Property tax plans and highlights from Branstad's legislative speech

It's not either,or (4.00 / 1)

I hope legislators don't go along with that idea. As educator Scott McLeod argued here,

McLeod is careful to only discuss "findings" with respect to in-grade retention. The fact of the matter is that both retention and social promotion are undesirable as solutions. Additionally, relying on statistical arguments comparing the two is suspect. Students who have been retained can be identified and tracked, but it's far more difficult to reliably identify cases of social promotion as one relies on self-reporting by school systems.

Are you really a supporter of social promotion? Social promotion is a manifestation of the "graded" system that was introduced to manage growing urban schools after the Industrial Revolution. It's factory learning. Unsurprisingly, the retention v. social promotion "argument" is associated with the management of urban schools.

You comment favorably on the Montessori elementary school in your area. Why is it that in this system, the mixed-age classroom is seen as a positive for socialization/self-esteem that allows for different developmental rates whereas it's a self-esteem issue to hold kids back who can't read?

Branstad's statement is not incorrect, technically speaking. No reasonable person could disagree.

Because reading is so essential for later success in school, it 's just unfair to promote an illiterate child.

This is why public opinion is overwhelmingly on his side. On its face, no argument. We probably all agree that a child who cannot read in the third grade has little chance in life without serious intervention to correct the situation. Retention is not the solution either, because it lacks the targeting necessary to be successful. Or, as McLeod points out, the successes are short-term in nature.

"I think his stuff on education, in particular the early grades of assessing reading abilities and then doing interventions, I think there's broad support for that," Gronstal says.

If Branstad/Gronstal are suggesting real (funded) intervention to target students who lack basic skills at a critical age like third grade, then it's worth a listen, at least. However, it doesn't end there. The likely reason successes are short-term for retention or retention + intervention is because kids in lower-income areas don't see any benefit to investing time/attention in a model that will produce no benefit to them, and often, parent(s) may feel the same way. In these neighborhoods, the educational system must be viewed as a viable path to mobility in early adulthood, which is not the case now.

Anyone who is interested on how social promotion actually works in urban areas should watch Season 4 of The Wire, filmed on location in Baltimore.

In some urbanized minority areas, parents have written off the public school system. As the subject of primary challenges to incumbents has been frequently raised here, I'll mention that Ben Cardin has drawn a credible challenger in MD-Sen's Democratic primary, a state senator from a majority-minority county who also happens to be an advocate for government-issued private school vouchers for poorer families in MD. In other words, he's to the right of Branstad. He has made "because I'm black" a plank of his campaign, which is not uncommon in the state, or other states with an appreciable number of non-white Democrats.

I am not a fan of govt-issued private school vouchers, but I can understand the argument when poorer areas have "factory" schools over which largely affluent white politicians argue in paternalistic tones over application of two inadequate policy extremes. Meanwhile, in some of the nicer areas, there's access to public schools where mixed age classrooms and differing developmental rates are supported, not considered a social stigma, and funded by other taxpayers. If I were a parent in a lousy public school district, funds to send my kid to private school option would seem like manna from heaven. The opportunities for long-term success are greatly enhanced in an environment where education as a model for success in society is at least made credible.

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by: albert @ Tue Jan 10, 2012 at 20:21:30 PM UTC

of course serious intervention (0.00 / 0)

with adequate funding to help kids who can't read is all good. I don't think any educator is for "social promotion" without giving kids extra help to be able to read/compute at grade level. I just don't think the kids should automatically be held back if they haven't improved enough over summer school.

I'm glad to see that Branstad has pretty much given up on eliminating state-funded preschool for four-year-olds. That's one of the last things you should cut if you care about literacy in the early grades.

It's not as encouraging to see that he partly funds the education reforms by reducing funding for a program designed to keep class sizes manageable. If you put too many kids in a classroom, there's a better chance that some will slip through the cracks without learning what they need to learn.

I would love to see more mixed-age public education in Iowa. In that setting there is a lot less stigma for an older child doing work with younger classmates, and I hope the state "innovation" funds support experiments in that direction as well as technology in the classrooms.

Invite other Iowa political junkies to join us at Bleeding Heartland.

