redwill wrote:Idoit40fans wrote:This is hyperbole, right? If 20 students do everything asked of them and demonstrate an absolute understanding of the material, only 20% of them pass the class and 2 of them that pass it are still screwed by it?
Maybe it's hyperbole. Nothing wrong with that in an experiment. The point I was trying to make is that some are outraged that there are 34 valedictorians, yet the students presumably did "everything asked of them." Maybe the standards are incredibly low, but no reason to "screw" the students.
The broader idea I had in mind was about capitalist economic theory: The idea is that if everyone strives hard to beat everyone else, then everyone ultimately wins and society is lifted as if by an invisible hand. If that theory holds water, why not try it in the educational arena? Sure, many students will fail in a letter-grade-sense, but they will all ultimately be much better off in the education-sense. Isn't that the point?
I think that's a pretty harsh lesson for children, something they probably don't have the ability to cope with. It seems like the ultimate motivation, but playing Hunger Games with children's education would likely backfire, I would think.