Re: No Mas (and a book offer)

[aflanigan@comcast.net]

Art, ARN's resident internet troll, has, as most longtime members have learned, a very finely developed sense of moral outrage.  It is engaged as soon as he is asked to justify his glib dismissals or any other position he seems to be arguing.  How dare he be expected to logically back up his opinions?  He's also good at throwing sand into the air, rolling his eyes, clucking his tongue, and several logical fallacies to boot.

Sherman and others, for everyone's sake, PLEASE DO NOT FEED THE TROLL!




-------------- Original message -------------- 
From: ABurke5054@aol.com 

Oh, please.  Where do you get this stuff?  As if 9 year-olds themselves can't tell if they know their multiplication tables and as if making decisions about the proficiency of school children is a problem in unlocking the secrets of the universe.  I'll pass on your book.

Art 

In a message dated 8/7/2006 6:45:26 AM Pacific Standard Time, sdorn@tempest.coedu.usf.edu writes:
I don't think Burke or anyone else can point to a single test in use today
that can tell us what proportion of 9-year-olds have memorized their
multiplication tables. The point here is not whether that's a reasonable
expectation (though I think it is), but that we have a system that trusts a
technocratic process that is largely obscure, even while the ethic of
accountability is transparency. We can't have meaningful discussions about
what we should expect when Burke and other accountability jingoists hide
behind the word "proficiency," as if that is a self-evident term.