MATT SMITH spoke of Re: U.S. Education to DAN TRIPLETT on 11-16-96
MS>DT> This is probably true.  The point of this article is that we need
MS>DT> to  look at educational facts on an individual basis.  If others
MS>DT> are  going 
MS>DT> to lump facts together and make the claim that _all_ of America's
MS>DT> educational system is failing they need to be able to prove every
MS>DT> piece.   
MS> 
MS>    Evaluating public schools as an _American_ institution does not
MS>mean  evaluating the public schools of either an impoverished
MS>all-minority slum or  an all-white farming state.  It means
MS>evaluating the performance of public  schools as a _composite_
MS>typical of what American kids get.  
If we are going to fairly evaluate how well our schools are teaching, 
and factors like community economics effect student performance, then 
our evaluation must take into consideration outside factors.  Schools 
can't be held responsible for factors outside their control.  We don't 
have poor quality education in some schools so much as we have poor 
schools.  We know economics to be a factor in student performance so we 
need to address that issue.  Lumping all schools together and coming up 
with an average does not tell us anything.  
Dan
--- GEcho 1.11+
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