The CNN special is American so you can apply only so much to Canada, but it is well worth watching as it outlines some of the challenges and describes a range of solutions for the ills public education anywhere may have.

AHA Effect And Parent Involvement In Education

-  The “Aha! Effect” refers to the common human experience of suddenly understanding a previously incomprehensible problem or concept. (Wikpedia)

A recent survey tells us there are a good number of grandparents still involved in trying to understand and deal with the “incomprehensible” problems in education of the young. Some grandparents, me included, are dismayed to be dealing with the very same problems and system unresponsiveness regarding our grandchildren in schools as we faced with our own children.

This persistence over several generations means 1) “the system” generally remains as intransigent and unresponsive as ever, and 2) a small body of people are willing to continue to improve and reform education matters despite system discouragement.

“Spectacularly unsuccessful” is the conclusion many of us reach as a result of our efforts. (Malkin Dare “How to Make Your School Council Work” 1997)

Furthermore, any inkling of success or positive change for parents triggers a strong counter-effort by the BLOB (Bloated Learning Organized Bureaucracy). Having overwhelming institutional memory, supports, power and money it’s a David and Goliath match.  And David never seems to win!

I think this institutional response against parents started with Dwight Roper’s article in the Dec ’77 issue of PDK “Parents as the Natural enemy of the School System”.  So convincing and threatening was this article that thereafter the defense was eternally on guard and knee-jerk reactive.

We’ve had many discussions about our frustrations.  We’ve bemoaned the fact that new parents are mired in spinning wheels AND reinventing the wheel.  Where are we to help except in small ways with a few parents?

There is little continuity between the generations and little build-up of strategies and tactics to help parents navigate the education of their children. 

The question arose of seeking out some useful books but the finding was that there were none.  None, like Ralph Nader’s “Unsafe at an Speed” to raise the alarm. Or any how-to book for parents to be aware of “the good, the bad and the ugly of it all”(Chuck). 

Finally, Chuck concludes we need something “of a whistleblower edition”.

I agree.

I’m ready to jumpstart such a project.  Others can share in this effort, at whatever level convenient.

Proposal:

AHA project

First thing I would do is send a questionnaire to determine the level of interest, relevant background, and get suggestions. Anonymous is OK.

I will send the 4pg article “Parents as the Natural Enemy …” to those who want it. Email me .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) with subject line — AHA project.

It’s time we went beyond knowledge of this field and developed something applicable and useful for others.

Mr. Myers, our problems are very similar to the U.S.:—lack of accountability; mamoth burearcracy; strong unions in a monopoly; poor teaching methods.  All of these factors result in our children being robbed of a decent education, and many have their lives ruined because of these problems.

With all due respect
we in Canada are not perfect
BUT
we are different in many ways.
e.g.,
- the role of Catholic ed
- the gaps between rich and poor
- the demographic makeup
- role of the federal government
- international test scores
My kids have dual citizenship for a reason and i have worked with teachers in the US.

Best to focus on real
not imagined issues in Canada.
Are some similar to those in the US? yes
Are we identical? NO
Can they teach us things? yes
Can we do the same for them? yes

One of the members of the board of SQE, Mark Holmes
gets furious when we use American examples to prove a point in Canada.
He has a point.

Evidence, please.

John, the education structure of both countries are very different, as well as the funding and authority constructs. What remains the same today, as it was yesterday, is the lack of accountability,  mammoth bureaucracy; strong unions in a monopoly; poor teaching methods as Bev has stated. Added to the list is the quality of education being received, that requires remediation after 12 years of schooling, on what is considered the foundation, the base essential needed to do advance work at the post-secondary level. Canada, is at 40 % for remediation at the post-secondary level, and the United States is slightly above Canada. Both rates increasing, and both public education systems are standing on their pedestals, defending the status-quo.

In many ways, when one removes the layers of both public education system, what remains is both delivers education in similar ways, using the regulatory regime to control parents, and external factors such as legal rights, and values of society. Both systems, have made themselves the defacto experts on the education of children, and remains so today, because of the political capital and power acquired over the years, to insert their authority over all things education.