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by: desmoinesdem @ Tue Jan 10, 2012 at 22:50:23 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

avoiding the issue (4.00 / 1)

I assume when we see hard details, the Iowa plan will be based on the FL plan. Florida does fund remedial summer school with a re-test at the end of the summer, which does give the students an opportunity to advance.

I don't assume that Branstad/Republicans will allow for adequate funding, not with the rhetoric I've been hearing. I believe I've read that FL has had to spend more than advertised.

The question is this: what if the student fails again in the summer? Social promotion or retention?

You are promoting the position of one person -- I've seen the cite three times now. His position is clear. He is at one end of the spectrum -- this is not a new argument, and positions are well-defined. He advances that retention poses self-esteem issues and that retention has not shown long-term benefits. Most in his corner rely on carefully stating that "no current research shows ..." Yes, the FL reforms are too recent, as are Chicago, etc. Those who ended the social promotion policy did so late 90s/early 2000s, or some school systems have not been sufficiently consistent.

FL is making big claims on the short-term results, both in reading and esp math. Time will tell if this holds up. FL advocates also claim that parents are getting more involved now that they know that their child isn't going to get a free pass into the next grade. Again, time will tell. If you are aware of more recent studies, please inform.

Where I question your position, which you align with McLeod's is how one can argue both that it is imperative to keep a child w/ his peer group while championing mixed-age environments. Or, I happen to agree with Linda Fandel that reading is critical. I have questions about how you can advance a kid when obviously, the reading material is at an even higher level in the next grade. What I would ask is how can one advocate for the importance of pre-school while at the same time saying that it's ok to advance a child w/o adequate reading skills into the next grade where he'll be hopelessly lost. All of a sudden, early education is less important.

One area where we are in definite disagreement is your statement that educators don't practice social promotion w/o offering lots of extra help. As mentioned above, statistical reports should be reviewed w/ a critical eye because it is more difficult to identify those who moved along due to social promotion. IIRC, there is no federal reporting requirement.

At one time, I volunteered to work on lesson plans/demos in science for students at an alternative (public) high school. These kids were the products of social promotion, and this represented (realistically) a last chance to get a hs degree. They were also separated into an alternative track to pull them out of the "achievement" statistics for mainstream public schools. (FL advocates may have a point when they say that it is a small fraction of students that impact statistics associated w/ retention -- worth considering.) This school had as many security officers and parole (yes, I said parole) officers on staff as they did teachers. The #1 thing I heard was "what's this b___s____ have to do with me?" Tough question to answer. I can't say that I'm bullish on the idea of somehow getting these kids (now hardened young adults) up to speed after years of social promotion, which, frankly, was utilized just to move them up and out of the system.

I am (very) cautiously supportive of what Branstad or Branstad/Gronstal present and am open-minded that it may be necessary to enact a soft ban on social promotion for the reforms to work (particularly if students/parents taking them seriously is at stake). What I mean by "soft" ban is that Linda Fandel has described retention as the option of last resort, and this is important. Where I'm not supportive is if efforts are sabotaged on day one by inadequate funding. I can't agree, however, with the reflexively negative attitudes expressed by McLeod and some Democrats that have gone on the record.  

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by: albert @ Wed Jan 11, 2012 at 00:54:31 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

I have talked with lots of educators (4.00 / 1)

about the Branstad proposals over the past few months. Consensus view seems to be: mixed bag, some good ideas, some lousy (retaining large numbers of third graders mentioned by many in this context), too focused on testing to measure outcomes as opposed to improving teaching methods, unlikely to be backed up with the kind of funding needed to make real progress.

Currently, not enough extra help is available for kids who are behind in reading and other subjects. You are correct, some kids are getting moved along without the tutoring or mentoring they need. I meant that educators would support strong, fully-funded programs to address that problem. Instead, Iowa will get a high-stakes test and some (probably not enough) intervention for kids who fail.

I am a fan of mixed-age classroom environments, and I would like to see more Iowa schools try that model. Socially, there is a big difference between being part of the older cohort in a mixed-age classroom, where every room in the school is like that, and being one of the "dumb kids" forced to repeat third grade. Retention may be an appropriate tool as a truly "last resort," but that is not the vibe I'm getting from Branstad.

Invite other Iowa political junkies to join us at Bleeding Heartland.

