I have been rambling on for quite awhile on education topics, and think it fitting if I change gears a bit to recommend a book I just finished. The abbreviated title is the subject of this entry, and the author is Charles Murray. It is available on your kindle for $11.99.
I am making this move primarily because I downloaded the book on a bit of a whim: it was a rainy Sunday with plenty to do, but most of it required standing out in the rain. I didn't want to. That I read the book in one day says something, though I have been inspired to read books in one day before.
His four simple truths are as follows. 1) ability varies. 2) half of all students are below average. 3) too many people are going to college. 4) America's future depends on how we educate the academically gifted.
I immediately agreed with three of the four truths, which prompted me to buy the book and start in. I should forewarn you that the book is written for a certain audience, so if you are not one of the academically gifted, or you are not involved and interested in education reform, you are probably not going to invest in the reading. If you fit the two criteria, however, you should give it a look.
Murray's book, to summarize, attacks what he calls educational Romanticism. (An earlier entry or two, on egalitarianism and pluralism, discussed variations on the same theme, revealing my particular bias.)
Educational romanticism hold true to what Murray believes are the fallacies that undermine school reform efforts. The inverse of those fallacies comprise the Four Simple Truths mentioned above.
For halaf a century or more, Americans in education have subscribed to the belief that schools can somehow magically improve academic performance by dealing with the factors over which they have some control, but Murray contends that such an effort has also necessitated that they ignore 'facts' that have led many people astray.
I will discuss one here, then invite you to read the book. The reformers have long subscribed to the 'truth' that all students can learn. However, more recent reforms have expanded that starting point to champion the notion that all students can learn at a high level, with the high level being what is determined to be 'grade level' performance. Murray contends that the evolutionaly 'truth' is false. He maintains that ability varies to a high degree, and that no degree of hard work or intervention that we know of can elevate a low ability student into the ranks of the high achiever. (Remember, the definition of high achievement means consistent grade level work.)
The ramifications of this are myriad, and Murray contends, self-destructive. Whether the program is NCLB or Title I or Head Start, the consequence is that schools are spending massive amounts of money to lift a statistical portion of the population beyond the limits of their ability. As evidence he presents the statistical results of a number of programs, with the conclusion being that even those efforts that seemed to create significant and laudable improvement were ephemeral. In other words, those students who were identified and received expensive and broad attention to items that should improve academic performance were nevertheless unable to retain that high level of performance throughout their academic careers. Some made great gains on the targeted test, but subsequent tests revealed that these students rather quickly performed at levels commensurate with the low ability that identified them in the first place.
Read the book. Murray goes further than to attack the fallacies. He suggests ways that we can effectively redesign the educational system to meet the needs that face us as a country and a culture. His suggestions extend to colleges, the hiring practices of the business world, and currucular choices made K-12.
Read the book. I think he is far more right than wrong.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
The Decline and Fall of the American Empire
Now I know that the American Experiment was not originally conceived to be or to become an empire in the same way that the Roman Empire did. Yet the similarities between the two entities has got to grab the current citizens' attention. Furthermore, this is far from the first time that discussion of the topic, the title of this entry, had been bandied about. My contribution to the topic is, I hope, a bit different.
Everyone knows that the fall of the Roman Empire really happened rather slowly, over centuries, and the causes have been debated for years. Nevertheless, most agree that a shift in values - that is, a culture shift contributed to the demise. This is where I believe the similarities are most striking.
I am a moderate Republican. I think that viewpoint obviously colors all of the perceptions that I have regarding the precipitious slide that America is experiencing. This posting promises to be a bit different from here, as I plan to make observations, and not to comment on the significance thereof.
1. For more than 150 years, American values were heavily influenced by a small pocket of people known as the Pilgrims, and their counterparts, the Puritans. As evidence, I mention merely the tendency in two directions - prudery, and industry. Those of us who are correclty classified as baby boomers have witnessed the eradication of conservative morality. From sex and nudity to profanity and tastelessness, our media - TV and film - have reflected a pendulum swing away from that prudery. Presently, almost anything goes. As to industry, the American commitment to work has waned as well. Whereas the parents of baby boomers took sometimes annoying pride in accounting for their capacity for work, the next generation has made "money for nothing" their aim and a point of pride.
