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[Phys-L] Re: California standards test in physics



Larry Smith wrote:

[story that would be funny if it weren't so sad]

This worries me for the following reasons:
1) I never got a good response to the question about the downward trend;
2) The administrators don't understand percentiles;
3) Because they don't understand what the results are saying, they don't
see a problem;
4) When an area of concern is highlighted, they explain it away rather than
concoct a plan to fix it.

The problem is, you're being logical. The sort of
logical arguments that work on your peers aren't
going to work on these bureaucrats.

I don't consider myself the world's most skillful
politician, but I can (sometimes) recognize a political
problem when I see one.

Bureaucrats respond to political and bureaucratic
pressure. Most people on this list are heavily
armed with logic, but that does not automatically
translate into political and bureaucratic clout.

As I've said before:

Part of politics involves sizing up your opponents and
rallying your allies.

One thing that might help is an indirect approach through
the business community. These folks have a vested interest
in a no-nonsense education system. They don't want to
hire graduates who require spoon-feeding; they want to
hire people who can deliver a message to Garcia.

So this suggests a possible line of action. In every
town there is some sort of "business leaders' breakfast
club". Track these people down. Tell them what the
issues are. Get them to put pressure on the school
board and school administrators.

While we're on the subject, you would think that almost
any group of citizens would be very concerned about
this. To put it in the crudest terms, the people who
are working now would like to retire some day. So
the question is, who will provide the goods and services
they will need? It doesn't matter how much money they
have in the bank (now or then), and it doesn't matter
how high the taxes are (now or then) ... if there aren't
enough productive workers, lots of people will have to
do without.

I repeat: money put in the bank now won't do you much
good then. Money invested in building a highly productive
workforce will do a lot more good.

It is important to make citizens understand this. If
they understood it, they'd be marching on the schoolhouse
with pitchforks and torches, like in some old movie,
demanding better results.

===============================

"In the first place God made idiots. This was for
practice. Then he made School Boards."
-- Mark Twain