Why not close the achievement gap from the top down?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:pretty sure this is a troll post.

+1. It’s like the premise of an Ayn Rand novel where all the smart people leave and end up creating their own secret nation.

Actually, in Atlas Shrugged, the few (very few) “thinkers” went to a commune in the mid-west called “Galt’s Gulch” and hid out while the “looters” (liberals who want free stuff for no work and socialism destroy the world and many die. Only after tgst do the “thinkers” return to rebuild. There is no secret nation

[Anonymous]

This thread is interesting and enlightening; many voices have come forward on this issue, through 6 pages on DCUM.

What has become clear, however, is public education is moving in the direction of reducing or eliminating opportunities for top-performing students.

The NYC decision to eliminate their GATE program is simply one example; there are so many more which have come out since this thread was created.

Are we headed in the best direction?

[Anonymous]

I think this has been debated to death already. Everyone has their opinion. Don't convince us, convince the Board or the Superintendent or run for a spot yourself.

[Anonymous]

This is the plot of Harrison Bergeron. It is satire.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our society is already so lopsided as far as the top 1% owning practically everything.

And I’m sorry but no kid needs advanced calculus in high school.

Why not narrow the achievement gap by finding ways to lower the test results for the top performers?

I'm not sure why anyone should be concerned about this gap. People aren't all the same. Nor do they share the same goals or dreams. Some are taller, while others are shorter, etc. This is life. They should meet each kid where they are and provide the best possible education to help them be a brain surgeon or bricklayer. It's all good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Eliminating honors and AP classes in high school is a good way to further equity.

Well, then, it's good that our school is requiring all students to take honors now!

[Anonymous]

Sadly dealing with the achievement gap is counterintuitive. You actually want the largest gap possible. The goal should be to raise the floor to an acceptable level such as 80% of students are reading and doing math at grade level with the remaining 20% no more than 2 grades below grade level.

For kids that are overachieving there should be no limit. Kid ready for calculus in 8th grade then bring in someone to provide the instruction.

Raise the floor and remove the ceiling that should be the focus of public education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our society is already so lopsided as far as the top 1% owning practically everything.

And I’m sorry but no kid needs advanced calculus in high school.

Why not narrow the achievement gap by finding ways to lower the test results for the top performers?

Ooh, so you’d send your kids to my 100% high school with gang liaison officers in spite of SRO defunding, security guards, metal detectors, only two AP offerings with zero pass rates, frequent violent fights, heavy drug usage, theft, and demoralized staff and teachers who have quit left and right? Good to know, let me know what your kids think of their great new school!

[Anonymous]

The problem with education in the US is the problem with many things in the US versus other countries. We don’t value cooperation, community, and family. Sure politicians say they value this, but the greatest amount of money and time is not actually spent to protect, support, or advance this.

It’s why is 2023 paid sick leave is not covered for everyone. It why there is still debate about maternity and paternity leave. It’s why mothers receive little support after the birth of a child. It’s why community development initiatives rarely spend time in community engagement and include people from the actual type of community but instead people who THINK they know what’s best. It why we can’t accept a national curriculum and then add on specific regional/local things. It why we say we value data but then don’t actively use if it doesn’t meet indivdual opinion.

[Anonymous]

If we're going to do this with academics, we should do it with sports too. We should not have teams that are only open to athletes of a certain level. Every team -- varsity, travel, club, whatever-- should be open to anyone who wants to participate. It's inequitable to do tracking by athletic ability.

[Anonymous]

No one would care about the "achievement gap" if low "achievers" were given decent jobs for decent pay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:China and Russia aren't going to hold back their best and brightest. If we want to remain globally competitive, neither should we.

Plus, unless you intend to force all kids to attend public schools that will teach everyone the exact same thing, you're just going to encourage wealthier people to put their kids in private school or to homeschool. This will increase the achievement gap.

These kids of the top 1% aren’t our best and brightest. They just had every resource money could buy to achieve high scores.

Russia goes around the country and finds their best and brightest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:China and Russia aren't going to hold back their best and brightest. If we want to remain globally competitive, neither should we.

Plus, unless you intend to force all kids to attend public schools that will teach everyone the exact same thing, you're just going to encourage wealthier people to put their kids in private school or to homeschool. This will increase the achievement gap.

Boom!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you study the achievement gap, you’ll know that high school isn’t the issue. Neither is calculus. Neither is TJ (although whether we should have public, selective high schools and what their admission process should be is a separate and valid issue). The problem is in the early grades.

Plus nobody believes advanced calculus is the ticket to great wealth.

If you study the achievement gap you’ll know that the gap is present by age 2-3. It is a gap in vocabulary development that tunes into the achievement gap.

[Anonymous]

That is what the current push for equity is doing. Much easier to dumb down the high achievers.