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by: desmoinesdem @ Wed Jan 11, 2012 at 15:40:59 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

vibes (0.00 / 0)

Socially, there is a big difference between being part of the older cohort in a mixed-age classroom, where every room in the school is like that, and being one of the "dumb kids" forced to repeat third grade. Retention may be an appropriate tool as a truly "last resort," but that is not the vibe I'm getting from Branstad.

You become the "dumb kid" when the de facto policy is social promotion, don't you think? I believe (correct me if I'm wrong), that in Iowa currently, social promotion is heavily favored.

That said, my impression is that the Branstad/Glass/Fandel approach is at least intended to be in line with the Clinton admnistration's guide for ending social promotion while limiting reliance on retention as the preferred alternative. Everybody agrees that grade retention alone offers no advantages relative to social promotion. My issue with the McLeod cite (and others just like it) is that it's a rehash of a long-standing debate on the merits & limitations of the two approaches and is being used here to discount the current proposal, which is not a simple switch from one pole of the argument to the other.

Third-grade literacy proposal has wide appeal, experts say.

The retention portion of the governor's proposal, which is based on a model that has had success in Florida, has been criticized by some parents and teachers. But Linda Fandel, special assistant on education in the governor's office, defended the policy's hard-line approach during a panel discussion following Smith's speech.

"The value of the retention stick in the policy is that it pressures the whole system to really look out for more children, so we are getting more children through," she said. "Retention should never be the goal."

Parents, teachers support literacy programs. They say emphasis there would lead to support for ending social promotion.

Parents and some teachers at public forums Saturday said they could support Gov. Terry Branstad's proposal to end social promotion for third-graders if it provides the right mix of literacy programs.

Teachers said any plan must include robust financing strategies because budget reductions have cut reading programs and increased class sizes. Parents, meanwhile, said they liked the idea of setting clear expectations for students.

...

If modeled after Florida's policies, intensive reading programs would start in early childhood, and English language learners and students with disabilities could be exempted from retention, said Linda Fandel, the governor's special assistant for education.

"Retention is their very last resort, and they have a lot of exceptions," she said.

...

Branstad said ending social promotion may be the controversial part of a wide range of education reforms he proposed in October. However, he said the policy puts parents on notice and pushes them to become more involved in a child's education.

Here is a descriptive list of FL exemptions:

Good Cause Exemptions for FL Policy
-----------------------------------

1. Students w/ limited English proficiency who have < 2 yrs ESOL.

2. Students w/ disabilities for whom participation in the statewide assessment program is not appropriate.

3. Students who demonstrate an acceptable level of performance on an alternative standardized reading assessment.

4. Students who demonstrate through a portfolio that they are reading on grade level.

5. Students w/ disabilities who were previously retained in K-3.

6. Students who were previously retained in grades K-3 for two or more years.

IMO, a parent/student who is not able to petition based on (3) or (4) is not, in fact, sufficiently engaged.

On the flip side:

Rep. Mary Mascher, D-Iowa City, said that's one reason why Iowa should consider other options.

"There's no data that says retention helps student achievement," Mascher said. "To fail students makes no sense at all. I don't understand the rationale for it or any evidence that it works."

The FL was implemented the 2002-2003 academic year. Obviously, data is (are, if you prefer) insufficient.

The cornerstone to stepping on the scale for retention in cases where a decision must be made is the idea that success is more likely when students and parents are pressured to identify as stakeholders and forced to consider short-term consequences of inadequate literacy.

There is some overlap between this and the health insurance mandate coupled w/ evidence-based health research. The school of thought is that we all become stakeholders invested in maintaining healthy practices (to avoid premium penalties). I am no fan of the mandate (or mandates in general) but recognize that literacy by third grade is more urgent in nature. I generally agree w/ the statement that by this point, students are reading to learn, not learning to read. And students do not continue in match/science by relying on symbols alone. In fact, what most students have a problem with is taking a descriptive problem, aka "word problem" and mapping it to the correct logic.

Funding is a concern, too. Several Eastern Iowa school districts discontinued their summer programs to save money. Even Florida has cut funding for its summer reading camps.

"If they don't put additional dollars into the support system, this won't work," Mascher said. "The supports are the things that will bring results. That's what's going to make a difference, not retention."

Here, there is broad agreement, save the sticking point of whether retention should be used as a stick.

