There's some interesting (if basic) analysis at 538 suggesting that the 
results of the survey were fake anyway:

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/09/are-oklahoma-students-really-this-dumb.html

It looks relatively convincing to me, so good news! Oklahoma students 
aren't in quite that bad shape.


There's an analysis of the analysis here:

http://blog.smellthedata.com/2009/09/analysis-of-pollster-fraud-and-oklahoma.html

But at the very least it seems quite fishy that none of the 1000 
students were able to get more than 7 out of the 10 questions right. 
There's some further arguments at 538 as well for those interested:

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/09/strategic-vision-polls-exhibit-unusual.html
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/09/comparison-study-unusual-patterns-in.html

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"Kevin Wampler" <wam### [at] uwashingtonedu> wrote in message 
news:4ac04016$1@news.povray.org...
> There's some interesting (if basic) analysis at 538 suggesting that the 
> results of the survey were fake anyway:
>
> http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/09/are-oklahoma-students-really-this-dumb.html
>
> It looks relatively convincing to me, so good news! Oklahoma students 
> aren't in quite that bad shape.
>
>
> There's an analysis of the analysis here:
>
> http://blog.smellthedata.com/2009/09/analysis-of-pollster-fraud-and-oklahoma.html
>
> But at the very least it seems quite fishy that none of the 1000 students 
> were able to get more than 7 out of the 10 questions right. There's some 
> further arguments at 538 as well for those interested:
>
> http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/09/strategic-vision-polls-exhibit-unusual.html
> http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/09/comparison-study-unusual-patterns-in.html

I did see that an Oklahoma student had commented that the
test results were correct, and that his fellow students were willfully
stupid. Essentially there was a lot of peer pressure to fail or
ignore tests, and that probably means that the results are not a
valid measure of knowledge. Instead, the results indicate a
failure of the teachers.

Someone should tell the kids that if they don't take learning
more seriously people will think they're all retards.

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Tim Attwood wrote:
> Someone should tell the kids that if they don't take learning
> more seriously people will think they're all retards.

What makes you think they would listen?

...Chambers

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>> Someone should tell the kids that if they don't take learning
>> more seriously people will think they're all retards.
> 
> What makes you think they would listen?
> 
It's just psychology, a fair dose of derision and they'll work 
hard to prove you are wrong, or drop out, but if they don't
want to learn that's no real loss. Teachers aren't supposed
to change kids diapers.

Post a reply to this message

"Kevin Wampler" <wam### [at] uwashingtonedu> wrote in message 
news:4ac04016$1@news.povray.org...
> There's some interesting (if basic) analysis at 538 suggesting that the 
> results of the survey were fake anyway:
>
> http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/09/are-oklahoma-students-really-this-dumb.html
>
> It looks relatively convincing to me, so good news! Oklahoma students 
> aren't in quite that bad shape.
>

I only got around 8 or 9 correct.  I'm not familiar with the phrase, "The 
supreme law of the land".  It's just not anything I ever remember hearing. 
Maybe I wasn't paying attention.  But now I'll probably notice it a lot. 
The other one was Thomas Jefferson writing the Declaration of Independence. 
That was my best guess and I would have written it down, but I definitely 
was not sure of myself.  I don't specifically recall that.

So...  I guess I'm really that dumb.  Give me a straight "B".

As someone pointed out, if this was not a multiple choice test, it's quite 
possible that no one got more than 7 correct.  I wonder how schools in my 
home state of Michigan would fair.

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On 09/29/09 05:47, Tim Attwood wrote:
>>> Someone should tell the kids that if they don't take learning
>>> more seriously people will think they're all retards.
>>
>> What makes you think they would listen?
>>
> It's just psychology, a fair dose of derision and they'll work hard to
> prove you are wrong, or drop out, but if they don't
> want to learn that's no real loss. Teachers aren't supposed
> to change kids diapers.

	Nor are they supposed to deride.

	I suspect if most kids were treated like retards, they'll happily 
oblige. I went to two high schools. In one, the students were treated 
like they treat grade school kids, and so most students acted that way. 
In the other, they were treated a bit better, and they were more mature.

-- 
My sister opened a computer store in Hawaii. She sells C shells down by 
the seashore.

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Jeremy "UncleHoot" Praay wrote:
> The other one was Thomas Jefferson writing the Declaration of Independence. 

Yeah, I didn't remember if it was Adams or Jefferson either. :-)

-- 
   Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
   I ordered stamps from Zazzle that read "Place Stamp Here".

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On Tue, 29 Sep 2009 11:21:38 -0500, Neeum Zawan <m.n### [at] ieeeorg> wrote:

>My sister opened a computer store in Hawaii. She sells C shells down by 
>the seashore.

Groan!
:-)
-- 

Regards
     Stephen

Post a reply to this message

On Tue, 29 Sep 2009 08:37:16 -0400, "Jeremy \"UncleHoot\" Praay"
<jer### [at] questsoftwarecmo> wrote:

>I only got around 8 or 9 correct. 

I only got one wrong (#2) and I'm not even American. Go figure! :lol:
-- 

Regards
     Stephen

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Darren New wrote:
> Jeremy "UncleHoot" Praay wrote:
>> The other one was Thomas Jefferson writing the Declaration of 
>> Independence. 
> 
> Yeah, I didn't remember if it was Adams or Jefferson either. :-)
> 

Literally Jefferson, but I believe than Adams and Franklin assisted him 
with it.

...Chambers

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