Or whose parents refuse to follow the edicts?

Apparently Andy and Rags do not understand the concept of the term “cherry picked”

But that doesn’t stop them from throwing in the evil teachers’ unions.

How about some facts to back that claim up? How exactly are the teachers’ unions preventing the public schools from implementing the same type of KIPP reforms?

Why does he insist on keeping them in an environment where they fail?

He occasionally argues that he’s willing to let them go, so long as the money that the public was spending to not educate them doesn’t go with them.

Since their parents can’t afford to pay, the result of MiT’s position is that they have to stay in public schools, where they continue to fail.

In other words, given the choice between educating kids and money, MiT went for the money.

Interestingly enough, “can’t afford to pay” is the argument for taxpayer subsidized education….

As you say, these are all great rules, let the public schools follow. What’s stopping them? Oh yeah, the administration, the teachers’ union etc….

Here’s something I found after searching for less than a minute, from KIPP.org

. Choice & Commitment. Students, their parents, and the faculty of each KIPP school choose to participate in the program. No one is assigned or forced to attend a KIPP school. Everyone must make and uphold a commitment to the school and to each other to put in the time and effort required to achieve success.

Already they are serving a group different from the public schools.

Other quotes from KIPP about parents’ responsibilities:

We understand that our child must follow the KIPP rules so as to protect the safety, interests, and rights of all individuals in the classroom.

By having these rules in place KIPP is allowed to pre-select kids whose parents are committed to their education.
We will ensure that our child attends KIPP summer school.

KIPP does not do more with less. Ya gotta stop writing that.

Teachers and school leaders at KIPP do more with more and different.

KIPP gets full ADA in some states and districts, slightly less than full ADA in others, depending on how the school is charterd, and then raises substantial money from donors and foundations. http://www.kipp.org/06/ourpartners.cfm Total that up, and it amounts to a lot more than the ADA in the respective states KIPP opens schools in. You can also check out the FAQ #7 http://www.kipp.org/01/kippfaq.cfm

KIPP may not refuse students, but the 5-8 models do not enroll students after 6th grade, and as schools of choice, can hold far more stringent exit criteria than what is needed for expulsion.

Research has shown that while easier to read than “regular novels,” comic books actually require higher order thinking skills to understand.

It’s misleading, because “easier” does compare comic books to novels, leading the reader to expect the next comparative adjective to compare comics to novels.

“Higher” is comparing “higher order thinking skills” to “lower order thinking skills.” Readers use the same “higher order thinking skills” to understand novels, but the novels are harder to read, and probably beyond the reach of middle school English language learners.

Parent2, You are misreading the sentence. It does not say what you think it says. I have no idea why it is so difficult for you to understand a simple English sentence. It clearly states that comic books are (1) easier to read than novels and (2) they require higher order thinking skills to understand [than novels].

“Higher” is comparing “higher order thinking skills” to “lower order thinking skills.” Readers use the same “higher order thinking skills” to understand novels, but the novels are harder to read, and probably beyond the reach of middle school English language learners.

The thinking skills, according to Bloom, from “lower order” to “higher order:” (Google Bloom’s taxonomy in wikipedia)
Knowledge
Comprehension
Application
Analysis
Synthesis
Evaluation

I am not defending the education establishment’s take on Bloom’s taxonomy. I don’t think that you can leapfrog over Knowledge, Application, and Comprehension on your way to Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation. “Higher order thinking skills” does have a specific meaning in the education world, however.

“Research has shown that while easier to read than “regular novels,” comic books actually require higher order thinking skills to understand. The same higher order thinking skills that are required in math and science.”

That’s not his point. If you Google “higher order thinking skills,” you will see that this phrase is drawn from Bloom’s Taxonomy. “The cognitive domain taxonomy helped to create a standard around which further work could be done with the concepts of higher and lower order thinking. This model included six levels of thinking in a general scale of cognitive complexity from lowest to highest (O’hara, 1978): knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation. Each level not only asks more of our thinking skills but includes the previous levels as subsets of the new level.” (http://www.ceap.wcu.edu/Houghton/Learner/think/bloomsTaxonomy.html)

The teacher is not arguing that comic books are more complex than novels. The comic books would allow him to discuss more complex issues with a group of middle school English language learners than other materials. My assumption is, even if a student can’t read all the words, he or she can look at the pictures, and would be able to follow class discussion.

If you are not a huge fan of the graphic novels Parent2, then why are you trying to get me to read them? Where did you get the idea that I was looking for advice on what to read? Let’s see, should I read the Will and Ariel Durant Story of Civilization (something I have been trying to find the time to read for ages now) or Kingdom Come. That’s a tough decision.

My original comment was not about graphic novels per se, or even on his choice of Kingdom Come, a “superheroes” book, but on his assertion that comic books actually require higher order thinking skills to understand. Unless you are trying to defend that ridiculous statement, why are you being so argumentative? Where did I tell anyone not to read graphic novels if that is their taste in literature? I only said that I was not planning to read them. Why does that bother you so much?