Children are not the same. "Ability varies widely," says Charles Murray (Real Education). So, let's stop pretending that all kids are the same and can learn the same math. Children need different math curricula based on their cognitive abilities--not the same curriculum as in Common Core and state standards. In contrast, Nobel-prize winning Physicist Richard Feynman writes, "In education, you increase differences. If someone's good at something, you try to develop his ability, which results in differences, or inequalities." Education increases inequality!
"Fairness as the equal treatment does not produce fairness as equal outcomes," writes Thomas Sowell (Dismantling America). Some kids have more cognitive horsepower than others. Some kids do better at math than other kids. Some kids run faster than others. Some kids play the piano better than others. Some kids are more persistent than others, ad infinitum. Inequalities abound everywhere. It is unfortunate, says Sowell, that "virtually any disparity in outcomes is almost automatically blamed on discrimination." It's not discrimination! Sowell suggests jokingly that "tests discriminate against students who don’t study."
Even if it were possible to equalize school resources, then there would still be an achievement gap in schools based on standardized tests. It seems that inputs from the family and community, not just school inputs (e.g. expenditures, facilities, teacher quality, etc.), account for much of the achievement gap. We do not live in Lake Wobegon where all the children are above average. In fact, half are below the median in intelligence. I think we can make progress in math performance, but there will always be inequalities no matter what is done. Also, the fact that math is taught poorly in many schools has been a major factor. Consequently, the result has been very slow, incremental progress or flat learning, which I consider, unacceptable.
The top math students have skilled instruction and excellent practice with feedback, but they also have higher levels of cognitive horsepower than average kids. However, cognitive ability, by itself, is not enough to become a good math student. Kids need to practice to automate fundamentals, which requires effort and purposeful practice. Indeed, normal kids can learn arithmetic and do algebra. Also, school outputs, such as test scores, graduation rates, college readiness, etc. will always vary.
©2016 LT/ThinkAlgebra.org
