Honors class leads to diversity debate

Chicago Tribune ^ | November 23, 2010 | Diane Rado

[ConservativeStatement]

When he scans the faces in his honors science courses at Evanston Township High School, chemistry teacher William Farmer can easily see who's missing: minority kids.

"Out of 26, you might have three nonwhite students," he said.

One of the most racially mixed high schools in Illinois, Evanston has a mission of embracing diversity and promoting equity and excellence for all students. But its own data show that few minority students make it into the school's most rigorous courses that will best prepare them for college and the future.

[ConservativeStatement]

Incredible.

[kromike]

But its own data show that few minority students make it into the school's most rigorous courses that will best prepare them for college and the future.

Well golly gee, it's obvious that it's not the minority's fault. Better whip up those SUB-standardized tests, with watered-down questions specifically tailored to all those poor peoples oppressed by "The Man".

After all, this is what got us stuck with The First Idiot and Babygotbakka.

[Carley]

Won’t matter. They’ll get the promotions without the qualifications.

And those minorities with qualifications will suffer the indignity of having others wonder if their achievements were actually earned.

[Sergio]

Hey, Diane Rado, newsflash, it ain't the race, it's the culture.

Any culture that disdains academic achievement, personal accountability, personal responsibility, honor and hard work, is destined to failure.

Last time I checked, nobody was holding a gun to peoples heads and making them embrace a culture that leads to failure. The real question that needs to be asked is why such a large subset, of one particular race, are so enamored of this particular culture.

[Dilbert San Diego]

And it’s considered racist to even discuss this subject.

So there’s no way they will be able to really understand why so few minorities at that school are in the most rigorous classes. They can do naval gazing and get their panties in a twist while they agonize about it, but, if they approach it from a liberal point of view, they will just simply not understand what is going on. Or blame it on the legacy of slavery and discrimination and all that.

[Bon mots]

