Since they can kick all our asses on gadgets, I dare say they are ahead of the curve on that. It is the math and reading they suck wind on.
Oh please ?? You are actually claiming based on one website that there is no winning product, i.e. that there are no charter schools that are superior to public schools and that voucher systems don't work. I've got two books (for starters) that completely validate the opposite. And if vouchers were available for every student there would be many more charter and private schools to compete with the failed public schools where ever they might be located. As I've recommended previously - you should consider reading more.
Computer aided teaching is very effective. The computer can track the strengths and weaknesses of each individual student and tailor lessons to address the weaknesses and alert teachers to provide specific help to individuals rather than assume that the entire class is "getting it".
a Republican free market in education is a new idea of course. The libsocialist Democratic unions that run the schools are every bit as bad as the libsocialist unions that ran our auto industry into the ground.
Once again, I did not say that. You need to read what I say and then believe that is what I said. I don't want to have to keep posting about what you SAY I said. I'm saying that proposing that the nation change based on ANYTHING being done in the system in NOLA is probably a big mistake, because that system is below standard for the USA. If you want to promote something based on an example, find a GOOD example. I don't mean to disparage the good people of NOLA. I'm just saying that stats show they have a good ways to go before they can claim to be some beacon of education for America to follow. Vouchers and charters come in different sizes and shapes. For example, vouchers may or may not cover the full cost of the choice the parents make. Charters may or may not select students based on interviews or past performance. Etc., etc. So, simply saying "charter" or "voucher" does not fully define what's happening. I will say that voucher programs I've seen do not cover tuition and expenses - which is a significant selection criterion that fails to meet what I see as important. I'm interested in educating everyone, not just those whose parents have money, or who interview well, or who can commute to the school, or can pay for the part not covered by vouchers, etc. I'm interested in every kid. And, I know your books. You are making assumptions that you should not make. And, if YOU read your books, you would be doing better than you are in this thread.
Correct me if I'm not interpreting your made up words in the way you would like, but it sounds like you are against collective bargaining. I don't know of any k-12 school where the content being taught or the choice of teachers, principles, or others has anything to do with collective bargaining. Also, please remember that when US auto testified as part of the bail out process they stated that the reason they were in trouble was that they were not creating cars that people wanted. In my opinion, the problem with their cars was that they required more maintenance, didn't last as long and had pathetic gas mileage performance when compared to foreign competition.
yes but you are a liberal so will always get things backwards. Unions have huge position on the common core for example. Do you get it now?
And yet it would appear as if people who had trapper keepers and #2 pencils outperformed the current crop of kids in the core subjects.
I know OR and WA better than others. And, I don't see any teacher union involvement like that. While some of the larger teacher's unions support common core, they are sharply critical of it. This idea that unions control education is pretty much bunk. In most states, the state controls education in just about every way.
No good teacher makes assumptions like that, nor do they wait for some computer program to tell them which students they are connecting with. I wonder if this isn't some sort of cover for cases where the student to teacher ration is huge or the school couldn't find good teachers to accept the jobs being offered.
I have two books full of excellent examples which you refuse to read. You claim to know the books but again, have you read them ?? I've been through all this many times with those who refuse to acknowledge that giving the parents school choice via a voucher system is the best process to maximize the opportunities of those who want to learn.
Find a good example in the real world. Remember that I don't care if one school excels, I want a system that excels, educating all kids. I've NEVER OPPOSED CHOICE!! Saying "voucher" is meaningless until you specify the way the financing works. "Voucher" applies to a number of different ways to organize education funding. They are NOT all acceptable. In Chicago, there are schools that qualify as using a voucher system, but the parents don't even know about it. It's just a way of state funding being distributed while keeping the state sponsored schools tuition free. In other cases, parents are supposed to use some paltry voucher to help pay some huge education bill - thus selecting for parental wealth while giving the rich parents some state money. Etc. I know the books. But, on this thread I'm not going to accept these words as being "good" or "bad". They are neither. However, I will point out that many uses of these words have applied to systems that are totally unacceptable. Once again, "good" means that the entire population of children is being well educated.
