Education should turn minds into mythbusters. It should help\ndevelop the critical thinking tools required to ask questions and test\nassumptions in order to cut through the lazy ideas and tendentious nonsense\nthat too often passes as conventional wisdom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One sign that our schools are failing to deliver on that\ncore mission is the array of myths that dominate discussion of education in\nNorth Carolina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Myth 1: Our schools\nare greenhouses of excellence.<\/strong> Wake County educator Brandon Lee reiterated\nthis false notion in a recent op-ed when he claimed \u201cour teachers are\ndedicated, our administrators are supportive, our community members are\ninvolved, and our students are the absolute best.\u201d I\u2019m sure many are. But like\nevery other human endeavor, schools have their share of incompetent teachers,\nlazy administrators, uninvolved parents and unmotivated children. Cheerleading\nis important, but pretending that everyone is giving their very best creates a\nfalse narrative that all the problems are due to external factors, especially a\nlack of resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Myth 2: More spending\nproduces better results.<\/strong> The numbers show that education spending per pupil\nin the United States has\nmore than doubled<\/a> since the early 1970s without any real increase in\nperformance. Many of the most troubled school districts in the country,\nincluding those in New\nYork City<\/a> and Washington,\nD.C.<\/a>, spend more than twice as much as North Carolina. Money matters, but\nnot as much as the family structure and personal experiences that shape\nchildren. We should stop blaming schools because too many kids aren\u2019t\nachieving, but we also shouldn\u2019t pretend more school funding will fix these\nproblems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Myth 3: Universal\nPre-K is the missing link for excellence. <\/strong>Gov. Roy Cooper was just the\nlatest figure to falsely peddle pre-school programs as a magic elixir. \u201cThe\nscience,\u201d he claimed, \u201cis just overwhelming as to how much of a difference\nearly childhood education makes in whether a child is going to succeed in\nschool or in life.\u201d A few years ago, proponents of pre-K trumpeted the vast\neducational benefits of these programs. The \u201cscience\u201d \u2013 in the form of multiple\npeer-reviewed studies \u2013 shows that any\nacademic benefit<\/a> has faded away by second\nor third grade<\/a>. Undaunted, proponents now argue that it produces better\ncitizens who are more likely to complete their education and less likely to\nwind up in jail. Perhaps. But those bold claims are based on a handful of\nlongitudinal studies \u2013 especially involving one\ngroup who attended pre-school in Chicago<\/a> in the 1980s \u2013 that are far from\ndefinitive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Myth 4: More diverse\nteachers will improve performance.<\/strong> In another major push, Gov.\nCooper says the state must recruit more minority teachers<\/a> because \u201cresearch\u201d\nshows it helps students of color improve their academic performance while\nreducing disciplinary issues. Putting aside the fact that many Asian-American\nstudents excel in classrooms led by white teachers, this claim is also based on\na thin body of scholarship. One commonly\ncited study reports<\/a> that \u201ca disadvantaged black male\u2019s exposure to at\nleast one black teacher in elementary school reduces his probability of\ndropping out of high school by nearly 40 percent.\u201d Honestly, I\u2019m skeptical. But\nif Cooper truly believes the research, he should move swiftly to insure that\nevery elementary school with disadvantaged students has a least one \u2013 or more \u2013\nAfrican-American teachers. This might require reassignments but given the\nalleged pay-off, who would refuse? <\/p>\n\n\n\n The truth is that we have spent decades studying education\nand implementing silver bullet strategies \u2013 new math, Common Core, Read to\nAchieve, etc. \u2013 with disappointing results. I don\u2019t know the answer, though I\nsuspect it involves the home more than the schools. But I do know that spouting\nmyths is not an effective strategy for changing reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Contributing columnist J. Peder Zane can be reached at\njpederzane@jpederzane.com.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"