Principal Says: Ignorance is Bliss When it Comes to School
cn | 24 January, 2007 17:54Data is good. If I know where I'm at, I can evaluate it and change. I can do a lot with data, and if I don't have it, it doesn't mean that I'm different than I am. For example, if I think I'm a math whiz, but I fail my algebra test, but my teacher wants me to maintain that confidence so he doesn't show me my grades, that doesn't change the fact that I failed the test. Now I study less because I really believe I'm good at math and I graduate and want to be an engineer by I can't pass a college math test to save my life...that's what I believe about knowing where I'm at...
But not at Hillsborough High School, where the principal pulled an article detailing the school's achievement gap from the student newspaper.
Principal William Orr called the content inappropriate, even though it focused on data the federal government publicizes under the No Child Left Behind Act.
Instead of a story and chart, students found a gaping hole Monday in the Red & Black, the school newspaper.
"If it's something that has a potential to hurt students' self-esteem, then I have an obligation not to let that happen," he said. "I don't think it's the job of the school newspaper to embarrass the students."
So we better not let the students' know that they're not at a level that is competitive with their peers. Yikes. The whole article is a bit disturbing. Though I believe the principal has the best intentions, the reasoning mystifies me. It's like saying - even though they may never work on their education as much and it may limit them a lot in the future, as long as they feel good now, then we must be doing the right thing.
originally found via hit and run blog.
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