IMO, Mascher or the unidentified educators you have relied on "for months" should focus their arguments on specifics beyond a general rant against retention. The funding aspect is a no-brainer.

1. Agree or disagree w/ the Annie E. Casey Foundation's findings (2011) of third-grade as pivotal?

2. What are your specific issues with the Good Cause Exemptions? Do you agree that inability top satisfy (4)/(5) indicates lack of parent/student involvement? If so, what are specific objections against a "stick" response?

3. What do you propose instead?

There may be some real problems with the above, but I'm not hearing them yet.

I don't know what to say in response to your "consultation with experts for months" except that it comes across as though you feel they are beyond reproach, and that you are performing a public service by acting as an intermediary interfacing with the proles. That's the vibe I get.

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by: albert @ Wed Jan 11, 2012 at 20:15:37 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

fair enough (0.00 / 0)

Reasonable minds can differ. When these bills are debated in Iowa House and Senate committees, I expect we'll hear more from various legislators on specific language/proposals to deal with this issue.

Invite other Iowa political junkies to join us at Bleeding Heartland.

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by: desmoinesdem @ Thu Jan 12, 2012 at 14:43:51 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

according to DMR this morning (0.00 / 0)

portfolio option will be offered in addition to testing.

I don't see that the old "retention vs social promotion" argument is relevant here. There are many noted educators like Linda Darling-Hammond who are strongly against "runaway retention" but favor early intervention, which I think is the focus here, not the "either, or" argument.

Linda Fandel has a nice short page up at iowaeducation.iowa.gov w/ statement of the issue at hand. Note that the Casey Foundation study linked in is very recent research (2011).

Retention would be a last resort to be used only after a much more intensive effort to help children learn to read, starting in preschool.  It would also involve more outreach to parents for their assistance.

Florida has used this approach with great success, and today has significantly higher fourth-grade reading scores than Iowa on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (an average 225 vs. 221). This is the case despite Florida having a much higher share of students who start out as English language learners and a much higher share of low-income students compared to Iowa.

Retention is the stick that pushes everyone to really focus on reading, and Florida today holds back relatively few students.

I do think that it's still too early to come to hard and fast conclusions on FL, but the argument is about using retention as a last resort option after a series of interventions, not as a solution to discovery of inadequate literacy skills all of a sudden in the third grade. I definitely think the administration's plan deserves a fair hearing without prejudicing Iowans in advance with dated ideological arguments.  

Given the way these things go, it's not hard to anticipate some of the possible criticisms. For example, I can imagine a possible argument that "Florida today holds back relatively few students" is based on an accounting trick. Not saying that's the case, but I would not be surprised to hear warnings along these lines. Here I agree w/ you that the debate will be informative.

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by: albert @ Thu Jan 12, 2012 at 21:51:13 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I see no evidence (0.00 / 0)

that this is intended

some lousy (retaining large numbers of third graders mentioned by many in this context)

Are they commenting on the actual proposal? Worried about the initial (first year) blip up? This has me scratching my head unless there's specific commentary on why Fandel is flat-out lying or misguided about either intentions or practical outcomes.  

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by: albert @ Thu Jan 12, 2012 at 22:07:44 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Read the research (4.00 / 1)

It's important to recognize a few things here:

1. There is no 'other side' when it comes to the retention research. If you dig into it all, you'll see that it's all very consistent and negative. You may see some short-term academic benefits (e.g., if you retain kids in 3rd grade, you may see better 4th grade - 7th grade test scores). You also may not - many studies see those short-term gains ending quickly or not materializing at all. And, unanimously, the research that looks at longer-term results shows incredibly higher dropout rates, lower self-concept, diminished life success as adults, etc.

2. The 'current' research is consistent with the older research. If you actually read the research being touted here, it all focuses on short-term gains (e.g., the Casey Foundation and NYC studies mentioned here). There is nothing yet to disprove all of the older research, nor would we expect it to since the current flavor of grade retention isn't any different than past forms that have been tried elsewhere. We don't all of a sudden have some miraculous way of doing grade retention that works - we're doing the same thing others have in the past. It's also worth noting that the trotting out of a couple of recent studies that show short-term gains - and then saying "Well, we don't know what the long-term effects will be" - is insufficient given the overwhelming preponderance of LOTS of other research (i.e., research that wasn't trotted out) that already shows us what the long-term effects will be.

