Earlier quoted context omitted.
Who would have thought that not pushing kids forward into an academic environment they're not prepared for would be beneficial?
They should do that with sports too, since it's fair and provides a reasonable basis for comparison
Mississippi Can't Possibly Have Good Schools
121–130 of 230 posts
Re: Mississippi Can't Possibly Have Good Schools
#122"Painting the Deep South as an embarrassing cultural backwater is one of the last socially acceptable forms of prejudice among elites. It’s not just tolerated - it’s venerated." Warning: possible flame bait, though I do not intend it this way. I am serious. I've had this thought for quite a while: the (social) left could pivot and win by being more woke. WTF? What I mean by this is: expand diversity and inclusion to…
Not only did she say it, she said to to a crowd in New York at an LGBTQ fundraiser and still felt that Trump voters should be mentioned as worthy of compassion.
> Now, some of those folks — they are irredeemable, but thankfully they are not America. But the other basket — and I know this because I see friends from all over America here — I see friends from Florida and Georgia and South Carolina and Texas — as well as, you know, New York and California — but that other basket of people are people who feel that the government has let them down, the economy has let them down, nobody cares about them, nobody worries about what happens to their lives and their futures, and they’re just desperate for change. It doesn’t really even matter where it comes from. They don’t buy everything he says, but he seems to hold out some hope that their lives will be different. They won’t wake up and see their jobs disappear, lose a kid to heroin, feel like they’re in a dead-end. Those are people we have to understand and empathize with as well.
Re: Mississippi Can't Possibly Have Good Schools
#123Earlier quoted context omitted.
You are strawmanning my argument as I didn't say anything like that. I said that if you are going to evaluate a policy with statistics, you need to compare apples to apples because statistics are easily biased. See this example of a paradox that applies a lot in educational settings: you can raise the average level of two classes just by shuffling students from one to another: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Roger…
So explain to me what "eliminating bad data points" in this context means. Should MS schools not hold back failing 3rd graders?
The data point is the number of 3rd graders failing. If you insist in filtering out those 3rd graders, limiting your analysis to the subset of kids who didn't failed does not represent a success story. It represents an attempt to arbitrarily remove inconvenient data points to portray a false idea if success.
Re: Mississippi Can't Possibly Have Good Schools
#124Earlier quoted context omitted.
They teach using proven methods, like phonics. They actually teach math. They test and use that as real information. They focus on results not on ideology. They do NOT encurage using Paulo Freire's "methods".
Is that in the article? Where do you know their curriculum?
[1] https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/mississippi-student...
Re: Mississippi Can't Possibly Have Good Schools
#125This article is advocating that using poverty-adjusted scores is a better way to assess student education levels. I just can't agree with that. "Your children aren't just dumber, they're also poorer" feels like a very spicy way to elevate the status of a state to me. > Painting the Deep South as an embarrassing cultural backwater is one of the last socially acceptable forms of prejudice among elites. > When the Urban…
> This article is advocating that using poverty-adjusted scores is a better way to assess student education levels. I just can't agree with that.
No, it's advocating that this is a better way of assessing the quality of the education they receive. And it is.
Rich kids in bad schools can score higher on tests than poor kids in good schools. If you want to isolate the quality of the schooling this is what you do.
> Pardon me, but 20% of your children living in poverty is my personal exact definition for an embarrassing cultural backwater.
First, this has nothing to do with the article, which is about education.
Second, perhaps without knowing it, you're spouting a classic white supremacist take: black people (there are much more in Alabama and Mississippi) are poor because they have a bad culture. If they just stopped sagging their pants and walking out on their kids like the good whites they'd be better off. Even if the intent was to direct this at the poor white people, it's still racist.
Perhaps you should consider that the people who live and struggle in other states are deserving of compassion, not derision. Yes, even if they believe different things from you, or have less money. Practice empathy.
