how low will the ARMY go?

[Bobby]

"As late as 2004, fully 92 percent of new Army recruits had graduated high school and just 0.6 percent scored Category IV on the military aptitude test."

"[A review of] various factors that determine military performance—experience, training, aptitude, and so forth—and concluded that aptitude is key."

Now accepting dropouts and those those scoring in the lowest 25th (Category 4) percentile of the ASVAB.

http://www.slate.com/id/2133908/nav/tap1/?GT1=7641

[Tom]

You got a problem with that?

[Bobby]

Aptitude is the key!

Do you know what kind of people drop out of high school?

Do you know how stupid you have to be to score in the lowest quarter of the ASVAB?

When I took the ASVAB say, 12 or so years ago, the questions were like 25+25=50 True or False! No joke.

They had a shop/mechanic type section but still . . . if you can't get out of the lowest 1/4 of the ASVAB then the real question is CAN YOU READ?

[Lefty]

bobby, your beef should be with our education system; not with the Army. Our education system forces kids to go to bad schools; keeps incompetent teachers visa vie the teachers union. The whole thing needs to be privatized and made competitive.

[so.cal.fan]

Bobby....."Do you know what kind of people drop out of high school"?

Many of these "drop outs" blossom in the military. It provides the structure that was lacking in their teenage years.
I'm sure "drop outs" who aren't up to military standards are quickly dropped from the military......but to exclude these people from trying to improve their lives is wrong.
I happen to know a man, who as a teenager was ADHD......always in trouble at school......didn't graduate....joined the military and it changed his life.
He is now a very successful citizen.....he went on to finish school, even got a degree in business. Had it not been for the military, he swears he may have perished from drugs or gone to prison.

[JustRalph]

Hey bobby...........you are a hoot. http://www.education-reform.net/dropouts2.htm

there are some pretty decent people out there who dropped out of high school.

Peter Jennings? and the list goes on. Many millionaires of the last century.

SoCal was right on with her post on dropouts who join the military.

As for the asvab test......at the time I took it (1980) they were accepting Army types who scored a 17% on the test. Things haven't changed that much.

[chickenhead]

bobby, your beef should be with our education system; not with the Army. Our education system forces kids to go to bad schools; keeps incompetent teachers visa vie the teachers union. The whole thing needs to be privatized and made competitive.


Did you catch the 20/20 report on the state of our Education system last night? Anyone? It really pissed me off. I am actually strongly considering changing careers to be a teacher right now, but I don't think I could do it at a regular union school...I just don't think I could deal with all the BS.

[Lefty]

No, I missed it. But I did catch Stossel on Bill O'Reilly and Stossel is one guy who has his finger on the pulse of the nation.

[Secretariat]

Very relevant article Bobby. It shows once again that those serviing are not beign fully repesented across the specturm, whether rich or poor, whether those scoring well on the Bush No Child Left Behind Tests or those who do not.

It appears that a large number of those serving are those without financial options or educational options.

[DJofSD]

Our education system forces kids to go to bad schools; keeps incompetent teachers visa vie the teachers union. The whole thing needs to be privatized and made competitive.

I agree. However, the 3rd leg of the stool are the parents. It's a true statement that mom and dad (and others in what used to be the extended family) are the first and best teachers.

The first but not the only place to lay blame for these unfortunates not being able to pass simple tests is at the feet of the parents. Turn off the TV some times. Read a newspaper, magazine or a book. Ask the kids about school. Take them to a museum. In general, stop placing the burden and the blame for the dumbing down of America solely on the teachers and administrators.

[Tom]

You moron.

It appears that the majority of those serving are doing so by choice, to serve thier country. You think with all that happened over the last two years you can trivialize someone for joining as merely needing cash??
What kind a sick POS makes a comment like that.
Back to Ignore for you - you have sunk lower than Ljb.....and I though you showed occasional flickers of intelligence!

:kiss: MA

[chickenhead]

The one thing I learned from the show that I didn't know before, those European countries that routinely kick our ass in the classrooms, they operate on a voucher type programs, the parents can send their kids to whatever schools they want.

Stossel said "Here in America if the government told people what barber they had to go to there would be mass uprisings on the street, why is it we accept them telling us what schools our kids have to go to, considering how TERRIBLE many of those schools are?"

[chickenhead]

I agree. However, the 3rd leg of the stool are the parents. It's a true statement that mom and dad (and others in what used to be the extended family) are the first and best teachers.

Did anyone catch the documentery "Country Boys" on PBS? About two high school kids in poorest Eastern Kentucky? (Yes all I do is watch TV)

As good example as any of DJ's point, but the problem is that our education system cannot control the parents (though it can welcome them into the equation much more than it does now) and, even with a bad set of parents, it does not make an honest effort to do its best.

[Tom]

Our school system is a disgrace - put the blame sqauley on the teacher's unions and liberal school boards who are more concerned with their own security and political agendas over results.

Libs love ignorance - they wallow in it. They strive for it. The mortal enemy of liberalism is a thinking mind.

[JustRalph]

Did you catch the 20/20 report on the state of our Education system last night? Anyone? It really pissed me off. I am actually strongly considering changing careers to be a teacher right now, but I don't think I could do it at a regular union school...I just don't think I could deal with all the BS.

Chicken, please spend a couple days in a school before you make this decision. I used to work in a high school (as a police officer) ten years ago. The teachers were leaving on average after 4 years due to the threat of lawsuits and school boards who would no longer back them. Many were so disappointed in what their "careers" had turned into, they were taking entry level jobs just to get out.

[chickenhead]

I think you're right Ralph, I am looking into the charter schools that exist in this area. Everything else aside, I have always been involved in small companies with a very entreprenurial environment...and I of course have my own ideas about things. I think I would find the culture at most schools absolutely stifling.

[46zilzal]

No, I missed it. But I did catch Stossel on Bill O'Reilly and Stossel is one guy who has his finger on the pulse of the nation.
funny stuff........ MUST have been on FOX, PULSE OF THE NATION.....that is a good one

[kenwoodallpromos]

I thought the video game score was the only one that counted!
How high will your taxes be if they had a continuous draft and took everybody? They take 'em when they need 'em.
http://www.audiemurphy.com/newsclip/ct_5-22-89.pdf- "fifth-grade education".

[Lefty]

zilly, Stossel is on 20-20; it's on ABC, mr neutral.

[Tom]

He doesn't care. :rolleyes:

[boxcar]

Aptitude is the key!

Do you know what kind of people drop out of high school?

Do you know how stupid you have to be to score in the lowest quarter of the ASVAB?

When I took the ASVAB say, 12 or so years ago, the questions were like 25+25=50 True or False! No joke.

Well...whaddya complaing about? The test was written for dumb downs, which is probably why you passed it with flying colors. :D

Boxcar

[boxcar]

You moron.

It appears that the majority of those serving are doing so by choice, to serve thier country. You think with all that happened over the last two years you can trivialize someone for joining as merely needing cash??
What kind a sick POS makes a comment like that.
Back to Ignore for you - you have sunk lower than Ljb.....and I though you showed occasional flickers of intelligence!

:kiss: MA

The "flickers" you think you saw were probably just some lightning flashes in the sky.

Boxcar