For a surreal experience, follow the mental gymnastics of the Vancouver School Board (BC, Canada) in its decision to discontinue streamed STEM high school classes:
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/can...es-out-honours-programs-in-high-schools/Particularly absurd quotes:
The Vancouver board and others in the province have changed the curriculum significantly since it was introduced in 2015, including getting rid of letter grades. Pedagogical experts maintain the new curriculum is aimed at better ensuring students understand their subject material rather than achieving a certain grade.
Requires a 270-degree range of mobility for spinal extension to reconcile:
The district said these schools will not be cut because they do not violate equity principles. “The entire population of a mini school attends because they feel it is better suited to their learning. This is different from streaming students of varying abilities who are all part of the same student population at main schools,” it said in its statement.
And the outright militant and baseless judgmentalism of a quoted professor specializing in spec ed, Jennifer Katz at UBC:
Jennifer Katz, an expert in special education at the University of British Columbia, supports the curriculum changes and has worked as a consultant for the Vancouver School Board. She said students who are strong in some subjects should be challenged. But she dismissed the concerns of parents who say their gifted children struggle to fit in.
“That’s a stereotype,” she said. “I don’t buy that. That is a part of racism and systemic racism. It’s a part of ‘I don’t want my kids in class with those kids.’ And that’s nonsense.”
She said some specialized programs such as advanced placement are “almost always” made up of “middle- and upper-class kids whose parents have had them tutored for who knows how many years. And so you’re really streaming kids by socio-economic status.”
She *does* realize that school catchment zones are already mapped to address, which is highly correlated with socio-economic status and race, no?
This is the link to Dr. Katz' UBC profile:
https://ecps.educ.ubc.ca/person/jennifer-katz/And her corporate (read: sales) page:
http://www.threeblockmodel.com/**I need a mental shower now.**
