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Friday, December 28, 2007

Who Knew?

After St. Louis lost the esteemed title of Most Dangerous City to Detroit last year, by a hair, I never expected to learn my hometown is apparently also the sixth most literate city in the nation.

According to a study by Central Connecticut State University, St. Louis is more literate than San Francisco. St. Louis is more literate than Boston.

Could someone please inform the photo lab clerks at my local Target?

And we might want to clue in the owner of that bakery store in my neighborhood with the huge sign advertising:

WEDNESDAY "BARGIN" DAY


The preschool evaluation "experts" at the local school district who performed my son's special needs evaluation months ago may wish to be reminded that sentences such as:

"He is able to hold the marker in his right hand with his fingers but is place very high near the top."

and

"He is able to fastened and unfastened buttons but is very slow and deliberate."

are not proper English.

Additionally, local school district officials might be encouraged to learn that "in regards to" should be "in regard to" and "re-create" may be written more acceptably as simply "recreate."



(Wait-- remind me-- why exactly was I upset that these people declined to teach him, again?)




If this is what superior literacy is like in St. Louis, I tremble to think what one might encounter in Texas.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I had to read the school's evaluation sentences twice to figure out them out. Good gawd. Maybe Issac should evaluate them?

Jaelithe said...

Hah! You know, the speech evaluation teacher said, "Would you like to give ME the test, Isaac?" after he passed the five-year-old level on the speech test. She was totally in love with him. But somehow I don't think it was the speech evaluation lady who typed up that report. At least, I hope not!

Ruth Dynamite said...

This makes me ill. If someone is qualified to make an evaluation that affects a child's future, you would HOPE he or she might demonstrate some intelligence and command of the language.

Slackermommy said...

Are you kidding? Maybe you should point it out to them. I think they need special services.

Jaelithe said...

Sadly, Slackermommy, I am completely, totally serious. I should scan the report and post it. It is that bad.