I would call it education malpractice, when post-secondary students are made to pay for a course, acquiring foundation knowledge that should have been acquired in the elementary school years. But for many students, they do not come to the realization of education malpractice, because they have accepted the ideology and dogma as being the truth, as well as the public education system being the true experts, and parents being the cheerleaders.

Walk in the shoes of the disenfranchise students and the parents. Easily spotted within the public education system, with all the labels plastered on them, imposed by the experts of the education system. Teachers who are parents, have a much easier ride than their counterparts navigating the education system, as well as having a lot more power to over ride the regulatory regime. The same regulatory regime, that imposes strict criteria and conditions to access education services, to participate, and to be a partner.

Were it all so simple!

It is better to say that while standards have improved over the decades, demands have grown faster.
This is a word version of Simpson’s paradox: a mathematical proof that you can raise standards for all but the perceived “average” declines.

Here is an example for higher ed in Ontario.
A century ago Ontario had a population of 2 1/2 million
Now it has a population of 12 1/2 million
5 times the number.
A century ago U of Toronto had an enrolment of just over 4,000.
Now, U of T has more than 70,000: more than 17 times bigger- and we have more universities in Ontario.

Translation: a greater percentage by far of our 5 year olds get to university.

Yes we have remediation and catchup programs.
If we eliminated all of these, would it reduce the “qualified” enrolment down to 20,000?

The world has changed. When I started high school 50 years ago the drop out rate was about 2/3. Back then there were jobs for those people to enter.
Those days are gone.

So the challenge is not to return to those times, or to copy the failures of the American system.
We do need to improve, but it will not be simple and myopic nostalgia does not cut it.

Mr. Myers, with all due respect, please look up the evidence yourself; also, if you consider it so important to back up a statement with evidence, then should you not be supplying the same for your own general statements?

I’ve pointed out the difficulties in trying to compare two very diverse nations, Canada/the U.S. to Finland over at Educhatter, however one of the more prolific posters over there can’t get his head around the concept.

I didn’t think it was a difficult point to understand!

My numbers came from Stats Can this morning
and from OECD from
A Common Countenance
a history of Canadian education written in 1986 when I first went to grad school.
Written by George Tomkins.

There is a quote that always runs through my head whenever I read blogs
“To the believer no evidence is needed.
To the skeptic no evidence is ever enough.”

Sad but all too true.

hmmm.  I’m a Finnish citizen.  I’ll have to see what the experts at Educatter have to say about us…

“The world has changed. When I started high school 50 years ago the drop out rate was about 2/3. Back then there were jobs for those people to enter.
Those days are gone.

So the challenge is not to return to those times, or to copy the failures of the American system.
We do need to improve, but it will not be simple and myopic nostalgia does not cut it. “

But the present course in the public education system, is the way to go? The same course, that requires a two year college certificate to become a receptionist. The same type of job, that anyone with a pleasant demeanor, decent writing skills, as well as typing skills could be had with a grade 12 education in the 1970s. Now you need a business admin certificate, and even more to do simple accounting procedures. Only to work just above minimum wage, unless one gets lucky to work for the public sector,

And what happens at the college level, if one wants to work in a office?  Well, first the cream of the crop is taken first, and allow admittance, before they move to the lower achievement groups. The lower achievement groups received the remediation, and the college gains more money from the tuition, and everyone graduates only to discovered that they will be working for far less money than what was suggested to them. The unhappy students, than enroll in university for studies in business administration, or another entirely different field, to get a better paying job.

One should be wishing the good old days John, because in the 1970s, one could survive with grade 12 even sitting on minimum wages, and still have money for a six pack of beer on Saturday night. But it is not the reality of today, and of such post-secondary has become a racket in bringing in tuition monies, but not living up to the values of a post-secondary education like in the 1970s.

