tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post5293926860277718073..comments2024-03-26T04:19:38.862-07:00Comments on kitchen table math, the sequel: If you want your children to sit in rows, you have to pay extraCatherine Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03347093496361370174noreply@blogger.comBlogger48125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-17180175459316763842015-02-07T14:12:09.648-08:002015-02-07T14:12:09.648-08:00I've written several posts on group work—what ...I've written several posts on group work—what can make it work and what makes it (usually) fail:<br /><br />https://gasstationwithoutpumps.wordpress.com/2010/07/17/group-work/<br />https://gasstationwithoutpumps.wordpress.com/2012/01/15/individual-work-in-collaborations/<br />https://gasstationwithoutpumps.wordpress.com/2012/10/03/sbg-and-partner-work-in-circuits-class/<br />https://gasstationwithoutpumps.wordpress.com/2012/10/29/more-on-group-work/<br />https://gasstationwithoutpumps.wordpress.com/2013/05/24/learning-from-theater/<br /><br />(I've done 9 posts I've tagged with "group work", but those 5 are probably the best.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-68477315560146463502015-02-07T11:05:11.914-08:002015-02-07T11:05:11.914-08:00Glen - re: group work being unfair to the least ca...Glen - re: group work being unfair to the least capable students in the group .... several years ago, on the Middle School association's website (I see there are a couple of associations, so I'm not linking) I read an amazing column by a middle school teaching openly advocating having the ADHD kids do **none** of the academic work the group was assigned.<br /><br />Even more amazing, the teacher said that the ADHD kids could be assigned the task of keeping materials **organized.**<br /><br />The whole thing was batty beyond belief.<br /><br />When I went back a year or two later, realizing I needed to save that essay for posterity, I couldn't find it. I think they may have taken it down.Catherine Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03347093496361370174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-58719200307767732542015-02-01T19:42:18.088-08:002015-02-01T19:42:18.088-08:00I think FLL could be good if you have the right ad...I think FLL could be good if you have the right adults in charge and they provide a long term structure. However, FLL would have to be a part of a larger program; not just the main goal and learning tool.<br /><br />SteveHhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03956560674752399562noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-9221879142348390852015-02-01T09:05:35.617-08:002015-02-01T09:05:35.617-08:00Our 14 year old did FIRST for the first time this ...Our 14 year old did FIRST for the first time this year (at the jr. high level), and I was very disappointed in it. What surprised and disappointed me the most was the low levels of actual building and programming. A couple of people did the building, and did it late. Our kid was one of two who had programmed before and all the programming was left to her: and they left her about 2 days to do it, *and* she got a migraine-like headache one of those days. It was a mess. <br /><br />A lot of First seemed to be about all the bells and whistles around the edge: community service, keeping the logbook (which is okay, and real scientists do that), making t-shirts, advertising the team, and making a video--they ended up winning a first prize for a video the team leader spent about an hour on.<br /><br />The group work was specialized and no one learned programming except for 2 kids who had already done some.<br /><br />I was hoping the focus would actually be on the robotics, but it wasn't at all.<br /><br />I think VEX might be more robot focused.Auntie Annhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05777983027361603449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-8818164687154772652015-02-01T07:54:07.112-08:002015-02-01T07:54:07.112-08:00Replaced with idiocies like the home ec teacher te...Replaced with idiocies like the home ec teacher teaching kids how to create nutritional disasters (chili cheese dip, anyone?) with highly processed "foods" (Velveeta, canned salsa,packaged mac and cheese etc). It was so bad that I finally made an appointment with her and took some easy recipes for real foods (omelets, frittatas, biscuits, cornbread, soups, simple chicken dishes etc )made with nothing more processed than canned tomatoes and broths). Useless. Worse, it was the least useless of any of the available courses to meet the state's practical arts requirement - especially since my kids could already cook from scratch and wouldn't eat anything she "taught" under any circumstances. They would have been happier building birdhouses - we could always use more. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-58905468864641914262015-02-01T05:23:07.171-08:002015-02-01T05:23:07.171-08:00"....The computer person will get better at c..."....The computer person will get better at computers, and the others get nothing. "<br /><br />I saw this in fifth grade with the First Lego League (FLL)competition. I was one of the parent coaches. In the FLL case, however, the separation is built in. One would think that FLL would introduce all kids to the wonders of Mindstorms and programming. It doesn't. Everyone has a role to play and only two kids got to program. We tried to allow others to have time on the equipment if they wanted, but if they didn't much care, then they ended up in an area that they seemed to like, and that could be researching (in that year, the theme was nanotechnology), writing, or art. They had to do a presentation because this is about the idea of a big project, not just about learning how robots worked. The art consisted of hats that had big foam molecules on top (they won first in the state for them). I don't think the artists learned a thing about programming or how the robot worked, but it was STEM or STEAM (don't get me started on that).