Cairo Forum 2010 Education Site

Archive for January, 2011

Los Angeles schools announced the results of the 2004-2005 school year, state-mandated California High School Exit Exam. Of the students slated to graduate in 2006, 69 percent (more than two thirds) of the class passed both the English language arts and the mathematics portions of the exam. Of the remaining 31 percent of the Class of 2006 students (12th graders):

• Fifteen percent (approximately 5,500 students) must pass both the English language arts and the mathematics portions,
• Ten percent (3,700) must pass the mathematics portion, and
• Six percent (2,000) must pass the English language arts portion.

State law now requires all students to pass both portions of the exit exam in order to graduate from high school and receive a diploma. Students begin taking the exam in the spring of their 10th grade year. If they do not pass one or both portions of the exam, they have the opportunity to retest in both 11th and 12th grades. Los Angeles schools’ Class of 2006 was the first graduating class required to pass both portions of the exam in order to graduate.

The excellent results of the 2004-5 testing is the direct result of focused instruction and successful intervention, and demonstrates that every student is capable of passing the exam. These intense efforts on the part of Los Angeles schools educators were specifically designed to assist students with coursework directly connected to the exit exams.
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What makes homeschooling better than traditional schooling? Lately, there is a rising trend in families choosing to homeschool their child than send their child to a traditional educational institution.

Let’s look at some of the benefits of homeschooling over traditional schooling:

1. Flexible Schedule

Homeschooling enables a flexible schedule. For example, the child does not need to wake up at 7 every morning. With homeschooling, your child can start homeschooling at 9am or later depending on your preferred schedule. You can schedule your child’s homeschooling education as you see fit with materials or subjects that may be not available in a traditional school.

You can tailor the homeschool curriculum to suit the needs and interest of your child.

2. Individual attention

In a traditional school setting, thirty to forty students are assigned to a teacher in class. Therefore usually, the teacher cannot devote 100 percent attention to any child since it will not be fair to the other children. Plus, it is quite impossible to provide individual attention to all students.
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