SK> ->    Berliner concludes that America operates two sets of
SK> public -> schools:  one providing a "world-class" education
SK> to the wealthy, -> white, Asian and Midwestern students, the
SK> other an abysmal system for -> our poor, Southern, rural and
SK> urban students.   The problem is not a -> crisis in
SK> education, but a crisis in American culture, according to ->
SK> Berliner.
SK> ->    He concurs with Berliner that the "sorry state of
SK> student -> achievement in America is due more to the
SK> conditions of students' -> lives outside of school than it is
SK> to what takes place within -> school walls."  Steinberg:
SK> "There is a crisis in American -> education, but the crisis
SK> is not entirely in America's schools." -> Steinberg chastises
SK> schools for not setting high-enough -> standards, but he also
SK> puts the onus on parents who are not -> involved, peer groups
SK> who mock high-achieving students and "our -> society, which
SK> celebrates anti-intellectualism and glorifies -> stupidity."
This brings to mind the Scientific American article of years ago 
that profiled the achievements of the Vietnamese boat people's 
kids. They were in the "ghetto" schools in LA that were castigated 
for low achievement, etc. The kids were scoring extremely high 
on the SATs and were receiving an excellent education. The 
family's valuing and support of education was the determining 
factor.
 * RM 1.31 3319 * 
--- Platinum Xpress/Win/Wildcat5! v2.0GK
---------------