In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Donald Burrill <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >On Sun, 14 Sep 2003, Rich Ulrich wrote in part, in response to Steve >Simon's query about this infernally-inspired program:
> < snip, a couple of paragraphs with which I wholly agree > >> It has been my impression that the experts in the area were >> just about uniformly appalled at what has come about; >Yes, you've got that right! >> and are pretty-much resigned to letting the thing collapse of its >> own failures. It might achieve a little bit positive, by showing >> how bad some schools can be. It does not do that at all. For this to be the case, one has to assume that there is comparability in the ability and background of the students. This null hypothesis is so fantastically false that the whole idea of children progressing at any approximation of the same pace is just hyperegalitarian dogma. There is a substantial proportion of children who should be doing college work before their teens, and a substantial proportion who cannot manage an academic high school program at all, and in addition, this can be different in different subjects. >One can hope; but I wouldn't bet on it, and am rather afraid it will >help destroy what passes for civilization in this country. Only getting the government out of directing activities can restore civilization. -- This address is for information only. I do not claim that these views are those of the Statistics Department or of Purdue University. Herman Rubin, Department of Statistics, Purdue University [EMAIL PROTECTED] Phone: (765)494-6054 FAX: (765)494-0558 . . ================================================================= Instructions for joining and leaving this list, remarks about the problem of INAPPROPRIATE MESSAGES, and archives are available at: . http://jse.stat.ncsu.edu/ . =================================================================
