Originally Posted by 22B
Just give them the numbers. Are educators really incapable of understanding this? It's just not that complicated.
Originally Posted by Minx
Yes, yes they are. More to the point, they often don't care because they are concerned about "THE WHOLE CHILD"...well, all the bits except for intellectual development, that is.

I'm not bitter, though. ;-)
Originally Posted by Dude
For a fun exercise, attend one of those meetings with an army of school staff, use the phrase "standard deviation," and count the pairs of glazed eyeballs.

And, what Minx said.
But, but, but,...what on earth do they learn in teachers college?!

Don't they learn some basic statistics?

Don't they learn that amongst children there is huge variation in ability?

Don't they learn that ability differences are not transient, and they do not "even out"?

Don't they learn that high ability children can learn much faster than low ability children (unless preventative measures are taken), so that as children get older, achievement gaps are expected to increase?

Don't they learn the fundamental theorem of egalitarian education, that all children should be equally challenged, so that high ability children have classes that are higher, faster, broader, deeper, while low ability children have classes that are lower, slower, narrower, shallower, so that everyone finds the same level of challenge in their education?