An Anti-Racist Education for Middle Schoolers

 From Reason Magazine: 

District officials evidently believe that the practice of grading students based on average scores is racist and that "anti-racism" demands a learning environment free of the pressure to turn in assignments on time. As evidence for the urgency of these changes, the district released data showing that minority students received more Ds and Fs than white students: Just 7 percent of whites received failing grades, compared to 23 percent of Native Americans, 23 percent of Hispanics, and 20 percent of black students.

"This is part of our honest reckoning as a school district," Vice President Richard Barrera told a local NBC affiliate. "If we're actually going to be an anti-racist school district, we have to confront practices like this that have gone on for years and years."

These changes to San Diego schools' grading system are an excellent example of a bureaucracy citing a noble-sounding goal (who could be against anti-racism?) to justify a policy that doesn't address the issue whatsoever. After all, eliminating these kinds of grades won't eliminate the underlying inequities that produced the disparate failure rates. It may actually cover those inequities up: Given that grades are a tool for evaluating students' progress, the district is essentially announcing that it will no longer gather as much evidence as it could about negative social phenomena it would presumably like to fix. Better grades do not mean students will suddenly have a better grasp of the material. They certainly won't be better prepared for college, where traditional grades are very much still a thing.

When discussing grades though, we mustn't forget that grade inflation has been a problem for years. That, along with degraded standards and requirements, means that for a lot of students their public school education sorely lacks a lot of actual education. Even though students are receiving grades, the grades mean nothing.

When I retired, students were to be given half credit, 50%, even on assignments that were never turned in. And students had until the last week of the term to turn in every assignment, even if it was work from the beginning of the term that they had forgotten how to do - because they hadn't done the work.

"Antiracism" seems like just another way to lower standards, which hurts all students and society at large.

Turn & Talk / "Antiracist" Grading Starts with You

 The reason behind this blog is so I can rant and rave about why American public education is in such a sorry state. It saves me from annoying my wife and from stopping strangers on the street to listen to my great, terrific, stupendous ideas for improving American education.

These days, rather than merely letting things get worse, there are people actively working to make things worse. It's as if they're working toward reducing the number of children who, upon graduating from high school, have actually gotten an education that will enable them to function in society, get a job, and be able to learn and pass on the hard lessons learned from thousands of years of human civilization. Maybe "No Child Left Behind" was an empty slogan, but now were seeing the tacit promotion of - all children left behind.

Part of that promotion is "antiracist grading." I'd never heard of it before, but after reading this article, I think some alleged experts are stretching their alleged expertise into a Bizarro world.

First, I want to challenge the assumption of your question—the term "fall behind" is a social construct. This idea of where a person should be is not a naturally occurring thing. We know from child development psychologist Jean Piaget that all people develop differently and grow at different paces.

And yet, we do know that there is a certain body of knowledge that a person needs in order to navigate life. Yes, children grow and learn at different paces, but the current Covid-related dependence on online school is slowing down the learning process for a large number of children.

Instead of the absurd focus on and twisting of grading practices, how about moving that focus to teaching children to read? While you're at it, throw in lessons on writing and spelling. If you have time after those lessons, some math couldn't hurt. When I say "math" of course, I'm referring to teaching children how to DO math; computation and all that jazz.

One thing we understand from Universal Design for Learning is that there are multiple ways a kid can express their knowing. And so if you know 2+2=4, one way you can express your knowing is by writing it. Another way you can express your knowing is by discussing it. A third way is by creating a model that shows it. A fourth way is by illustrating it and a fifth way is by performing a play. But in too many schools, only one way is considered legitimate. So if you write it, you get an A and that's it. There might be 100 kids in the school who know 2+2=4, but if only two of those kids can write it, then only two of those kids will receive As. That is profoundly discriminatory.

Maybe I'm taking this argument too literally, but being able to express an idea succinctly so that others can understand it would signal that a student understands the concept. In the case of math, to me, that means being able to do the math. If you can write a play showing that 2+2=4, you can certainly figure out the equation.

The second thing I would eliminate is the ideology of transactional gratitude. In most academic spaces, there is a silent pact that teachers make with students: I will agree to teach you well if you demonstrate to me that you are thankful for it. And if you do not demonstrate to me that you are thankful for it, I will withhold quality teaching from you.

