Comments on: Rewriting David Brooks http://borderland.northernattitude.org/2009/05/08/rewriting-david-brooks/ (bôr'dər-lănd') n. Located on or near a frontier. An indeterminate area or condition. Tue, 02 Mar 2010 16:24:44 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Doug Noon http://borderland.northernattitude.org/2009/05/08/rewriting-david-brooks/comment-page-1/#comment-123848 Doug Noon Tue, 19 May 2009 14:35:50 +0000 http://borderland.northernattitude.org/?p=1379#comment-123848 Nancy, we're in complete agreement on the need for better research - and better decision-making processes. Nancy, we’re in complete agreement on the need for better research – and better decision-making processes.

]]> By: Nancy Flanagan http://borderland.northernattitude.org/2009/05/08/rewriting-david-brooks/comment-page-1/#comment-123845 Nancy Flanagan Tue, 19 May 2009 13:58:53 +0000 http://borderland.northernattitude.org/?p=1379#comment-123845 Nice piece, Doug. I especially like the way you have targeted "advocacy" research. Most of the blog flurry around David Brooks' "Harlem Miracle" piece (even the title is misleading--is it a "miracle" when poor children learn?) was directed at Brooks himself. And any time a piece of research shows that charter schools aren't producing any better results, or that children learn better when they're working cooperatively, the first critique always centers on the validity or reliability of the research. Sometimes, I think that the longest-lasting legacy of the Spellings era will be the education community's shift away from high-quality qualitative studies toward large-scale, random-trial quantitative research. That's where the money's going these days. While the information we're getting back very precisely identifies where the test scores are headed, it doesn't illuminate why--or what we should do. I think we already know who is and is not learning at high levels--and spending stimulus billions on data systems to tell us what we already know, without an accompanying fix, is a giant waste of money that has not yet been printed. I see we're doing the "no excuses" tango at Blogboard: http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/blogboard/archives/2009/05/questioning_no.html I am honored to be your partner there, Doug. Nancy Nice piece, Doug. I especially like the way you have targeted “advocacy” research. Most of the blog flurry around David Brooks’ “Harlem Miracle” piece (even the title is misleading–is it a “miracle” when poor children learn?) was directed at Brooks himself. And any time a piece of research shows that charter schools aren’t producing any better results, or that children learn better when they’re working cooperatively, the first critique always centers on the validity or reliability of the research.

Sometimes, I think that the longest-lasting legacy of the Spellings era will be the education community’s shift away from high-quality qualitative studies toward large-scale, random-trial quantitative research. That’s where the money’s going these days. While the information we’re getting back very precisely identifies where the test scores are headed, it doesn’t illuminate why–or what we should do. I think we already know who is and is not learning at high levels–and spending stimulus billions on data systems to tell us what we already know, without an accompanying fix, is a giant waste of money that has not yet been printed.

I see we’re doing the “no excuses” tango at Blogboard:
http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/blogboard/archives/2009/05/questioning_no.html

I am honored to be your partner there, Doug.
Nancy

]]> By: Charlie A. Roy http://borderland.northernattitude.org/2009/05/08/rewriting-david-brooks/comment-page-1/#comment-123044 Charlie A. Roy Sat, 09 May 2009 15:02:49 +0000 http://borderland.northernattitude.org/?p=1379#comment-123044 @ Doug Thought provoking post. It seems a small committed group can always make a large impact. I worry that for any "miracle" to take place it means looking at children and families as holistic units to begin with. Many of the discipline problems in schools are just carry overs from a broken home and poor social structure. Schools that look at the entire picture and come up with creative ways to build authentic communities often have the best results. Those results may not be evident because of some test score that goes up a point but because they are helping develop young men and women who think critically, live humanely, and lead effectively. Find a test that measures those three elements? And find a company that can make a profit doing what it really takes? @ Doug
Thought provoking post. It seems a small committed group can always make a large impact. I worry that for any “miracle” to take place it means looking at children and families as holistic units to begin with. Many of the discipline problems in schools are just carry overs from a broken home and poor social structure. Schools that look at the entire picture and come up with creative ways to build authentic communities often have the best results. Those results may not be evident because of some test score that goes up a point but because they are helping develop young men and women who think critically, live humanely, and lead effectively. Find a test that measures those three elements? And find a company that can make a profit doing what it really takes?

]]> By: Doug Noon http://borderland.northernattitude.org/2009/05/08/rewriting-david-brooks/comment-page-1/#comment-122996 Doug Noon Sat, 09 May 2009 01:13:37 +0000 http://borderland.northernattitude.org/?p=1379#comment-122996 You're right. The NYT calls it a miracle, but whether Brooks believes it himself is another story. At any rate, Broad and Gates would no doubt like for us to count on miracles in place of rational public policy. You’re right. The NYT calls it a miracle, but whether Brooks believes it himself is another story. At any rate, Broad and Gates would no doubt like for us to count on miracles in place of rational public policy.

]]> By: NYC Educator http://borderland.northernattitude.org/2009/05/08/rewriting-david-brooks/comment-page-1/#comment-122984 NYC Educator Fri, 08 May 2009 22:29:02 +0000 http://borderland.northernattitude.org/?p=1379#comment-122984 You had me right to the end--I don't think Brooks believes in miracles. More likely he believes whatever Broad and Gates tell him to believe. And Green Dot, I think, is one of the biggest scams pulled over the eyes of working Americans, with its phony union and the fawning support of part-time UFT President Randi Weingarten, much of it supported by my dues dollars. You had me right to the end–I don’t think Brooks believes in miracles. More likely he believes whatever Broad and Gates tell him to believe. And Green Dot, I think, is one of the biggest scams pulled over the eyes of working Americans, with its phony union and the fawning support of part-time UFT President Randi Weingarten, much of it supported by my dues dollars.

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