Re: Mississippi Can't Possibly Have Good Schools
#126Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have kids in Oregon public schools. The schools themselves (in the sense of classroom education) are fine, for the most part. But education is very underfunded (especially relative to the tax base). So kids like mine do just fine, but anyone who needs outreach or extra support tends not to get it. That hurts badly on aggregate test scores, but not so much on college acceptance performance. So it's hard to correct,…
Oregon public schools are underfunded compared to Mississippi? Some of the worst performing schools in my area have the most funding per pupil. A bucket of money doesn't solve bad systems, bad administartors, bad teachers and bad parents.
> A bucket of money doesn't solve bad systems, bad administartors, bad teachers and bad parents.
You are describing the situation often occuring in poverty, crime, and violence plagued communities (of which the US has many). In those situations schools need more funding than a more well off area because they are doing more than education: they are default community social support centers, providing food, mental health support, and sometimes even shelter for children who are facing horrible scenarios in their communities and homes.
Pulling funding from those schools without addressing the societal issues will make things worse, not better. Right now, the school is the point of social service delivery.
Re: Mississippi Can't Possibly Have Good Schools
#127Earlier quoted context omitted.
They teach using proven methods, like phonics. They actually teach math. They test and use that as real information. They focus on results not on ideology. They do NOT encurage using Paulo Freire's "methods".
Proven methods... For what? Acing standardised tests? There is more to live and success than standardised tests. Steve Jobs wasn't a brilliant student with top marks everywhere.
[1]https://www.sciencenews.org/article/balanced-literacy-phonic...
Re: Mississippi Can't Possibly Have Good Schools
#128"Painting the Deep South as an embarrassing cultural backwater is one of the last socially acceptable forms of prejudice among elites. It’s not just tolerated - it’s venerated." Warning: possible flame bait, though I do not intend it this way. I am serious. I've had this thought for quite a while: the (social) left could pivot and win by being more woke. WTF? What I mean by this is: expand diversity and inclusion to…
As someone who grew up in "rural American white culture, Christian conservative culture", you can't get away with saying half the shit they say about cities and urban areas about them. We propose solutions but those solutions are economic, not a return to default status for them. I've seen the vile, disgusting things rural people say about minorities and LGBT because outwardly I'm just another white dude. I've had gr…
The biggest snowflakes in the country are white southern Christians in my experience. Anything that challenges their privilege is an attack to them.
Re: Mississippi Can't Possibly Have Good Schools
#129I am much less interested in why MS schools are doing so much better - which don't get me wrong, is great, and I hope studied and modeled in better-funded states - than I am in why other schools are doing worse . Taking that first chart into account, if Maine stayed around a ~225 for the last 20 years, and Mississippi went from 203 to 220, that's great for Mississippi but not necessarily an indictment of anything Mai…
What if the reason is external to the school? Hmm, what has changed between 2004 and 2024? We have devices and experiences that are medically classified as addictive. It can also be home life stuff, it’s kind of a difficult time for a lot of people. We could have the best trained and supported teachers in the world, but they are up against completely different challenges. I’m not saying we can never fire anyone. But…
Re: Mississippi Can't Possibly Have Good Schools
#130This article is advocating that using poverty-adjusted scores is a better way to assess student education levels. I just can't agree with that. "Your children aren't just dumber, they're also poorer" feels like a very spicy way to elevate the status of a state to me. > Painting the Deep South as an embarrassing cultural backwater is one of the last socially acceptable forms of prejudice among elites. > When the Urban…
It's truly remarkable how much compassion liberals purport to have for the poor before, apparently without any self-awareness, saying something like this. > This article is advocating that using poverty-adjusted scores is a better way to assess student education levels. I just can't agree with that. No, it's advocating that this is a better way of assessing the quality of the education they receive. And it is. Rich k…
Perhaps you should consider who is responsible for wellness programs in the state instead of deciding that your "this is racist" hammer is the only tool needed. Children live in poverty because the government decides it's ok. Trying to connect what I said to race identity politics is projection.