Left wing politics can be whatever the party says it should be on a given day, and it can totally reverse on the whim of those in power, which is the case in the situations we were addressing (school segregation). Notice I didn't say discussing, because your half of discussions with me has been vacant. You pretty much look for opportunities to slam and sneer. Right wing politics work the same way for what it is worth, which is why I insist that a person of honor stand on principle tempered by conscience.
So I will offer some theory which has shown to be effective in the practice of educating 14-15 year old at-risk-youth. There is a mountain of information but I will select three concepts to start with. Self Efficacy, Competency, and Social Support. Is this perls before swine, as usual?
Self Efficacy: Students are aware of the likelihood of their success at an early age for many reasons. They decide a high school diploma will be a valuable asset, or not, before they even enter high school. Can I even succeed in graduating? If I graduate will a diploma increase my chances of success as an adult? A surprising number of students don't believe working for several more years on the paper chase is worth their time. Throwing more money at educational programs for them has no effect on that belief.
Competency: Well this is where the old, "success breeds success," comes in. When any human being sees their efforts as accomplishing something better than what they had before, they are motivated to repeat the scenario again and again. More money, if directed at increasing success for those who are motivated to succeed, can make a difference here.
Social Support: 20 year studies have been performed on kids who were identified as at-risk-children. Researchers found that 10% were resilient. The 10% succeeded in education, careers, and family life. The researchers found that the common factor in the 10% is social support. In various studies they identified 20+ social support factors considered essential for a child who was resilient. Where there is a single mother for example, the ten percenter had another strong male role model in their life. Where there was economic hardship the ten percenter had economic support from outside the family, etc.
So, tejek that is the tip of the iceberg, there is tons of information available and lots of demonstrated approaches to student success. In general public education wastes extra-funding to benefit the educators more than the kids. Funding can make a difference, but blanket policies of throwing more money at education has historically resulted in the perpetuation of bad practices...which is more harm than good. Change occurs when the comfortable status quo of the educator is threatened. Funding programs that are based on better models shown to be successful, is a good idea as long as you don't decide one size fits all, like Bush's "no child left behind" push. Funding models shown to be effective also threatens the comfortable status quo of the average educator. |
