{"id":32359,"date":"2011-10-03T20:40:16","date_gmt":"2011-10-04T02:40:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=32359"},"modified":"2011-10-03T20:40:19","modified_gmt":"2011-10-04T02:40:19","slug":"the-more-things-change-the-more-they-stay-the-same","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2011\/10\/the-more-things-change-the-more-they-stay-the-same\/","title":{"rendered":"The more things change, the more they stay the same"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Emanuele Corso<\/p><\/div>\n

As I started to outline my thoughts for this essay, I recalled my first day in tech school at Sheppard Air Force Base in Texas in 1961, learning how to maintain and launch an Atlas-F ICBM.<\/p>\n

I was a brand new second lieutenant in a group of about 20 officers ranging from \u201cBrown Bars\u201d like me to lieutenant colonels. The introduction was delivered by a young first lieutenant who was enthusiastic to the point of delight about how modern warfare would never be the same because of these amazing ICBMs. The fellow rattled off dazzling statistic after dazzling statistic about range, targeting accuracy, response time, time to target and so on. The guy was absolutely glowing as he addressed the mixed group of newbies and old hands about the amazing capabilities of the Atlas F weapon system and a future of space travel, orbiting space stations, men on the moon and so on.<\/p>\n

For the time, it was all Buck Rogers whiz-bang.<\/p>\n

At this point in the presentation there was a rather loud \u201cHarrumph!\u201d I looked back as a grizzled captain, obviously recalled from retirement to active duty, growled loudly, \u201cAw, baloney! I\u2019ll bet anybody anything that the day they land a man on the moon there\u2019ll be a Goon in the pattern<\/a> with fresh fruit and vegetables.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course the class broke into gales of laughter \u2013 you had to be there I suppose \u2013 and everyone enjoyed the counter-point. This guy had flown many combat missions, had been shot at on numerous occasions, and wasn\u2019t terribly impressed with the idea of sitting in an underground bunker waiting to launch a missile at someone half-way around the planet he couldn\u2019t see.<\/p>\n

When I read the front page story in the Sept. 4 edition of The New York Times, In Classrooms of Future, Stagnant Scores<\/a>, I heard myself say, \u201cAw Baloney!\u201d and I felt much the same way the captain must have. The article details the introduction and use of high tech devices in a school system in Chandler, Ariz. This community has so far spent $33 million to acquire the latest and greatest educational whiz-bang gadgets to outfit their schoolrooms.<\/p>\n

The article goes on to report that, \u201c\u2026schools are spending billions on technology, even as they lay off teachers, with little or no proof that this approach is improving basic learning.\u201d The Chandler story is being repeated across the country as schools acquire the latest gadgets and get rid of teachers.<\/p>\n

Frankly, I think we have slipped our intellectual and moral anchors and are now rapidly drifting off into an ocean of gullibility and hidden agendas. School officials are behaving much like Pacific island cargo cults waiting for that magical ship to sail over the horizon bearing all the answers to successful standardized test scores so they can beat the No Child Left Behind rap. They are bereft of good ideas of their own and are desperate.<\/p>\n

How did we come to this, and what other ideas are possible?<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the real deal?<\/h3>\n

The \u201creal deal\u201d isn\u2019t gadgets, it isn\u2019t holding back, and it certainly isn\u2019t social promotion either. It isn\u2019t bogus programs like No Child Left Behind. Those lame ideas have been and are being proven wrong over and over again \u2013 ad nauseum.<\/p>\n

Some things actually do work, however, and we need to ask, what is it that the successful charter schools do that regular public schools don\u2019t? Are the technos ready for this brain-exploding revelation? 5 – 4 – 3 – 2 \u2013 1\u2026 They spend more time with kids!<\/p>\n

\u201cEeeeeek! More time? That means more teachers and tutors. That means more mentoring. We don\u2019t want to pay for more humans but\u2026 maybe there\u2019s a machine we can buy that will do the job.\u201d There is more to the \u201cEeeeeek!\u201d factor, however, and we\u2019ll get to that later.<\/p>\n

In contrast to the Chandler experience, in Houston the schools superintendent is experimenting with \u2013 are you ready for this? Here it comes! \u2013 more time, more teachers, more tutors, more mentoring. And, as a result, the educational\/instructional outcomes are improving. Check out this article<\/a> about it.<\/p>\n

There were four policies identified by the fellow who consulted with the Houston school system that he deemed \u201ccommon to the successful charters.\u201d These were:<\/p>\n