College Admissions Cheating Racket

[Dill]

(03-14-2019, 10:11 PM)Bengalzona Wrote: Nobody reported it. Plus, some units are tight knit, sort of like cops and the Blue Brotherhood. It puts you in an awkward position to report some guy who you may need to cover your back later (even during peacetime exercises). You wouldn't want the foxhole you are sleeping in to 'accidentally' get rolled by an M-1 Abrams. Stuff happens.

There was also the question of Proof. You had to prove the guy did it. We all knew he did (dumbass Fred Flintstone looking Michigan fan that he was). Proving he did is a different story.

That said, some tings did get reported. I had a lieutenant friend whose admin clerk pulled an identity theft and used her info to buy a car.

LOL, I'm thinkin' if I'm a lowly E-4 admin asst, I've made a bad choice to antagonize a senior non-com--even if there is no "proof." They are more likely to have friends in M-1 Abrams than I. 

I know whistle blowing of any kind can be difficult in the military. MPs get away with lots.

[BmorePat87]

(03-14-2019, 09:40 PM)Belsnickel Wrote: This caused me to look up that weird hybrid system going on. At least we just have to deal with different levels of autonomy due to several different types of management agreements state institutions have with the Commonwealth of Virginia. Much less complicated.



I was actually going to say something similar in response. There are programs called "dual enrollment" where students take a course that they receive college credit for through a local higher education institute. Some colleges and universities also allow secondary school students attend classes on campus, as well.

Yep, while we still have AP, we offer dual enrollment with our community college and have a tech school you can attend your junior and senior year for half the day and get a certification when you graduate. 

[BmorePat87]

(03-14-2019, 03:23 PM)michaelsean Wrote: I just want it to match reality as it seems schools get to dictate the value of the AP courses.  I'm sure i've simplified it a bit, but when I hear about kids with a 5.5 or 6.0 GPA (Even heard a 7 something once) I just have to laugh.  

Yea, we show both weighted and unweighted in our transcripts so colleges can see the real GPA.

[BmorePat87]

(03-14-2019, 03:00 PM)Dill Wrote: I didn't realize AP courses did that. Don't some of them at least require that students read important books and write papers about them, using APA or MLA style documentation?  That would be quite a bit more than teaching to the test.

Are these courses then a kind of standardized "package" which is distributed schools, ready to plug in?  How would localities create their own high end courses--working with ed departments of nearby universities? That sounds like a good idea, more promising than NCLB or the Keystone program in PA.

Totally agree with you about teaching to tests. The result is a lot of incoming freshmen who cannot write well and don't know basic geography, among other things.  My wife thinks her students have changed very much over the last 10 years. Incoming freshmen now are a lot like pigeons trained to peck at this or that to get food/a grade.  But they don't think about why they are doing what they are doing and can't solve problems.

Until Trump became president, public school teaching was the only profession in which people with no experience at all could come in and mandate how people with professional experience should do it--then blame them when it doesn't work.

The test does assess analysis and writing, so it becomes a balancing act with cramming "facts" and also focusing on those skills, but often times that gets shoved off onto English and little work is done in the class itself to augment those skills since you have a set amount of content to get through prior to May. But I never covered it in my AP history class. And my English teacher (same person 10th and 12th grade) was not very skilled in extended writing or literature, so we mostly just worked on grammar. I only learned my writing skills by taking a class called "Independent Research" where I picked a topic and researched it for the whole year. It was the first year my high school was open and we only had freshmen and sophomores, so I was the only person in the class. I got exclusive one-on-one attention to work on my writing and research skills.

Since AP numbers are so important, schools push for as many students to enroll as possible but then many actively discourage test participation except for the highest achieving students so that they have a higher ratio of 4's and 5's. 

It's not unique to AP, my Government class has the same issue since it's the assessed social studies class for government. I lose a month to the test and I have to strictly follow assessment limits and then hope I have extra time to cover some of the more fun stuff about government (like doing mock trials).

I wish we had a portfolio style assessment where I could work on historical thinking skills  (https://www.umbc.edu/che/arch/images/ARCH_Historical_Thinking%20Skills_Rubric_Secondary_rev_2-17-14.pdf)  throughout the year and apply them to the content of my choosing. My data could range from cartoon analysis to argumentative essays and the students could reflect on their work monthly or quarterly. 

