Catherine Shreves wrote:
> I am really concerned about recklessly false statements made on this
> list by Michael Atherton because these types of statements debase the
> value of this list, which is a loss for all of us. We should be able to
> debate the relative merits of issues without making false assumptions
> and personal attacks.
"Recklessly false?" Reckless maybe, false...I don't think so. I will
not deny that I am unabashedly passionate about poor students having
the same educational opportunities as middle-class children. If
identifying the hypocrisy of parents who promote the benefits of
arts programs while minority students struggle with illiteracy, than
I am guilty. And, If being passionate about fairness and equality
debases this list, then so be it.
> I recently forwarded information to the list from the MPS director of
> technology, which included studies on the use of computers in
> classrooms. I made no claim that the information forwarded was mine, but
> in fact noted that it was from someone else and put it in quotes.
[Please forgive me for diverging to do some spin control for a moment]
I never claimed that you claimed that information in the current post
was your own. I had clearly identified that the references were provided
were by someone else:
"Now, please allow me to explain why I was not overly impressed
with the references Ms.Shreves' contact, Colleen Kosloski, provided."
It was the List Manager, Mr. Brauer, who misidentified the sources as yours:
"MPS board president Catherine Shreves is good enough to take them time
to provide several studies underlying the district's computing
philosophy."
REGARDLESS, I believe that if you provide references you should
be familiar with their content, it's a matter of integrity and intellectual
honesty. I don't believe that a Minneapolis school board member
should be disseminating information to the public to justify the
use of computers in the schools if they are unaware of what those
reports say. If you have read all these reports just say so.
> In response, Michael Atherton makes a recklessly false claim that I cite
> research that I haven't read, using class size research as an example. I
> have read lots of research on class size, including the recent article
> in Scientific American, "Does Class Size Matter". While that particular
> article questions the expense of lowering class size, it notes that
> "[s]tudies such as STAR and SAGE have made it hard to argue that
> reducing class sizes makes no difference."
I would like to remind you of what you said in a post dated, Sat, 24 Mar 2001
and titled "Re: [Mpls] Bravo to MPS." This one of studies that I was referring
to when I stated that the research didn't support your position.
"Class size is very important, too. There are a number of studies on the
importance of small class sizes on student achievement. One is the Rand
report, which can be found at http://www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR924/
This study found significant differences in test scores among students
with similar family and demographic characteristics, which it traced to
several systemic features including lower pupil-teacher ratios and
higher public prekindergarten participation."
> So much of the discussion and research about schools, including class
> size and technology, loops back to the issue of whether or not adequate
> efforts are being made to improve the quality of teaching, because that
> is really the heart of the work.
I think that emphasizing teaching quality, in lieu of other factors is
misguided. If we (tentatively) use School Board Member Johnson's statistics
that: "...current research shows that student achievement can
be accurately measured as follows: 49% attributed to parent involvement,
about 42% teacher quality, and about 8% to class size." [These statistics
are actually incorrectly cited, but I have to go to the library to
get the original source to find out what the true numbers are, but let's
just use them as is for now.] If 49% is attributed to parent involvement
and 42% to teacher quality, then why aren't we focusing on the larger factor?
I cited a study last year that implied that parent involvement programs can
have the most impact on student achievement (I'm not making this claim,
but I think that it's something that should be investigated).
Let's bring this tread back to issues. I've made a number of proposals
which no one has commented on. I'd like to hear what the school board
members think of them. I also, would like to hear what list members
think about the education gap between poor and middle class children
in the MPS. Finally, I would like to hear a justification for the emphasis
on teacher quality.
Michael Atherton
Prospect Park
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