<br /><br />This is supposed to model how real engineering teams work and each student has a role to play. As Auntie Ann says, what are these people thinking? This isn't like the non-democratic real world and this isn't what's best for each student. I advocated that the school have a robotics club where the goal is just to learn and play with Mindstorms - at least for 5th and 6th grades. No. The goal is the competition (engagement, teamwork, etc.) ... and the write-ups in the paper.<br /><br />Even for the programmers, the process was wrong - project/goal-based learning. Instead of having time to play around, they had to rush to get the robot to do the tasks. However, there were serious systemic and repeatability problems. There really is a reason why learning content and developing skills should come first. Engagement might drive learning, but project deadlines do not. The best teams at the competition were the ones who had built up a history of knowledge and skills that they directly taught to newbies. In fact, most of them didn't allow new students on the team that went to the competition. I saw this with the state Science Olympiad. The best schools controlled the process and passed on knowledge and skills. Adults were in control, whereas my son's 7th and 8th grade science teacher didn't much care if students were prepared or not. There was no year-to-year transfer of anything. Of course, I was instrumental in helping my son get his "Scambler" done in terms of time management and the simple help of translating ideas into a real object. Whatever happened to wood and metal shop in 7th and 8th grades?<br /><br />SteveHhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03956560674752399562noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-16790803675512418302015-02-01T04:09:14.381-08:002015-02-01T04:09:14.381-08:00"you are hallucinating wildly"
No, I..."you are hallucinating wildly"<br /><br />No, I'm not. Given that you have offered no evidence for your claim whatsoever, I guess, "no" is a comprehensive rebuttal.Glennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-5875277226991451282015-02-01T01:55:25.830-08:002015-02-01T01:55:25.830-08:00You could choose to be a Cosmetology major at comm...You could choose to be a Cosmetology major at community college, a Gender Studies major at a women's college, or an Electrical Engineering major at your flagship state university, and you will be choosing entirely different lifestyles, even if they all advertise new athletic centers.<br /><br />you are hallucinating wildly. gee i like it here.owen thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09249915192605437832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-60824433049758228232015-01-31T12:06:10.050-08:002015-01-31T12:06:10.050-08:00Auntie Ann: That's why I think kids should do ...Auntie Ann: That's why I think kids should do their own work (science labs a partial exception, with each kid writing their own report of the experiment). Group work is also a great way to bring the playground dynamics into the classroom; bullying, shunning, ignoring, ridiculing etc. The most social adept/powerful can play tyrant. One of my kids' teachers loved to assign group project (both in and out of school) until her own kid had his first one; she never assigned another in any of her classes. <br /><br />Yes, some teachers deliberately use group work to avoid teaching, especially the more difficult students. In 9th, my DD and her honors friends were required to have a SLD kid in their group -refused to do any work and cried if asked. Teacher admitted he didn't want to deal with her. momof4noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-49990601975345278542015-01-31T08:07:33.167-08:002015-01-31T08:07:33.167-08:00To go deeper into Glen's comment about the dif...To go deeper into Glen's comment about the differences in adult and student work...<br /><br />In the adult world, everyone on a project has the exact same goal: maximize the work to produce something salable, which someone will be willing to pay for, thus generating the money from which everyone gets paid. This even works in the non-profit world, where you are looking to please donors. If someone doesn't pull their weight, they get fired and replaced. Furthermore, in the adult world, people specialize. The graphic design will be done by a graphic designer, the programming by a computer programmer, the sales by sales representatives, the accounting by an accountant, all with a manager on the top to create timetables and keep everyone on target. It would be absurd for the graphic designer to sit down with the accountant to decide how to keep the books, or for the computer expert to man the phones and make cold calls along with the sales reps. Sometimes, such as with drug research, individual specialists will have spent year after year learning their skills. The manager has usually gotten there only after working on many projects and gaining expertise in project management (keeping in mind the Peter Principle.)