Rose and Black Comparison (11/21)

Both Rose and Black agree that kids need more of a challenge. We think that the “magic bullet” (Rose) is charter schools but we cannot rely on charter schools. Black also believes charter schools are the best for challenging students. Rose and Black both point out that we cannot rely on charter schools. Clips from “Waiting for Superman” are used to support Black’s dialogue of charter schools; kids get into charter schools through a lottery system. It is pure luck that kids get into charter schools: if they don’t get in they are funneled into less reliable public schools. As Rose points out, we cannot rely on the “magic bullet” of charter schools, because the majority of students do go to public schools.

Black points out, via a clip from “Waiting for Superman”, that American teenagers are 25^th in the world for math and science and #1 in confidence. Rose has a related point: “To stop the accountability train long enough to define what we mean by “achievement” and what it should mean in a democratic society. Is it a rise in test scores? Is it getting a higher rank in international comparisons? Or should it be more?” Should we look at the “25^th in the world” standing and be shocked by it? According to Black we are #1 in the world but ranked extremely low in test scores. The question we should be asking is why is that? To reform the education system we need to find out what is wrong, and also what is right with the education system.

The most important similarity between Rose and Black is how they both agree on challenging students. One of Rose’s calls to action is that we need “more young people getting an engaging and challenging education.”