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There is only one question that must be answered: DO the tests properly measure intelligence and the likelihood to do well in an advanced environment or do they NOT.
All else is background noise.
Do they measure intelligence and likelihood to do well? Yes.
All else is background noise? I think not.
Especially when one set of narrow thinkers are blindly looking at the numbers and drawing conclusions that it must be "racist" or another set of narrow thinkers drawing conclusions that those who don't make it simply are not capable to do so because they were born with inferior mental capabilities, no, everything else is not background noise.
Here's a simple question: Why are Asian kids simply outpacing everybody else?
I'd also like to see the numbers for children with immigrant parents. From my days in the public school system, most of the high achievers (White, Black, Asian), including myself, were all children of immigrants.
There is only one question that must be answered: DO the tests properly measure intelligence and the likelihood to do well in an advanced environment or do they NOT.
All else is background noise.
Check the graduation rates/regents passing rates of the schools.
I read a report, years back. It may or may not apply now. It looked for factors held in common by high earners. It said the determining factor was not IQ nor scholastic achievement, but motivation; a persistent and unrelenting effort to achieve goals.
Such values, I believe, can be innate: they can also be learned from the family.
I also think groups that incorporate meditation/concentration into their culture produce children more prone to scholastic achievement. When I read something at times my mind is distracted for one reason or another and I find myself re reading the same material. In the classroom and home studies attention span is very important. It preludes depth of understanding and insight. It sounds simple, but could be another key to the Asian superiority.
There is only one question that must be answered: DO the tests properly measure intelligence and the likelihood to do well in an advanced environment or do they NOT.
All else is background noise.
Do the tests measure intelligence? I think the answer is "yes, but..." -- that is, if you take kids with similar educational backgrounds and give them these tests without special preparation, they'll correlate pretty well with innate intelligence.
However, you get problems on both ends. If a kid has had such horrible schooling that he hasn't been introduced to many of the concepts in the test, he's going to do poorly. And on the other hand, someone of moderate intelligence can study and prepare and raise their scores.
They're probably better correlated with doing well an an advanced academic environment. Even an intelligent kid who is lacking basic concepts won't do well an advanced environment. And a somewhat brighter than average kid who can work very hard to keep up can probably survive in an academic environment aimed at the much brighter than average.
So basically nobody thinks that Black and Latino students have been harmed in any way through racism or prejudice or poverty - everyone just thinks that Asian students "work harder" or get "pushed harder" by their parents?
Nobody has ever heard of the "culture of poverty" in America?
There is no disadvantage to being Black or Latino in America? No advantage to being White or Asian?
There is only one question that must be answered: DO the tests properly measure intelligence and the likelihood to do well in an advanced environment or do they NOT.
All else is background noise.
I think, also, the question is - Are our schools preparing the next generation to compete on an international market?
So basically nobody thinks that Black and Latino students have been harmed in any way through racism or prejudice or poverty - everyone just thinks that Asian students "work harder" or get "pushed harder" by their parents?
Nobody has ever heard of the "culture of poverty" in America?
There is no disadvantage to being Black or Latino in America? No advantage to being White or Asian?
And there are thousands of Asian immigrants in America who are living in poverty and basically working as slaves, marginalized by other minorities in ghetto neighborhoods, and have no social representation. Yet how come they are able to allow their kinfolk to succeed without creating excuses?
If racial discrimination is a problem it should be dealt with in a specific manner. Such as harassment in the workplace because of race or not giving them promotions even when they do exceptional work. "Racism and prejudice" cannot be used as a blanket answer for the failure of others.
Not including wealth and privilege, the only other advantage that Asians that are able to succeed have is higher intelligence and less ignorant aggression.
I think the question is - Are our schools preparing the next generation to compete on an international market?
The schools are not magical Willy Wonka factories of personal transformation.
If you send a disadvantaged and unmotivated kid into even the best school he comes out disadvantaged and unmotivated.
Many kids in the "inner city" are molded by their neighborhoods and homes before even walking into a school. We need to focus on children before they even get to school.
Actually, we need to focus on their environments before they even get to school.
The Bronx is the poorest urban area in America. We have a billionaire mayor who has done NOTHING to develop business in the Bronx. there are no new economic opportunities in the Bronx to help people improve their lives.
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so basically