This is just insulting to every hard-working teacher who tries to reach every student in spite of all of the roadblocks set up against proper teaching. "Antiracist grading" seems to me to be one more roadblock. 

Hey, Black Lives Matter: Do You Really Want China to Run the World?

 This is by David P. Goldman at PJ Media. It's from June 22 of this year, but it's still relevant. 

China is a ruthless meritocracy. Ten million high-school students take the gaokao (college entrance exam) each year, with math questions a lot tougher than our Graduate Record Examination. The average Chinese family spends the equivalent of a year’s income on tutoring. A third of Chinese undergraduates major in engineering, and China graduates six times as many STEM BAs as the U.S. each year–more than the U.S., Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Europe combined. A lot of their teachers hold doctorates from top U.S. universities, where we trained up a world-class faculty for Chinese universities (which now rank among the world’s best in STEM according to all the Western ratings).

Meanwhile, the University of California is “phasing out” standardized exam (SAT and ACT) scores as a criterion for admission, in order to build a Potemkin village of equality. China is building up its universities and we are destroying ours. Who do you think will run the world a couple of decades from now?

China is the most racist country in the world. It put between one and two million members of the Turkic Muslim Uyghur minority through “re-education camps” in its Western Xinjiang province to crush resistance to cultural absorption. Every Chinese I have spoken with about this, from government officials to office workers, says matter-of-factly, “We’re going to kill them all.” That is how China has been handling “unruly barbarians” for thousands of years. 

Somehow personal achievement has become something that is frowned upon in this country. Our children are the ones who will suffer because of that mindset.

The soft bigotry of anti-racist expectations, by Ian Rowe

 Yes, black kids can achieve and meet expectation in public schools. They can do as well as white kids (not that white kids are doing that great either) and Asian kids. But not if we hold them to lower expectations in the name of "antiracism." 

Despite these facts, school districts across the country are adopting the narrative that racial disparities in academic outcomes pose today’s greatest educational challenge. Such tunnel vision towards problems is usually accompanied by an equally narrow vision towards causality. These educators are reinforcing the flawed belief that every racial disparity must be due to white supremacy and systemic racism, regardless of other factors like declines in stable families or lack of school choice, which may play a far more powerful role in impeding the development of children of all races. The resulting “anti-racist” policies are becoming the unintended, modern day version of the soft bigotry of low expectations.

I taught in a district where requirements were slowly lowered over the years until they were meaningless. When I left, students were allowed to turn in any assignment for full credit up until the last week of the term. Parents repeatedly asked for lists and new copies of those missing assignments, which were usually still not turned in. We were not allowed to give zeros on assignments that weren't turned in. Students had to be given 50%. And of course, nobody was allowed to be retained even at a parent's request, because the research says . . . 

Racism is not the cause of current disparities. For more information on that subject, I strongly recommend Thomas Sowell's book "Discrimination and Disparities."

And as Ben Shapiro once said on a related subject:

San Diego Unified Holds ‘White Privilege’ Training Sessions For Teachers

 Don't expect American public education to improve. Here is another reason why the majority of American public school students will continue to graduate with little or no reading, writing, math, or critical thinking skills.

On Thursday, an exclusive report on leaked documents revealed that the San Diego Unified School District was holding training sessions where teachers were told of their “white privilege,” that they were racist, and they were part of an oppressive white power structure. Not only are the teachers told that they must acknowledge their “privilege” and embrace “antiracist” ideas, they are instructed to “teach others to see their privilege.”

Christopher Rufo of City Journal reported what he had discovered in the leaked documents. “SCOOP: San Diego Unified School District is forcing teachers to attend ‘white privilege’ training, in which teachers are told ‘you are racist’ and ‘you are upholding racist ideas, structures, and policies.’ The leaked documents from the training session will shock you,” Rufo wrote in a series of posts.

Teachers can't teach if they aren't being trained to teach. Unless things change radically, look for the next generation to be even less skilled than current graduates. Next, students will learn how to humiliate their teachers - instead of learning useful skills.

Read the whole article and weep for what will be coming next.

Baltimore County Teacher Quits, Says School is 'Chaos', by Chris Papst

This is one school in Baltimore. The same thing is going on in hundreds of schools throughout the nation, and it shouldn't be. This is our future, boys and girls. As ugly as it is now, it's only going to get worse.

