Speak the truth.
I was about to post this!
You're right about Murray. The Blank Slate idiots will be all over him for this (and his next articles on the same subject).
Popcorn time!
Half of all children are below average...
Murry more than anyone knows how bogus this sentence is... Half the children are not below average. Average IQ is a range and a substantial range, 68% of the population lies between 84 and 116 which is considered the average range. Another 16% is in the "smarter than average bear to genius range. Which leaves about 16% below average.
I don't think education reformers believe that they raise the IQ's of children by any significant degree. They want to educate the children to top levels of their various abilities. Am I missing something? Who is the target of his article?
Murray exaggerates how dumb those slightly below average are.
With a little work, such people can attain a decent standard of education. It's amazing how much smarter it's possible to become by exercising the brain.
In any case, our whole population is working much below their abilities. Until we start bumping up against capacity limits, we should worry about other aspects of education.
WE just need to throw more money at the problem
Problem solved.
Because it is a vote getter, we spend more on Education than we do on the entire Military. And in his misguided attempts to be nonpartisan, President Bush let Ted Kennedy take charge of the No Child Left Behind frame work. Education in America is a political foot ball that wins votes and spends endless amounts of tax payer $$$ to no avail.
There are two problems: Poorly educated teachers; federal rules and regulations that blanket a nation of varying situations as if there were only one. Then there are the teachers unions which have nothing to do with teaching and or learning yet the lobbies from teachers continue to mask the real problems, mainly the Federal Government; remove the Federal rules and regulations, make a real accounting of the people in charge and demand a finished product from you local schools. Those bumper stickers that proclaim ‘Johnny is an honor student at XXXX’ doesn’t tell you Johnny can read a tad better than Sally but neither have a clue as to real learning…………….
bttt
Despite the splitting of semantic and statistical hairs by Chickensoup, the article you posted does present items worthy of discussion. The NCLB with its required "improvement" and ties to funding was the largest mistake of the GWB first term. The particulars of how to overcome that mistake are the crux of the matter.
Thanks for posting the article.
Thanks for posting this. Murray nails it when he points out that we need to have schools which train kids to perform to their level of ability. You wouldn't suggest that the average joe play football in the pros, so don't suggest that persons with below average intelligence get Ph.D.'s. That said, most kids can and should get better instruction and would benefit by the time spent.
mark.
Intelligence in the class room - oxymoron considering the NEA and the interloping schoolboards.
I think his basic premise if fine. There's generally a limit on how far a person can progress with their intelligence. However, I believe very few people ever reach that limit. The average kid getting a D probably is not focusing much on school. if he tried VERY hard he'd be able to get an A. IMHO, intelligence is just one of many factors in how successful a person will be.
BTW-I do support though allowing each kid to go to their abilities. As in, create trade schools for those high schoolers who have no intention of going to college and create much harder schools for the high-achieving students. The top and bottom get woefully left out so both waste a lot of time and money being with the averahe kids.
Murray argues that schools are doing about as well as possible educating children of below average intelligence. He is wrong.
Just in case some people haven't seen this:
NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND: The Football Version
1. Each school is expected to exhibit the same level of talent in the sport of football; moreover all teams will reach the same minimum goals. If a team does not win the championship, it shall be on probation until it has done so; coaches will be held accountable. If after two years they have not won the championship their footballs, helmets, fields and equipment will be confiscated until they DO win the championship.
2. ALL players will be expected to achieve the same football skills at the same time even though it is acknowledged that some do not have the conditions or opportunities necessary to practice on their own. NO exceptions will be made for an absence of interest in football, coordination problems of any kind, or for a lack of desire to perform athletically. ALL KIDS WILL PLAY FOOTBALL AT A PROFICIENT LEVEL !
3. Talented players will be asked to play at the back of the field, on their own, without coaching. The coaches will devote all of their instructional time to athletes not interested in football or to those who have limited athletic ability.
4. A full season of games will be played, however statistics will only be kept in the 4th, 8th and 11th games.
This will create a New Age of Sports in which ALL teams will make the playoffs and where all teams will win the State Championship. This will bring the USA to world prominence in football by 2012.
Isn't the point, however, that schools are ill serving low IQ folks, and it might be valuable to better serve those folks, so that they can maximize their potential with what they have?
Thanks for posting the article. As Murray mentions that it is the first installment of the three, would you please post the other two when they appear?
and
the third and final installment
of this series by Murray.