In article <93lc8j$fil$[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
Ronald Bloom <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>Herman Rubin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>> In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
>> J. Williams <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>>>Francis Galton explained it in 1885. Possibly, the Mass. Dept. of
>>>Education missed it! Or, could it be that the same gang who brought
>>>us the exit poll data during the November election were helping them
>>>out? :-)
>>>I am wondering why they did not have a set of objective standards for
>>>ALL students to meet.
>> There are only two ways this can be done. One is by having
>> the standards so low as to be useless, and the other is by
>> not allowing the students who cannot do it to get to that
>> grade, regardless of age. The second is, at this time,
>> Politically Incorrect.
> And what alternative do you propose? Sending the underachievers
>to work in the fields as soon as signs of promise fail
>to manifest?
The obvious alternative is to adjust the education to
the individual, and completely abandon the idea of age
grouping. I believe that those who SHOULD go to college
should receive a far greater education by their early
teens than they are now allowed to get several years
later. Those who need to take longer should take longer,
and those who cannot manage to learn something should
not be cluttering up classes where others are trying to
do so.
The ones who cannot are generally not underachievers
but those who are not mentally capable. The bright,
including those who do well on the tests, are forced
to be underachievers, as the program is set up to
keep them from achieving what they can.
[...]
>> The biggest factor in the performance of schools is in the
>> native ability of students; but again it is Politically
>> Incorrect to even hint that this differs between schools.
> It may be "politically incorrect" to say so. But does that
>support the proposition in any way shape or form? So go
>on, "hint"; get up on a beer-barrel and "hint" that the
>"fit" are languishing from the ignominious condition of
>having to suffer the presence of the "unfit". You'll
>have plenty of company: Pride is greedier even than mere
>Avarice.
The hyperegalitarians cannot accept the truth; their
fanatic ideas are that all are essentially capable of
the same learning at a given age. As long as these
run the schools, not much learning will occur.
--
This address is for information only. I do not claim that these views
are those of the Statistics Department or of Purdue University.
Herman Rubin, Dept. of Statistics, Purdue Univ., West Lafayette IN47907-1399
[EMAIL PROTECTED] Phone: (765)494-6054 FAX: (765)494-0558
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