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    Joined: Sep 2009
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    If the kid isn't part of the study then why are they restricting the kid? This is disturbing.

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    Originally Posted by JaneSmith
    Update:

    It *is* the Gates Foundation study. They are paying the teachers and achools to participate in the study and dictating no placement changes. They are also videotaping the children. You can opt out of being videotaped, but I think that means your child misses class on the days they videotape. You can't opt out of the study (and the placement restrictions) because they are claiming that the children aren't in the study, only the teachers.


    Is it me or is this nuts? And kind of scary?

    I would raise a huge stink at any and all levels with anyone who will listen, both at the foundation and in the school district. This makes NO sense.

    Thinking out loud, if the TEACHERS are the ones participating in the study, what difference would it make if a student changes placement??

    Thinking out loud some more, wouldn't having a child placed at the wrong level lead to inaccurate results, if the results of this study involve student performance?

    ETA: if changing placement would mess up their results, why not just exclude that data from the results? What would they do if a student was placed at too high a level?

    I like Austin's suggestion below - perhaps your local paper has a columnist who deals with education. Though I'd probably go to the district superintendant first, then the school board, and simultaneously the foundation, and see where I got before I'd go outside of those two groups.

    Last edited by snowgirl; 09/27/10 09:42 AM.
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    Originally Posted by JaneSmith
    Update:

    It *is* the Gates Foundation study. They are paying the teachers and achools to participate in the study and dictating no placement changes. They are also videotaping the children. You can opt out of being videotaped, but I think that means your child misses class on the days they videotape. You can't opt out of the study (and the placement restrictions) because they are claiming that the children aren't in the study, only the teachers.


    Is it me or is this nuts? And kind of scary?


    Sounds unethical to me. Who are the researchers involved in this?

    I'd email up the chain of command.

    You could also send a letter to the paper and try to find a high rank blogger who is locally connected.

    Then there is the local press. This could be a pretty juicy story. I doubt any of the other parents know about this.

    Bill Gates attended a school just for GT kids when he was growing up. He got a lot of pullouts and special programs including the use of public computing resources which he used to start his business. His mom did a lot of advocating for him.






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    I'm thinking a lot of other parents won't care. Because most grade accelerations would have been worked out last school year. It also applies to groups within a grade - the idea is that you can't switch teachers. We are facing this because we are new to the school.

    Honestly, I'm a little nervous to push. I know I sound like a conspiricy theorist, but this is so egregious I can't attribute it to an oversight. Powerful private foundation backed by billions takes over public education....

    It sounds like the begining of a science fiction novel.

    I can't track the researchers. I found a couple names on a document last week and emailed them @gatesfoundation. I know a few went through, but nobody contacted me.

    Last edited by JaneSmith; 09/27/10 09:43 AM.
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    To the extent possible, I would use language that describes the situation as an error in placement, a mistake that needs to be fixed that is the school's fault, rather than you asking for acceleration like it's a favor to you.

    I'd be asking, why can't a mistake be fixed.

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    Unbelievable.

    And if the child is not in the study, there is no reason the child cannot be moved!

    I would make a massive stink over this. In addition to the other suggestions above, I would contact my state gifted and talented organization, my state education department, and maybe speak with someone at Davidson and see if they have any knowledge about this or insights.

    Given how unethical this is, I wouldn't hesitate to contact a local state legislator either. This is completely beyond acceptable.

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    I know what to do because of another issue I went through last year unrelated to my kids. Even though many highly placed experts tried to help me out and public opinion was in my favor, the publicity hurt me in the end. The decision maker turned out to be an ex-military guy who did not appreciate me going to the press and/or having the nerve to question his department. I am going to send an email to a contact I have at a local news station and may she'll follow up. I think it's a great story and I wish her well, but I'm sick of it.

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    Originally Posted by kcab
    Also, assuming that they will know what education the kids have received this year is false since any parent who realizes their kid needs something additional will supplement outside of school, where it will be entirely uncontrolled and unaccounted for in the study.

    Welcome to the world of edumacation studies. You do not want to know how many of these studies fail to include appropriate control groups and how many fail to ensure that the methods they're testing are reproducible and valid.

    In this situation, I'd ask who the control group is and how they've ensured that each control group gets the same instruction. If they're just using "students who weren't taught by our methods," they'll end up comparing a zillion different teaching methods with their own. Sounds like very noisy "control" data to me.

    How are they controlling for academic activities outside school or lack thereof?

    Importantly, how will they measure outcomes? Are all the kids going to take the same tests (eg every participating 3rd grader around the country will take one math test, including control groups)?

    If not, how will they compare outcomes? They can't use standardized tests written by states because each state has a different test. They can't compare this year's kids with last year's kids because the kids are different (and presumably the test, too). Even if they claim that the high numbers of students normalize the data, many of the teachers will have changed and maybe textbooks and homework too. How will they know they're comparing apples with apples?

    I have no idea how any of these parameters have been set up in this project; I'm only throwing out questions to help you judge the validity of the study.

    FWIW, I looked at some guidelines written for projects funded by the NSF, and their educational studies seem to be exempt from institutional review and consent. Don't know how this applies here, as the project isn't NSF-funded frown

    My cynical side is thinking, "Lack of institutional review is a factor in the low quality of education studies."



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    Permission slip arrived today. It says you CAN opt out. In three separate categories. Videotaping (although they obliquely admit it might not be possible), survey taking, and inclusion of your child's assignments in the anonymous collection of student work samples.

    There is no mention of restrictions on placement in the permission form. In fact, it states, "We are not asking teachers or student to do anything special or different because of this study - we simply want to gather information in classrooms as teachers and students enrage in their regular activities."

    I don't know what is going on.

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    Can you find out how the gates program is structured from an administrative perspective?

    There has to be a coordinator or PM for your school. Can you contact them?

    Thinking out of the box here, but perhaps the gates program people can become an advocate for you? In the short and long term? From what I have read in the last hour, they seem pretty dedicated to making changes.


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