Spending the way out of recession is like fornicating the way out of promiscuity.
The current darling of “stimulus spending”, Keynes, is supposed to have said, in response to the criticism that his policies would be harmful in the long run, “In the long run, we’ll all be dead.” Keynes is dead, but his policies are still harmful. Keynes popularized the notion of the “multiplier”, the notion that a government dollar was “multiplied” in its effect. How this “seeing-eye” dollar was better than any other was simply assumptive knowledge which has not been demonstrated, but sounds really good.
Commenting on the death of a much better man, A.P. Hill, Corps Commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, Robert E. Lee said, “He is at rest, and we who are left are the ones to suffer.” Could have been talking about Keynes.
Now for the story of how a financially successful learning center began. Whether it is successful for individual students is a question of data. Skinner wrote an article on “Having a poem.”, meaning that influences converge to produce an outcome. This is only the story of how it happened to me, not a story of how it should be done, as shall be seen. It will be a mixture of concept and narrative.
The first concept I adhere to rigidly is to never consult with or talk to any representative of any government agency. One gets three, not mutually exclusive responses: The first is that we’re experts and you’re an idiot so don’t bother us. The second is that we do that already. Of course, they don’t, and can’t do anything remotely like it because they don’t know how. The third is,”What a good idea. We’ll get right on it.” No they won’t because they can’t. A school, operating under the third principle bought an expensive program which, three years later, was still in the original shrink wrapping.
One of the last “conferences” I attended, about 12 years ago, had about seven school representatives–the usual suspects or gang of idiots, take your pick–The teacher, vice-principal, behavior expert, etc. They talked about the problems the student had, not their solutions. I told them that he was a PITA, they all leaned forward, expecting a new “diagnosis”. “He’s a pain in the ass.” I got nervous titters. Anyway, the student, who “tested” at the 2nd and 5th percentile on standardized IQ tests, was having them on. He’s now in university.
Parents still ask me to attend conferences, offering me money to do so. I tell them, rather than talk to civil servants, I would prefer to have the standard, red-hot wires stuck in my eyes.
It’s pointless to talk to the majority of teachers to “coordinate” with them. It’s only for show because they can’t and/or won’t do anything useful.
Never try to follow the school curriculum. It’s made up of the usual nonsense, is non-linear and proceeds independently of the student. A year of mathematics is about as meaningful as a pound of happiness. If one looks at a mathematics textbook, one finds a startling lack of continuity between chapters. Following the curriculum is tutoring, not teaching.
These are my two “avoid at all cost rules”. Tomorrow, I’ll talk about the more positive ones.
Following Murphy’s Second Law, “Things always take longer than they do”, this chat about setting up a learning center will probably go on for several days.
Cheers and ttfn,
Grant Coulson
November 7, 2009 at 3:42 pm |
it’s not just government officials . . . it happens with private schools too (and most-likely charters too!)
“we’re looking into changes in that area” – yes, but they won’t be meaningful or evidence-based
“we don’t believe in drill and kill” – yes, dedicated practice is evil
and so on . . .
November 7, 2009 at 6:19 pm |
To the drill and kill I say “Drill and thrill”. that shuts them up and sends them mumbling away.
You’re right about private schools. One of the most expensive in my area told children to take off their shoes and count on their toes.
Charters are just another way of saying “government” although some of them are very effective.
Cheers, Grant Coulson
November 7, 2009 at 11:39 pm |
I had a very similar experience at a school conference about a not-that-difficult, underachieving student. I went with his mother and his caseworker from a local agency that assists kids who have had run-ins with the juvenile justice system (this boy had committed vandalism on public property). He was bright, suffered from some serious instructional deficits, and was routinely getting suspended from school for egregious offences like rolling his eyes when spoken to (the staff of this school should have spent a day at mine — seriously).
The parent had alleged improper penalties applied to her son, and the purpose of the meeting was to assign all blame to the student.A bunch of big guns from the district office were there — I calculated the salaries of those present on the district side added up to over a million dollars a year. Teachers presented little data tables on the student’s non-submission of homework, tardiness to class etc etc. After one paused for breath I asked in a cheery tone what *use* they made of the data. Did they inform the parent? Did they develop a behavior plan or contract? Did they have a conference with the student? Did they, in fact, do ANYTHING AT ALL?
There was a dead silence for over a minute, coupled with shuffling feet and nervous coughs. It turns out the answer was, No, no, no and no. They just “collected the data.” Somehow this was going to solve a problem. “We are a data-driven district.”
The top-paid bigwig did have the grace to be embarrassed and shot me a very angry look. The parent and the community agency worker then had the opportunity to discuss the student’s many strengths and the parent’s support at home (extensive). I asked if there wasn’t some way staff at the school could mentor the student (who lacked organizational skills) and teach him strategies for completing and turning in assignments, etc.
Dead silence, again. All these highly paid educators seemed to have no idea how to teach a seventh-grader to use a planner or a checklist. Finally a youth worker (no college degree) piped up with a sensible idea. She probably made less than $15/hr, but she was the only one with something practical to contribute.
It was an eye-opening experience. I had thought severe idiocy was confined to my district and especially to its more challenged schools. This was a school in a “good” district, in a stable non-diverse college town. Yikes.
Lunacy is everywhere.