This is not an ideological issue (or at least it shouldn't be). It's a question of what the data show us, which are consistent and unilaterally negative impacts on children. Sure, 'social promotion' of a struggling reader is not a desirable policy or educational choice. It goes against our intuition and our gut hunches about how we think the world works. But the alternative, grade retention, unfortunately appears to be even worse. That's counterintuitive but, whether we like it or not, that's what the data and the research tell us. I don't think we Iowa citizens, educators, or policymakers should be advocating for research-based approaches (when possible) and then ignoring the vast body of research when it happens to disagree with our preconceived notions.

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by: scottmcleod @ Sat Jan 14, 2012 at 14:16:39 PM UTC

"There is nothing yet to disprove all of the older research" (4.00 / 1)

Already acknowledged.

You are forecasting failure of what you call the "current flavor" based on older research over the the 20thC. It is not in dispute that the collection of studies from the 90s show gains in the 4th-7th grades that dissipate in the long-term, largely due to lack of tracking/intervention beyond the early period. One question on my mind that Branstad/Fandel/Glass must account for is how Iowa plans to build on early gains to ensure better long-term outcomes. How are the early interventions structural?

Sure, 'social promotion' of a struggling reader is not a desirable policy or educational choice. It goes against our intuition and our gut hunches about how we think the world works. But the alternative, grade retention, unfortunately appears to be even worse. That's counterintuitive but, whether we like it or not, that's what the data and the research tell us.

I don't think it's about ignoring a body of older research. It's about ignoring "lesser evilism."

We probably agree on what studies from the 90s tell us. Socially promoted and retained students are both under-achieving (the two evils). Social promotion becomes the de facto lesser evil because the retained students tend to 1) earn lower pay as young adults 2) drop out of high school at greater rates 3) experience lower self-esteem and perhaps more generally, students react differently to the stress of all-determinative standardized testing.

The factors commonly cited for why retention is a failure are not controversial: 1) lack of remedial strategies beyond grade repetition 2) (related) lack of attention to structural interventions that ensure long-term gains 3) social stigma associated with retention. ("Johnny is older and taller than the other kids.")

I don't find the research counter-intuitive at all. Why is it counter-intuitive that the socially-promoted, now called "high school graduates," have had somewhat better options for employment and pay rate? Why is it counter-intuitive that in the absence of uniform policy application that retained students feel socially stigmatized?

The reason social promotion cannot be accepted as the lesser evil is because increasingly, a hs degree coupled to inadequate skills is not enough. We have a new economy and globalization to contend with. When I was a child, there was insufficient emphasis on foreign language skills, deemed a "nice to have," because we relied on US domination of the world economy.

On paper, the FL/IA model, or "current flavor," if you prefer, addresses some of these issues, which is why I continue to be open-minded instead of dismissing it immediately.

1. The underlying rationale is that we can no longer put people on the street with sub-standard skills, irrespective of how we get there. There are fewer and fewer options for the marginally educated holding what some would call a "worthless" high school degree.

2. The mechanism is a coercive mandate to be applied statewide. Proponents argue that uniform policy reduces the social stigma associated with retention. The ban on social promotion is a soft ban -- I expect that the IA exemptions will mimic the FL exemptions. I would note that the opportunity to present a portfolio was not available when I was in school: the decision to promote or retain was purely discretionary, that is to say arbitrary and capricious, which I disagree with. I would also note that there has been some issue with past research in reliably tracking the socially-promoted for the same reason.

Proponents of a coercive mandate also argue the benefit of increasing stakeholder awareness and involvement. Granted, the verdict is not clear yet -- meaning, whether this is the "right" path -- we probably have general agreement on the end goal. Early FL results showed an immediate spike in retention, followed by a decline as parents, students and teachers realized that social promotion simply wasn't an option. Fandel quotes lower current retention rates in FL as compared to IA. I expect this to be challenged, and that's fine. Let all the parties make their respective cases. It doesn't mean that I'm dismissing the plan at first glance.

3. Remedial programs, particularly the early interventions, go above and beyond what earlier studies were based on. Obviously, the plan proponents will need to make the case that there is sufficient commitment and funding.