2. Patriotism is no longer universally applauded and practiced. Our parents were eager to complain and debate the relative merits of whatever policy prevailed at the time, and even the Vietnam era objectors tended toward a belief in the peaceful protest. Today, what we are witnessing is a tendency toward violent protest for its own sake, to the point where the target of the protest is incnsequential. Rather, the prepondernance of flash mobs speaks to a belief that the individual dissatisfaction is cause enough to wreak harm on anyone within arms' length, even if the victim has nothing whatsoever to do with the point of the protest. In short, previous values tended to respect the rights of the collective individual over the rights of the individually dissatisfied or disaffected. Again, the Vietnam era protestors sometimes wrought serious harm, but the undercurrent seemed always to value the Amercan citizenry. That is, the aim seemed to be the betterment of the country.
3. Our Congressmen are no longer committed to the betterment of the country either, and this is not an indictment of every congressman, but rather an indictment of the system and its values. Clearly, the American people have no great objection to the compensation package of our political leaders or we would have had backlash along the way. Today though, the populace has recognized that while we were tolerant of perks and privileges, the politicians have been raiding the cookie jar. I doubt you could find a regular citizen in the country who really believes that a congressman should be compensated for life, that congressman should have a gold-laced health plan for which they pay nothing, that per diem expenses, on top of a generous salary are warranted.
4. America's foreign policy has failed to live up to its principles. Though we have maintained a presence of some kind in many countries across the globe for a long time, our presence has usually been welcomed or easily tolerated, as we were not in the business of disrupting the course of life in those countries. Recently though, our presence has become unwelcomed and intrusive in many places. The military presnce in Afghanistan, Libya, and Iraq are unwelcomed incursions, sure. But the current aim, as I perceive it, is to play watchdog for the world. I may be under-informed, but our objectives seem to be duplicitious, even to me, an American. (I should emphasize that this is a perception that is surely the result of my own ignorance, as the information that we hear is so sparse.)
Again, I won't elaborate on these observations; the judgments are up to you.
Everyone knows that the fall of the Roman Empire really happened rather slowly, over centuries, and the causes have been debated for years. Nevertheless, most agree that a shift in values - that is, a culture shift contributed to the demise. This is where I believe the similarities are most striking.
I am a moderate Republican. I think that viewpoint obviously colors all of the perceptions that I have regarding the precipitious slide that America is experiencing. This posting promises to be a bit different from here, as I plan to make observations, and not to comment on the significance thereof.
1. For more than 150 years, American values were heavily influenced by a small pocket of people known as the Pilgrims, and their counterparts, the Puritans. As evidence, I mention merely the tendency in two directions - prudery, and industry. Those of us who are correclty classified as baby boomers have witnessed the eradication of conservative morality. From sex and nudity to profanity and tastelessness, our media - TV and film - have reflected a pendulum swing away from that prudery. Presently, almost anything goes. As to industry, the American commitment to work has waned as well. Whereas the parents of baby boomers took sometimes annoying pride in accounting for their capacity for work, the next generation has made "money for nothing" their aim and a point of pride.
2. Patriotism is no longer universally applauded and practiced. Our parents were eager to complain and debate the relative merits of whatever policy prevailed at the time, and even the Vietnam era objectors tended toward a belief in the peaceful protest. Today, what we are witnessing is a tendency toward violent protest for its own sake, to the point where the target of the protest is incnsequential. Rather, the prepondernance of flash mobs speaks to a belief that the individual dissatisfaction is cause enough to wreak harm on anyone within arms' length, even if the victim has nothing whatsoever to do with the point of the protest. In short, previous values tended to respect the rights of the collective individual over the rights of the individually dissatisfied or disaffected. Again, the Vietnam era protestors sometimes wrought serious harm, but the undercurrent seemed always to value the Amercan citizenry. That is, the aim seemed to be the betterment of the country.
3. Our Congressmen are no longer committed to the betterment of the country either, and this is not an indictment of every congressman, but rather an indictment of the system and its values. Clearly, the American people have no great objection to the compensation package of our political leaders or we would have had backlash along the way. Today though, the populace has recognized that while we were tolerant of perks and privileges, the politicians have been raiding the cookie jar. I doubt you could find a regular citizen in the country who really believes that a congressman should be compensated for life, that congressman should have a gold-laced health plan for which they pay nothing, that per diem expenses, on top of a generous salary are warranted.
4. America's foreign policy has failed to live up to its principles. Though we have maintained a presence of some kind in many countries across the globe for a long time, our presence has usually been welcomed or easily tolerated, as we were not in the business of disrupting the course of life in those countries. Recently though, our presence has become unwelcomed and intrusive in many places. The military presnce in Afghanistan, Libya, and Iraq are unwelcomed incursions, sure. But the current aim, as I perceive it, is to play watchdog for the world. I may be under-informed, but our objectives seem to be duplicitious, even to me, an American. (I should emphasize that this is a perception that is surely the result of my own ignorance, as the information that we hear is so sparse.)
