Florida sets separate but unequal goals for students of differing races.

[Perd Hapley]

http://tampa.cbslocal.com/2012/10/12/florida-passes-plan-for-racially-based-academic-goals/

The Florida State Board of Education passed a plan that sets goals for students in math and reading based upon their race.

On Tuesday, the board passed a revised strategic plan that says that by 2018, it wants 90 percent of Asian students, 88 percent of white students, 81 percent of Hispanics and 74 percent of black students to be reading at or above grade level. For math, the goals are 92 percent of Asian kids to be proficient, whites at 86 percent, Hispanics at 80 percent and blacks at 74 percent. It also measures by other groupings, such as poverty and disabilities, reported the Palm Beach Post.

This oughttabe a hoot.   

Not sure if this belongs here, or in politics.

[vaskidmark]

Not sure if this belongs here, or in politics.

We need a new Comedy" section for stuff like this.

stay safe.

[SADShooter]

We need a new Comedy" section for stuff like this.

stay safe.

Don't you really mean tragedy?

[vaskidmark]

Don't you really mean tragedy?

Nope.  Tragedy involves an heroic figure.  This is merely epic - as in Epic Fail (times infinity).

stay safe.

[Hawkmoon]

I don't think I understand.

In addition, State Board of Education Chairwoman Kathleen Shanahan said that setting goals for different subgroups was needed to comply with terms of a waiver that Florida and 32 other states have from some provisions of the federal No Child Left Behind Act. These waivers were used to make the states independent from some federal regulations.

So, in order to ensure that no child is left behind, the state has institutionalized leaving behind significant segments of the student population? I thought we had done the New Math fad maybe 40 years ago. I guess they're still using it in some places.

[roo_ster]

Children are left behind all the time.  Some because the system leaves them, some because they don't have what it takes upstairs to keep up.

I wonder what the standard deviation of the test is?  I am smelling 12-14 pts.

[Chuck Dye]

State standards only matter where they exceed parental standards, may not matter even then.

[Ned Hamford]

[SteveS]

Children are left behind all the time.  Some because the system leaves them, some because they don't have what it takes upstairs to keep up.

Yep, someone has to be on the left side of the IQ bell curve.

That being said, the system has to train them to do something.

[griz]

I don't think I understand.

So, in order to ensure that no child is left behind, the state has institutionalized leaving behind significant segments of the student population?

Not only that, but we have institutionized leaving behind higher precentages of some minorities.  I think this clearly demonstrates that favoring one race over another, even with "good" intentions, will never result in a color blind result.

[Boomhauer]

That being said, the system has to train them to do something.

It already does. Collect welfare checks, do no work, PROFIT!

[longeyes]

The answer is vocational training (aka career tech) and dignifying "blue collar" work in America.  There are way too many white collars in this nation, and we are looking at the cultural results of that all around us.

[seeker_two]

It can be separate as long as it's equal.....

[RoadKingLarry]

The answer is vocational training (aka career tech) and dignifying "blue collar" work in America.  There are way too many white collars in this nation, and we are looking at the cultural results of that all around us.

But nobody wants to be some low brow blue collar type.
Of course I see many people that turn there nose up a Joe the plumber, Bob the mechanic and Fred the garbage hauler. None are too keen on admitting they can't do without them.
Go ahead big city banker, go a couple weeks with your plumbing not working, how much is the plumbers services worth now? Car won't start? Who ya gonna call, Skippy with the MBA or Skeeter down at the garage?

[kgbsquirrel]

It can be separate as long as it's equal.....

You mean like mandatory hiring policies where you're supposed to grade demonstrably unequal applicants as if they had identical proficiency? Gee, where have I see that before...

[HankB]

It already does. Collect welfare checks, do no work, PROFIT!

You forgot the most important thing . . . VOTE DEMOCRATIC!

[longeyes]

But nobody wants to be some low brow blue collar type.
Of course I see many people that turn there nose up a Joe the plumber, Bob the mechanic and Fred the garbage hauler. None are too keen on admitting they can't do without them.
Go ahead big city banker, go a couple weeks with your plumbing not working, how much is the plumbers services worth now? Car won't start? Who ya gonna call, Skippy with the MBA or Skeeter down at the garage?