IQ and the Wealth of Nations

From Wikipedia

Country	IQ (2002)	IQ (2006)	PPP-GNI per capita 2002	QHC
Hong Kong	107	108	27,490	60.8
Singapore	103	108	23,730	60.7
North Korea	105*	106*	1,000	38
South Korea	106	106	16,960	75.4
Japan	105	105	27,380	71.4
People's Republic of China	100	105	4,520	39.7
Republic of China	104	105	23,400	79.4
Italy	102	102	26,170	78.9
Iceland	98*	101	29,240	80
Mongolia	98*	101*	1,710	48.1
Switzerland	101	101	31,840	82.2
Austria	102	100	28,910	80.7
Luxembourg	101*	100*	53,230	76.4
Netherlands	102	100	28,350	82.8
Norway	98	100	36,690	89
United Kingdom	100	100	26,580	76.7
Belgium	100	99	28,130	84.1
Canada	97	99	28,930	77.8
Estonia	97*	99	11,630	64.5
Finland	97	99	26,160	85.1
Germany	102	99	26,980	78
New Zealand	100	99	20,550	76.2
Poland	99	99	10,450	62.7
Sweden	101	99	25,820	82.9
Andorra	N/A	98*	19,000	58.7
Australia	98	98	27,440	82.8
Czech Republic	97	98	14,920	64.5
Denmark	98	98	30,600	85.4
France	98	98	27,040	78.1
Hungary	99	98	13,070	64.1
Latvia	97*	98*	9,190	65.5
Spain	99	98	21,910	75.8
United States	98	98	36,120	86.6
Belarus	96*	97*	5,500	57.2
Malta	95*	97	17,710	66.4
Russia	96	97	8,080	64.5
Ukraine	96*	97*	4,800	61.8
Moldova	95*	96*	1,600	46.2
Slovakia	96	96	12,590	63.2
Slovenia	95	96	18,480	72.4
Uruguay	96	96	7,710	64
Israel	94	95	19,000	75.3
Portugal	95	95	17,820	67
Armenia	93*	94*	3,230	50.2
Georgia	93*	94*	2,270	51.2
Kazakhstan	93*	94*	5,630	49
Romania	94	94	6,490	53
Vietnam	96*	94	2,300	39.5
Argentina	96	93	10,190	64.7
Bulgaria	93	93	7,030	59.1
Greece	92	92	18,770	76.1
Malaysia	92	92	29,570	78.5
Republic of Ireland	93	92	8,500	52.1
Brunei	92*	91*	19,210	50.8
Cambodia	89*	91*	1,970	28.6
Cyprus	92*	91*	18,650	67.6
Lithuania	97*	91	10,190	65.4
Republic of Macedonia	93*	91*	6,420	54.4
Thailand	91	91	6,890	50.3
Albania	90*	90*	4,960	51.2
Bermuda	N/A	90	36,000	75.8
Bosnia and Herzegovina	N/A	90*	5,800	51.4
Chile	93*	90	9,420	59.5
Croatia	90	90	10,000	61.7
Kyrgyzstan	87*	90*	1,560	48.1
Turkey	90	90	6,300	50.2
Cook Islands	N/A	89	5,000	45.7
Costa Rica	91*	89*	8,650	53.7
Laos	89*	89	1,660	24.9
Mauritius	81*	89	10,820	52.2
Serbia	93*	89	2,300	53.8
Suriname	89	89	6,590	50.6
Ecuador	80	88	3,340	47.4
Mexico	87	88	8,800	52.9
Samoa	87	88	5,570	49.7
Azerbaijan	87*	87*	3,010	47.2
Bolivia	85*	87	2,390	49.7
Brazil	87	87	7,450	51.1
East Timor	N/A	87*	3,940	46.7
Guyana	84*	87*	3,070	40.2
Indonesia	89	87	1,600	28.1
Iraq	87	87	1,027	30.7
Myanmar	86*	87*	930	42.4
Tajikistan	87*	87*	1,640	27.5
Turkmenistan	87*	87*	4,780	41.7
Uzbekistan	87*	87*	1,640	39.4
Kuwait	83*	86	17,780	49.9
Philippines	86	86	4,450	51.6
Seychelles	81*	86*	18,232	60.6
Tonga	87	86	6,820	40.5
Cuba	85	85	5,259	46.2
Fiji	84	85	5,330	51.9
Kiribati	84*	85*	800	37.1
New Caledonia	N/A	85	21,960	54.9
Peru	90	85	4,880	49.2
Trinidad and Tobago	80*	85*	9,000	52
