Do not think about, write about or deal with human behavior without determining the effects of incentives.
The Polish president was killed in Russia after attending ceremonies commemorating the Katyn Massacre in 1940. Tens of thousands of Poles of the officer and intellectual class were murdered by the Soviet government in a brutal and official manner for which the Communists were well-known. Prisoners at one site were presented with their backs to the executioners who shot them in the back of the head. Each executioner had several pistols so that, as one became overheated, others were available, thoughtfully provided by helpers who were loading them. This was done by the same regime that many intellectuals in the West were characterizing as the “best hope for mankind” and/or “the inevitable result of the evolution of man’s best instincts.” Intellectuals in universities were no more likely to be correct, aware or sensible then as they are now when certainty about other nonsensical orthodoxies prevails. Stalin’s rationale was that, “Eggs must be broken for a omelette.” Alas, the omelette was inedible but the eggs were still broken.
This is more from the sixth chapter of Engelman and Carmine’s unpublished book referred to earlier. Chapter 6 is found on zigsite.com
“3. As Don’s response documented, the entire sequence appeared to be ill conceived when only one relatively tiny discrimination was missing. Don is a very sophisticated observer, so if he did not identify the missing small inference that could account for the students’ performance, it is not likely that even very competent teachers would. In Don’s defense, he did not observe the students’ progress from the beginning of the rounding sequence, so he may have lacked information needed to identify the link. In teachers’ defense, they are not trained in the skills needed to identify problems of this type. Their typical response to the students’ failure is to repeat the material, which works in some cases, but often isn’t effective when the sequence is flawed.”
The sequence referred to is related to estimation and rounding and shows the immense complexity of creating a program effective with all students. This is the kind of work that goes into Direct Instruction. No teacher, including myself, is capable of the time, effort and expertise that goes into this enterprise.
Had the program provided a brief explanation and a few exercises, it would have been, as are most programs are, just another little piece of the long, expensive IQ test that is North American education.
“As the illustrations show, there are various ways to design instruction, and there are many ways that the sequence can fail. The only certain way to determine which parts of sequences fail, and the only certain way to determine how to remedy problems of failure is to observe student performance, with great attention to the difference between what they are able to do and what they are expected to do. When their performance reveals that they are unable to do something they were expected to do, the remedy becomes a question of logic.”
“The program sequence must be recognized as the cause of the students’ problem. And the only acceptable solution is to use the evidence of the students’ performance to determine how to modify failed sequences.”
Just so.
Cheerio and ttfn,
Grant Coulson
Cui Bono–Cherchez les Contingencies
December 7, 2010 at 5:53 pm |
Home Schooling Programs are vital to the success of our children