tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5458172893016186479.post3227629459690391675..comments2024-03-09T03:28:44.216-05:00Comments on Thoughts on Education Policy: Sunday Commentary: How Should We Measure the "Achievement Gap"?Corey Bunje Bowerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09764159604965707919noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5458172893016186479.post-13056610534151643532014-02-12T01:09:36.790-05:002014-02-12T01:09:36.790-05:00Got a little behind on moderating comments . . .
...Got a little behind on moderating comments . . .<br /><br />Thanks, Shea!Corey Bunje Bowerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09764159604965707919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5458172893016186479.post-3687955146090896182013-06-05T11:41:55.946-04:002013-06-05T11:41:55.946-04:00Just read your article on the achievement gap. Go...Just read your article on the achievement gap. Good stuff. Thanks, Corey!<br /><br />http://eus.sagepub.com/content/45/1/3.abstract<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01996034876334852336noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5458172893016186479.post-31672384859012591142009-11-22T23:30:18.001-05:002009-11-22T23:30:18.001-05:00I agree. Schools can make up for some deficits. ...I agree. Schools can make up for some deficits. Unfortunately, our sales pitch says that schools can make up for all deficits, as long as we are given "adequate resources."<br /><br />That is untrue, and it makes it very difficult to seriously consider what we actually can do.Roger Sweenyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12734128265493099062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5458172893016186479.post-65901713449231924012009-11-22T19:41:23.641-05:002009-11-22T19:41:23.641-05:00RS: There's a difference between saying "...RS: There's a difference between saying "right now, non-school factors are more predictive of academic achievement than are in-school factors" and saying "there's nothing schools can do to make up for deficits that begin and widen outside of school"Corey Bunje Bowerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09764159604965707919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5458172893016186479.post-17505385608597558952009-11-22T11:51:31.274-05:002009-11-22T11:51:31.274-05:00Corey,
All good questions--but they clash with th...Corey,<br /><br />All good questions--but they clash with the way we market our industry. I deliberately put that crassly but I think most of us sincerely believe our own sales pitch.<br /><br />The sales pitch goes like this," Look at the correlation between success in school and success in life. Look at the fact that, on average, someone with a college degree earns up to a million dollars more than someone without a college degree.<br /><br />"Those higher earnings, that success in life, is a direct result of school. In particular, it is a result of the subject matter knowledge gained in school.<br /><br />So if you are a young person, you should stay in school and learn what we teach. If you are a voter, you should vote for candidates who will give us all the money we need. (And, says one powerful voice from the ed schools, if you are a teacher, you should not grade on the basis of "homework done" or "work turned in on time" but only on the basis of subject matter knowledge acquired, as determined by some assessment.)<br /><br />You see, if you give us enough money, and compulsory attendance laws and such, American teachers in American schools can teach anyone and make anyone a success."<br /><br />That is a powerful, and very successful, pitch. <br /><br />To admit that success in life has much to do with what young people bring to school, to admit that grades on assessments may not have much to do with long-term acquisition of knowledge, to admit that most of the subject matter knowledge of school is never used in later life, that would make a lot of us feel terrible. And eventually cost us a job. Or, at least, the hope of a pay raise.Roger Sweenyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12734128265493099062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5458172893016186479.post-80987024075681084752009-11-21T19:56:56.428-05:002009-11-21T19:56:56.428-05:00Well said, Mr. Harris.Well said, Mr. Harris.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04089587797789660734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5458172893016186479.post-37942295182388216292009-11-19T23:31:09.249-05:002009-11-19T23:31:09.249-05:00Corey,
This past Tuesday we had our fall parent/te...Corey,<br />This past Tuesday we had our fall parent/teacher conference at my middle school in Brooklyn, NY. It was a typical affair for me. I sat with the parents of nearly 70 different students between the afternoon and evening sessions. I've been told by teachers at other schools that that is a large number. We have a "successful" school based on our yearly test scores. I teach students of all levels; remedial, ELL, special needs, average, and gifted.<br />Here's what really stood out for me this week: <br />1. Students with health issues during the early development years lag far behind all others. I discovered that one of my lowest level students was adopted at 6-months from a Latin American orphanage where the child was found malnourished in a corner. He'll probably never catch up. Self sustainability will be a life-long challenge for this individual. And the research really illustrates this point, that health care and nutrition in the early years is vital to success in school. When I take informal straw polls in class of how many students ate breakfast that particular morning the results are usually less then half. <br />2. Students from turbulent domestic situations struggle with focus and consistency. Often times they are the students who are the most demanding of attention of an emotional nature. These are the ones who act-out the most in class and, often times receive negative attention rather then positive from the teacher (me). Their behavior becomes a drag on the lesson, often creating stress in other students who are better equipped to manage the classroom setting.<br />3. All parents love their children and want what's best for them, but in urban schools only about half of them understand how to provide the resources that their children need to be more successful in school. Many parents have a desire to be more active participants in their child’s learning process but don’t understand how, work late, are tired from the day, have younger children to deal with, etc. Now, I hate teachers who chose to blame parents first, but when I compare the working class and poor parents of students I teach with my neighbors on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and the parents of my son's classmates at the private school he attends, it's like two different countries. And not just because of the wealth gap. It has to do with all these other issues, early childhood health, domestic stability, and parental guidance. <br />More and more my thinking on the achievement gap is, why do we continue to believe that closing the gap is even a possibility? It’s not that I don’t believe that we have a social justice obligation to do so, it’s just that we, as a society can’t pretend that schools are somehow the answer to the problem of social, racial, and economic disparity in this country. Schools may be one leg of the table, but there are three others that also need fixing. When will education reform include proposals that tackle a child’s experience inside and outside the classroom? Can we at least begin with the understanding that education happens beyond the hours of 8:00 AM – 3:00 PM?Sasha M. Harrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09355279772396466142noreply@blogger.com