Yemen	83*	85	800	24.5
Afghanistan	83*	84*	700	13.2
Belize	83*	84*	15,960	56.1
Colombia	88	84	5,490	44.2
Federated States of Micronesia	84*	84*	6,150	48.4
Iran	84	84	6,690	40.2
Jordan	87*	84	4,180	43.4
Marshall Islands	84	84	1,600	44.2
Morocco	85	84	2,000	39.9
Pakistan	81*	84	3,730	31.7
Panama	84*	84*	1,960	26.2
Paraguay	85*	84	6,060	56.6
Puerto Rico	84	84	4,590	45.2
Saudi Arabia	83*	84*	15,800	63.6
Solomon Islands	84*	84*	12,660	44.1
The Bahamas	78*	84*	1,590	41.5
United Arab Emirates	83*	84*	24,030	48.8
Vanuatu	84*	84*	2,850	31.4
Venezuela	88*	84	5,220	47.4
Algeria	84*	83*	5,530	39.9
Bahrain	83*	83*	16,190	49.3
Libya	84*	83*	7,570	49.3
Oman	83*	83*	13,000	40.6
Papua New Guinea	84*	83	2,180	38.4
Syria	87*	83	34,700	38.9
Tunisia	84*	83*	6,440	40.6
Bangladesh	81*	82*	1,720	29.8
Dominican Republic	84*	82	6,270	46.8
India	81	82	2,650	36.3
Lebanon	86	82	4,600	55.8
Madagascar	79*	82	730	28.6
Egypt	83	81	3,810	37.3
Honduras	84*	81	2,540	41.9
Maldives	81*	81*	4,798	38.5
Nicaragua	84*	81*	2,350	41.3
Northern Mariana Islands	N/A	81	12,500	51.3
Barbados	78	80	14,660	60.9
Bhutan	78*	80*	1,969	24.1
El Salvador	84*	80*	4,790	42.6
Guatemala	79	79	4,040	34.6
Sri Lanka	81*	79	3,510	47.7
Nepal	78	78	1,370	26.9
Qatar	78	78	19,844	45.6
Comoros	79*	77*	1,640	24.6
Cape Verde	78*	76*	4,920	40.5
Mauritania	73*	76*	1,790	20.5
Uganda	73	73	1,360	25.4
Kenya	72	72	1,010	27.3
South Africa	72	72	9,810	38.3
Tanzania	72	72	580	23.2
Ghana	71	71	2,080	33.7
Grenada	75*	71*	6,600	45.3
Jamaica	72	71	3,680	46.5
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	75*	71	5,190	48.4
Sudan	72	71	1,740	24.6
Zambia	77	71	800	21.8
Antigua and Barbuda	75*	70*	10,390	53.2
Benin	69*	70*	1,060	20.5
Botswana	72*	70*	7,740	29.4
Namibia	72*	70*	6,880	31.1
Rwanda	70*	70*	1,260	18.5
Togo	69*	70*	1,450	26
Burundi	70*	69*	630	15.2
Côte d'Ivoire	71*	69*	1,450	18.1
Malawi	71*	69*	570	24.3
Mali	68*	69*	840	13.4
Niger	67*	69*	800	13.5
Nigeria	67	69	800	27.3
Angola	69*	68*	1,840	13.7
Burkina Faso	66*	68*	1,090	10.7
Chad	72*	68*	1,010	20.4
Djibouti	68*	68*	2,040	22
Eritrea	68*	68*	1,040	21.4
Somalia	68*	68*	500	15.2
Swaziland	72*	68*	4,730	22.2
Dominica	75*	67	4,960	48.8
Guinea	63	67	2,060	22.5
Guinea-Bissau	63*	67*	680	20.3
Haiti	72*	67*	1,610	20.4
Lesotho	72*	67*	2,970	24.3
Liberia	64*	67*	1,000	21.2
Saint Kitts and Nevis	75*	67*	10,750	45.5
São Tomé and Príncipe	59*	67*	1,317	37.9
Senegal	64*	66*	1,660	20.7
Gambia	64*	66*	1,540	21.3
Zimbabwe	66	66	2,180	25.2
Republic of the Congo	73	65	630	17.9
Cameroon	70*	64	1,910	23.1
Central African Republic	68*	64	1,170	19.1
Democratic Republic of the Congo	65	64	700	26.9
Ethiopia	63	64	780	16.7
Gabon	66*	64*	5,530	32.2
Mozambique	72*	64	990	18
Sierra Leone	64	64	500	13.8
Saint Lucia	75*	62	4,950	51.1
Equatorial Guinea	59	59	9,100	30.4

