tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25541994.post115532929611673251..comments2024-03-26T14:44:37.985-04:00Comments on D-Ed Reckoning: Taking Advantage of the PoorKDeRosahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06853211164976890091noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25541994.post-1155397709884762612006-08-12T11:48:00.000-04:002006-08-12T11:48:00.000-04:00One technique is to deny there is any problem at a...One technique is to deny there is any problem at all based on cherry picked data. Bracey is the master of this technique. In this <A HREF="http://www.stanfordalumni.org/news/magazine/2006/julaug/features/nclb.html" REL="nofollow">article</A> he uses present day data from Romania (when his argument should have reliwed on past data) and 4th grade international data from one reading test. In 4th grade kids have barely laerned to read proficiently.KDeRosahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06853211164976890091noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25541994.post-1155396661114874322006-08-12T11:31:00.000-04:002006-08-12T11:31:00.000-04:00Whatever happened to the argument that a good educ...Whatever happened to the argument that a good education was the way out of poverty? And how does the argument that social causes are behind the failure of poor children to academically thrive explain the poor academic results for the children of the middle-class?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25541994.post-1155352285688093902006-08-11T23:11:00.000-04:002006-08-11T23:11:00.000-04:00"The effects of poverty are the primary cause for ..."The effects of poverty are the primary cause for low student achievement among poor kids. And while schools can be improved, substantial improvement in the achievement of poor kids is not possible until the effects of poverty are eliminated."<BR/><BR/>Defeatist, or overblown, just for effect?<BR/><BR/><BR/>One problem I have is the required linkage between the two problems. One can't be solved without the other. This makes the solution much more difficult and takes the onus off of the schools. It also implies a lot more money (perhaps funnelled through the schools as the vehicle for a solution) and less school accountability because they can't or won't see it as only a education issue. This is not a formula for success.<BR/><BR/>Another problem I have is the idea that the goal is a statistical or group solution rather than a one-by-one solution. Rather than set up conditions where individual members of the group can find their own solutions, they want to guarantee success for the whole group. Let us (society) FIX poverty; let us (society) FIX education ... with no expectations for the individual group members.<BR/><BR/><BR/>As a long-time programmer, I've learned that you have to be very careful about fixing problems. When I taught, I had students who tried to debug things correct. This is where you get some ideas, try them, and then see what happens. Over and over and over. Often, this is before they even really know what the problem is. They might do something where the problem looks solved, but I will look, line by line, in their code and find many other problems. You can't debug something correct. However, I see this over and over and over again in the education field.<BR/><BR/>Educators look at the "bug" (results of testing) and think up all sorts of things to fix the bug - guess and check. Actually, with our NCLB state tests, I'm beginning to see parents and teachers sit down and actually analyze test questions and results. They try to figure out exactly why the numbers are bad. They are not guessing. One might disagree about the questions on the test, but it doesn't matter which test you use, you have to dig through the results to see exactly what is going on. If you don't believe in tests (of any sort), then you really have no basis for deciding if there even is a "bug".<BR/><BR/>When I looked at our public schools' test questions and results (and the NAEP questions and results), my conclusions are 1) The test questions are really, really easy, and 2) What the heck do they do in schools all day?<BR/><BR/>I look at the depth and breadth of the questions and the last thing I think about is how not knowing the answers to these simple questions have anything to do with poverty or home-life. The kids are in school 6+ hours a day for 180 days a year. Blaming specific test results on poverty or social issues is an extreme form of guess and check.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com