Even the students who want to learn are having a tough time due to the kids who work hard every day to make sure that nobody learns.

Robusto started working at Pleasant Plains Elementary in September. It was closer to home and to where her daughter goes to school. But her excitement quickly faded.

“The behavior problems at the school were intense. The kids kind of ran the school,” she said. “Fire alarms just being pulled at least twice a week. I was physically assaulted. I was called names. This is stuff that happened on a daily basis.”

Robusto said dealing with behavior problems left her with little time to actually teach. In 2018, Pleasant Plains fifth grade English test scores were less than half the state average. Fifth grade math scores were a little higher than half the state average. With 26 reported acts of violence last year, Pleasant Plains had the seventh most out of the County’s 112 elementary schools.

“It was babysitting. It was playing whack-a-mole all day. I don’t know how else to put it,” Robusto said.

Robusto told Project Baltimore that when Pleasant Plains was having problems with students leaving the school, teachers were given a list of strategies to keep them in class. The strategies included dimming the lights and making sure the student had comfortable clothing.

“One of the suggestions was to help them calm down and not leave the classroom, was have lavender scents in your classroom,” Robusto said.

When asked if she tried using lavender, Robusto replied, “No. That’s not my job. My job isn’t to run a spa. My job is to teach.”

District leaders and government officials have no idea as to how to handle this problem so they offer worthless ideas; ideas that don't work. But when teachers complain about the chaos that they're trying desperately to handle, the answer is, "We gave you a book full of strategies. Are you using the book?"

The South Bronx School that Outscores the Suburbs

I can't say for certain, but it seems to me that none of the current education theories and programs coming out of Columbia University and all of the other big time teacher colleges consider the fact that education is hard work. No, you can't make a game out of it because education is not a game. It is as serious as your life. (Yes, I may have said this once or twice before.) It takes dedication and time. And if everyone involved is dedicated and is willing to put in the time and work past the pain when things get tough, students can learn. It's not easy, and families do have to decide if the rewards are worth the effort. Oh, and the students' skin color doesn't make a difference. All children can learn if they're taught correctly.
From City Journal:

The intense focus on student achievement comes with a real human cost, however. Staff turnover is high, and the school’s interactions with parents and students, while sometimes loving, can be blunt. Pondiscio describes a January meeting of kindergarten parents, called because the five-year-old students are not performing at expected levels on the school’s interim assessment of reading levels. The teachers sense that “something is off.” About a third of the parents show up and are informed that unless the children improve by the next assessment, they will not likely reach the required reading level by the end of the year. If that happens, they will not be promoted to first grade. “All of us in this room are not doing enough for our kids,” they are told.

Later in the meeting, a parent points out that her son has no trouble completing his assignments at home but that he gets scared in school and misses answers. One might expect the teacher to offer encouragement and emotional support, but that’s not the Success Academy way. The teacher replies, “At home, your child is in such a relaxed environment. Do you time him?” No, the parent says. “Start timing him.” Such an unstinting approach can appear harsh, but this is what Success promises parents it will deliver.

In this light, Pondiscio relates a story he heard from the mother of a Success student. Growing up in the Bay Area, the student’s mother attended “supposedly good” public schools, which promoted her from grade to grade despite teaching her little. “They were like, ‘Just let this Latina pass.” That never happens at Success Academy. Accountability is inescapable, and students and parents always know where the children stand relative to one another in terms of achievement.

Yes, it sounds like they are a bunch of child-hating meanies, but:

When a five-year-old kindergartener fails to complete his book review, he is told that he will not be allowed to participate in “block time” the following day. Pondiscio admits to the teacher that he would have caved in after seeing the tears well up in the child’s eyes, but Success teachers are on a mission: to get their students proficient in reading and mathematics in time for New York State testing in third grade. National research shows that fewer than one-third of students who fall behind by fourth grade attain college readiness by high school graduation.  

It's a lot of work for everyone, students, parents, and teachers. There is high turnover among the school's teachers. It's not easy for anyone. But teaching is a difficult profession, and it's even more difficult when working with children who may come to school two or three steps behind those suburban kids whose parents are dedicated to their education. So again, are the rewards worth the tears?