Out Of The Fryer Pan?

9 Replies to “Out Of The Fryer Pan?”

1. Maybe he will use his money and time to complete the study of Capital Gains, the brainchild of Michelle Johnson and Adrian Fenty to pay middle school DCPS students to get good grades.

   Needless to say, it was another of her reforms to fail.

   Even More on the “Capital Gains” Program

2. I hope Professor Fryer uses the money to purchase standardized tests that are new each year and professionally administered (no peeking). In this way if a charter school in Harlem announces that its scores are higher than the ones in Scarsdale, NY, there will be valid and reliable data to back it up.

3. I was not going to post, but I thought someone should add something positive. Congratulations to Professor Fryer on adding some researched based information to the national dialogue on this critical issue that has a staggering impact on all of us. I doubt that Professor Fryer would view this achievement as a conclusion of his work, but merely the beginning. His voice in focusing on children of need, and the failure of many communities to offer them the educational opportunities worthy of their aspirations and dreams, is not only necessary, but required.

4. Thousands of teachers focus on children in need each day by consenting to be in the k-12 classroom for modest salaries and even less prestige. Like Professor Fryer, millions of disadvantaged students saw their dreams come true because of the help of a caring teacher.

   Thank you, Teachers. As my principal told me at my first public school in inner-city Cleveland, your classroom is an oasis for students who come to you each day for nurturing and security, as well as learning. God bless you and have another successful year.

5. Linda and Phillip,

   Note that your polemic arguments against the reform movement in a post about Professor Fryer’s accomplishment only serve to degrade the quality of your previous and future comments against the reform views often expressed on this blog. Although I often disagree with you, this is the first time I can honestly say I don’t respect the way you’ve chosen to get your point across.

6. Congratulations on this amazing honor! I don’t know what I’d do with all of that time and money, but hopefully you will!

7. Pgteacher:

   You probably thought I was being sarcastic about the tests, but I was serious. I remember how shocked I was to find out that university researchers are just using the test results provided by the schools for their research. In other words, researchers who went into Atlanta schools just accepted the scores given to them by school administrators and based important studies about student achievement on them!! I wrote to one researcher who answered me with words to this effect:

   “Yes, we know there’s a lot of test invalidation going on but that’s all we have to work with.”

   So if researchers like Prof. Fryer could get the funding to do independent testing, that would help enormously. What education needs most right now is the truth.

8. pgteacher,
   I don’t understand why Mr. Fryer never completed his study of Capital Gains.
   Do you?

9. Fryer is claiming to have found a research-based set of characteristics of successful charter schools, but that research appears nowhere in the papers listed on his CV. There are two papers that ask different research questions and assume versions of the list he is touting, but nothing directly on the matter.