“The Age that will Bury Us”
— by SomeDAM Poet (after The Age of Aquarius (5th Dimension) )
When the VAM is in the Random House
And stupid is as stupid does
Then tests will guide the teaching
And Gates will steer because
This is the dawning of the Age
of Economists, the Age of Economists
Economists, Economists
Ed and stats misunderstanding
Ignorance is just astounding
Tons more falsehoods and derisions
Chetty having dreams and visions
Cattle model mathturbation
And the mind’s tergiversation
Will Bury Us, Will Bury Us
When the VAM is in the Random House
And stupid is as stupid does
Then tests will guide the teaching
And Gates will steer because
This is the dawning of the Age
That will bury us, Age that will bury us
Will bury us
Let the sun shine, let the sun shine in
The sun shine in, na na na na na….
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Possibly his best yet!
mathman: what you said!
😃
I call it the econometric turn in education. Not as poetic but there is no one who can match the poet who has found a home on this blog.
Apropos though the time we are in isn’t quite as dark as the Vietnam era when we had little compunction about sending our sons and daughters to die for kin and country.
Hair is also a beautiful but horrible reminder that our government has few qualms manipulating its people for money and ideology and that it takes a major pushback to bring things back into balance – but as Claude reminds us, the tree of liberty is refreshed with the blood of patriots..
I hope this turn of the cycle and struggle we can avoid the violence that should prove un necessary to have our leaders listen to us.
Given the unrelenting assault on teachers professionalism along with the outright robbery the state inflicts on them, these are violations of a severe nature, may we only find peaceful solutions.
We see the stomping on all of our major rights: the right of free speech, the right to bear arms, the right to free choice in religion, the right to privacy. It is indeed a dark time. But like you, I hope for a peaceful resolution to our many problems.
In dealing w/humans, especially those developing and on the cusp of entering adulthood to grow and contribute – or not, using just our analytic skills is never enough. WE need a balance of feeling, whether “science” doesn’t care about that or not, w/analytics. One reason I think we lose a LOT of educators to pseudo-corporate data gamesters is that I believe the one way to keep hold of the moral duties in education and the emotional power of living those duties is to be, as Tracy Kidder wrote it, Among Schoolchildren. I can see no alternative. Days spent in meetings scrutinizing data and playing for power numbs us to what it is to live in constant emotional uncertainty about the lives of children we know as individuals. Leave their presence, except for photo opts or walk thrus, and you are a lost soul. That sounds dramatic and emotional cuz that’s exactly what I’m describing. Even building admins must interact with and accept direct responsibility for kids each day lest the identity slips away.
Teachers have the most morally important job in the world of education – all the rest of us are merely a support element – or way too often, a judge and impediment. So, what can the role of economists be? Little, and before real decisions get made. A Kansas Supt. told me years ago that when policies or situations had legal implications he ask the lawyers to come in and discuss the matter. Then, they had to leave while educators [well, once educators to me] made an educational decision vs. a legal one.
Love this_thank you!
Thank you, SomeDamPoet. This is beautiful and funny.
I predict that Gates and the other billionaires will lose interest in VAM. From their lofty perspective, it’s just a failed experiment that left a mess to be cleaned up.
In higher education, there’s a continual proliferation of metrics for “assessing” research. As the equations for these metrics get too complicated, economists will be pushed aside by physicists, and mathematicians. Computer scientists will build networks of programs that “learn,” in order to simulate the effects of different education technologies.
Somewhere real students will learn stuff. But that will be old-fashioned and quaint.