tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post7676843186052714292..comments2024-03-29T06:09:09.845-04:00Comments on the daily howler: Limning Minnesota: Ripley bungled these topics too!<b>bob somerby</b>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02963464534685954436noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-2847323228925981262013-11-01T22:40:04.944-04:002013-11-01T22:40:04.944-04:00In an article in Forbes, Diane Ravitch has repeate...In an article in Forbes, Diane Ravitch has repeated the story of Minnesota's 34 point jump, crediting Professor Schmidt's new curriculum with the change.<br /><br />She has long favored changes in the math curriculum (along with a majority of math teachers) and is a former colleague of Dr. Schmidt. However, she is not a supporter of union busting or high stakes testing -- or developmentally inappropriate teaching methods, as are the soi-disant "reformers."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-76911682032818807172013-11-01T19:59:58.840-04:002013-11-01T19:59:58.840-04:00Anonymous November 1, 2013 at 7:58 PM:
Leave now....Anonymous November 1, 2013 at 7:58 PM:<br /><br />Leave now.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-56926523076035904572013-11-01T19:58:41.638-04:002013-11-01T19:58:41.638-04:00He has been offended by the way she manipulates da...He has been offended by the way she manipulates data to suit her own preferred message. You need to understand that Somerby wants people to be honest about facts, not agree with a particular point of view, especially when they are journalists or academics who are supposed to be devoted to a pursuit of knowledge. Did you miss his post about truth?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-12780797855046996772013-11-01T17:40:30.707-04:002013-11-01T17:40:30.707-04:00From what I can tell, Somerby thinks Ravich is a s...From what I can tell, Somerby thinks Ravich is a self-aggrandizing phony.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-76894277917506198452013-11-01T17:28:05.199-04:002013-11-01T17:28:05.199-04:00Diane Ravich was on the Daily Show a couple of day...Diane Ravich was on the Daily Show a couple of days ago, making the same point TDH so often does: that it is a lie that U.S. students do so badly compared to other countries. For some reason TDH doesn't like her, I'm not sure why.AC / MAnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-10739739327864601622013-11-01T16:21:44.511-04:002013-11-01T16:21:44.511-04:00On the 1995 TIMSS Minnesota's fourth graders g...On the 1995 TIMSS Minnesota's fourth graders got a 516. The USA as a whole got 518. (Average is 500, so they were above average).<br /><br />On the 2007 TIMSS tests Minnesota's fourth grade got a 554. A great improvement -- 34 points -- from its 1995 score (which in all honesty were above average to begin with). In 2007, teachers in Minnesota reported that they now devoted 60 per cent more time to teaching math (test prep?) in fourth grade. These figures were trumpeted by U of Michigan Professor William H. Schmidt (of U Mich), as vindicating his revised Minnesota curriculum.<br /><br />However, on the 8th grade 1995 TIMSS test Minnesota got a 518 (same as rest of country, which was somewhat above average) and on the 2007 tests the eighth grade got 532. So Professor Hanushek's new curriculum, if that's what it was, produced a 14 point improvement but did not work miracles. Just below Japan? I don't think so. Japan got a 570. (The US eighth-grade average was 508.) <br /><br />This pamphlet comes from Dr. Schmidt at U Mich., who also consults on the Common Core (I believe). http://www.scimathmn.org/timss/timss2007/2007timss_report.pdf<br /><br />However, others have pointed out that Schmidt himself engages cherry picking, since he ignores all other scores in between, not to say other tests besides the TIMSS which makes him look so good.<br /><br />In general in the USA math scores tend to go down as pupils age because (probably) as one progresses in math it becomes becomes more like reading and languages, subjects for which the US has not figured out how to raise its test scores. (More foreign language study, anyone? Music? Arts. Poetry? That might do it.) - E<br /><br /> Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com