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The story we’re about to share reveals a failed ten-year experiment by officials in San Francisco, who tried desperately to prove that whites and Asians aren’t better than anyone else when it comes to math. Needless to say, it failed miserably. The truth—one most people are afraid to say out loud—is that the left was, once again, covering for black students, who tend to score much lower in math (and other subjects). This isn’t “racist”; it’s just facts.
African Americans score lower than European Americans on vocabulary, reading, and math tests, as well as on tests that claim to measure scholastic aptitude and intelligence. The gap appears before children enter kindergarten and it persists into adulthood.
The fact that certain races have different average IQs is an “inconvenient truth” the left refuses to acknowledge. Truthfully, this doesn’t do black students any favors. We’re not all the same. Different races excel at different things, and that’s perfectly okay. Pretending the playing field is level for everyone is a disservice to those who may naturally need extra help with certain subjects. This failed “math experiment” in San Francisco proved it’s also a waste of time, money, and resources. In an effort to claim everyone is “brilliant” at math and how “racist-free” they were, officials forced strong math students to lag behind with those who struggled. In the end, everyone lost—another predictable, epic failure of this “magical,” pie-in-the-sky progressive thinking.
SF public schools forced all students to take algebra in 9th grade instead of 8th grade because some weren’t ready yet.
The entire motivation was magical thinking. The reformers thought that if they repeated the incantation “all students are mathematically brilliant” it would come true.
They believed that giving students access to math classes at the same time (no one can accelerate, even if they prove they’re ready) would eliminate unequal outcomes.
They thought it was “unfair” to give students access to classes based on previous performance in math — that special access to extra classes and tutors accounted for 100% of the difference in math ability observed in students.
They blamed “white supremacy” — despite Asians outperforming whites on standardized math tests in the district.
And their experiment? It failed. The groups they intended to help are not taking or passing advanced math at higher rates than before. Enough.
This notion that everybody is “brilliant” at math is quite literally, mathematically impossible.
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How’s that for irony?
Even years later, San Francisco Unified School District casts a shadow over attempts to quash long-standing disparities in math.
In 2014, the district pushed algebra to ninth grade from eighth grade, in an attempt to eliminate the tracking, or grouping, of students into lower and upper math paths. The district hoped that scrapping honors math classes and eighth grade algebra courses would reduce disparities in math learning.
For advocates, it struck at the very core of why only some students perform well in math.
When districts slot students into math classes based on ability they send conspicuous messages to those on the lower track that they are not smart enough, says Ho Nguyen, who was a K-12 math and computer science program administrator in San Francisco during the district’s detracking attempt. It’s not that it’s always intentional, he’s quick to add. But these hierarchies affect students’ belief systems and also tend to lower teachers’ expectations of students labeled worse at math, Nguyen says. Those attempting to reform this practice contend that all students are mathematically brilliant, he says.
But don’t worry—facts and actual outcomes don’t matter to these people. Nothing will stop them from pushing forward with mediocrity. The EdSurge piece goes on:
Those critical of San Francisco’s detracking attempt argue that the district put too much emphasis on public relations to the point that it misrepresented the research. But for Iwasaki, the opposite was true: They lost the PR battle by not focusing on getting enough community buy-in, and opening the space for critics to single out negative-looking data points. Instead, they should have found a way to elevate the voices of the students who would have been positively impacted by the work, Iwasaki says. The district was also reluctant to respond to criticism, which meant that in the absence of answers to detractors, the critics won by default, he says.
For some, the brawl pushed the work out of the public spotlight.
In the last couple of years, Nguyen says he’s felt “muzzled,” because his superiors would not allow him to speak openly about the foray into detracking for fear he would contradict the district’s unwind of the experiment.
Nguyen also commented that the district’s seven-person math team never got a chance to make its case to the superintendent about the harm tracking causes. He said he believes that these positions were eliminated due to their involvement with the detracking attempt. “The superintendent and the math department could have found ways to delay or offer solutions that could appease enough parents. He was not an ally and instead did the bidding of the Board of Education, most of whom sided with the small group of parents who pushed for tracking,” Nguyen wrote in a note to EdSurge.
These days, Nguyen works in San Mateo, a nearby suburb, as a curriculum and instruction services coordinator.
Meanwhile, San Francisco Unified argues that its emphasis on equity remains steadfast.
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Even when faced with total failure, these “intellectual” progressives double down. They keep pushing their failed, dangerous, and unproductive “DEI” agenda, trying to make everyone “brilliant” at achieving less and barely good enough to pass even the most basic tasks.
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