4 ms·

> 1. School is probably the best public invention to systematically distribute knowledge to the masses. Some like to point out "dropouts", "self-taught" geniuse

> 1. School is probably the best public invention to systematically distribute knowledge to the masses. Some like to point out "dropouts", "self-taught" geniuses or the "lucky few" as models instead of exceptions to the rule. NO ITS NOT! This is a lie. There were reports in 1960's when the congress asked for an experiment to different ways of teaching. The children taught in a 1 to 1 way performed enormously better compared to the rest. And one of the worst ways was to teach is in mass. When the results came, they buried the report after it wasn't in their favor. Schools are only good for above average intelligence people. If you want no one to be left behind then you should teach those who're slightly disadvantaged in a dedicated manner in 1 to 1 classes.

mgh2 6y ago
Do you happen to have that report somewhere? If it was buried, can you try to find it online? Where did you see it? Would love to examine it. Education is of great importance to me, if this shift is a great alternative, I would not ignore the paradigm. Note: I won't deny the effectiveness of 1-1 teaching (ex: private tutoring).
craftinator 6y ago
Cite your source. Provide some sort of corroborating information, such as a link to the article, or a link to a an article about the article. If it's a Congressional Report, it is available on the web.
- absolutelyrad 6y ago
  Look up replies to my comment. You'll find them. https://www.nifdi.org/what-is-di/di-vs-di.html https://www.nifdi.org/what-is-di/di-vs-di.html https://www.nifdi.org/research/history-of-di-research/projectfollowthrough.html https://www.nifdi.org/research/history-of-di-research/projec...
jinjin2 6y ago
Are you referring to Blooms 2 sigma problem (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloom%27s_2_sigma_problem https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloom%27s_2_sigma_problem)? While it did show that, that research was not done until the 80’s.
knaq 6y ago
For the many people questioning this, I'm pretty sure you refer to Direct Instruction: https://www.nifdi.org/what-is-di/di-vs-di.html https://www.nifdi.org/what-is-di/di-vs-di.html Research is available there if you click the "Research" tab. The main research seems to be Project Follow Through: https://www.nifdi.org/research/history-of-di-research/projectfollowthrough.html https://www.nifdi.org/research/history-of-di-research/projec...
afthonos 6y ago
You are not making a counterargument. The operating word is “masses”. 1-on-1 doesn’t scale. The political reality may be that support for schooling would crater if the report were widely known, but the alternative isn’t realistically “modern schools” vs. “1-on-1 tutoring”, but rather “modern schools” vs. “nothing”, or, optimistically, “modern schools” vs. “something not yet invented”.
- krageon 6y ago
  It doesn't have to scale, it just has to be possible. I would argue that it is, especially given how many people are in jobs that just don't matter.
  - afthonos 6y ago
    You are casually suggesting restructuring the entire economy while minimizing a relatively small problem involved in that, which is deciding who has access to education and how.
- jjk166 6y ago
  Put 30 kids in front of a teacher for 8 hours - that's about 15 minutes of instructor attention per kid per day on average. If we assume that one on one sessions need to last 8 hours, then yeah the system doesn't scale; but more realistically the kid's educational needs could be met in a fraction of the time. One person can tutor dozens of kids a week if they do it full time, but even better you can tutor without doing it full time. Full time teachers are a limited resource and if yours isn't great at some or all of the job, you just have to suffer the consequences; but there is a massive pool of people who are capable of teaching a kid something, and the harm of a mediocre tutor is minimal and easily overcome. One on one tutoring is already extremely widely employed, and plenty of platforms have popped up to help it effectively scale. Pretty much the only people who don't use it are those who can't afford it, a problem regular schooling would also face if not publicly paid for. It takes very little imagination to picture a system where people get vouchers to spend on tutoring services and a simple method for large numbers of people to qualify as tutors eligible to accept these vouchers.
moonchild 6y ago
Chric Crawford's argument[1] is that video games can provide the same sort of interactivity which makes 1-on-1 teaching so effective. I don't agree with this argument, but it's a very interesting one. 1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaBte1cBi5U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaBte1cBi5U

mgh2 6y ago

Do you happen to have that report somewhere? If it was buried, can you try to find it online? Where did you see it? Would love to examine it. Education is of great importance to me, if this shift is a great alternative, I would not ignore the paradigm. Note: I won't deny the effectiveness of 1-1 teaching (ex: private tutoring).

craftinator 6y ago

Cite your source. Provide some sort of corroborating information, such as a link to the article, or a link to a an article about the article. If it's a Congressional Report, it is available on the web.

absolutelyrad 6y ago
Look up replies to my comment. You'll find them. https://www.nifdi.org/what-is-di/di-vs-di.html https://www.nifdi.org/what-is-di/di-vs-di.html https://www.nifdi.org/research/history-of-di-research/projectfollowthrough.html https://www.nifdi.org/research/history-of-di-research/projec...

jinjin2 6y ago

Are you referring to Blooms 2 sigma problem (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloom%27s_2_sigma_problem https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloom%27s_2_sigma_problem)? While it did show that, that research was not done until the 80’s.

knaq 6y ago

For the many people questioning this, I'm pretty sure you refer to Direct Instruction: https://www.nifdi.org/what-is-di/di-vs-di.html https://www.nifdi.org/what-is-di/di-vs-di.html Research is available there if you click the "Research" tab. The main research seems to be Project Follow Through: https://www.nifdi.org/research/history-of-di-research/projectfollowthrough.html https://www.nifdi.org/research/history-of-di-research/projec...

afthonos 6y ago

You are not making a counterargument. The operating word is “masses”. 1-on-1 doesn’t scale. The political reality may be that support for schooling would crater if the report were widely known, but the alternative isn’t realistically “modern schools” vs. “1-on-1 tutoring”, but rather “modern schools” vs. “nothing”, or, optimistically, “modern schools” vs. “something not yet invented”.

krageon 6y ago
It doesn't have to scale, it just has to be possible. I would argue that it is, especially given how many people are in jobs that just don't matter.
- afthonos 6y ago
  You are casually suggesting restructuring the entire economy while minimizing a relatively small problem involved in that, which is deciding who has access to education and how.
jjk166 6y ago
Put 30 kids in front of a teacher for 8 hours - that's about 15 minutes of instructor attention per kid per day on average. If we assume that one on one sessions need to last 8 hours, then yeah the system doesn't scale; but more realistically the kid's educational needs could be met in a fraction of the time. One person can tutor dozens of kids a week if they do it full time, but even better you can tutor without doing it full time. Full time teachers are a limited resource and if yours isn't great at some or all of the job, you just have to suffer the consequences; but there is a massive pool of people who are capable of teaching a kid something, and the harm of a mediocre tutor is minimal and easily overcome. One on one tutoring is already extremely widely employed, and plenty of platforms have popped up to help it effectively scale. Pretty much the only people who don't use it are those who can't afford it, a problem regular schooling would also face if not publicly paid for. It takes very little imagination to picture a system where people get vouchers to spend on tutoring services and a simple method for large numbers of people to qualify as tutors eligible to accept these vouchers.

moonchild 6y ago

Chric Crawford's argument[1] is that video games can provide the same sort of interactivity which makes 1-on-1 teaching so effective. I don't agree with this argument, but it's a very interesting one. 1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaBte1cBi5U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaBte1cBi5U