Rol Fessenden writes,
>We now know in part that the decline in quality was due to a k-12
system not geared for the learning styles of anyone except white
males.<
While the term "learning styles" may be used here loosely to describe a
system that is not serving its constituents well, my experience is that
learning styles as we think of them do not break down on clear racial or
gender lines.
Leaving aside the question of whether there are "racial" learning styles,
one might ask how it is that the K-12 system is geared for "male" learning
styles when the statistics show that females achieve higher grades,
drop-out less often, and go on to higher education in greater numbers
than their male peers.
Rol makes some excellent points about the perception of decreased
"quality" arising from increased diversity in student demographics.
However, too often we fall into the misconception that if a system is
serving diversity poorly it must be serving a select group well. I question
that popular assumption. The goal of educational reform should be to
insure that *ALL* students are served well by the system.
--"DAVID K. CRIMMIN" <DCRIMMIN@ALLMERICA.COM>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>