The jobs that can't be exported have to be local.  That means "the trades" in many cases.  But these are skills a lot of Americans once had and ought to have again.

I keep waiting for some honesty about "jobs" in these debates.  Sooner or later someone will have to question the genius of "globalism" and whom it really benefits.

[Hugh Damright]

The Florida State Board of Education passed a plan that sets goals for students in math and reading based upon their race.

On Tuesday, the board passed a revised strategic plan that says that by 2018, it wants 90 percent of Asian students, 88 percent of white students, 81 percent of Hispanics and 74 percent of black students to be reading at or above grade level. For math, the goals are 92 percent of Asian kids to be proficient, whites at 86 percent, Hispanics at 80 percent and blacks at 74 percent. It also measures by other groupings, such as poverty and disabilities, reported the Palm Beach Post.

It is given that "the percentage of white students scoring at or above grade level ... was 69 percent in 2011-2012, according to the state. For black students, it was 38 percent, and for Hispanics, it was 53 percent". So what would be the proper way to set goals? Is it racism to recognize the reality and set goals to improve the situation?

Is it racism to recognize that blacks are so far behind that they need to double their scoring (from 38 to 74)? Does it follow that whites should also double their score from 69 to 138 ... it doesn't even make sense that 138% of whites should be scoring at or above their grade. Or does it follow that the goal for blacks and whites should both be 74 when whites are already at 69? It seems to me that the way they are doing it is probably proper, setting very high goals for blacks/hispanics because they are so far behind, and then setting the goals for whites based on the given performance of whites.

I suppose at first glance it might look like racism to say that the goal for blacks is 74 while the goal for whites is 86 ... but are blacks really being given a lesser objective when the goal for blacks is to double their grade while the goal for whites is to increase their grade by 25%?

[roo_ster]

It is given that "the percentage of white students scoring at or above grade level ... was 69 percent in 2011-2012, according to the state. For black students, it was 38 percent, and for Hispanics, it was 53 percent". So what would be the proper way to set goals? Is it racism to recognize the reality and set goals to improve the situation?

Is it racism to recognize that blacks are so far behind that they need to double their scoring (from 38 to 74)? Does it follow that whites should also double their score from 69 to 138 ... it doesn't even make sense that 138% of whites should be scoring at or above their grade. Or does it follow that the goal for blacks and whites should both be 74 when whites are already at 69? It seems to me that the way they are doing it is probably proper, setting very high goals for blacks/hispanics because they are so far behind, and then setting the goals for whites based on the given performance of whites.

I suppose at first glance it might look like racism to say that the goal for blacks is 74 while the goal for whites is 86 ... but are blacks really being given a lesser objective when the goal for blacks is to double their grade while the goal for whites is to increase their grade by 25%?

All that you write makes sense, but does not get at the heart of the matter. 

Ask yourself, "What is the number one objective of educrats, after that of keeping their phoney-baloney jobs?"  The answer is, "Narrow the gap."  Need you ask which gap?  For those slow on the pickup, I will provide it: the white vs black achievement gap.

Here is the explanation of what is occurring:

http://www.lagriffedulion.f2s.com/adverse.htm (the form of a parable)

http://isteve.blogspot.com/2010/08/not-making-much-progress-are-we.html (a bit more straight forward)

I will leave you this tantalizing chart:

[Caption: Pass-rate gaps, when measured by percentage point differences, can appear to change dramatically without any real change occurring in the difference between mean scores.]



Bottom line:
They are changing the test and making it easier, to shrink the white/black percentile gap. 

Right now (in 69%vs38%RealityLand), the test lies in the middle of the chart above, at near the spot predicted to maximize the white/black achievement gap.  Go ahead, plot the white passing rate on the chart above, move on over to y-axis, and look at the gap.  Is it close to 69-38=31%?  Looks about like 35% to my eyes.  Not too bad a fit, given one(1) data point.

Now, if you were an educrat, which way would you prefer to move on the chart?  Well, we don't want to anger parents of white kids if we make the test harder and they do worse, thus narrowing the gap at the expense of white kids' scores. 

No, the best route to to pull a Full Wobegone: make every child above average by making the test easier.







(1) Lagriffe du Lion provides more such data.