I think it’s a good idea. They are not allowing kids of different races to pass with different grades, but rather adjust the expectations of each group to achieve a given goal based on their race. Why not? Sounds fair to me.
I think it’s a good idea. They are not allowing kids of different races to pass with different grades, but rather adjust the expectations of each group to achieve a given goal based on their race. Why not? Sounds fair to me.
Perhaps forming different groups and adjusting the expectations of each group to achieve a given goal, is warranted. But I don’t see the value of forming the groups based on race. In fact, that seems rather dysfunctional.
Wow that’s bad. It basically says Asians are the smartest, whites next, then hispanics and blacks. While they’re at it why not just have a similar idea about payscale. Men’s pay should for Job X should be 100,000 and womens pay for that same job should be 75,000. Fair my arse.
Wow that’s bad. It basically says Asians are the smartest, whites next, then hispanics and blacks. While they’re at it why not just have a similar idea about payscale. Men’s pay should for Job X should be 100,000 and womens pay for that same job should be 75,000. Fair my arse.
This is simply a juke move around the Federal programs that provide the states with additional funding for higher achievement scores on standardized tests. In this case, Fla. is going on the cheap by arbitrarily lowering the expectations of minority students that would effect the overall test scores. Bush began this idea with his carrit-and-stick funding plan “No Child Left Behind Act “and Pres. Obama’s admin’s RTT (Race to the Top), which allows for additional funding for states with high test scores. Minorities do poorly on tests because of the environment in which they were raised and because of the language barrier encountered by recent immigrants. Believe me, it isn’t about race, it’s about money.
I am very uncomfortable about this. Although I can understand their argument to some extent, I strongly disagree with the decision they made.
My concern is that it will reinforce stereotypes and continue to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Students, communities, politicians, etc., will not understand the complexities of any argument as to why this would be beneficial or necessary. They will just see that this difference in achievement goals (aka “potential”) has been codified in policy.
This will be another case of good intentions leading to unintended consequences.
This is simply a juke move around the Federal programs that provide the states with additional funding for higher achievement scores on standardized tests. In this case, Fla. is going on the cheap by arbitrarily lowering the expectations of minority students that would effect the overall test scores. Bush began this idea with his carrit-and-stick funding plan “No Child Left Behind Act “and Pres. Obama’s admin’s RTT (Race to the Top), which allows for additional funding for states with high test scores. Minorities do poorly on tests because of the environment in which they were raised and because of the language barrier encountered by recent immigrants. Believe me, it isn’t about race, it’s about money.
Then the system of money allocation should be revised rather than grouping children according to race. If there is to be grouping, it should be toward addressing the educational difficulties that some children have (relative to others) regardless of their particular race. Grouping children by their minority status is a poor form of discrimination.
Racist dumbing down gives them no reason to improve either their schools or teaching method. It is a horrible and self defeating move, sending the WRONG message to ALL of the students AND adults. Floridians should be ashamed. <——I’m NOT smiling, I’m STEAMING.
Then the system of money allocation should be revised rather than grouping children according to race. If there is to be grouping, it should be toward addressing the educational difficulties that some children have (relative to others) regardless of their particular race. Grouping children by their minority status is a poor form of discrimination.
Allocation of funds via these programs doesn’t depend on the race of the students. These funds are granted to the states to be dolled out to school districts as an incentive to raise their scores. The State of Florida is regrouping the students by race in order to base the test questions on their achievement, or as Asanta has rightly pointed out, dumbing down to artificially inflate the grades of minorities. It was mentioned in the article I cited that minority students have lower scores due to environmental factors not racial distinctions. And I agree that grouping by minority status is a form of discrimination as all students should be given an equal chance to succeed academically in the same environment. This is the very reason Linda Bown’s Father fought to give his daughter the right to attend an all white school.
And I agree that grouping by minority status is a form of discrimination as all students should be given an equal chance to succeed academically in the same environment.
I don’t understand this. Wouldn’t this new system do exactly that? If they receive more funds, it would give them a better chance to succeed, no?
I don’t understand this. Wouldn’t this new system do exactly that? If they receive more funds, it would give them a better chance to succeed, no?
That’s a good point George, and yes more funding used constructively could benefit the students ex. More advanced technology in the classroom, improved athletic equipment, an auditorium for drama classes, facilities for science classes and the shopping list is endless but not at the expense of dumbing down teaching to accommodate students for higher test scores. Even with the improved facilities that this financial boon would achieve, what use would it be to an underachieving student who would be Ill prepared to compete for scholorships, more stringent college entrance exams, or skilled job training? The greatest criticism of public schools is that students slip through the cracks with a bare bones education that doesn’t equip them to even compete in the job market. The solution isn’t simply to throw money at the problem, although it would be beneficial in the long run, but to insist that all students have an equal opportunity to learn and pigeon-holing them into categories based merely on racial distinctions will set us back to the 50’s in terms of how we educate kids. The trend in education for the last 15 years has been inclusion of students from all backgrounds and IQs if you still want to refer to that, as peer teaching has been found to be beneficial. You once referred to this yourself in an earlier discussion concerning how kids learn by mentioning that their peers have a greater influence on kids than their parents from pre-teen to adulthood. So, yeah pile on the money, drop the number of students in the classroom to no more than 20 so that the teacher can have more one on one time with the students and give teachers a raise. As to state standards, they’re much more stringent; in short, it’s getting harder to become a teacher and that’s a good thing. Also, merit pay is now tied to salaries, at least in OH. I don’t agree but I’m old school if you’ll pardon the pun.
<——I’m NOT smiling, I’m STEAMING.