Blurts

I cannot claim to be a Vanity Fair reader, but one of the great things about social networks is that you encounter suggestions for things you would not normally encounter that are worth your time.

I recommend this Vanity Fair piece – The Percent’s problem (Joseph Stiglitz) – it is worth your time.

Franklin D. Roosevelt, a purebred patrician, understood that the only way to save an essentially capitalist America was not only to spread the wealth, through taxation and social programs, but to put restraints on capitalism itself, through regulation. Roosevelt and the economist John Maynard Keynes, while reviled by the capitalists, succeeded in saving capitalism from the capitalists. Richard Nixon, known to this day as a manipulative cynic, concluded that social peace and economic stability could best be secured by investment—and invest he did, heavily, in Medicare, Head Start, Social Security, and efforts to clean up the environment.

In general, I hate political ads. They are basically sound bites intended to influence without doing much to inform. Lots of money (thanks Supreme Court) from special interest groups with an agenda often unrelated to the issues in the ads.

Anyway, finally I have found an issue that I can evaluate. By evaluate, I mean I understand the issue and this mostly means I know it is far more complicated than the political figures are willing to admit. The issue is class size. Part of the focus on this topic (I do thank CNN for this insight) is that it is an issue that makes sense to the public and can be used as a way to influence even though it is complicated and details matter. Do not confuse the public with details in a 30 ad spot (or even the 10 minutes that can be devoted on a news program).

CNN videos of their analysis of the class size controversy. CNN transcript.

Here is one you can evaluate for yourself. Go to Google Scholar and “google” class size. I would suggest class size and articles since 2000. Look for reviews or studies in major journals (Journal of Educational Psychology, Review of Education Research, American Educational Research Journal). The focus on major journals means  you have allowed editorial boards to evaluate the quality of the papers for you. Other sources may be insightful, but I would start with the journals I mention. Do you want the papers on educational achievement or do you want the articles on economics?

So for example, here is the abstract from Journal of Educational Psychology, 2005, 214-223.

This investigation addressed 3 questions about the long-term effects of early school experiences: (a) Is participation in small classes in the early grades (K-3) related to high school graduation? (b) Is academic achievement in K-3 related to high school graduation? (c) If class size is related to graduation, is the relationship explained by the effect of participation in small classes on students’ academic achievement? The study included 4,948 participants in Tennessee’s class-size experiment, Project STAR. Analyses showed that graduating was related to K-3 achievement and that attending small classes for 3 or more years increased the likelihood of graduating from high school, especially among students eligible for free lunch. Policy and research implications are discussed.

Paraphrased – this study found that smaller classes in the early grades (particularly for students from poorer families) seems to be associated with (note I did not say causes because that would be pushing what the findings indicate) better academic success.

The problem with ads is the ads purposefully avoid specifics. There is always wiggle room because I suppose the statements are accurate in some context with some individuals. You do not get to ask the questions – what would you do in this set of circumstances.

I think this would be a great activity for my educational psychology class. I suppose I might be accused of being too political. Still – is being better informed the same as being political? Is being alerted to the fact that thinking critically part of your responsibility as a citizen (or student) political?

BTW – the statement “I would rather have my kids in a larger class with a great teacher rather than a smaller class with a mediocre teacher” is likely the way an economist might think about the costs of education. Others might ask – can we afford great teachers in classes of reasonable size (if class size matters)?

I am kind of a news junkie, but I have grown concerned that the movement toward presenting news from a perspective makes it difficult to really become informed about what is going on. I really do not know that news in the days of Cronkite and Edward Morrow was more accurate, but this is a popular perspective. Now, it is obvious Fox and MSNBC are interpreting the same events with different explanations. Somehow, I would think the access allowed by the Internet would offer a solution, but more perspectives do not necessarily offer greater clarity.

My present effort at understanding makes use of News360. This site, accessible via a browser of app, organizes the day’s news by story and provides multiple versions of a story as reported by different sources. In addition, if allowed, News360 analyzes my browsing behavior to identify topics I am interested in. The idea, as I interpret it, is to offer me options for understanding stories I will likely find interesting. I guess sorting our the the different “takes” on the events is up to me. You do not have to take advantage of this feature if you object to a service learning about your preferences.

So, for example, candidate Romney recently selected a running mate, and I was interested in the supposed differences in the reported views of the candidate on key issues with Paul Ryan having more conservative views. My personal take had been that the choice was an effort to appease the far right and I wanted to see how the disparity was being interpreted by different news sources.