OT: North Carolina Whistle Blower Video
Sorry if already posted, but the link has a video from Bloomberg Busines Week at the bottom of the whistle blower.
It's just amazing the lengths a so called legit academic university will go to "support" its cash cow program. You have to wonder just how many other universities do this if UNC was doing it. Is this just an isolated event at one university or was UNC just unfortunate to have one person expose their wholesale academic fraud where other schools have it better "controlled?"
But what is more daming, and something I have known for way too long having been around various athletes, is just how poorly we are doing in actually edcuating these kids. The parents, teachers, elemenatry and high schools that allowed these kids to move on without having the basics to read and write is just horrific. And the sad thing, nothing is being done about it.
http://dailycaller.com/2014/03/27/we-cheated-at-unc-whistle-blowers-exp…
I believe this is an isolated incident.
/s (X1000)
So do we.
Sincerely,
The NCAA
See, that's just it really: all the proof you need that the NCAA is run by a bunch of morons is that this is very damning evidence against their argument that athletes aren't employees, and they will gladly argue against that but never bother taking the one very simple step necessary to back up their argument. Which would be, nuking UNC to the Stone Age like they deserve.
I wouldn't say they are morons. I think they know what's going on and prefer to look the other way so as to not upset the gravy train. There are surely a lot of UNC-type cases out there.
in other words.
No this wasn't politics. Grasping to make sense of Florida comment.
Pictures of some of the papers which were allowed to circulate through these "classes" showed up on Twitter recently. In case anyone had not seen them, here's one:
Some might have to blow this up to read it, but this paper about Rosa Parks, which is a rough read even at its short length, received an "A-".
Man, I wonder when the sequel comes out. I'd like to know what happens next!
"On the evening of December..."
From one stance I can see how someone would demonize all of major college athletics and say that they would not want them to exist any longer because of this unfair treatment granted to people who shouldn't even be allowed into a college classroom. It is fairly upsetting to read something like that and know that there are so many young people out there who have no real intellectual ability but because of their athletic abilities they are given such opportunities.
I have those feelings to a degree but mainly I feel like this undercuts our progress as a country and as humans. What good can a washed up college athlete provide when they've been handed everything and now have no critical thinking skills but rather live in a conflicting world with the real because they have been under this false impression that they do have so called "brains". When this false world and real world meet anger will most surely be the initial reaction. Will they ever be able to pull themselves out of this? What a mess.
-passed out of middle school.
-graduated high school.
-somehow got a good enough college entrance score to meet minimum NCAA requirements.
This is shockingly succint proof of utter failure in the education system.
I wonder how much of it is a knowledge vs. effort thing. Yes, they made it through middle school, graduated high school, and (at least to our knowledge) received appropriate scores on college entrance examinations.
However, if someone says "Hey, you can take this 400 level course which has homework every week, 3 exams, two papers and a project" versus "Hey you can turn in a paragraph at the end of the semester for an A-", which would you choose?
I think a lot of intelligent people would still take the path of least resistance, the second option.
This is all speculation, I'm not saying that's how it is (nor arguing against flaws in our education system), just hypothesizing that the amount of effort required may be a significant driver.
Usually, though, if a paper is circulated on the net in a "let's all laugh at how dumb athletes are" kind of way, the paper is written a lot worse. So I think your point holds true in this case (this isn't actually a horribly-written paper like many are - spelling is fine and grammar is for the most part not egregriously bad - it's just not well-written either and comically short.) But the other point is true as well.
A total team effort. GOOD JOB EVERYONE!
But yeah, this is probably not the first time that people who could run fast and/or jump high got by on that basis alone.
You start with tremendous accountability. Then you move into toughness between the ears. I want to be able to hear learning going on. I haven't heard it in a while. All joking aside this is a problem with no definite solution. The no child left behind act, which I am not too familiar with, seems silly. If a child can't cut it then why continue to push them through. They just don't have what it takes at this given time. In the wild it's survival of the fittest so why not in the classroom? This everyone wins mentality that has been spread out across this country is sickening. Everyone is entitled to greatness and whatever they want and when reality sets in these people turn into whining incoherent pricks. My abilities may not be what yours are and that is something that one should come to grips with at an early age. Hard work can overcome a lot of that and if you find out how to work hard and smart you can do whatever you want. It's the cunningness of the human animal that can do these things. What kinds of changes that could be implemented immediately do you see?
You answered your own question. No child is left behind because it might hurt his feelings.
Mary Willingham will never find another job in higher education.
That's my guess, anyway, given the treatment of similar whistleblowers in the past. What's Norma McGill doing today? Jan Gangelhoff? Abar Rouse?
Logged in specifically to upvote OP's handle and avatar.
As a first year PE and Health teacher, I believe the education system has it backwards. It can be disheartening and frustrating. But, many teachers are expected to get kids to pass regardless of their ability level. Unfortunately schools spend way too much time worrying about results. They asses, take standardized tests, talk about the graduation rate, etc. It's all about results. Teachers are judged in part by results like scores and the graduation rate, as are administrators. This encourages them to get better better scores and graduation rates, not better students. It doesn't reinforce learning, it reinforces making getting a good grade easier. So, instead of holding a student accountable that doesn't know the material or have the skills/knowledge, we try and find a way to get them through. We give them extended time to complete assignments, allow them to make up work, and even if they fail, we let them make it the the next semester without having to re-take the course. And, even if they re-take the course eventually we just push them through even if their behavior never changes. Also, having heterogenious classes is bad IMO. Also letting special needs kids be in the "least restricted environment" is hurting the majority of students and only helping a few.
Parents also have a role here where they pressure teachers and administrators to pass their kids. They misguidedly (IMO) want their kids to pass because they think that's what's best for them, instead of teaching them values such as accountability and responsibility. If the education system spent less time worrying about results and paid more attention to the process of learning we'd be a lot better off. After all, the result is only a way of assessing the learning, but the focus should be on the learning, not the result. It's all backwards and it's built into the entire system. I hope one day we figure it out, but it's hard to blame it on any one person.
I know as a teacher after holding a kid back a few times (these are typically kids that are a pain in the butt and don't want to be in school in the first place and have behavior issues) you just want to give them the lowest possible passing grade and get them out of your hair.
Just more proof that the NCAA is in the money-making business, not the education business. This the kind of stuff that makes it ridiculous when people talk about how athletes are compensated so well by getting a quality education.
March 28th, 2014 at 12:15 AM ^
to get some probation and maybe a scholarship or two taken away. Good thing they were not getting in 15 minutes of extra practice a day they would have got the death penalty.