List, I think it is unfair and untrue to say that Micheal Atherton fails to assign any of the blame for failing urban schools on parents, neighborhoods, and urban students.
I agree with Micheal Atherton that standardized test scores measure, however imperfectly, the quality of instruction. I think you have to give a school most of the credit when 95% of its students show more than one years growth in math and reading for every full year they are enrolled, and where 95% of the 8th graders pass the Minnesota Basic Standards tests on the first try. And I think you have to assign most of the blame to a school system where half of the kids show less than one-half years growth in math and reading for each full year they are enrolled, and where only about 40% of the 8th graders pass one or both of the Minnesota Basic Standards exams in math and reading. However, I don't agree with Micheal Atherton's diagnosis and treatment plan for the Minneapolis Public Schools. I don't think the problem is the liberal levelers (who are not in charge of the Minneapolis Public Schools, by the way). The liberal policies that have been tossed aside in urban centers with large or rapidly growing minority populations during the past 20 years actually worked pretty well, if your idea of a school policy that works well is one that reduces the test score gap in math and reading without holding back the high achievers. To me, Micheal Atherton's diagnosis and treatment plan looks quite similar to that of the current administration of the Minneapolis. Atherton and the current board say that urban kids need a different kind of education than suburban kids because of their home and neighborhood environments. The Board is for ability-grouping, Atherton is for 'true ability-grouping,' Atherton and the board say they can improve students achievement with parent involvement programs. Atherton and Shapiro also dismiss the idea that teaching experience has much (if anything) to do with instructional effectiveness). The reason that the Strib and the MPS administration don't like Micheal Atherton is that he fails to notice the emperor's new clothes, I mean the 'progress' that the district is making. In that respect Micheal Atherton is making a positive and necessary contribution to the discussion. -Doug Mann, King Field, the new 8th ward Mann for School Board Committee http://educationright.tripod.com _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