<br /><br />In the classroom, none of that is true. Instead of one group goal, you have as many individual goals as you have students: each individual should maximize their learning. It should be that when one student isn't paying attention, they have little or no effect on the other students. Ideally, if one student doesn't do the work, this has no effect on the others. Unless massively disruptive, the slacker doesn't get thrown out. Also, students are still generalists. In a project, each one should do the reading and research, each one the writing, the data plotting, the graphic design, and the project management. Too often in group work in classrooms, the student who is good at computers gets handed the data plotting, the student who is good at art gets handed the artwork, the studious might get handed the research, and the student with good handwriting gets the lettering of the poster. Management tends to be by the individual or friends who are highest in the social pecking order, who can choose the most fun parts for themselves, boss the others around, give the worst jobs to kids they don't like, and in general use the playground hierarchy to run the show. But this means that the artist gets better at art, and the others get nowhere. The computer person will get better at computers, and the others get nothing. The researcher will get far more of the extra information that doesn’t fit in the bullet points, and the others will get nothing. The experts all get better, but no one else does. Essentially, though the students should still be generalists and working to get better at each skill, they are actually already specialists who learn little of the other skills. The pecking order also gets reinforced under the supervision of the teacher, with the high status kids feeling better about their status, and the low status kids feeling worse.<br /><br />I will never understand the thinking of ed people that these two things are somehow parallel, and that the latter prepares students for their future.Auntie Annhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05777983027361603449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-13353561177289698612015-01-31T08:01:33.287-08:002015-01-31T08:01:33.287-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.Auntie Annhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05777983027361603449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-2942372240815124012015-01-31T07:40:50.684-08:002015-01-31T07:40:50.684-08:00As I have seen it implemented, the top kids in the...<i> As I have seen it implemented, the top kids in the group do all the work and the others get the same grade and that's dishonest and fraudulent - along with being massively unfair to those actually doing the work. It's a great way to build resentment.</i><br /><br />This had our girl in tears in 5 grade. All of the other girls grouped up in groups of 3, and she ended up paired with a boy who did absolutely nothing. So, her friends were creating beautiful, multi-color posters, and she barely had time to do the basics. Finally we were at the school and saw the poster and asked her about it. She started crying: "All my other friends get to work together, and I'm stuck with Eric, and he doesn't do anything, and they all have three in their groups, and I'm the only one doing anything in mine..." Finally, the teacher noticed--but not until late in the year--and told Eric he would no longer get the same grade as our kid.Auntie Annhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05777983027361603449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-46895973154417035712015-01-31T05:03:45.349-08:002015-01-31T05:03:45.349-08:00Good point.
It's the same for mixed ability s...Good point.<br /><br />It's the same for mixed ability student-driven group work in class, but the only goal is "active" learning, and "active" has a low and inexact threshold. So teachers "flip" a classroom and instead of using class time to ensure mastery of homework (real flipping), they use the class time to make themselves feel all warm and fuzzy and let the videos do the direct teaching at home. And in class, a few might discover something (perhaps not quite correct) and then directly teach it (perhaps badly) to other students. You can't discover everything, so somebody has to be doing the direct teaching.<br /><br />SteveHhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03956560674752399562noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-88844475651504549052015-01-30T19:03:59.959-08:002015-01-30T19:03:59.959-08:00I'll see your additions to Cranberry's com...I'll see your additions to Cranberry's comment, momof4, and raise you one. Unequal groups are not only massively unfair to the best students but also to the worst. In theory, a group project at school is different from one at work. At work, it is about accomplishing the project, which is presumably of more value to the employer than whatever the employer pays to get it accomplished. A worker who either can't or won't contribute is, on that project (not necessarily overall) shortchanging the employer.<br /><br />At school, a group project should be about producing skill and knowledge in the participants, who are *paying* to be allowed to work on the project. If a participant is not doing the work, for whatever reason, he is getting no benefit. Sometimes, this is the student's own fault; he's not going to do the work no matter what you do. But sometimes, the fault is that the school put him into a situation that he can't realistically contribute much to, and he knows that if he tries, he'll end up looking stupid. In these situations, it is the non-contributing student who is being shortchanged.