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I don't really understand why they need to do it on a group basis at all. It's easy enough to put each student in a database at the very beginning and say, "the
by jamesaguilar 14y ago
I don't really understand why they need to do it on a group basis at all. It's easy enough to put each student in a database at the very beginning and say, "the school should provide a net improvement of N% for each student." There is no reason to set a target for a group as a whole when technology allows us to track individuals just as easily.
- Jabbles 14y agoNot if by performance you mean "in comparison to everyone else". In that case education is zero-sum. If you measure to an absolute standard it may be easier, but education goals move all the time, and calibrating between them leaves these metrics open to statistical abuse, just like we're seeing here.
- stevesearer 14y agoThis is my thinking as well. When I was teaching and had students which performed below our expected outcomes, we didn't sit around and ponder their ethnicity or socioeconomic status, we simply worked hard to figure out how best to get that particular student caught up (or closer to their peers than before). In my estimation, the best way to break away from this ridiculous tendency to group people it to treat everyone like an individual.
- anigbrowl 14y agoWhat did you do if you found that large numbers of your underperforming students had some factor in common?
- jamesaguilar 14y agoYou'd probably study the factor and how to address it. But you wouldn't set targets for individuals who share the factor collectively.