TRUTH TELLING IN EDUCATION - AT 10:18 A.M. ET:  Education in America has been so politicized that getting real information is sometimes tricky.  After all, there are different cultures, dearie, and we must not judge results...

Yeah, right.

John Hechinger of the Wall Street Journal, gives us the latest report:

High-school students' performance last year on the SAT college-entrance exam fell slightly, and the score gap generally widened between lower-performing minority groups and white and Asian-American students, raising questions about the effectiveness of national education reform efforts.

Average scores for the class of 2009 in critical reading dropped to 501 from 502, in writing to 493 from 494 and held steady in math, at 515. The combined scores are the lowest this decade and reflect stalled performance over the past three years. The reading scores are the worst since 1994.

Many observers Tuesday viewed the flat results of recent years as discouraging in light of a more than 25-year effort to improve U.S. education. "This is a nearly unrelenting tale of woe and disappointment," said Chester E. Finn Jr., president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a Washington, D.C., think tank. "If there's any good news here, I can't find it."

COMMENT:  Please note the first paragraph:  There's a widening gap between "lower-performing minority groups" and "white and Asian-American students."

That's code language.  I always thought Asian Americans were members of a minority, and a minority that still faces discrimination.  But, apparently, if you work hard and do well in school, your minority status magically disappears.

That papers over the very poor practices in many minority communities.  We know, for example, that while Hispanic parents are eager for their children to learn English, so-called "educators" for many years kept the kids down through "bilingual" education that was a disgrace. 

We also know that culture has a dramatic effect on education.  Good schools are built by good families and good attitudes.  The refusal to deal with the social pathologies in some minority communities is directly related to poor performance in school and on tests.  But it's not politically correct to talk about that.

Some years ago I asked a guidance counselor from Los Angeles, who worked in a largely minority school, whether he could predict which parents would come to PTA meetings.  He replied, "Yes, all I have to do is look at grade reports.  It's the parents of the A and B students."  Then he paused and said, "That's why they're A and B students."

In other words, those kids got direction at home.

Unless we start dealing with the cultural mess in our communities, with the indifference of parents, and the excuse machines built by "leaders" and "educators," our drive for better student achievement will fail.

August 28, 2009