tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25541994.post991999690801662169..comments2024-03-26T14:44:37.985-04:00Comments on D-Ed Reckoning: Tough NutsKDeRosahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06853211164976890091noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25541994.post-91729834123062684982006-12-10T04:25:00.000-05:002006-12-10T04:25:00.000-05:00No point in you lot complaining about the cold. It...No point in you lot complaining about the cold. It should be the middle of summer where I live. Yesterday the radio announcer had to assure us he was reading the weather report (not forecast, but report) for December, not the July one by acccident.<br /><br />Snow on the desert road in December. Ridiculous.<br /><br />At least all those Brits at the tramping club will believe me now when I tell them they have to carry their warm gear even in the middle of January.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25541994.post-50677374167034803712006-12-08T17:45:00.000-05:002006-12-08T17:45:00.000-05:00the reality is that even the best, most motivated ...<I>the reality is that even the best, most motivated educator, given just six hours a day and 10 months a year and nothing more than the typical resources provided to a public-school teacher, would find it near impossible to educate an average classroom of poor minority students up to the level of their middle-class peers</I><br /><br />I'm incredibly sick of hearing this stuff.<br /><br />I don't like to fling the word "racist" around.<br /><br />So maybe I <I>won't</I> fling the word racist around.<br /><br />Maybe "racialist" will do.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25541994.post-49135912798922811542006-12-08T17:41:00.000-05:002006-12-08T17:41:00.000-05:00You should check out the TIMES article on Kathleen...You should check out the TIMES article on Kathleen Cashin.<br /><br />She's a miracle-worker superintendent who has produced very large gains in test scores in a very poor area.<br /><br />You have to read through to the very end of the article to discover the fact that she's using Core Knowledge. <br /><br />The reporter also doesn't look into the question of whether that explains the Bloomberg administration's lack of enthusiasm for Cashin's success. <br /><br />Basically, journalists have no concept that curriculum and content are the heart and soul of <I>school</I> and, thus, of successful school reform.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25541994.post-50707408801880721692006-12-08T17:38:00.000-05:002006-12-08T17:38:00.000-05:00It's way cold.
I was very disappointed in the Tou...It's way cold.<br /><br />I was very disappointed in the Tough article. <br /><br />KIPP isn't about slogans, character ed, & "acting white." (Speaking of which, David Brooks has probably jumped the shark as far as my readership is concerned. His follow-on to the Tough article is....just....too....much.)<br /><br />Number one, a lot of white kids don't "Act White" in school - or at least not as White as they ought to be acting. <br /><br />Tough seems never to have heard of the Wigger phenomenon.<br /><br />Number two, when white kids Act Black, they still go to college (as far as I know - !)<br /><br />The secret to KIPP is hours and hours of catch-up direct instruction in subject matter content knowledge right down to the chanting and the rhyming.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25541994.post-64794741706624085572006-12-08T15:25:00.000-05:002006-12-08T15:25:00.000-05:00"I want to say it's good to be back, but it's too ..."I want to say it's good to be back, but it's too cold to say that."<br /><br />I told you you'd be back just in time for the cold, didn't I? It's snowing here, has been since last night.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25541994.post-57644890830560354462006-12-08T11:51:00.000-05:002006-12-08T11:51:00.000-05:00I want to say it's good to be back, but it's too c...I want to say it's good to be back, but it's too cold to say that.<br /><br />I didn't mean to imply in the last paragraph that at-risk kids can be expected to fully close the achievement gap given the same quality of education. I don't think that will happen. However, what I do think is that the performance of at-risk kids can be increased so that the perform as well as average kids given better instruction. And, yes, if such a thing were ever to occur on a wide scale basis, the families of these average kids would likely demand the better instruction as well, serving to increase their performance. However, under NCLB the gap would "appear" to narrow because more kids in both groups would cross the proficiency threshold.KDeRosahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06853211164976890091noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25541994.post-72662430066287288762006-12-08T10:57:00.000-05:002006-12-08T10:57:00.000-05:00Welcome back from Florida.
I have to disagree wit...Welcome back from Florida.<br /><br />I have to disagree with part of your last paragraph though.<br /><br />Even if our school system was to adopt DI systematically, middle class students would still maintain an advantage over low SES students, unless the school system intentionally provided inferior education to the middle class kids, which middle class parents would never let happen.<br /><br />I judge my kids progress on how they do compared to other students in their class. When it comes right down to it, kids have to be in the top 25% (this is a guess) of their peers to be assured of a spot in a university.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25541994.post-67223518659811026262006-12-07T13:38:00.000-05:002006-12-07T13:38:00.000-05:00"There is absolutely no evidentiary support for su..."There is absolutely no evidentiary support for such a conclusion."<br /><br />Especially if the gap is based on very low cutoff state standardized tests. As I have said in the past, many people, especially teachers, see the problem of education as what walks into their classroom - perhaps in 5th grade, 7th grade, or high school. They never see the problem as a summation of years of bad teaching and bad curricula. When kids get older, everything looks like external causes.<br /><br />I have also said that if the goal of education was to get kids to learn to tie their shoes by third grade, then any kind of gap would be clearly seen as a teaching problem. Although current state standards are not much beyond that expectation, many can't seem to figure out why a gap exists.<br /><br />In the end, statistical gaps don't matter. Individual kids matter - right now. Quality teaching and curricula matter. High year-to-year expectations matter.<br /><br />The only way to wipe out an academic gap completely is to keep the educational expectations that define the gap low. That's not doing those kids any favor.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com