<br /><br />The main beneficiary of unequally yoked project teams is the teacher who, by carefully allocating can-do and can-not-do students to teams, can claim that ALL students learned how to complete the project, because all students were on teams that completed it. In these situations, it is possible that the can-do students didn't learn, because they were only doing what they already knew how to do, and the can-not-do students didn't learn, because they didn't do anything.<br /><br />Glennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-70821018183508876752015-01-30T13:42:11.265-08:002015-01-30T13:42:11.265-08:00Cranberry: I agree about the homework preparation ...Cranberry: I agree about the homework preparation and the oral presentations but would add two other conditions for useful group work: all are at the same academic level and each member has a defined assignment on which he is graded.<br /><br /> As I have seen it implemented, the top kids in the group do all the work and the others get the same grade and that's dishonest and fraudulent - along with being massively unfair to those actually doing the work. It's a great way to build resentment.<br />momof4noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-85918146674862113112015-01-30T11:18:34.038-08:002015-01-30T11:18:34.038-08:00I want to observe that it's possible to do gro...I want to observe that it's possible to do group work, to use technology, <i>and</i> to teach. It isn't an either/or choice, although it does become that in the public schools.<br /><br />There are many private schools which are known to be progressive, but which provide an excellent education. It's the sort of progressive education which comes with a heavy reading list and lots of homework, especially long research papers. <br /><br />One thing the private schools I know emphasize is public speaking. In practice, it would prepare a student for presenting research to a group or dealing with an oral exam. It's a "21st century skill," in my estimation. How many powerpoint presentations take place every day? And yet the public schools don't tackle this essential skill.cranberrynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-64153321008971315092015-01-30T05:52:05.192-08:002015-01-30T05:52:05.192-08:00"... so that people actually do what you want..."... so that people actually do what you want them to do."<br /><br />"... that leads to socially desired outcomes."<br /><br />Who gets to decide what those outcomes are? Do they limit individual choice? Do they separate "religious" educational ideas from the state? I find that planners tend to be control freaks who claim to know what's best for all.<br /><br /><br />"Public funding of just about anything is a real conundrum, it seems."<br /><br />Having the money follow the student is nothing new. The problem is what are the limitations and strings attached? Our state limits charters to those that don't emphasize higher expectations. Apparently, their "social outcome" means trying to teach all K-8 kids in the same classroom no matter what their ability or willingness. Individual outcomes conflict with social outcomes.<br />SteveHhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03956560674752399562noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-19194102004571729552015-01-29T13:54:24.018-08:002015-01-29T13:54:24.018-08:00Here we go:
"The mechanism design problem is...Here we go:<br /><br />"The mechanism design problem is to design a mechanism so that when individuals interact through the mechanism, they have incentives to choose messages as a func- tion of their private information that leads to socially desired outcomes. In order to make predictions of how individuals will choose messages as a function of their pri- vate information, game theoretic reasoning is used (see game theory)."Catherine Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03347093496361370174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-52722192809861555802015-01-29T13:53:09.507-08:002015-01-29T13:53:09.507-08:00I've skimmed froggiemama's predictions.......I've skimmed froggiemama's predictions..... <br /><br />Public funding of just about anything is a real conundrum, it seems.<br /><br />Apparently, economics has better answers than the approaches we've been using in the U.S. <br /><br />After Jean Tirole won the Nobel Prize, I saw a couple of articles saying that we have some of the regulatory problems we do because no one here has taken his work on board.<br /><br />Reading William W. Barnett's book on the crash, I discovered that the name for the branch of economics that studies things like setting up a system that works is "mechanism design."<br /><br />"Mechanism design" is about how to design organizations and systems so that people actually do what you want them to do.<br /><br />The situation in my district is absurd almost beyond belief:<br /><br />Inside the school, teachers "innovate' by having the kids teach themselves<br /><br />Outside the school, parents hire district teachers to provide 1-to-1 direct instruction.Catherine Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03347093496361370174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-1696122534354348232015-01-29T13:44:58.159-08:002015-01-29T13:44:58.159-08:00Obviously, I'm completely in favor of choice -...Obviously, I'm completely in favor of choice --- also completely in favor of school boards that represent the voters who elected them rather than the administrators they are supposed to be overseeing.