History of IDEA
Jeannie Oakes, Founder and Former Director
Youth Voice in School Finance
NEW REPORT: Los Angeles' road to A-G for all
Without Dollars and Sense Powerpoint
Past Educational Opportunity Reports
Bias toward numbers in judging teaching
- 09-07-2011
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Blog by Larry Cuban/Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice
In the U.S. people—yes, I include myself here—making decisions about important issues such as buying a home, picking a school for a five year-old or deciding on a college often give more weight to those features carrying numbers with them rather than qualitative features without numbers. Say, focusing on the square footage in the house vs. the feel of roominess. Or a teacher-student ratio in a kindergarten vs. sense of family that children and teacher communicate. From unemployment figures to batting averages and pass interceptions to calories, numbers carry far more weight with Americans than those variables that are harder to measure. Jonah Lehrer makes this point in one of his postings. (more...)
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