And here it is!

[velvetpage]

Re: Educational Choice does have benefits

The author of this article has made the fundamental mistake of research: she has confused correlation with causation.

There is probably a correlation between more school choice and better test scores, but the theory that more school choice causes schools to improve their product to produce the better scores is misguided. It betrays a lack of understanding of psychology and school organization.

The difference in test scores can be explained by the act of making a choice. Parents who choose a certain educational choice for their children, no matter what that choice is, tend to be more engaged parents. They have already put thought into their children’s education and are more likely to engage in other behaviours that support it, like reading with their children and participating in extra-curricular activities. The better test scores have nothing to do with the school and everything to do with the families that make a choice.

The key is that any educational choice will have the same benefit, whether it’s buying a house in a nicer area so the school will be “better,” or enrolling the child in extra lessons, or French Immersion, or simply being involved in the neighbourhood school. The element of having choice available is a red herring – caring about education is the deciding factor.

The second lack of understanding is about school organization. Schools in different boards rarely communicate much, even if they’re located back-to-back. The extent of the communication between schools in most neighbourhoods is to time recesses and dismissals so as to eliminate problems in cases where there is open space between the two playgrounds. Discussion about methods of educating, which one would think would be necessary to establish why the other school is attracting more students, simply doesn’t happen - at least not at any school I've ever attended or worked at.

It makes sense to me that an economics professor would seek an economic solution to school choice. As the saying goes, to a boy with a hammer, everything is a nail.

Comments

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

Um. . . five or six, I suppose?