<br /><br />My district adopts more constructivist "innovations" year in and year out, which no parent (& no taxpayer) asked for, and a majority of parents (& taxpayers) don't want.<br /><br />Democracy deficit.Catherine Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03347093496361370174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-38494035509771280322015-01-29T13:42:16.270-08:002015-01-29T13:42:16.270-08:00Haven't read the thread - I will! -- but notic...Haven't read the thread - I will! -- but noticed Cassy's cite of Doug Lemov: <br /><br />"Lemov says in rows, 2 next to each other, facing teacher is most effective configuration in classroom. Easy to get into groups of 4 when needed."<br /><br />Reading Lemov, I was very taken by that! <br /><br />Then, when we went to Aruba, I insisted on scouting the Catholic school next to a church we'd visited, and sure enough: they had the desks arranged that way.<br /><br />Lemov also likes that arrangement because it leaves a lot of space for the teacher to patrol the classroom.<br /><br />One more data point: Morningside Academy seems to use quite a lot of paired work, but no group work at all **that I recall.** (Palisadesk can weigh in if I'm wrong.)Catherine Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03347093496361370174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-33234022085547777072015-01-26T17:05:48.741-08:002015-01-26T17:05:48.741-08:00Your examples are non-starters because that's ...Your examples are non-starters because that's not how it's done these days. Choice is not a voucher system and it's not what I'm talking about. Also, most schools - even public ones - have extra monetary support for those activities/trips where students may get charged and some can't afford. all of our private schools do that. They try very hard to bring in students from low income families.<br /><br />Just because you can't picture choice working in your area doesn't mean that it cannot work, especially for some kids. Who are you to decide? What is your solution? <br /><br /><br />"" there is no way people in our towns would give up local control.."<br /><br />That's not how charter school choice works. It's a state thing and some states allow kids to go to any public school. Our town does not have a high school and parents have two public high schools to choose from in neighboring towns. That is our town's decision. Those schools set a "tuition in" fee and our town pays the full cost. Each high school has different tuitions. One provide a large school experience and the other a small one.<br /><br />There are lots of ways choice can work.<br />SteveHhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03956560674752399562noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-68843221222455364242015-01-26T07:03:40.178-08:002015-01-26T07:03:40.178-08:00This is my prediction for how things would shake o...This is my prediction for how things would shake out if we ever implemented a fully voucher-based school choice program.<br />1. The first political choice that would need to be made would be simply: how much money per voucher? That isn't simple if this is being done on a national or even state level. Here in NY, districts, even districts right next to each other, spend wildly different amounts of money per pupil. Somehow, an amount that is the same for every student will have to be determined. My prediction is that it would end up at the very high part of the spending range. Why? Because otherwise, affluent parents will have a fit. Nobody in Scarsdale wants their kid forced into a 16K education when they are used to a 27K education. This problem could, though, be mitigated by the next choice...<br />2. The next difficult choice to be made is whether to allow schools to charge parents extra over and above the voucher value. If the voucher value is low, there will be massive pressure, again from affluent parents, to allow this. If it isn't allowed, there will be pressure to set the voucher value at the highest possible.<br /><br />These choices lead to two possible trajectories.<br />Trajectory1: Schools are not permitted to charge beyond the voucher value. Since schools now have to compete for students, they will tend to spend their money on technology, sports, and pretty classrooms, since that impresses parents. This is what happened in higher ed, and I have no doubt it would happen for K12 too. It has already happened in the elite private school sector. Because of this, the school mamangement lobby will put pressure every year on the state government to increase the voucher value. Voucher costs will start exploding, the same way costs have gone up in higher ed.<br /><br />Trajectory2: Schools can charge over and above the voucher value. Affluent parents will flock to higher cost schools since that is a way to keep their kids away from the poorer kids. Also, boarding schools will spring up as an option for affluent parents who live in areas where the only choices are creationist schools or schools that focus on lower income kids. The pressure to build beautiful classrooms and have the latest tech will also drive up costs, as they do in Trajectory 1. Pretty soon, everyone will be complaining about lack of access to the schools with better outcomes. Someone will propose a subsidized student loan program to allow families to spread out the tuition payments over time. The loan program will pass, and now the schools have even more cash for their sports fields, study abroad programs and boarding schools. Costs escalate, but are largely funded by families via loans.