As to the changes in students, it comes down to the push for assessments starting early and often in elementary school. Like you said, it's like they're trained to just find the literal in whatever they read and don't develop skills beyond that. Inferential skills and writing aren't as important on assessments. 

[Bengalzona]

(03-14-2019, 10:31 PM)Dill Wrote: LOL, I'm thinkin' if I'm a lowly E-4 admin asst, I've made a bad choice to antagonize a senior non-com--even if there is no "proof."  They are more likely to have friends in M-1 Abrams than I. 

I know whistle blowing of any kind can be difficult in the military.

One guy did the snooping in the records, a bunch of guys did the antagonizing.

One of the guys doing the antagonizing was a buddy of mine, J.D. J.D. was also from Mississippi, but he was white. This sergeant was his section leader. When he heard this rumor, he took it to a different level: a racist level. He started making racist comments. I stopped hanging around him at that point. Eventually, he decided to call this sergeant a "f***ing n****r" in the dayroom in front of about thirty of us. There was no hiding or avoiding that bit of business. He was brought in to the Old Man's office and given a Article 15. I can't remember what his punishment was exactly, but he eventually came back to the unit and even apologized to the sergeant for his comments. But no apology washes that kind of comment away. None of the black guys ever "called him to task" about it, but there was a coldness in their dealings with him that let you know they weren't going to forget.

One good thing. After that blow up, the antagonizing stopped.

Then, there was the story of the gay soldier on the third floor...

[*bfine32*]

Well Dre put his foot in his mouth:
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/dr-dre-boasts-daughter-getting-162652416.html

Quote:On Saturday Dre posted a photo with the caption, “My daughter got accepted into USC all on her own. No jail time!!!” and then quickly deleted it after it was pointed about that in 2013 he and Beats by Dre cofounder Jimmy Iovine donated $70 million to the school to establish the Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy for Arts, Technology and the Business of Innovation.

[*michaelsean*]

(03-26-2019, 03:25 PM)bfine32 Wrote: Well Dre put his foot in his mouth:
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/dr-dre-boasts-daughter-getting-162652416.html

Gotta be honest.  If I give you $70 million in an above board donation, I'm expecting an acceptance letter.

[Dill]

(03-26-2019, 05:02 PM)michaelsean Wrote: Gotta be honest.  If I give you $70 million in an above board donation, I'm expecting an acceptance letter.

LOL, if I'm in charge--done!

A big chunk of that 70 million will convert to scholarships for the economically disadvantaged but worthy students.

[GMDino]

Remember Tanya McDowell?

She got 12 yrs for sending her son to school in Norwalk CT while she ‘lived’ in Bridgeport. She was homeless.

She was convicted of “stealing“ an education.

Felicity Huffman gets 30 days for bribing her daughter into college.#CollegeCheatingScandal pic.twitter.com/Sr40Oxh40R

— Bishop Talbert Swan (@TalbertSwan) September 9, 2019

[Dill]

(09-12-2019, 12:58 PM)GMDino Wrote:

Remember Tanya McDowell?

She got 12 yrs for sending her son to school in Norwalk CT while she ‘lived’ in Bridgeport. She was homeless.

She was convicted of “stealing“ an education.

Felicity Huffman gets 30 days for bribing her daughter into college.#CollegeCheatingScandal pic.twitter.com/Sr40Oxh40R

— Bishop Talbert Swan (@TalbertSwan) September 9, 2019

I can see the difference in those cases right away.

[*bfine32*]

Still trying to beat the rap:
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/lori-loughlin-loses-bid-toss-181511388.html

Quote:Lori Loughlin Loses Bid To Toss College Bribery Case With Allegations Of “Government Misconduct”

Could be facing serious jail times and/or fines.

Meanwhile Felicity Huffman admitted guilt and got 11 days. Part of me wants to Loughin and others "lawyering up" to do some time. I know not very "Christian" of me, but I'm foulable.

[oncemoreuntothejimbreech]

(05-08-2020, 04:37 PM)bfine32 Wrote: Still trying to beat the rap:
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/lori-loughlin-loses-bid-toss-181511388.html


Could be facing serious jail times and/or fines.

Meanwhile Felicity Huffman admitted guilt and got 11 days. Part of me wants to Loughin and others "lawyering up" to do some time. I know not very "Christian" of me, but I'm foulable.

Unfortunately for her, she doesn't have a US Attorney General trying to dismiss a criminal case after the defendant plead guilty.