How Data Analytics In Education Could Create a New Class of Haves and Have-nots

mattydread23 writes "Every student learns differently. Some educators are starting to use data analytics to figure out how to tailor teaching techniques to individual students, rather than using the 'one size fits all' approach. But Alec Ross, a senior advisor on innovation at the U.S. State Department, worries this would create a new class of haves and have-nots. Speaking at the Schools for Tomorrow conference last week, Ross said, 'A lot of what I see is the ability to productize and commercialize very intensive assessments of individual limits. So what I imagine is parents getting their kids essentially a $30,000 educational checkup where they extract enormous amounts of data about the kinds of learners their children are, the kinds of education deficits they have.'"

Comments

One size does not fit all...

[nebaz]

Great, so someone laments the fact that some people may end up more educated than others. Wouldn't it be better if we taught everyone to their potential instead of holding back the more gifted students so everyone is equal? Lowest common denominator is "lowest" for a reason.

Re:One size does not fit all...

[h4rr4r]

Most people believe all kinds of lies. We have never been a meritocracy. We have always had a rather class based system. A great example was Romney speaking of being in a bad spot financially so he had to sell some stock one time. That was his idea of a financial struggle and of those like him. He advised students to borrow money from their parents to start a business. He was not being a bad person he just has no idea about reality for 99% of people. Just like you have no idea what it is like to live like those people. To him spending ~$80k a year on a dancing horse is normal. To us that would be lunacy.

We like to all pretend we are middle class for some reason, when this is clearly not the case.

Analytics Ruining NY Schools

[Jason Levine]

Here in NY we've given Pearson $4 million to give overly difficult tests to our kids. The result? 30% passing rate. To which the governor threatened to shut down schools who don't raise their scores. (He actually called it a "death penalty for schools.")

The quirk here is that charter schools and private schools are exempt from the testing. So if public schools are closed for not meeting ridiculous standards, more charter schools will be opened. Charter schools are run by businesses and - although they take public money - act more like private schools in that they can decide who attends. If your kids has ANY special needs at all, they can find themselves kicked out or rejected. So you'll wind up with the "haves" (students whose parents can afford private schools or who get into charter schools) and the "have nots" (students with special needs who are herded into the poorly funded remains of the public school system).

WTF are they talking about?

[greywire]

I work for a company that does (among other things) online assessments and data analytics. We're all about the data and how we can use that to help teachers help their kids. How is this a bad thing? The more you know about how the kids are doing, the more you can help them. I don't know how they are getting this idea of something equivalent to an expensive full body physical scan that most people cant afford (besides the fact that over time such scans will get cheaper and cheaper...).