The U.S. elected a political hack from one of the most politicized and corrupt regions of the country. He promised, and enacted, economic policies which have never worked. How did it all go wrong?
“There are some ideas so wrong that only a very intelligent person could believe in them.” George Orwell.
“The government will make all your dreams come true, including your nightmares.”
More about the criteria for effective programs.
from the book: Shadow Dancing on the Grave of Hope:
8. Rationale for Client Selection
In criminal rehabilitation, only high-need, high-risk clients benefit from rehabilitation programs. In general, the program should be tuned to the needs of the clients. Choosing clients who don’t need a program and then attributing their success to the program is one way to appear successful. Boot camp programs in criminal rehabilitation are good example of this legerdemain.
9. Is integrated inside and outside the program
Program components should complement rather than contradict each other. Similarly, components should be related directly to the world outside the teaching situation.
10. Contains techniques for Transfer
Knowledge gained in educational programs are easily transferable. Two plus two equals four is true in many environments. Transfer in other programs such as criminal rehabilitation and drug and alcohol rehabilitation, is more difficult to get and needs to be built into programs.
11. Deals directly with the problem
Many programs try to deal with problems indirectly. For example, a drug or alcohol rehabilitation program may try to deal with “personality issues”. These programs always fail.
12. Agility
A program needs to be able to be guided by daily results. Parts of a program may be more difficult for a client than others. The program must be structured so that extra practice may be directed to those parts for certain clients.
13. Follows the Principles of Learning
Learning principles such as simple to complex, cumulative review, sufficient repetition, feedback, and making the material consistent with the beginning skill set of the client, will ensure acquisition and maintenance of the program material.
14. Program Integrity by Staff Compliance
This is a fancy way of saying that the program is carried out the way it is described. The best way to guarantee integrity if to make economic well-being dependent upon it. The other requirement is a systematic method of monitoring the programmer’s behavior.
15. Powerful Results
“Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.” John Adams
The results must indicate substantial change rather than statistical significance. Powerful results will always be statistically significant, but the reverse is rarely true.
Cheerio and ttfn,
Grant Coulson
Cui Bono–Cherchez les Contingencies
