The Dream Deferred… again

I’m nearing the end of Savage Inequalities. As I am not affected in the slightest by what happens in US schools, I was mainly reading it in order to gain some understanding of the mindsets of the people involved. The first third or half of the book is mainly descriptions of schools Kozol visits, starting [...]

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The rigging of the game

Well, I’m hanging in there and learning a few things. The answer [to the gross inequalities] is found, at least in part, in the arcane machinery by which we finance public education. Most public schools in the US depend for their initial funding on a tax on local property. (p 54) I didn’t know that. [...]

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Lies, damned lies, and statistics

Not sure why I read this stuff, as I have no connection whatever to education in the US, but a couple of posts recently caught my eye, one on the Freakanomics blog, and the other on Pissed Off (Teacher). Stephen Dubner of Freakanomics, dips into the mailbag and quotes this correspondent: Hi guys. I know [...]

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Acting White and the achievement gap

Distraction. Stephen Levitt is co-author of a popular book Freakanomics, and also co-authors the always interesting Freaknomics blog. The most recent blog entry there points to some interesting research done by Levitt and Fry on why blacks don’t do as well as whites in the job market. If you’re interested in the “achievement gap”, take [...]

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