40% of kids fail pruebas nacionales

dv8

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Sep 27, 2006
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so, building new schools is definitely working as a mean to improve education in DR. not.
El 40% de los estudiantes de media no pas? las pruebas nacionales - listindiario.com

this is kids from middle school or whatever that would be called in english.

note this below:
Para la educaci?n Media, el promedio de la calificaci?n por asignatura en las Pruebas Nacionales a nivel nacional, en una escala de 0-30, fue de 18.10 % para Lengua Espa?ola; 16.23, Matem?ticas; 17.33, Ciencias Sociales, y 16.57 para Ciencias de la Naturaleza.
 

dv8

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How can students learn something when the teachers are barely or not qualified? :ermm:

i call it: idiots teaching morons to be stupid.

and i am dumb too, the title should read "pruebas", of course...

[Mod note to dv8, fixed it for you]
 
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bob saunders

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We had 24 students take the tests. All passed the Spanish, two failed the mathematics, one failed the social studies, and three failed the science. Highest marks were Alex at an average of 25/30, and Stephanie 24/30. One girl , had 100% on mathematics ( father is an engineer) The national tests only count for 30% of the students mark so in theory they could fail them all and still pass. The tests are multiple choice but they are difficult tests.
DV8 the schools were/are just being built. We are losing some students to the public schools, mainly for economic reasons. Free uniforms, two meals, government payment to parents for their children to attend, and new facilities makes it difficult for some poor parents not to give it a try.
 

mountainannie

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they seem to be improving.. in 2012, 98% failed. El 98.6% de los estudiantes reprob? pruebas nacionales - listindiario.com Is there somewhere we can see the tests? Are these national or international? If they are national, I would think that the Board of Ed would simply make the tests easier.. get them down to the level of the students. Or is this some sort of international thing? Do all students have to take them? Can the teachers pass them?
 

pelaut

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I've watched petty small town bureau-rats leverage out good teachers to replace them with botellas (gf's) with no interest in teaching. Political appointees at all levels gum up the works, but when it's kids, generations can be destroyed.

In today's morass of "higher education" teacher certification doesn't help much either. Knowing Dewey and Rousseau but not the subject material guarantees failure. Nor do salary and benefits ensure good outcomes.

What's needed are teachers in public education that know the material and who want to teach. They're scarce as hen's teeth, but even when they're found, the cocoon of guilds, unions and government regulations that protect the status quo will keep them from serving the kids.
 

the gorgon

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i have not seen any of the test questions myself, but i am willing to bet that not too many Dominican high school graduates could pass the English General Certificate of Education Ordinary or Advanced Level exams.
 

bob saunders

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what surprises me is that (in this country, particularly) the tests (and answers) are not available beforehand.. so that the kids can study for them and pass.. it would seem simple.

Say what! The children know what material to study; it's in their textbooks. They have clinics for three or four weeks prior giving them examples of the types of questions and a primer on all the subjects. If they fail it's largely due to poor study habits, low base math knowledge...etc.
 

Expat13

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Very sad that with the size of DR economy, countries as close as Panama and Costa Rica can be light years ahead in medical and education...If you don't care about your children or your health, what is your purpose?!
 

bob saunders

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Very sad that with the size of DR economy, countries as close as Panama and Costa Rica can be light years ahead in medical and education...If you don't care about your children or your health, what is your purpose?!

Hard to compare the countries. Different beginnings, different histories, different foreign involvement, and smaller populations.
 

Expat13

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tHE dr HAS TWICE THE POPULATION OF cOSTA rICA, A TOTALLY DIFFERENT POPULATION MAKE-UP. cOSTA rICA DEVELOPED
Bob, that almost sounded right out of the "no es mi culpa" handbook. Its about priorities. FYI, one of my best friends, Canadian has lived in Costa for 11 years. He comes here annually for a visit and is always shocked as seems more developed here. SD can give the impression of great developed infrastructure due to new roads, IKEA, grandest malls around. Its like the whole jeepeta syndrome. Show and tell is important but doesn't matter if and how well it works. I wish education would improve here, its a sad state!
 

bob saunders

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Bob, that almost sounded right out of the "no es mi culpa" handbook. Its about priorities. FYI, one of my best friends, Canadian has lived in Costa for 11 years. He comes here annually for a visit and is always shocked as seems more developed here. SD can give the impression of great developed infrastructure due to new roads, IKEA, grandest malls around. Its like the whole jeepeta syndrome. Show and tell is important but doesn't matter if and how well it works. I wish education would improve here, its a sad state!
I have visited and stayed with Ticos several times. My friend Carlos is a surveyor in Grecia and his wife owns a store. They are considered middle of the middle class with three daughters with university educations and only one working in her field of expertise. Like I said, smaller population and different culture, different mindset.
 

mountainannie

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Say what! The children know what material to study; it's in their textbooks. They have clinics for three or four weeks prior giving them examples of the types of questions and a primer on all the subjects. If they fail it's largely due to poor study habits, low base math knowledge...etc.


did you take the Spanish test? "what is the primary sentance of the second paragraph?"
 

bob saunders

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did you take the Spanish test? "what is the primary sentance of the second paragraph?"

Now, Elizabeth , why would I take any of the tests? I once worked in a standards cell rewriting exams questions that were ambiguous or misleading. It is a harder job that one would think, especially when a third of the students do not have English as their first language. Multiple choice exams require exact language so that there is no ambiguity. It is difficult.
 
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I agree with that. Any fool can write a multiple choice exam, but it takes a very logical person to write one that actually tests over the material intended. Precise and clear language is the key. Not all subjects can be adequately tested with multiple choice tests, either.
 

Chirimoya

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My son has just passed his PNs and said they were pretty easy. He didn't get 100% in any of them though. None of his classmates failed, as far as we know. The exams cover the material learned in 8th grade (and to some extent in 6th and 7th) and they prepared by doing past papers, especially during the two week of 'clinicas' in June.
They do not need to write a single word - apart from their names. That's why you see posts on FB like 'gracia ha dios pace la prueba nacionales enla primera conbocatoria'.