Chronology Current Month Current Thread Current Date
[Year List] [Month List (current year)] [Date Index] [Thread Index] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Date Prev] [Date Next]

Re: Closing the Achievement Gap

One article that has some bearing on the problem can be found at
http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v10n12
Essentially they found that schools do matter, and that certain practices
yield better results. It also shows that SES has a large impact.

The link between standards and achievement is not as well established. The
analysis at http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~ctreduc/Research.html , the paper by
Linda McNeil on the harmful impact of the TAAS shows that the current TX
state system of high stakes testing reduces the education for disadvantaged
students.

The problem of having unqualified teachers will not be solved by stricter
standards. As TX has cracked down on certification of unqualified teachers
the pool of certified math teachers has been shrinking. The net result is
that more teachers are being certified off the street. If the stricter
certification standards were accompanied by a large increase in salaries you
might have an increase. Since the TN study
http://www.futureofchildren.org/usr_doc/vol5no2ART8.pdf showed that class
size has a large effect one must consider this in addition to
qualifications. Higher standards can have the unfortunate effect of
reducing the qualification of teachers and/or increasing class size. The
net result can actually reduce achievement.

Higher standards often mean piling more material on the students regardless
of their ability to absorb it. I do not know the solution to the reading
problem in lower grades, but I do know that it is possible to raise thinking
levels and understanding of science concepts by using well constructed
curricula based on the learning cycle. This has been amply demonstrated by
Shayer&Adey, Anton Lawson, and many PER researchers.

As with any social problem, just attacking it from one angle will often
cause other problems to appear which may be worse than the original one.
The call for higher standards has often been a codeword for punishing
teachers and administrators who fail to perform. Since most teachers are
already doing everything they know how to do, punishment will not improve
the situation.

John M. Clement
Houston, TX



I'd want the statistics from fully integrated schools of different
social/economic status. I'd also want to hear (I do hear since my wife
teaches in such a school) from a good cross section of these teachers who
are indicated to be the problem. When the average reading level for 8th
graders in a middle income, fully integrated school is at the 4th grade
level, I am not going to be too quick to believe this is because the
students haven't been challenged. The report has a strong 'political
philosophy' tone to my reading.

Rick

*************************************************
Richard W. Tarara
Professor of Physics
Saint Mary's College
Notre Dame, IN 46556
219-284-4664
rtarara@saintmarys.edu

FREE PHYSICS INSTRUCTIONAL SOFTWARE
www.saintmarys.edu/~rtarara/software.html
NEW: Photo Realistic Laboratory Simulations
**********************************************************
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jack Uretsky" <jlu@HEP.ANL.GOV>
To: <PHYS-L@lists.nau.edu>
Sent: Friday, March 01, 2002 2:51 PM
Subject: Re: Closing the Achievement Gap


Well, it makes a nice brief for a point of view, assuming that the facts
are as stated. When I see a piece of advocacy like this I always wonder
if there is a credible adversarial viewpoint.
Regards,
Jack


On Fri, 1 Mar 2002, Aaron Titus wrote:

Yesterday I read the following article that was VERY enlightening and
motivating in regards to raising the achievement levels of
minority and
low-income students. I thought I'd share it with you.

http://www.ascd.org/readingroom/edlead/0103/haycock.html

AT




-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Dr. Aaron Titus
Department of Physics
316 Marteena Hall
North Carolina A&T State University
Greensboro, NC 27411

Email: titus@mailaps.org
Phone: (336) 334-7646
Fax: (336) 256-0815
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-


--
"But as much as I love and respect you, I will beat you and I will kill
you, because that is what I must do. Tonight it is only you
and me, fish.
It is your strength against my intelligence. It is a veritable
potpourri
of metaphor, every nuance of which is fraught with meaning."
Greg Nagan from "The Old Man and the Sea" in
<The 5-MINUTE ILIAD and Other Classics>