Departments/schools/college of education: The equivalent of "academic slums"...

Despite facts to the contrary, many Democratic politicians, public school teachers' union leaders, and the general public continue to believe that increased spending on public education ineluctably will lead to increased student achievement.

What are those facts?

In an Orange County Register op-ed, the Director of the Cato Institute's Center for Educational Freedom, Andrew J. Coulson, discussed California's SAT results to make the point because the Golden State's Democrat Governor Jerry Brown is seeking a $7B increase in taxes for the state's public schools:

• 1968 - 2010: real per student spending increased by 95% (+$27B since 1974, adjusting for increased enrollment)
• 1972 - 2010: California high school SAT scores dropped 4% (taking into account test rescaling in 1996)

Critics---Democratic politicians and public school teachers' union leaders, in particular---attack the SAT scores, calling them ineffective, misleading, and unrepresentative of the student population due to limited participation.

For his part, Coulson believes the critics' arguments are not particularly persuasive:

• While broader participation can lower scores, participation was actually 4% higher in the mid-1970s than in 2010.
• Nationally, SAT scores for White students have gradually dropped.  The increased inclusion of low-scoring minority students is not sufficient to explain the drop.

Coulson does note that since the top third of high school students take the SAT, perhaps the increased spending over the past five decades has helped low-performing students.  The problem is that there isn't any evidence to support this assertion.

The data suggest to The Motley Monk that increased money for public education is not the issue but confuses the issue.  As Coulson notes with regard to California, student achievement---as that is measured on an array of standardized test scores across the elementary and secondary school years and as that has been measured across the past five decades---has not increased.

The issue?

The quality of teachers.

Concerning this matter, Dr. Walter Williams has aimed his guns directly at departments/colleges/schools of education, calling them "the academic slums at most any college."

The Motley Monk would observe that what's needed isn't a federal "urban renewal" program for U.S. public education but the development of school district enterprise zones.


Let the discussion begin...




To read Andrew J. Coulson's article in the Orange County Register, click on the following link:
http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/billion-336160-sat-spending.htm

To read Dr. Walter William's article concerning schools of education, click on the following link:
http://townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2012/01/25/schools_of_education/page/full/