The risk factors for retention are well known: minorities, low-income, and a gender gap at early ages. One argument for social promotion has been to reduce the retention rate for the above groups, which has been "acceptable" policy as long as the socially-promoted continued to enjoy some nominal advantages later, like obtaining employment based on high school graduation.

Socioeconomic metrics I've been tracking shows sharp departures from trends before 2008. I don't think we can look at education in isolation, and I favor a proactive approach rather than waiting for the next body of research on retention v social promotion in the new economy, which may very well erase any perceived "lesser evilism" of social promotion. My opinion is that economic circumstances of the 20thC did permit a "slacker" attitude in the US, including a reliance on social promotion to allow under-achievers to "get through" the system.

As our economic dominance is challenged, we see new urgency from political leaders in areas like health care and education. Coercive mandates are utilized to close the gap rapidly, with compliance and positive outcomes strongly dependent on the commitment of adequate resources by the state. This is a middle ground approach.

President Obama has spoken to African American parents via targeted outreach like Essence magazine, and his comments echo this sense of urgency: a whole-scale change in attitude and priorities is required across-the-board, and minority children, who will be in the majority in the not-distant future are very much in danger of getting completely left behind. His "talks" are sometimes referred to as "tough love" in the mainstream press. It's tough love because of the demand to excel, not to settle. It's a tall order for factory schools dominated by security guards and burned-out faculty. Unsurprisingly, government-issued vouchers for private schools look increasingly attractive. Why not put your kid in a school where suitable interventions or mixed-aged classrooms are already in place, or where parent-student-teacher alliances are fostered naturally? We hope that reforms promote and enhance these concepts in under-performing schools, so the real sticking point is only whether the possibility of retention, after numerous interventions and after exhaustion of alternatives stipulated by policy have failed, assists in making these reforms work. Are stakeholders more or less likely to get on board in the absence of consequences?

Thank you for your comment. If you have a link handy to a reference that you feel is a reliable predictive model for FL reform specifically, please post. Assume competence in statistical measures and methodology.

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by: albert @ Sat Jan 14, 2012 at 21:20:44 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

the whole question of statewide mandates (4.00 / 1)

is going to be a problem when this package is debated in the Iowa House. As you know, many Republicans believe the core curriculum should be abolished, not strengthened. They may be under pressure to resist stronger uniform standards in any additional areas.

On the topic of social promotion, I thought this blog post was interesting:

Let me be clear on this point, I am just as opposed to social promotion as I am to retention. Why? Both are products of the assumption that time is constant and that the best way to organize and educate is by batching same-age children together, taking them through a series of disconnected and prescribed content-based coursework, evaluating them via grades and age/time based tests and then either sending them back for re-work or moving them down the assembly line incomplete because it is "time" for them to move to the next set of curriculum. Social promotion of children who have not mastered the competencies necessary for success at the next level because the assembly line demands it is horribly damaging to a young person. So to, is sending them back for re-work when they reach the end of the assembly line because the message is: you are a defective product. When will we have the courage to recognize that the system we place these children in artificially creates these failures?

If we truly understood and accepted a new assumption about learning - that learning is a highly personal and variable attribute - we would aggressively make strides to create a system based upon competency and the interventions and actions required to continue to help children demonstrate a basic set of skills and abilities as they progressed through the system. We would also recognize that student passion and interest is the prime learning motivation and not old and tired "carrot-and-stick" approaches. Brain research (and quite frankly, a good dose of common sense) tells us that people learn at different rates. Pat Wolfe, a noted brain researcher, indicates that "learning to read" occurs across a distribution from age 6 to 10. Artificially deciding that if a child isn't reading to learn by age 8 and assuming that this destines them for a poor academic career says more about the system we use to teach and move students than about the child themselves. We assume that all students are and should be motivated to learn what we have to teach them.

What if we had a system whereby an 8 year old who read like a 6 year old but had a passion and talent for science discovery could continue to pursue those skills while teachers helped him connect his passion areas to reading - to help him see for himself how improving his reading could open up a greater world of art and science? Perhaps his motivation to read would kick in and the system would allow him to progress naturally through his reading progression. By age 9, he might likely be "reading to learn" and still be engaged in and excited by his learning. A much different vision than making him repeat an artificial construct like "3rd grade" because he didn't read as well as other 8 year olds.