You can also ready the book:

I.Q. and the Wealth of Nations

[Bon mots]

You can also ready the book = You can also read the book.

:)

[sergeantdave]

“But its own data show that few minority students make it into the school’s most rigorous courses..”

They’re in the hood learning how to hold glocks sideways. Next will be learning to call the mothers of their children whores. Then they’ll learn that it’s all the fault of honkeys. That sets them up for one of obuma’s free money programs. For example, they can apply for the wronged black farmer free cash program, even though the only dirt they’ve ever seen is on their faces.

[BigBobber]

The new humanities class would include all students able to read at the ninth-grade level, which the high school defines as scoring at or above the 40th percentile nationally on an achievement test given to eighth-graders.

A small number of students below the 40th percentile will be in a different class, to get more help. This year, 50 students are in that support class — about 8 percent of students enrolled in all freshman humanities courses.

That's some fancy math there. Bottom line: 92% percent of students will be in the "honors" level English class, even though many can't read at the ninth grade level.

[Krankor]

Evanston is the Berkley of the midwest- although not nearly as bad. Years ago, the black, female mayor was caught taking free tickets to Northwestern games and, of course, nothing was done about it. It’s an incredibly beautiful city- with some fabulous Civil war era homes. This entire story sounds like some science fiction fable. The incredible thing is the parents of honor students are sitting back and taking this. Of course, the school does have a violence problem, plus it’s in a crappy, black neighborhood, so maybe the parents are afraid for their kids.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

Farmer believes the school board will approve the plan, saying, "I get the sense in working with the board that they really recognize the moral imperative of needing to make some drastic changes to the school structure, to reduce the predictability of student achievement based on race."

Yeah, sure - as long as the decision makers don't have any skin in the game.

But where are you gonna find the parent who will make any effort at all to assure that his/her own children do NOT meet expectations of excellence?

Humbug!

Teachers want to think of themselves as caring more for the education of their students than their own parents do. Until you ask them to pony up for those students' college tuition, of course . . .

[Venturer]

The black kids who get good grades are treated badly by the ones who get bad grades, because they act too white.

The Uncle Tom syndrome.

[Jeff Winston]

So. The plan is to put almost all students into the honors courses.

Has this been tried elsewhere? Ya gotta wonder how this is going to work out.

[Sergio]

Bill Cosby was also raked over the coals when he said that the three things that needed to be done to escape poverty are:

1. Graduate from high school.
2. Don't have kids until you are married.
3. Once you get married, stay that way.

I've always found it fascinating how those who need the most help, are the ones who are most vocally against putting in any effort to help themselves.

[Publius6961]

Multiculturalism.
It's in the Constitution, or should be. Executive Order, coming right up!

The dense and stupid need respect too. I say give the them all Surgeons Doctorate degrees and assign them all to treat the 34 million idle health-uninsured.

A win-win two birds solution.

... I amaze myself sometimes...

[sarasmom]

My daughter has mostly honors classes, except for a few electives, and even then, she selected additional honors classes instead of the easy “A”s whenever possible.

It is very difficult for “normal-serious” students to learn subject matter in classrooms filled with “diversity students”.
Between the seriously disturbed ESE child cowering under a desk or freely roaming the room, and a large group of “protected minority students” sporadically shouting profanity at their teacher and threatening violence, and making innapropriate remarks/threats to other students...how does anyone expect a “normal” student to actually learn anything?

The private schools I can afford do not offer any significantly greater benefits, since a large portion of their students are students with behavioral problems who were kicked out of public schools, but whose parents have more money than good sence.

My daughter, and her peers are getting a well rounded education in the real world.

I can almost guarantee her generation will have “zero tolerance” for the lamentations of the current crop of unionized educators and government workers whose pensions evaporate.

Kharma is a beautiful thing to watch unfold!

[RightGeek]

Among other findings, a 2008 study by the Consortium on Chicago School Research at the University of Chicago found that absenteeism increased among average and high-ability students after Chicago Public Schools eliminated remedial courses and mandated college prep classes for all students in 1997.

Who can blame them - it's a race to the bottom

[Publius6961]

Without the following, that table is next to useless.

"*" Denotes estimated National IQ
PPP-GNI = purchasing power parity gross national income.
QHC = is a composite index called quality of human conditions.

[Talisker]

Evanston Township High School District 202 Superintendent Eric Witherspoon said... "I'm excited about moving away from racially segregated classes," ...at a packed school board meeting earlier this week...

"Racially segregated classes"? WTH? How about moving away from inflammatory, race-baiting, lying, manipulative school superintendents?

Good Lord, what utter filth these liberals spew - and then goose-step to follow en masse. Sometime I really wonder if they're even human anymore.

[Da Coyote]

What’s the worry?

There are plenty of positions for those who cannot hack intellectual pursuits at ALL levels of the White House.

Sarcasm aside, one gets more minorities in advanced classes by teaching them properly beforehand...and this is greatly enhanced by two parents. (Two is a number - look it up, libs.)