Thursday, 13 February 2014

The Leaning Tower Of Pisa Just Straightened Itself By Another Foot Or Two...

There is nothing inevitable about the weaker academic performance of poorer pupils, says an analysis of Pisa tests by the OECD's Andreas Schleicher.
Mr Schleicher, who runs the tests, says the high results of deprived pupils in some Asian countries shows what poor pupils in the UK could achieve.
...if they weren't handicapped by progressive teaching methods, that is?
Mr Schleicher says it shows how academic differences attributed to social background should not be unquestioningly tolerated.
"We tend to overestimate the impact of poverty," he says .
Of course. It is, after all, politically expedient (for some)) to do so, isn't it?

H/T: CJ Nerd via email
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5 comments:

  1. Anonymous13 February 2014 at 14:34

    Not just progressive teaching methods handicapping them but parents having no further aspiration for their offspring than increased benefits. By the time they have been dragged to school they've learnt not to be bovered. Teachers with a leftie agenda merely provide the finishing touches to the next generation of illiterate, entitled, aggressive chavs.

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  2. Matt13 February 2014 at 17:47

    Several years back, when my mother was a primary school teacher (and getting increasingly fed up with it by the day) they had to try some new examination papers on the kids, presumably as some sort of centrally-administered scheme. The tests were called "Performance Indicators in Primary Schools" or "PIPS" for short, complete with a large cartoon apple pip on the front cover.

    One can only guess as to the reason the initiative was never extended to secondary schools...

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  3. Tatty13 February 2014 at 21:06

    Overestimate impact of pverty, they say ?

    Overestimate the definition, more like.

    If the kids in UK were walking around barefoot in one set clothing for months, eating half a meal a day and washing/drinking water out of puddles when it rained I suspect their grades would dramatically improve too.

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  4. Dioclese13 February 2014 at 23:39

    Intelligence and education should not be confused. I know some highly educated people who are thick as pig shit

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  5. JuliaM15 February 2014 at 06:27

    "One can only guess as to the reason the initiative was never extended to secondary schools..."

    Indeed!

    "Intelligence and education should not be confused."

    True enough!

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