Weber & American 8th Graders (was Re: Weber and rationality)

[Wojtek Sokolowski]

At 12:45 AM 12/8/00 -0500, Yoshie quoted:
>
>*****   The New York Times
>December 6, 2000, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final
>SECTION: Section A; Page 1; Column 1; National Desk
>HEADLINE: Worldwide Survey Finds U.S. Students Are Not Keeping Up
>BYLINE:  By DIANA JEAN SCHEMO
>DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Dec. 5
>
>Four years after American fourth-grade students scored high on an 
>international test of science and math, their performance declined 
>markedly when they reached the eighth grade, a second survey shows.
>
>The survey results, released here today, indicate that the changes 
>some educators had suggested were responsible for the fourth graders' 
>success were insufficient to produce results as they advanced in 
>school.

That is a justified conclusion.  Studies that separated the effect of
family and environment form the effect of school on the academic
preformance have demonstrated that the decline in perfomance is
attributable almost exlcusively to family and environemnt.  The lower the
socio-economic status of the student, the greater the decline in academic
performance in the 8th grade, while the positive effect of school on that
performance remains constant for all socio-economic statuses.

Conclusions: the declining scholastic performance is a result of the fucked
up society we live in (courtesy of the government and its coprorate bosses)
and not failing schools, as Repug spinmeisters want us to believe.

wojtek