6 ms·

Impressive considering the demographics of Gainsville. They used standardized test scores to identify talented grade school kids and put them all in the same r

Impressive considering the demographics of Gainsville. They used standardized test scores to identify talented grade school kids and put them all in the same room. Can we still do that in diverse school districts in CA and MA? I think we'd have a major uproar.

dilap 4y ago
correct -- see e.g. what just happened to lowell in san francisco edit: but reversed! so maybe you could...
- raunak 4y ago
  You're right, but they also reversed it just recently
  - dilap 4y ago
    ah my SF news is out of date (moved out about a year ago, tho i've still got family there) -- that's great to hear!
  - selimthegrim 4y ago
    Source?
    - raunak 4y ago
      https://sfstandard.com/education/selective-admissions-are-back-at-lowell-high-after-a-split-vote-reinstates-the-controversial-policy/ https://sfstandard.com/education/selective-admissions-are-ba...
jdkee 4y ago
And look at the per pupil spending compared to the national average. About half. See https://www.schooldigger.com/go/FL/schools/0003000029/school.aspx#:~:text=Compare%20F.%20W.%20Buchholz%20High%20School%20employs%2083.8%20full%2Dtime%20teachers,Buchholz%20High%20School%20is%20%247%2C330 https://www.schooldigger.com/go/FL/schools/0003000029/school.... See also https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=66 https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=66
consp 4y ago
Isn't that what lots of European education systems do in middle/high school education anyways?
- rscho 4y ago
  Did. Officially, some still do. But it's now become a very much fake elitism, with a major push for inclusion and the mixing of ages and backgrounds in the same classrooms. The average level is in freefall too.
  - raarts 4y ago
    You're right. I'm in the EU, my family is mostly teachers and all too often I find myself outraged at the lack of vision, the incompetence, the ineptitude of my countries' officials to address the decline. Instead they opt for implementing the fad of the day(so-called '21st-century skills', 'critical thinking', 'social skills'). 25% of 15yo can not functionally read and/or do math well enough to properly function in society. This has been growing since the 70s and it still continues.
Ligma123 4y ago
>Can we still do that in diverse school districts in CA and MA? You would be able to do that for one year, and then people would start noticing a pattern in the teams' composition, and yes you'd get your uproar and the whole thing would be canceled.
- 9991 4y ago
  Yea, that's essentially what happened to Virginia's Thomas Jefferson High School.
  - rayiner 4y ago
    TJ was humming along fine for decades under republicans and conservatives democrats. Liberal democrats won the governorship just in 2018 and within two years folks are declaring standardized tests to be “racist.” I blame my parents. They immigrated to a red/purple state for the low taxes and good schools and turned it into a solid blue state by voting straight ticket democrat. And then they’re all surprised at how this could happen.
    - raunak 4y ago
      TJ didn't change because of the blue 2018 Virginia. it was a concerted effort by a small group of administrators at FCPS, and an even smaller group of 'anti-racist' students at TJ themselves.
      - rayiner 4y ago
        TJ is literally a “Governor’s school.” Liberal democrats put themselves in a position where they are forced to go along with whatever activists decide is “racist” regardless of the merits. They’re the ones who weaponized accusations of “isms” and handed a club for the activists to beat them with.
        raunak 4y ago
        I was a senior at TJ in 2020/21. You’re wrong, even though your reasoning should be right.

dilap 4y ago

correct -- see e.g. what just happened to lowell in san francisco edit: but reversed! so maybe you could...

raunak 4y ago
You're right, but they also reversed it just recently
- dilap 4y ago
  ah my SF news is out of date (moved out about a year ago, tho i've still got family there) -- that's great to hear!
- selimthegrim 4y ago
  Source?
  - raunak 4y ago
    https://sfstandard.com/education/selective-admissions-are-back-at-lowell-high-after-a-split-vote-reinstates-the-controversial-policy/ https://sfstandard.com/education/selective-admissions-are-ba...

jdkee 4y ago

And look at the per pupil spending compared to the national average. About half. See https://www.schooldigger.com/go/FL/schools/0003000029/school.aspx#:~:text=Compare%20F.%20W.%20Buchholz%20High%20School%20employs%2083.8%20full%2Dtime%20teachers,Buchholz%20High%20School%20is%20%247%2C330 https://www.schooldigger.com/go/FL/schools/0003000029/school.... See also https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=66 https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=66

consp 4y ago

Isn't that what lots of European education systems do in middle/high school education anyways?

rscho 4y ago
Did. Officially, some still do. But it's now become a very much fake elitism, with a major push for inclusion and the mixing of ages and backgrounds in the same classrooms. The average level is in freefall too.
- raarts 4y ago
  You're right. I'm in the EU, my family is mostly teachers and all too often I find myself outraged at the lack of vision, the incompetence, the ineptitude of my countries' officials to address the decline. Instead they opt for implementing the fad of the day(so-called '21st-century skills', 'critical thinking', 'social skills'). 25% of 15yo can not functionally read and/or do math well enough to properly function in society. This has been growing since the 70s and it still continues.

Ligma123 4y ago

>Can we still do that in diverse school districts in CA and MA? You would be able to do that for one year, and then people would start noticing a pattern in the teams' composition, and yes you'd get your uproar and the whole thing would be canceled.

9991 4y ago
Yea, that's essentially what happened to Virginia's Thomas Jefferson High School.
- rayiner 4y ago
  TJ was humming along fine for decades under republicans and conservatives democrats. Liberal democrats won the governorship just in 2018 and within two years folks are declaring standardized tests to be “racist.” I blame my parents. They immigrated to a red/purple state for the low taxes and good schools and turned it into a solid blue state by voting straight ticket democrat. And then they’re all surprised at how this could happen.
  - raunak 4y ago
    TJ didn't change because of the blue 2018 Virginia. it was a concerted effort by a small group of administrators at FCPS, and an even smaller group of 'anti-racist' students at TJ themselves.
    - rayiner 4y ago
      TJ is literally a “Governor’s school.” Liberal democrats put themselves in a position where they are forced to go along with whatever activists decide is “racist” regardless of the merits. They’re the ones who weaponized accusations of “isms” and handed a club for the activists to beat them with.
      - raunak 4y ago
        I was a senior at TJ in 2020/21. You’re wrong, even though your reasoning should be right.