<br /><br />This is of course what has happened in higher education, especially at private colleges, where the schools felt pressured to compete via building sprees and fancy student activities. <br /><br />In any case, I don't see any of this coming to pass here in affluent leafy Westchester County. There is no way people in our towns would give up local control, and the microdistricts are too small to support any kind of real options within them. The idea that kids from Mount Vernon could end up in a school located in Scarsdale would simply make people howl.froggiemamanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-32181891964570403892015-01-26T05:21:45.507-08:002015-01-26T05:21:45.507-08:00Actually, I didn't want the choice to send my ...Actually, I didn't want the choice to send my son 45 minutes away to a charter or private school. I wanted my son to be part of our community. I wanted my local public K-6 schools to change. I wasn't expecting much, but I wanted something that would at least provide an option for stronger academics, including a STEM-level curriculum in math. I wanted K-6 schools that cared at least a little bit about content and skills.<br /><br />Our K-8 public schools are sensitive to choice and don't like seeing more capable students going elsewhere, but not enough so to alter their fundamental assumptions and low expectations. So the solution, whether I like it or not, has to be more choice. Maybe if enough students go away they will change, but there are no guarantees. <br /><br /><br />However, choice will dramatically help many kids right now (!), not sometime in the future when CCSS or whatever takes effect. Many parents are desperate to get their kids into a school where they are separated from those who don't care and where they set higher expectations. This is not the best solution for those kids left behind who do care about school and have parents who don't care or are unable to deal with choice. But that is not the fault of the choice schools.<br /><br />Public schools should change, but that's not likely to happen. In fact, they've gone in the wrong direction with full inclusion and "trusting the spiral." I thought that CCSS might force higher expectations (at least the option) into the lower grades, but it has institutionalized one-size-fits-all low expectations where tracking ends up being hidden at home or with tutors.<br /><br />However, the solution in public schools is not tracking where only those supported at home get on the higher tracks. We need K-6 public schools that do what some parents do at home; push and set higher expectations for all. K-6 schools need to care about contents and ensure proper development of skills. I don't see that ever happening. Before full inclusion, we had at least some pressure in school or else we would have to go to summer school or be held back a year. I got to calculus with no help from my parents. Now, schools increase the range of abilities in the classroom and that precludes almost all pushing. Learning is now supposed to be natural (engagement will fix everything), which turns out to be IQ-based and based on help from parents. The highest math level set by PARCC ("distinguished") only means that one will likely be able to pass a course in college algebra. There it is in black and white. CCSS institutionalized one- low size-fits-all.<br /><br />The only (not best) solution is choice. CCSS has proven that. Individuals matter, not statistics.<br /><br />SteveHhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03956560674752399562noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-71650078760038437112015-01-26T02:59:08.548-08:002015-01-26T02:59:08.548-08:00I find the discussion of charter school outcomes f...I find the discussion of charter school outcomes frustrating. Unsurprisingly in a system that has limited controls there will be some bad actors. The fact that these schools are not prevented is mark against the system that approves schools. The fact they are not dealt with quickly is a statement about the slowness and inefficiency of bureaucracies to deal with problems. As Hainish said there are plenty of bad district schools that continue on as well. The fact that some of these schools are full long after the fact that they are mediocre is apparent is a statement to the limited options parents face. Districts try to keep the number of seats that schools can offer in line with the number of students in the district. Of course this makes sense but it limits “choice” in a very real way. So there are some good schools and some bad schools. What the discussion invariably leads to is a discussion of how the schools are creaming off the students. Limited access . . .only the most involved get their kids in . . .therefore not only are they not representative they are evil because it is why all the other schools are bad. The things listed by Froggiemama as being correlated with better schools are not just trivial asides they are the markers of a well-run school(good staff, keeping a close watch of student performance, extra support to students who need to get up to speed, more time on education tasks, a strong academic culture). This is of course why parents choose charters (looking for the same thing all of us want) with the hope that their children will receive a good education. It is clearly an imperfect system but what better do we have to offer other than platitudes about how “all schools should be good.”Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com