That 62% a) includes 2-year colleges and b) was based on the High School Longitudinal Survey which is a representative sample of 2009-10 ninth graders, so the survey must have some way to track them.
I tried so hard to write that about expectations clearly; I am not sure I know how to measure it in an objective way either. But my fundamental position which I at least tried to email Glenn last year is that telling Black Americans to emulate Jews and some Asian groups is telling Black Americans to emulate groups where education is a value. These groups will elevate any school system they are in because they have a notion of the value of education and what education should be like independent of that school system. In St. Louis where I live, Sumner High School was by all accounts a wonderful school that after integration fell on such hard times that the school board was thinking about closing it, but in general segregation squelched the notion of education as a value in so many people because there could be only so many jobs for educated people and education was used to show Black people that they were inferior by such things as the Black schools obviously having fewer resources than the white schools. So education becomes a kind of good behavior that people believe in for utilitarian reasons. You need to study what the school system considers that their success means and that may need a deep study of what teachers and administrators actually say and do.
Thanks for your comments and your clarification of the Brookings analysis. I eventually figured it out after looking at the Appendix.
I agree with you about expectations at school, but I don't know how to measure it either. This is especially true at a time when teachers are often pressured to modify grades (e.g., No zeros allowed. Nobody gets less than a 50 even if they didn't turn in their assignment. Teachers are encouraged to give students second chances to do make up work to offset poor or missed assignments. Etc.) and to ignore disciplinary issues in order to minimize suspensions and expulsions. The overall message seems to be that kids need to move on to the next grade except in extraordinary circumstances. Teachers who give kids failing grades often open themselves up to harsh scrutiny.
That 62% a) includes 2-year colleges and b) was based on the High School Longitudinal Survey which is a representative sample of 2009-10 ninth graders, so the survey must have some way to track them.
I tried so hard to write that about expectations clearly; I am not sure I know how to measure it in an objective way either. But my fundamental position which I at least tried to email Glenn last year is that telling Black Americans to emulate Jews and some Asian groups is telling Black Americans to emulate groups where education is a value. These groups will elevate any school system they are in because they have a notion of the value of education and what education should be like independent of that school system. In St. Louis where I live, Sumner High School was by all accounts a wonderful school that after integration fell on such hard times that the school board was thinking about closing it, but in general segregation squelched the notion of education as a value in so many people because there could be only so many jobs for educated people and education was used to show Black people that they were inferior by such things as the Black schools obviously having fewer resources than the white schools. So education becomes a kind of good behavior that people believe in for utilitarian reasons. You need to study what the school system considers that their success means and that may need a deep study of what teachers and administrators actually say and do.
Thanks for your comments and your clarification of the Brookings analysis. I eventually figured it out after looking at the Appendix.
I agree with you about expectations at school, but I don't know how to measure it either. This is especially true at a time when teachers are often pressured to modify grades (e.g., No zeros allowed. Nobody gets less than a 50 even if they didn't turn in their assignment. Teachers are encouraged to give students second chances to do make up work to offset poor or missed assignments. Etc.) and to ignore disciplinary issues in order to minimize suspensions and expulsions. The overall message seems to be that kids need to move on to the next grade except in extraordinary circumstances. Teachers who give kids failing grades often open themselves up to harsh scrutiny.
(nods intently)