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| Re: OP-ED: What Americans keep ignoring about Finland's school success (898984) | |||
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Re: OP-ED: What Americans keep ignoring about Finland's school success |
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Posted by Concourse Express on Fri Jan 13 18:20:07 2012, in response to Re: OP-ED: What Americans keep ignoring about Finland's school success, posted by JayMan on Tue Jan 10 10:24:21 2012. Certainly, a student who struggles through a gifted class may become discouraged and demotivated. However, I'm not sure they'd all be at the bottomWe're talking about students who just missed the mark. By definition they'd be at the bottom. I think you're misunderstanding me. I'm not talking about such student's standing relative to those who did make it into the specialized schools, but their standing relative to the normal population. An example: suppose that a specialized middle school had an admission exam worth 800 points and the cutoff was 500. Suppose a student scores 496 (just missing the mark) in a school whose test average is 375. While it may be true that their academic rank may be lower than those who tested 500+, they won't be at the bottom relative to those who didn't (since they'd still be above average among the normal population) - that's my point. Mayhap the equivalent of a "gifted" program at a normal school would be honors courses... In short, it may still be possible for students who narrowly miss the cutoff for specialized middle or high schools to do well in a gifted program at a normal school. Probably. But it may serve to be counterproductive because of bullying by the low-IQ (and violent) elements of the student body. You're likely correct. As someone who endured the hell of bullying nearly every day while in junior high school, I understand how such can impede a student even if they are gifted (though in my case I managed to overcome, being one of only two kids in my class who tested into a specialized high school; the other chose not to go). Even now, bullying is a problem that has hardly abated... That said, this could also be an argument for gifted programs in normal schools, since gifted cats will likely have higher average IQs than the rest (and consequently, a lower probability of being violent). Not in the mainstream media (MSM) since the MSM doesn't talk about HBD, but if you read through HBD blogs (Steve Sailer, Half Sigma, etc...) you'll notice a definite right-wing lean ... The biggest thing most right-wing HBD bloggers advocate is cutting down on Mexican immigration (legal and illegal), a point for which I'm in agreement. I have noticed; indeed, immigration is a big talking point on some of those blogs. Once more, I will state that I agree that illegal immigration (not just from Mexico) should be fought, but not so much legal. As for the "utopian liberal" remark, I'll admit that some of my ideas and arguments are a bit idealistic; it comes from wanting to see the best in people and see cats overcoming the odds and changing for the better (especially in education since the current system is sub-par). Of course, I don't expect everyone to do this, given that some cats are set in their ways for better or worse... Indeed, the Ozzie-and-Harriet family that White culture espouses is very much a White invention, particularly a NW European one. Look here about how families are traditionally arranged in West Africa and see if you can spot anything familiar. If by "anything familiar" you mean the low paternal investment/single mother/foster care environment, then yes I spotted it. In further digging into Sailer's blog, I also found a post (from 2000) which touched on the sexual revolution, welfare reform, and of course immigration. I guess you weren't joking when you said many right-wing HBDers want to curb Mexican immigration... School tests (apart from the old SAT) were never about measuring cognitive ability, but about the performance of teachers. NCLB is solely focused on closing the "achievement gap" and nothing else. It was never about failing schools, but failing students, since that is the real source of the problem. Ah, the oh-so-ineffective NCLB...lowering standards to make it look like they're narrowing the achievement gap while implying that disadvantaged groups can't measure up to regular standards. When students and schools alike (and not just poor/disadvantaged ones!) have to cheat to win, methinks it's an indictment of the system's inefficacy. How ironic, that tests used to assess teacher performance are designed in ways that don't allow the teachers to teach as they ought! my blog |
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