Read the books - there are plenty of excellent real world examples. I'm not interested in playing your games. - - - Updated - - - The teachers do not have to make assumptions. The computer keeps the data for them. If a student is strong at multiplication and weak in division that will be shown in the data.
A voucher system progressively helps low income students and parents who care about their child's education. That is the exact demographic that needs the help and should be helped and will be helped by a voucher system as they were in Washington DC until the voucher system was cut back instead of expanded by the teacher union controlled Democrats. The voucher system is focused on people who are interested in those who want to help themselves and on those who want to escape failed public school options.
The correct way to measure the effectiveness of a teaching method is to evaluate it using a baseline of students with very similar academic status. Then measure the progress using the programs against standard teaching methods.
You just can't discuss this topic. You should read your books. Then maybe you could cite what you are referencing. You said teachers "assume". I am saying that no teacher makes such assumptions unless perhaps there are serious problems in the system.
I've done my homework and discussed this topic at length on other forums. I now am content with pointing out the fallacies of those who oppose school choice via a voucher system.
I would end the vouchers, too, if what they do is take money away from public education and shift the load to the families of these low income people you pretend to care about. If there is a failed public school, then it must be fixed. Period. I'm not specifying what the fix is other than to say that it has to apply to the students - not just the students of parents with special interest in education and/or dollars. The catch with most who promote vouchers is that they would like to take money away from educating the district as a whole, apply it to a few, and then claim THAT is a success! Maybe it helps to consider where THAT is headed. That is, why not take ALL education funds and apply it to only those kids who pass interviews and prove performance? That would make even a BIGGER success by the standards of the kind of voucher you seem to tout. The catch is that educating a few feels good, but it isn't a solution. We need them all educated. Otherwise, they fill our prisons, fill our streets, fill our bread lines, and otherwise cost us money when they could be moving America forward.
We've had decades to "fix" the public schools. And as has been shown in DC as well as many other places a voucher system is the only viable way out of a lifetime of poverty for students from low income families. Vouchers allocate the educational funds where they belong - to the individual students. Charter schools dedicated to specific needs of certain groups of students is a vastly superior system than a "one size fits all" approach taken by the public school system. The information and data to support this is out there. All it takes is some curiosity and initiative and open mindedness to find it.
When a price floor is set above the free-market price, the result is a surplus. A surplus of labor is also known as unemployment.
Measurement is the key to any attempt to improve quality. Also fundamental is the establishment of a set of requirements which define quality. The preceding are the basis of any program which proposes to improve the quality of education. Pick up a book on quality engineering (anything by Joseph Juran will suffice - Juran's teachings were/are used by the Japanese to develop their reputation for high quality products). It is not possible as one teacher's union proponent said a few years ago to look into a child's eyes and determine whether he is learning or not. BTW, you can't lower expectations unless you know the baseline performance.
The SAT's were given a new "baseline" because people are getting dumber. Just because someone now is "average" does not mean that "average" today is what "average" was a generation ago, and unfortunately, the standards are lowered, not rising. It is a failure of education.
Yes. But, you are not doing that. You read someone's agenda snd got hooked without bothering to look around. Public schools do not have to be one size fits all, nor do they preclude choice. Ours here in Seattle and those in other cities offer a range of academically sound options. Leaving kids behind is not a solution. Using DC as an example of a successful education direction is just plain stupid. DC is not an example of anything we want in education until they demonstrate success against the goal of educating their children. DC is the second failing system you have attempted to propose as an example of success. You need to find and promote successes, not failures.
Who gave the SAT's a new baseline ?? The failure is of the existing public education system. And the tragedy is that most low income parents have no alternative choices for their child's education. - - - Updated - - - More kids are left behind in the public school system. Read Michelle Rhee's book for the real story on the DC public school system failures and the success of the voucher/charter school system there.