Again, I won't elaborate on these observations; the judgments are up to you.
Monday, August 1, 2011
E-A-G-L-E-S - Eagles!
I am listening to the sports talk radio guys, and I just disagree with everything they say about the Eagles' prospects. They are trumpeting the recent acquisitions, many of which are impressive and reason for excitement and optimism. They go too far, however, with evaluating the Eagles' status as Super Bowl contenders. In fact, they have gone so far as to say that this should be a Super Bowl or bust season for Andy Reid.
Hold on, buckaroos. The roster overhaul was necessary and, as I said, exciting, but have they really positioned themselves to compete with the elite? I say no, and here's why.
What I saw last year was an unexpected series of performances from Michael Vick. He had a much better season than I anticipated, but I have trouble elevating his success to Herculean standards. His numbers, in the end, were just very good, not great. Furthermore, as opponents overcame their surprise with his return to athletic excellence, they developed game plans designed to contain him - and they suceeded to an alarming degree.
Consequently, I saw Vick's season as a personal victory, but not much else. In the playoffs, and even in the tougher games at the end of the regular season, I though Vick returned to the form he demonstrated in Atlanta: tremendous, highlight-reel plays which ultimately led to disappointing outcomes at crunch time.
If a team does not have a dependable QB, they cannot go deep into the playoffs. Vince Young is something of a younger, even more physical version of Vick, with the same limitations. He and Vick either cannot read defenses, or they are unable to stand up in the face of pressure and retain the poise that is needed when the pressure is relentless, as it always is in the playoffs.
In addition to the QB position, the Eagles have done nothing to upgrade their offense. DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin are both accomplished weapons, but they are small and limited also. Neither one will be confused with Larry Fitzgerald or Sidney Rice. If the QB were Peyton Manning or Tom Brady, I would declare the receiving corps as good enough to contend for a championship. Furthermore, if they were not still questionable along the offensive line, with Winston Justice and King Dunlop being counted on to contribute, maybe Vick and/or Young would be good enough.
On defense, they have giant question marks at safety and linebacker. True, they have upgraded the defensive line and cornerback positions, and those two positions are of paramount importance in the pass-happy NFL. Yet the other two areas concern me greatly.
Super Bowl or Bust? I don't think so. My prediction is that Michael Vick's bubble will burst early, and that Philly fans will be yellng for Vince Young, who will meet with some of the same failures as the man he replaces.
I hope I am wrong, because I like when the Eagles win. But we will see...
Hold on, buckaroos. The roster overhaul was necessary and, as I said, exciting, but have they really positioned themselves to compete with the elite? I say no, and here's why.
What I saw last year was an unexpected series of performances from Michael Vick. He had a much better season than I anticipated, but I have trouble elevating his success to Herculean standards. His numbers, in the end, were just very good, not great. Furthermore, as opponents overcame their surprise with his return to athletic excellence, they developed game plans designed to contain him - and they suceeded to an alarming degree.
Consequently, I saw Vick's season as a personal victory, but not much else. In the playoffs, and even in the tougher games at the end of the regular season, I though Vick returned to the form he demonstrated in Atlanta: tremendous, highlight-reel plays which ultimately led to disappointing outcomes at crunch time.
If a team does not have a dependable QB, they cannot go deep into the playoffs. Vince Young is something of a younger, even more physical version of Vick, with the same limitations. He and Vick either cannot read defenses, or they are unable to stand up in the face of pressure and retain the poise that is needed when the pressure is relentless, as it always is in the playoffs.
In addition to the QB position, the Eagles have done nothing to upgrade their offense. DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin are both accomplished weapons, but they are small and limited also. Neither one will be confused with Larry Fitzgerald or Sidney Rice. If the QB were Peyton Manning or Tom Brady, I would declare the receiving corps as good enough to contend for a championship. Furthermore, if they were not still questionable along the offensive line, with Winston Justice and King Dunlop being counted on to contribute, maybe Vick and/or Young would be good enough.
On defense, they have giant question marks at safety and linebacker. True, they have upgraded the defensive line and cornerback positions, and those two positions are of paramount importance in the pass-happy NFL. Yet the other two areas concern me greatly.
Super Bowl or Bust? I don't think so. My prediction is that Michael Vick's bubble will burst early, and that Philly fans will be yellng for Vince Young, who will meet with some of the same failures as the man he replaces.
I hope I am wrong, because I like when the Eagles win. But we will see...
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