Learning from the Failure of the Schools
See if this reminds you of check-the-box medicine:
There is also scant evidence that these [standardized] tests encourage teachers to become better at helping individual children; in fact, some studies show that the tests protect bad teachers by hiding their lack of skill behind narrow goals and rigid scripts. And there are hardly any data to suggest that punishing schools with low test scores and rewarding schools with high ones improves anything.
Full article on using standardized tests to measure student and teacher performance.
Good connection. Yes, the two approaches are very similar.
In teaching, this is called “teaching to the test.” In health care it is called “practicing medicine to the checklist.”
A more important story today.
Notice 1 – ObamaCare has eliminated the safety of portable Individual “Child Only” health insurance today. Now America’s children will be forced like cattle onto Obama’s deadly S-CHIP.
Notice 2 – There is a new baby blog born called StopObamaCare101.com. Also I have a new baby Grandson named Jack. The blog is dedicated to stopping Socialism dead in its tracks forever in November 2012.
Notice 3 – The Founders of the blog enrolled America’s 1st tax-free MSA in 1996 with TIME Insurance, America’s oldest health insurance company. So don’t believe Devon Herrick’s “A Brief History of HSAs.” Singapore, get real. That’s just lazy reporting. Like Jimmy Buffett says, “Monkeys with PHDs.”
Notice 4 – When President Obama endangers the life of 1 child – that is a tragedy. When President Obama endangers the life of tens of millions of America’s children – that is a statistic.
StopObamaCar101.com’s logo is Crosshairs on Socialism and the motto is – Patriots come to the aid of your country. I just thought that this blog should be the first to know. Be warned. The new blog is full of tax-free HSA zealots.
FOX News didn’t lead with “Child Only” Individual Health Insurance’s death today either. The concentration of media in New York City is a shame. Jimmy also says, “New York – Fruitcake City.”
RG
AS Ravitch noted, the only times we have really improved schools is when the mix of students in those schools have changed. We have not done it by changing teachers. The new Vandberbilt study just out also shows that merit pay does not seem to work either.
Steve
Good post. And yes, check list medicine is on its way. It’s inevitable.
FOX News just reported that it is “rumored” that a few health insurance companies have stopped making “Child Only” coverage available.
So I went to ehealthinsurance.com and just like I said “Child Only” coverage died today. Not one “Child Only” insurance plan in my FL zip code 34691.
FOX News does a poor job of reporting the facts. Again I repeat, “New York – Fruitcake City.”