A report that I read yesterday, concerns the drop-outs in the STEM fields at the post secondary.
“Studies have found that roughly 40 percent of students planning engineering and science majors end up switching to other subjects or failing to get any degree. That increases to as much as 60 percent when pre-medical students, who typically have the strongest SAT scores and high school science preparation, are included, according to new data from the University of California at Los Angeles. That is twice the combined attrition rate of all other majors. “
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/06/education/edlife/why-science-majors-change-their-mind-its-just-so-darn-hard.html?_r=2&ref=education

Sure more is going to university, but how many drop out because the students are not prepared?  Don’t know, and in Canada universities do not track this data, nor is the public education system interested in seeing the numbers, and the reasons why. The biggest reason is that students do not have the essential foundation skills to do the advance work in the STEM fields. It is the STEM field my child wants to enter, and it has been her desire since grade 4. No easy task, for a child with LD, but a solid foundation is helping her to secure 90s in her sciences and 80s in math in high school.

“The latest research also suggests that there could be more subtle problems at work, like the proliferation of grade inflation in the humanities and social sciences, which provides another incentive for students to leave STEM majors. It is no surprise that grades are lower in math and science, where the answers are clear-cut and there are no bonus points for flair. Professors also say they are strict because science and engineering courses build on one another, and a student who fails to absorb the key lessons in one class will flounder in the next. “

What are the public education system producing in students?  Students with flair, and the ability to answer questions with creativity, without the bother of needing a firm foundation and knowledge.

To end, “No one doubts that students need a strong theoretical foundation. But what frustrates education experts is how long it has taken for most schools to make changes.”

Bev

  The “expert” at Educhatter isn’t  

He IS harmless and entertaining and that has a certain value in these challenging times.

John, the quote - “To the believer no evidence is needed.
To the skeptic no evidence is ever enough”

Driving me crazy, because I cannot remember who first said it. Was it a religion person or a person pushing a philosophy?  I actually think the words belong to Marx, but the little search that I did this morning, came up with nothing, except a bit about skeptics between the worlds of science and religion. But I still think it is Marx, when talking about the difficulties about faith and his take on socialism.

Oh well, here is a few quotes from Carl Sagen. Number 8 comes close.

http://atheism.about.com/library/quotes/bl_q_CSagan.htm

Why am I bothered? I have noted, and experienced at times, the public education system has its full share of skeptics that rise up whenever their theories, pedagogy, and philosophy is threatened. Nothing more absurd than a parent with a stack of research from all corners of the world, the parent’s own observations, as well as other stats which often is derived from the education stats, that disproves the education approaches taken for their child, are not only incorrect, but are doing harm, than good. Absurd, because the evidence before them, is not enough to change their beliefs.

“8.You can’t convince a believer of anything; for their belief is not based on evidence, it’s based on a deep seated need to believe. [Dr. Arroway in Carl Sagan’s Contact (New York: Pocket Books, 1985”

As well, as an unwillingness to debate, but a willingness, often eager to dismiss counter-claims outright.

My check came up with the origins by an economist more than 20 years ago
“For those who believe, no proof is necessary. For those who don’t believe, no proof is possible.”
Stuart Chase I think.
I too have heard scientists use a version of it during debates on evolution.

We in education ought to be more mindful of it when trying to bridge the chasm between research and practice.

Research in education is a lot like research in medicine, no magic bullets and nothing works equally well for all students all the time.

Medical research as several advantages
- easier to see a sick body and a dying mind
- lots more funding into medical research
- the era of modern medicine began about a century before public schooling and a few decades before serious study of the human brain at work

I meant to say
easier to see a sick body than a dying mind

I listened to the tail-end of ‘The Current’ last evening.  Doretta, you did well.  From what I gathered, whatzizname (sorry I don’t remember the man’s name) tried to imply that reporting on children’s progress is a complex issue.  This is laughable, and I think that you, Doretta, didn’t allow whatzizname to get away with it too much.  In the real world, performance appraisals are done on a regular basis.  No one complains that they’re complex, and something that only the ‘experts’ would truly understand.  The baloney the educrats/pseudo intellectuals feed the public, that gullible (investigative?!?) reporters and the public swallow!  Thank goodness SQE was invited.  Can you imagine the conversation that would have occured without a little balance?
Maybe I tuned in too late and I missed what actually went on.  Oh well, I think that my impressions to almost every interview an educrat does
I wonder why our left-of-centre CBC invited SQE and not Annie Kidder?