As they say, genius finds a way.
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Yes I totally agree, though I don't necessarily think intervention is de facto hopeless, just that it a) is likely to be much harder and costlier than people think & b) probably requires a much better knowledge of how child's brain develops than we have now.
I don't think we need to know much about child development. Just do large RCTs, get lucky. Try some stuff we didn't try already (e.g., give all kids Ritalin at school level). Ritalin has some interesting longitudinal evidence for crime.http://dx.doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa1203241 …
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I don't think interventions or environmental change is hopeless, but I have very little faith in social scientists due to their sheer incompetence and strong political bias.
Thanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
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Well here we'll have to agree to disagree. I'm a strong advocate of imposing a robust clinical trials model of intervention in education. I think the "suck it and see" approach is the reason we wasted so much money on interventions that don't work. But anyway good talk.
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How about this for a "robust clinical trial"? We pick a state; I'll volunteer Wisconsin. We require that all state and local funding of education be directed into vouchers, allowing parents to choose the best school for their kids, with minimal regulations. See how market works.
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On clinical trials model why not. You have to show it works in smaller phase I-II trials 1st, & prove the gains are cost-effective, before rolling it out state wide. *And* be willing to abandon it if evidence shows it doesn't work. That is what politicians may find difficult!
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Well, that was intended as a snarky tweet. My point is that we have way too much of educational "experts" testing out their theories about how best to deliver education, and way too little of parents exercising their own choice as to what's best.
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Far more important, in my view, to obtaining good educational outcomes is to break the control of teacher unions over what goes on in schools funded by taxpayer dollars. Easiest way to do that is through generous voucher programs. Let parents vote with their feet.
End of conversation
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