Jon Becker

Recent Activity

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  Jon commented on the article | over 2 years ago

  Still Separate, Still Unequal? (The Case of Digital Equity in Education)

  Sylvia and Diane,

  
  

  I'm pondering both of your comments and thinking about the state of West Virginia.  I've done much of my research there and I'm continually amazed at how much they are able to accomplish statewide.  There are 55 county-level school districts there, but they only serve less than 1/2 million school-aged kids.  Still, if we were to think of the state as one large school district, they serve as a counterpoint to both of your comments.  Yes, Diane, they struggle getting access to many of their most rural counties (i.e. the places down in "the hollers"), but still.

  
  

  While WV may be a counterexample, I do generally agree.  There are huge numbers of kids who are about to be on the wrong end of a growing digital divide in education.

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  Jon commented on the article | over 2 years ago

  Still Separate, Still Unequal? (The Case of Digital Equity in Education)

  Dan, I agree with you about the data.  NAEP used to ask lots of good questions about computer use in schools as part of the background questionnaires, but they've backed off on those items.  We need large research programs like that to get the data because it's hugely resource intensive to collect enough data to allow us to generalize to various subgroups.

  
  

  And, the Minneapolis WiFi deal sounds like a huge policy implementation fail.

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  Jon commented on the article | over 2 years ago

  Still Separate, Still Unequal? (The Case of Gifted and Talented Education)

  Mark, racial (and gender) bias on the ACT and SAT is contested terrain among researchers, psychometricians, etc.  It's not a simple issue (dare I say, "not so black and white?").

  
  

  Thinking of my posts in correlation=causation terms is reductionist as well.  I'm suggesting/implying that there are schooling practices that are discriminatory, certainly with respect to impact if not intent.

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  Jon commented on the article | over 2 years ago

  Still Separate, Still Unequal? (The Case of Special Education)

  Depends on the study.  Typically, the control variable is "eligibilityfor free/reduced-price lunch" which is a proxy for income.  In some cases, it is a composite variable which includes a number of "social capital" related items (e.g. literacy-richness of the home, parental level of education, etc.).

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  Jon commented on the article | over 2 years ago

  Still Separate, Still Unequal? (The Case of Special Education)

  Mark,

  
  

  In the post, I wrote: "However, while poverty and related factors correlate highly with the incidence of disability, the effects of gender and race remain significant even after controlling for socioeconomics."  In other words, the research strongly indicates that this is an issue beyond home conditions.

  
  

  And, yes, schools systematically discriminate on the basis of race.

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  Jon commented on the article | over 2 years ago

  Still Separate, Still Unequal? (An Introduction)

  Dan, it's interesting that you went from my post to "urban school bureaucracies."  The problem of segregation by race are not just an urban issue.  In fact, Long Island (NY) is one of the most segregated statistical metropolitan areas in the country.  There, local control has run amok.  There are 125 separate school districts just on Long Island, each paying an average of $250,000 to a superintendent.  Furthermore, if I remember correctly, 90% of the African-American students on Long Island are served by less than 10 (less than 10%) of the districts.

  
  

  Segregation of schools is a complicated issue, and I don't see large urban school bureaucracies as related to that issue.

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  Jon commented on the article | over 2 years ago

  Still Separate, Still Unequal? (The Case of Special Education)

  I'm with you, Ira, especially on the SpEd vs. General Ed. silos. At Hofstra, the pre-service students were STRONGLY encouraged to become dual-certified.  At times I thought that was just a way to help them become more employable, but mostly I thought it helped to have new teachers who had some exposure to SpEd issues.  The silos exist within the LEAs too.  The Director of SpEd (or whatever title that person is given) is left to tend to her/his own house, and is often only paid attention to when those darned kids might negatively impact the budget and especially AYP.

  
  

  Have you seen the work coming out of NCCREST (http://www.nccrest.org/)?  If so, thoughts?