6 ms·

I think we tried that in the form of scholarships. Basically, the students with the highest grades get discounts from different colleges. It's not exactly the s

I think we tried that in the form of scholarships. Basically, the students with the highest grades get discounts from different colleges. It's not exactly the same, but the effect is similar, and this system has been running for generations. I think one big problem is that low test scores are highly correlated to poverty. Parents who earn less usually don't have time to help kids with their school work, or don't understand the school work, or don't know how to study or teach children. Sure, there's exceptions to this everywhere, but that's the general pattern. Incidentally, Louisiana has/had a program called TOPs that covers in-state tuition for students that get over a 3.something GPA. Who benefits the most from it? Kids whose families make above the median income in the state. I don't think giving X dollars to the families with the top ranking students would change society overnight.

xvedejas 3y ago
Merit scholarships were already out of fashion by the time I was applying for colleges (circa 2010). Especially at more selective schools (those with lower admission rates), merit scholarships have been displaced in favor of diversity scholarships, which I suppose reflects the changing priorities of those schools.
- AmpsterMan 3y ago
  Scholarships also just possibly dried up after the great recession. My wife and I both graduated from same state with similar GPA, though I was 2010, she 2012. We qualified for the exact same scholarship. Mine covered 100% of my tuition, hers 75%.
peterfirefly 3y ago
> I think one big problem is that low test scores are highly correlated to poverty.I think one big problem is that low test scores are highly correlated to poverty. True, but the arrow of causality is not from "poverty" to "low test scores". Children of poor (and sometimes illiterate) Chinese immigrants did and do quite well!
- cpursley 3y ago
  Careful, you’re not allowed to utter the “C” word here in relation to educational outcomes. (The word is “Culture”)
  - incone123 3y ago
    I find this site more open to constructive debate than elsewhere. Thanks for specifying which c word you meant, as the only one in the post you replied to was Chinese.
  - vacuity 3y ago
    Your phrasing is crude but there is truth in it. In theory, African-American communities could be much better off with some drastic changes in culture, and it would be far more feasible for the government to pick up the slack and level the playing field (affordable quality education, abolish legacy admissions, etc.). Any amount of public school infrastructure and funding doesn't inherently get people to learn; students play a part in their own success. Of course, changing culture is much easier said than done.
    - doalldrugs 3y ago
      [flagged]
    - doalldrugs 3y ago
      I agree if only black people would change.
    - cjohnson318 3y ago
      > In theory, African-American communities could be much better off with some drastic changes in culture African-American communities could be a lot better off if they had been able to take advantage of the same veterans benefits programs that white veterans were able to take advantage of, if they had been able to get home loans on the same terms that white counterparts were able to, if Black professionals had been able find work outside of Black operated businesses, and so on. But yeah, Black people are real lazy if you just ignore hundreds of years of history. Black people ain't lazy, they just don't have the same opportunities as everyone else because when they walk into an interview with a white manager, there's a real good chance that manager is thinking something like, "In theory, African-American communities could be much better off with some drastic changes in culture".

xvedejas 3y ago

Merit scholarships were already out of fashion by the time I was applying for colleges (circa 2010). Especially at more selective schools (those with lower admission rates), merit scholarships have been displaced in favor of diversity scholarships, which I suppose reflects the changing priorities of those schools.

AmpsterMan 3y ago
Scholarships also just possibly dried up after the great recession. My wife and I both graduated from same state with similar GPA, though I was 2010, she 2012. We qualified for the exact same scholarship. Mine covered 100% of my tuition, hers 75%.

peterfirefly 3y ago

> I think one big problem is that low test scores are highly correlated to poverty.I think one big problem is that low test scores are highly correlated to poverty. True, but the arrow of causality is not from "poverty" to "low test scores". Children of poor (and sometimes illiterate) Chinese immigrants did and do quite well!

cpursley 3y ago
Careful, you’re not allowed to utter the “C” word here in relation to educational outcomes. (The word is “Culture”)
- incone123 3y ago
  I find this site more open to constructive debate than elsewhere. Thanks for specifying which c word you meant, as the only one in the post you replied to was Chinese.
- vacuity 3y ago
  Your phrasing is crude but there is truth in it. In theory, African-American communities could be much better off with some drastic changes in culture, and it would be far more feasible for the government to pick up the slack and level the playing field (affordable quality education, abolish legacy admissions, etc.). Any amount of public school infrastructure and funding doesn't inherently get people to learn; students play a part in their own success. Of course, changing culture is much easier said than done.
  - doalldrugs 3y ago
    [flagged]
  - doalldrugs 3y ago
    I agree if only black people would change.
  - cjohnson318 3y ago
    > In theory, African-American communities could be much better off with some drastic changes in culture African-American communities could be a lot better off if they had been able to take advantage of the same veterans benefits programs that white veterans were able to take advantage of, if they had been able to get home loans on the same terms that white counterparts were able to, if Black professionals had been able find work outside of Black operated businesses, and so on. But yeah, Black people are real lazy if you just ignore hundreds of years of history. Black people ain't lazy, they just don't have the same opportunities as everyone else because when they walk into an interview with a white manager, there's a real good chance that manager is thinking something like, "In theory, African-American communities could be much better off with some drastic changes in culture".