Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
It is not intellectual dishonesty to point out the parts of the study that support my argument. I am not going to repost the entire article. The author himself points out what the study shows and what it does not show. He rightly points out that although the findings are encouraging they may not be able to be applied to the general population of students. I agree with the author that the study is promising. It shows a cost effective way to improve reading skills of low perfomance, low income students. That's GREAT NEWS but it doesn't necessarily apply to the entire population.
Of course you do, but studies show what they show. There are also limitations on studies. The author himself points out the limitations. The fact that the study applies only to a small population does not mean it is invalid. It simply means that more study needs to be done to prove that it applies to the population in general.
While I see summer reading as a small annoyance in my life, I do think that the idea that schools should apply the same approaches to all students to be problematic. I think that falls into the major problem bucket, not the small annoyance bucket. Different schools serve different populations. Within schools there are different populations with different needs. Programs should be set up to benefit those that will actually benefit from them, not for everyone. You cannot generalize that since one segment of the population will benefit from something that everyone in the population will benefit from it.
It is dishonest to take quotes out of context. Every study I have ever read points out its limitations.
It is dishonest to take quotes out of context. Every study I have ever read points out its limitations.
The quotes are not taken out of context. The study shows what it shows. It does not show that the findings can be applied to the general population. The author goes on to explain possible reasons why this is so and some possible areas of exploration which I did not post because it would be to long.
Studies post their limitations because they exist. Look-it's great that there is a cost effective way to improve the performance of low performance, low income readers. Let's go with that. But the study does not show that the results can be applied to the general population. The author says it himself.
The quotes are not taken out of context. The study shows what it shows. It does not show that the findings can be applied to the general population. The author goes on to explain possible reasons why this is so and some possible areas of exploration which I did not post because it would be to long.
Studies post their limitations because they exist. Look-it's great that there is a cost effective way to improve the performance of low performance, low income readers. Let's go with that. But the study does not show that the results can be applied to the general population. The author says it himself.
That is standard research protocol, to list the study's limitations. Every research study says that. Every one.
I said later on in the thread it was a number I pulled out of the air. I don't need the school to tell me to have the kids read. We go to the library quite a bit and both kids read. (both boys too!)
Fair enough, I didn't read all 13 pages of the thread!
And we used to take the boys to the library a lot, too, when they were little. (I fondly recall when my older son was in 4th grade, the class read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe but he was allowed to read and report on The Silver Chair because he'd already read TLTWATW!) Now as teenagers all they want to do is play sports and video games. I'm glad they are *required* to read specific books.
That is standard research protocol, to list the study's limitations. Every research study says that. Every one.
I understand that. If the author himself says that the study as is cannot be generalized to the entire population how is it intellectually dishonest for me to mention that?
Because many children will not read if not given an assignment.
So what? What's it to you? Are you the parent or teacher of children who won't read unless required?
If a child won't read then the onus is on the child and no one else. We can give children books, we cannot force them to read them... we just can't. Sure, we give them required reading: DURING THE SCHOOL YEAR.
We are talking SUMMER BREAK here and children should not be given any homework from school during this time. This is a time for playing. Some people seem to forget that during unsupervised play children learn many valuable lessons. Let children be children; let them learn in the way that comes most natural to them. PLAY.
Involved parents will see to it that their child/children have lots of opportunities to read and review what they learned during the last school years.
No amount of required reading is going to make readers out of children who hate reading and/or have parents that are totally indifferent to schooling.
I understand that. If the author himself says that the study as is cannot be generalized to the entire population how is it intellectually dishonest for me to mention that?
That's not what you said. That isn't even what you quoted, that I was responding to. You quoted one sentence from the study and implied something that is not necessarily there.
That's not what you said. That isn't even what you quoted, that I was responding to. You quoted one sentence from the study and implied something that is not necessarily there.
I've never found summer reading assignments to be particularly onerous, and my older kids have always understood that it is the price to pay for being in advanced classes. They often have essays on their summer reading due immediately upon resuming classes in the fall. As for my youngest, there is a suggested reading list for k-5 students, but it is not required.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
