Chapter 8

In Chapter 8, Kozol discusses the program Higher Horizons.  He also talks about other programs sponsored by the government with the intent of improving schools.  Higher Horizons was a compensatory program that at first appeared to raise test scores and aspirations of low-income, minority students.  Kozol points to the discrepancies in the reported results and the actual results of this program.  He states that an evaluation of this program found “no meaningful differences between those children who attended segregated schools that had this program and those in segregated schools that had not been a part of this experiment” (189).  Kozol points to other schools with special programs that at first seem to show student improvement, but in reality, no significant improvement was seen. 

            In the latter part of the chapter, Kozol talks about goals different presidents have attempted to achieve.  He mentions Regan, George H., and George W. and their seemingly similar plans.  While several lofty goals were mentioned, “few substantial new resources were provided to the states and local districts to achieve these goals” (201).  This is the problem; we are seeing now how difficult the No Child Left Behind idea works without proper funding and the too high importance placed on test scores.  True teaching and true learning are about so much more than passing standardized tests.  Kozol points to the problem of funds being continuously lessened, while standards and performance expectations continue to rise. 

            One thing I found of interest was the way schools in
Houston, Texas reported their students’ scores. 
Houston schools apparently gave reports that were “overstated or outrightly false” (207).  It comes to no surprise, and Kozol does a wonderful job of making the connection, that supporters of
Houston schools had “close ties to the Bush administration” (208). 

            What I found most appalling was the section where Kozol quoted Lewis Terman, who said, “Indians, Mexicans, and Negroes…should be segregated in their classes and given concrete and practical instruction…they cannot master abstractions, but they can often be made efficient workers” (211-212).  Kozol also quotes a colleague of Terman, Thorndike, who said, “One sure service of the able and good is to beget and rear off-spring…almost the only one which the inferior and vicious can perform is to prevent their genes from survival” (212).  These two men held influential roles in their careers; it is sad to think of the many people they poisoned with this kind of thinking and the kind of impact they have had on education today.