your husband must have distinguished himself in ways not associated with a HS diploma.

    A diploma seems no great feat anymore. However, like being able to feed and dress yourself, everyone expects it.

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