This may indeed be the silver bullet that researchers usually say does not exist.

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Jon Awbrey says:

October 3, 2012 at 10:18 am

Silver bullets are for werewolves.

VAMpires require wooden stakes.

(Metaphorically speaking, of course.)

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patbuoncristiani says:

October 3, 2012 at 10:27 am

Beautiful! ‘Perhaps University’ is clearly on to something. We actually did something similar with a university class about five years ago. As a part of a test we plotted how long each student took to complete the test as well as asking them how long they had taken to prepare for the test. What surprised me was not the outcome, but how surprised the students were to see the graphs that demonstrated a significant increase in test score with increased preparation time and time taken on the test. How did they get this far in their education without having already worked this out?

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- Ken Mortland says:
  
  October 3, 2012 at 10:51 am
  
  One has to wonder about that, doesn’t one? Makes me think of the philosophical difference between Japanese students’ outlook on success and American students’ outlook. Seems Japanese student firmly believe hard work pays off in good learning, while American students believe successful learning is more a function of intelligence. Puts a different twist on this, maybe?
  
  Reply
  - patbuoncristiani says:
    
    October 4, 2012 at 11:24 am
    
    Ken, Carol Dweck’s book ‘Mindsets’ addresses this directly. It’s one of the most powerful books I have read recently.
jeffrey bowen says:

October 3, 2012 at 1:24 pm

This is truly an ironic hoot! I love the professor’s response to the neuro scientist….what did you say?? Thanks for bringing this one out to us!

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Sheila Schlesinger says:

October 3, 2012 at 5:33 pm

this is hysterically funny.
thanks for posting it

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Lehrer says:

October 3, 2012 at 7:38 pm

Funny, but terrifying since I know my evaluations will be based on ALL my students’ progress. The fact is some kids do not work as hard as others. Some kids are not developmentally ready to handle certain material. I have quite a range this year in my classroom: from children who attend to lessons, contribute to class discussions, and put considerable effort into their work to those who fall off chairs, hide under tables, and spend a good part of their day avoiding work.

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rrhake says:

October 3, 2012 at 7:44 pm

“The Zeorth Law of educational thermodynamics – ‘Nothing works if the
students don’t.’ ”
– Richard Pendarvis (Chemed-L subscriber)

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"2old2tch" says:

October 4, 2012 at 1:00 am

I have the report of one student, who shall remain anonymous, who allowed as how his classes were really quite interesting when he studied for them. Amazingly, his grades improved substantially after he started studying. It was quite amazing how his attitude toward school changed.

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Edward O'Rourke says:

October 4, 2012 at 8:28 am

Wait! What? Do the work and you learn the material and pass, don’t do the work and you don’t? What a novel idea! Why has no one thought of this before?

In truth, this speaks to the culture we’ve created by over-scheduling our kids. They’ve become great at showing up to things, but not at doing the work it takes to become proficient. This applies to sports, dance, music and school work.

And as a matter of fact, we in the public schools have bought in to this in self-defense. If you fail a lot of kids for not doing the work, administration will come down on you. Thus 65 (minimum passing grade) is the new 50. (You thought it only applied to baby boomers.) And if a kid comes to class every day and does the work in class (usually not the homework) they will pass.

When I was on the high school PTO, the year after my oldest daughter graduated, an agency came to us and asked us to help fund prep-school for a kid who was awarded a four-year football scholarship to a state university, but was unable to accept it because he had failed to attend class his last semester and didn’t graduate. My daughter, with college freshman clarity, said “Yeah, he had time to get his girlfriend pregnant, but not to go to class.” (This daughter, by the way, was a Division 1 athlete at an Ivy League school, which doesn’t give athletic scholarships.)

We politely declined to fund the prep-school, feeling that we would then need to send an equal amount to each every other kid who didn’t graduate.

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Louis says:

October 4, 2012 at 9:16 am

It gets harder and harder to recognize satire on education.

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Melanie Walker says:

October 4, 2012 at 10:40 am

So, let me get this right. If you take the class, you know more about the subject than if you didn’ take the class. If you take the class and study, you do better than if you take the class and don’t study. If you take the class, don’t study, sit there passively and don’t engage, you will know a small amount about the subject , but less than someone who engages. WHO THE HELL WAS PAID TO DO THIS STUDY? I’m so glad that was finally explained to me as an educator for 25 years. I just couldn’t have figured that out myself.

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- dianerav says:
  
  October 4, 2012 at 11:07 am
  
  Satire!!!!
  
  Diane
  
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  - Melanie Walker says:
    
    October 4, 2012 at 11:10 am
    
    Thanks Diane. With the absurd nature of what is happening in education now, I just couldn’t tell!! Sad, isn’t it!!
- Diana Senechal says:
  
  October 5, 2012 at 11:51 am
  
  I recognize that it’s often difficult to tell satires from reality.
  
  A few giveaways: there is no Peutetre University, nor will there ever be, since “peut-être” is French for “perhaps.”
  
  The principal’s last name, “Nekogda,” is Russian for “there is no time.” “Mne nekogda” means “I have no time.”
  
  Reply
  - Melanie says:
    
    October 6, 2012 at 8:24 am
    
    Again…admitting my grasp of foreign languages leaves a lot to be desired……..my disgust with the state of the recent educational practices, the political climate, and my own extremely stressful days teaching students who make it perfectly obvious they couldn’t care less about showing respect in the classroom, have rendered me incapable of telling satire from reality. Telling, isn’t it!!
  - dianerav says:
    
    October 6, 2012 at 8:27 am
    
    These days, it is almost impossible to tell the difference between reality and satire.
  - Diana Senechal says:
    
    October 6, 2012 at 8:34 am
    
    Melanie, you’re not alone.
    
    I made it a little easier to tell which pieces on my blog are satirical. In the sidebar “About This Blog,” I provide links to the “satire” category and to my full list of satirical pieces.
  - Melanie says:
    
    October 6, 2012 at 8:50 am
    
    Diane squared…..thank you for making me feel a bit less…….well……..perhaps gullible. After 25 years of teaching, I’m not sure I can last even another year.
"2old2tch" says:

October 5, 2012 at 12:27 pm

Other than momentarily noting the odd names, feldspar, caulk,…I have become accustomed to expecting a serious tone to Diane Senechal’s postings. I never thought to check out the names of obscure institutions of higher learning and not having any degree, advanced or otherwise in languages, including my own, I fell for the all to common hype about the next inane educational research study, of which there are far too many. Color me naive.

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