Some subscribers to Phys-L might be interested in a recent post
"Effects of Poverty on U.S. Children's Educational Achievement Redux"
[Hake (2013b)]. The abstract reads:
*********************************************
ABSTRACT: In response to my post "Barriers to Better K-12 Math
Education: Poverty and the Inadequate Undergraduate Education of
Prospective K-12 Teachers" [Hake (2013a)] at <http://bit.ly/V6azOZ>,
Ed Wall (2013b), in his Math-Learn post at <http://yhoo.it/10CO8af>.
, made 2 points: (1) My statement that Wall implied that the dumbing
down of elementary school mathematics in the U.S. is due to Math
Education Researcher's preoccupation with the secondary years is
"more than a little un-thoughtful." (2) His post "Re: Do We Learn All
the Math We Need For Ordinary Life Before 5th Grade?" [Wall (2013a)]
at <http://yhoo.it/W6fn5y> had more to do with (a) his agreement with
David Hawkins - see signature quote - which Wall assumes I have
refuted, and (b) people such as myself who " 'imply' that children
are less than capable because of their socioeconomic status."
[Non-subscribers to Math-Learn can access Wall's post by taking a
minute to "Join this List" at the Math-Learn archives
<http://yhoo.it/fF6D9w>.]
Here I refute Wall's 2 points with emphasis on Wall's incorrect point
2b: "people such as myself 'imply' that children are less than
capable because of their socioeconomic status." On the contrary, I
implied that children *in poverty* are less capable of *academic
achievement* than children not in poverty.
I think that children in poverty are probably just as *inherently*
capable as children not in poverty, but societal and home factors
conspire against their academic achievement. For example many of
them: (a) are subjected to poor teaching, (b) attend dilapidated
schools with high student and teacher turnover, (c) have academically
uninvolved parents, (d) partake of few out-of-school enrichment
activities, (e) have limited access to books, (f) receive inadequate
nutrition, (g) live in slums, (h) come from broken families, (i) are
threatened by gang violence, (j) have few academic role models, and
(k) suffer from environmental hazards such as lead poisoning.
*********************************************
". . .I will look primarily at our traditions and practices of early
schooling through the age of twelve or so. There is little to come
after, whether of joys or miseries, that is not prefigured in these
years."
- David Hawkins (2001) in "The Roots of Literacy" p. 3.
"Data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress show that
more than 40 percent of the variation in average reading scores and
46 percent of the variation in average math scores across states is
associated with variation in child poverty rates. . . . . Can anyone
credibly believe that the mediocre overall performance of American
students on international tests is unrelated to the fact that
one-fifth of American children live in poverty?"
- Ladd & Fiske (2011)
"For the short term, preparing teachers in mathematics and science is
a wise and useful step toward improving schools. [But] as quickly as
possible, we must understand the link between poverty and educational
outcomes in the U.S., devise solutions, and finally test and
implement them. . . . . I hope that proponents of teacher quality
and charter schools will recognize the weakness of a single-minded
approach before it is too late, and that we will not damage public
education, let down our most vulnerable students, and lose technical
leadership we take for granted."
- Michael Marder (2012)
REFERENCES [URL shortened by http://bit.ly/ and accessed on 19 Jan 2013.]
Hake, R.R. 2013a. "Barriers to Better K-12 Math Education: Poverty
and the Inadequate Undergraduate Education of Prospective K-12
Teachers," online on the OPEN! AERA-L archives at
<http://bit.ly/V6azOZ>. Post of 16 Jan 2013 15:40:33 -0800 to AERA-L
and Net-Gold. The abstract and link to the complete post are being
transmitted to several discussion lists and are also on my blog
"Hake'sEdStuff" at <http://bit.ly/SPOkQ8> with a provision for
comments.
Hake, R.R. 2013b. "Effects of Poverty on U.S. Children's Educational
Achievement Redux" online on the OPEN! AERA-L archives at
<http://bit.ly/VC0jza>. Post of 19 Jan 2013 09:49:56-0800 to AERA-L
and Net-Gold. The abstract and link to the complete post are being
transmitted to several discussion lists and are also on my blog
"Hake'sEdStuff" at <http://bit.ly/Verm2r> with a provision for
comments.
Hawkins, D. 2001. "The Roots of Literacy." University of Colorado
Press. Amazon.com information at <http://amzn.to/h3cbtf>.
Ladd, H.E. & E.B. Fiske. 2011. "Class Matters. Why Won't We Admit
It?" New York Times Opinion Piece, 11 Dec.; online at
<http://nyti.ms/vx3nub>.
Marder, M. 2012. "Failure of U.S. Public Secondary Schools in
Mathematics," Journal of Scholarship and Practice 9(1): 8-25; the
entire issue is online as a 2.7 MB pdf at <http://bit.ly/KPitWM>,
scroll down to page 8.