Hacker News Reader

Comment by nostromo | Hacker News Reader

I’m very concerned about how our welcome push for equity and representation has been evolving from pulling underachieving people up to pushing overachieving people down.

You see this in canceled AP courses across the country. You see this in the deemphasis on testing outcomes (SAT for example). And you see this in challenging classes being made easier, or focusing on group work rather than individual contributions.

A while ago I read about how a school started introducing Khan’s material into classrooms. It increased GPA on average. But it had a much greater effect on white and Asian American students, so it increased the achievement gap, and was canceled outright rather than improved. So a program was canceled that increased student performance… insanity.

This isn’t the way to go about improving equity.

View on HN

It is not and never has been about equality.

The politics of inequality simply provide one the ability to advocate for their interests at the expense of others' while avoiding rational dissent and social stigma.

> I’m very concerned about how our welcome push for equity and representation has been evolving from pulling underachieving people up to pushing overachieving people down.

I would be interested in seeing any historical evidence for this, because I’m a bit skeptical. This is something that swings back and forth, based on the location where you live and what happens to be popular. I remember advanced classes being pulled in the early 1990s. Then at some point, focus returns to the gifted students. Then you get No Child Left Behind. It seems to be partly a cycle and partly just a bunch of unintended consequences.

> You see this in the deemphasis on testing outcomes (SAT for example).

SAT isn’t a good test. GRE is worse. They should be deemphasized.

I saw this somewhere: It's through the lawn mower, not the fertilizer, that the lawn achieves equality.

I think Rush said it best:

"There is trouble in the forest

And the creatures all have fled

As the maples scream, "Oppression"

And the oaks just shake their heads

So the maples formed a union

And demanded equal rights

They say, "The oaks are just too greedy

We will make them give us light"

Now there's no more oak oppression

For they passed a noble law

And the trees are all kept equal

By hatchet, axe, and saw"

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iDM8fXhRdWs

It's also through spraying the lawn with chemicals that kill unwanted weeds.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com