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Dumb Down, Drill & Kill, Full Circle
01/23/08
11:49:05 am, Categories: Announcements [A] David Hoff picks up a discussion that we started here about whether NCLB had "dumbed down" or narrowed school curricula. I thought many valid points were made on all sides.
Here’s one statement though, that left me puzzled. Eduwonkette (self-proclaimed social scientist):
"The much ballyhooed [CEP report] released last summer found that 44% of districts had reduced time spent on social studies, science, arts and music, lunch and recess to fit in more time for reading and math. Comparing districts that had at least one school not making AYP with those who had none reveals starker contrasts: 51% of districts with at least one identified school decreased time in social studies, while 31% in districts with no identified schools did. (See Table 4 in the CEP report for more.)"
As a social scientist myself, rather than jump to conclusions, as did Eduwonkette, I would ballyhoo ask:
Why did 56% of all districts not narrow down their curricula?
Why even in districts where at least 1 school was identified as not making AYP did 49% not decrease time spent on social studies?
When students can’t read, write, or do math at grade level, is a focus on those subjects, for at least a while, justified?
Those are the questions a real social scientist would ask, if one were really a social scientist.
For Hoff’s piece (which links to everything, for easy one-stop shopping), click: here.
Update: Eduwonkette is back today featuring the work of Helen Ladd of Duke University. Sounds like an interesting paper she cited. I look forward to reading it. I am also ordering the one below at the same time: "Are Teacher Absences Worth Worrying About In The U.S.?", co-authored by Dr. Ladd (just two months ago), which Eduwonkette must have overlooked.
Study questions:
Is this the kind of test-based accountability (linking teacher absences to student achievement) that Dr. Ladd and/or Eduwonkette like or dislike?
Would linking teacher absences to teacher salaries be considered "merit pay"?
Social science. You gotta love it. In all its unvarnished glory.
Are Teacher Absences Worth Worrying About in the U.S.? Charles T. Clotfelter, Helen F. Ladd, Jacob L. Vigdor NBER Working Paper No. 13648 —- Abstract —– Using detailed data from North Carolina, we examine the frequency, incidence, and consequences of teacher absences in public schools, as well as the impact of an absence disincentive policy. The incidence of teacher absences is regressive: schools in the poorest quartile averaged almost one extra sick day per teacher than schools in the highest income quartile, and schools with persistently high rates of teacher absence were much more likely to serve low-income than high-income students. In regression models incorporating teacher fixed effects, absences are associated with lower student achievement in elementary grades. Finally, we present evidence that the demand for discretionary absences is price-elastic. Our estimates suggest that a policy intervention that simultaneously raised teacher base salaries and broadened financial penalties for absences could both raise teachers’ expected income and lower districts’ expected costs.
Issued in November 2007
NBER Program(s): ED
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