Comments on: Weirdly out-of-date high school measurement http://www.goldenswamp.com/2006/03/22/weirdly-out-of-date-high-school-measurement/ Emerging virtual education comments and links Sat, 14 Aug 2010 15:19:50 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Judy Breck http://www.goldenswamp.com/2006/03/22/weirdly-out-of-date-high-school-measurement/comment-page-1/#comment-649 Judy Breck Fri, 24 Mar 2006 11:29:00 +0000 http://goldenswamp.com/?p=675#comment-649 A very wrong assumption that critics of the new online learning treasures for students is that somehow teachers are threatened by changing "education" systems now in place. Ms. Donnison's comments represent, I am convinced, the hugh frustration of being a teacher in the kind of education Mathews touts to sell his books. There is a suspicion bubbling up that tests and standards are largely a way to protect schooling "as it is" by providing scores that can be used as "proof" that schools are doing their job. We must be very careful not to perpetuate an educational system that is at its core a certification business not a teaching business. Our best bet is to listen to the teachers. Thanks to Mrs. D for your insight and advocacy of students. A very wrong assumption that critics of the new online learning treasures for students is that somehow teachers are threatened by changing “education” systems now in place. Ms. Donnison’s comments represent, I am convinced, the hugh frustration of being a teacher in the kind of education Mathews touts to sell his books.

There is a suspicion bubbling up that tests and standards are largely a way to protect schooling “as it is” by providing scores that can be used as “proof” that schools are doing their job. We must be very careful not to perpetuate an educational system that is at its core a certification business not a teaching business.

Our best bet is to listen to the teachers. Thanks to Mrs. D for your insight and advocacy of students.

]]> By: Kathleen Donnison http://www.goldenswamp.com/2006/03/22/weirdly-out-of-date-high-school-measurement/comment-page-1/#comment-635 Kathleen Donnison Fri, 24 Mar 2006 06:23:18 +0000 http://goldenswamp.com/?p=675#comment-635 As a teacher in the high school where Jay Mathews spent several months "researching" his book CLASS STRUGGLE, I am not amused by his relentless defense of his challenge index and "Best High Schools List." When the book came out, its major selling point was the List, the promise of which figured prominently on the book's cover. (He had never mentioned anything about this to our board or the faculty.)It was further propelled onto best- seller lists by the original Newsweek article. That Mathews' book publisher, newspaper and Newsweek were all part of the same corporate empire explained how such a poorly researched work based on a manifestly erroneous premise became so influential. The list is updated, Newsweek increases its circulation and Mathews' pockets are lined. In the meantime, students in high schools across the country are being told that they must be capable of doing college work and that their transcripts should be crammed with AP courses in order to be accepted at a good college. As someone who taught AP American History for almost twenty years I am heartbroken by the damage done by Mathews. Large numbers of students now sign up for AP courses for all of the wrong reasons - social pressure to be "at the top"; pressure exerted by parents; and college admissions concerns. One year our department approached the administration because we feared for the mental health of three students who were overwhelmed by the demands of an AP course. It is one thing for a bright student to be absorbed for hours working on a favorite subject. It is quite another story when an "average" student struggles until two o'clock in the morning to master the massive amount of material of a course in which he has little interest. Such a student may take five or six AP courses in junior and senior years. How much of a favor are we doing these youngsters? Sleep deprivation is a major problem among today's adolescents. Recent articles on the subject highlight what teachers have known for years. A few years ago our PTA asked the guidance department to research the impact on college admissions if we imposed a limit on the number of AP courses our kids could take at one time. They were upset by the increased pressure on their children. Our guidance department was given a very clear message by the colleges: the fewer AP's, the less attractive the transcript. Maturation and socialization occurs in stages. Some students move forward more quickly than others. The nature of college work requires a level of academic maturity and sophistication that most high school students do not possess until their senior year. A good teacher working with students appropriately placed will bring them through an AP class. Students who cannot handle these classes should not be stigmatized, penalized, or forced into taking them for any reason. Jay Mathews damns with faint, patronizing praise and hubris a new study in which the authors dismisses his List and his Index because it ignores countless other factors integral to the mission and success of American high schools. He needn't worry, though. As long as his Newsweek and the College Board continue to benefit from the List, and as long as he has the bully pulpit of the Post, he will continue to rake in the bucks. Incidentally, if his avowed rationale for these earnest efforts seems a bit too good to be true, go to his early articles on AP admission requirements and discover his very personal motivations. As a teacher in the high school where Jay Mathews spent several months “researching” his book CLASS STRUGGLE,
I am not amused by his relentless defense of his challenge index and “Best High Schools List.” When the book came out, its major selling point was the List, the promise of which figured prominently on the book’s cover. (He had never mentioned anything about this to our board or the faculty.)It was further propelled onto best- seller lists by the original Newsweek article. That Mathews’ book publisher, newspaper and Newsweek were all part of the same corporate empire explained how such a poorly researched work based on a manifestly erroneous premise became so influential. The list is updated, Newsweek increases its circulation and Mathews’ pockets are lined.
In the meantime, students in high schools across the country are being told that they must be capable of doing college work and that their transcripts should be crammed with AP courses in order to be accepted at a good college. As someone who taught AP American History for almost twenty years I am heartbroken by the damage done by Mathews. Large numbers of students now sign up for AP courses for all of the wrong reasons – social pressure to be “at the top”; pressure exerted by parents; and college admissions concerns. One year our department approached the administration because we feared for the mental health of three students who were overwhelmed by the demands of an AP course. It is one thing for a bright student to be absorbed for hours working on a favorite subject. It is quite another story when an “average” student struggles until two o’clock in the morning to master the massive amount of material of a course in which he has little interest. Such a student may take five or six AP courses in junior and senior years. How much of a favor are we doing these youngsters? Sleep deprivation is a major problem among today’s adolescents. Recent articles on the subject highlight what teachers have known for years.
A few years ago our PTA asked the guidance department to research the impact on college admissions if we imposed a limit on the number of AP courses our kids could take at one time. They were upset by the increased pressure on their children. Our guidance department was given a very clear message by the colleges: the fewer AP’s, the less attractive the transcript.
Maturation and socialization occurs in stages. Some students move forward more quickly than others. The nature of college work requires a level of academic maturity and sophistication that most high school students do not possess until their senior year. A good teacher working with students appropriately placed will bring them through an AP class. Students who cannot handle these classes should not be stigmatized, penalized, or forced into taking them for any reason.
Jay Mathews damns with faint, patronizing praise and hubris a new study in which the authors dismisses his List and his Index because it ignores countless other factors integral to the mission and success of American high schools. He needn’t worry, though. As long as his Newsweek and the College Board continue to benefit from the List, and as long as he has the bully pulpit of the Post, he will continue to rake in the bucks. Incidentally, if his avowed rationale for these earnest efforts seems a bit too good to be true, go to his early articles on AP admission requirements and discover his very personal motivations.

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