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If I’m leading a system in which the population of eighth graders taking Algebra I has a disproportionate number of white and Asian students, then eliminating A

If I’m leading a system in which the population of eighth graders taking Algebra I has a disproportionate number of white and Asian students, then eliminating Algebra I as an offering for eighth graders looks like an obvious pathway to equity. Well, yes, if by equity you mean the race composition of every class equals the race composition of the school as a whole. But shouldn't equity in education mean that every student gets the instruction and support they need to achieve their potential, insofar as the school is able to provide it, without respect to their race, class or sex? There were no gifted programs or classes when and where I attended school (6 decades back, in a very rural part of the Great Plains). But there was a teacher in my school who took it upon herself to run a reading lab that you could get into with the blessing of the school principal. Mostly she taught remedial reading to those who needed extra help, but one of her 5 periods each day was called "advanced reading lab" and into that group she took students who showed exceptional or nascent exceptional intellectual capability. In the guise of teaching us to read better and faster, she exercised our brains with science, history, and even math. She's the only teacher I remember by name, and she did more to launch my success in life than any 5 other teachers combined, behind only my parents. Because she made going to school worthwhile - interesting, exciting, and mind-expanding. (She also taught me to read 2000 words per minute with retention, which was a hell of a useful skill, but only a skill - the world of knowledge and thinking was her real gift).

AmericanChopper 4y ago
> But shouldn't equity in education mean that every student gets the instruction and support they need to achieve their potential, insofar as the school is able to provide it, without respect to their race, class or sex? You’re taking about equality. Equity is always just a euphemism for equality of outcome. Which can only ever be achieved by lowering the outcomes of top performs to the same level as the lowest performers.
- walnutclosefarm 4y ago
  I know. But I refuse give up the meaning of the word "equity" - which is not equality of outcomes, but rather fair, impartial. In the case of schools, that means fairly and impartially meeting the needs of every student. You can call med old fashioned, if you wish (I'm certainly old).
  - AmericanChopper 4y ago
    Sadly the constant battle to control the meaning of language for political purposes will rage on with or without you.
imron 4y ago
> She also taught me to read 2000 words per minute with retention, Can you expand upon this and/or link to any resources related to the method?
- walnutclosefarm 4y ago
  Well, we're talking about 55 years ago, so I'm pretty sure there wouldn't be any online references to the actual materials used, and the technology pieces were all pre-digital. (There was basically one time-share computer for public school students in the entire state I lived in at the time, and "interactive device" meant a KSR 33 teletype connected to that computer via 10 character per second dial-up modem). So, I can tell you a little about the methods, but that's all. First, we spent a small, but meaningful amount of time each day in drills to train our eyes and brains to rapidly recognize and interpret increasingly longer strings of symbols. This was done by flashing a sequence of numbers (first) or letters (as we got better) on a screen for a set period of time, and having students transcribe them onto paper. As we achieved accuracy for a given flash (say 5 numbers for .1 second), the flash interval was incrementally reduced, and the length of sequence increased. I don't recall the flash intervals, but I do recall that at the end of a year of doing these exercises for a few minutes each school day, I was routinely reading 15 or more digit sequences accurately in a single, very short glance. We also used machines (entirely mechanical) that built on that ability by scanning lines of text we were to read in multi-word chunks on a timed basis. The idea was to take the sight interpretation skill and extend it to reading phrases in a single glance, rather than reading and interpreting single words. And finally, there was application of these skills to real texts, for comprehension. Comprehension was of course focused on getting the meaning of a text, but also on vocabulary. New vocabulary was introduced in relatively simple texts, and re-enforced over time. I have no idea how well all this worked for average students. It worked beautifully for me, though.

AmericanChopper 4y ago

> But shouldn't equity in education mean that every student gets the instruction and support they need to achieve their potential, insofar as the school is able to provide it, without respect to their race, class or sex? You’re taking about equality. Equity is always just a euphemism for equality of outcome. Which can only ever be achieved by lowering the outcomes of top performs to the same level as the lowest performers.

walnutclosefarm 4y ago
I know. But I refuse give up the meaning of the word "equity" - which is not equality of outcomes, but rather fair, impartial. In the case of schools, that means fairly and impartially meeting the needs of every student. You can call med old fashioned, if you wish (I'm certainly old).
- AmericanChopper 4y ago
  Sadly the constant battle to control the meaning of language for political purposes will rage on with or without you.

imron 4y ago

> She also taught me to read 2000 words per minute with retention, Can you expand upon this and/or link to any resources related to the method?

walnutclosefarm 4y ago
Well, we're talking about 55 years ago, so I'm pretty sure there wouldn't be any online references to the actual materials used, and the technology pieces were all pre-digital. (There was basically one time-share computer for public school students in the entire state I lived in at the time, and "interactive device" meant a KSR 33 teletype connected to that computer via 10 character per second dial-up modem). So, I can tell you a little about the methods, but that's all. First, we spent a small, but meaningful amount of time each day in drills to train our eyes and brains to rapidly recognize and interpret increasingly longer strings of symbols. This was done by flashing a sequence of numbers (first) or letters (as we got better) on a screen for a set period of time, and having students transcribe them onto paper. As we achieved accuracy for a given flash (say 5 numbers for .1 second), the flash interval was incrementally reduced, and the length of sequence increased. I don't recall the flash intervals, but I do recall that at the end of a year of doing these exercises for a few minutes each school day, I was routinely reading 15 or more digit sequences accurately in a single, very short glance. We also used machines (entirely mechanical) that built on that ability by scanning lines of text we were to read in multi-word chunks on a timed basis. The idea was to take the sight interpretation skill and extend it to reading phrases in a single glance, rather than reading and interpreting single words. And finally, there was application of these skills to real texts, for comprehension. Comprehension was of course focused on getting the meaning of a text, but also on vocabulary. New vocabulary was introduced in relatively simple texts, and re-enforced over time. I have no idea how well all this worked for average students. It worked beautifully for me, though.