Invite other Iowa political junkies to join us at Bleeding Heartland.

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by: desmoinesdem @ Sun Jan 15, 2012 at 19:14:49 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

this post is productive (0.00 / 0)

because it rejects lesser evilism and starts probing in new directions.

The state will no longer send paper tax forms. You are encouraged to file electronically. Vilsack is closing some USDA field offices. Software is getting an update to assist farmers with their paperwork. These are just some of the reasons I was not a harsher critic of the IWD-kiosk decision. One (legitimate) concern is that older folks have trouble negotiating the software, but what is this implying about our expectations of young adults? That they are proficient, no excuses. This is now the default assumption.

When will we have the courage to recognize that the system we place these children in artificially creates these failures?

It's a system designed for post-industrial needs. It is a factory system, and I don't feel the need to lambast from the distance of the 21stC information age. The US was the dominant superpower for most of the last century, and with that, we had a lot of latitude, including an assumption of educational mobility at any life stage if needed beyond basic skill mastery sufficient for a good job on the assembly line, in trucking and transportation, etc. There are many reasons for the "artificially created failures," but we can cut to the chase by saying that perhaps we are due a redesign as we transition to an emphasis on knowledge acquisition skills and their application.

A big part of the problem is political "leadership." Some time ago I read a very interesting study conducted either under the Vilsack or (more likely) Culver administration. A team was sent out to interview rural educators, including volunteers, on the issue of integrating Latino schoolchildren. One detail jumped out at me -- comments about how hard it was to work with families who, at any given time, might pull the children out of the school to attend to an emergency, business or family matter, in Central America. This is a problem of our own making. If you keep part of your workforce "undocumented" or invisible, naturally, ties outside of the country are likely to be maintained longer. You can say "well, too bad," but no, it's too bad for us, and you only have to look at foreclosed neighborhoods across the country, or at Postville, to understand that it's a double-edged sword.

When I read in Bloom's article that UIowa is actively recruiting in China for journalism students, or when I read in the WP that we import "high-skill" workers but freeze their status as non-resident with onerous visa requirements, I ponder how many of these "artificially created failures" aren't also due to lack of political will. How committed is leadership to a top-tier US educational system when there are no limits to drawing on "outsiders" with no pressure to confer the responsibility of residency/citizenship? My opinion, of course, is that we should want them as allies and co-stakeholders in reforming US education instead of limiting them to a transactional relationship w/ US businesses, which includes higher education.

Politically, social promotion has "worked" in the past because retaining students is expensive for school systems, obviously. It's one version of an unfunded mandate. Another one may well be requiring retention without sufficient funding for all of the preventative and remedial measures. I worry that it may well be impossible to ever make that connection to long-term gains and success because the message is: we are not going to invest in you because we have all of these alternatives to you. And kids aren't stupid.

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by: albert @ Sun Jan 15, 2012 at 22:48:17 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

while we are here, (4.00 / 1)

in fairness, universal agreement over "what the data shows us" does not exist. A couple of cites:

Lorence (2006):

many of the individual studies evidence inadequate research designs and faulty conclusions. The overwhelming majority of conclusions from grade retention studies are unwarranted due to the poor quality of research. Overlooked and more recent retention and grade repartition studies suggest that making students repeat a grade may help increase academic achievement.

Jackson (1975):

the accumulated research evidence is so poor that valid inferences cannot be drawn concerning the relative benefits of the two options.

Alexander, Entwisle, Dauber (1994): "bad science"

I personally find the conclusions largely irrelevant for these times, where the effects of free trade, immigration etc are wiping out the alleged marginal benefit to social promotion. College graduates are having difficulty with employment, so talk about dancing on the head of a pin.

I certainly understand why the possibility of retention hovering in the background is unappealing to some, but it is one option to facilitate bringing stakeholders together to take a culture of academic excellence seriously in a reasonable amount of time. I see no reason to dismiss the proposed plan immediately based solely on older research that does not and cannot "prove" this plan's failure due to retention as an option of last resort. Since very vocal opponents such as yourself and Rep. Mary Mascher use the older research as something of a cudgel, it is only fair to point out that its quality does have its detractors.

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by: albert @ Sun Jan 15, 2012 at 02:39:47 AM UTC

[ Parent ]