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From: Chris Buckley <alan@sabir.com>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: Books Banned in Utah.
Date: 15 Aug 2024 18:26:13 GMT
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On 2024-08-15, D <nospam@example.net> wrote:
>
>
> On Thu, 15 Aug 2024, Scott Dorsey wrote:
>
>> D  <nospam@example.net> wrote:
>>> I think that now that we've established that money does not equal quality,
>>> even adjusted for cost of living, the next question is... why does Utah
>>> perform so well?
>>>
>>> Is it the culture, the religion, the political leadership?
>>
>> I suspect it has more to do with the culture than anything else, bearing
>> in mind the fact that kids get educated out of school as much as they do
>> in school.
>> --scott
>>
>
> Yes... culture is a strong factor. I think that Jews and Iranians have a 
> very pro-education culture and do well in school.

I would agree with both of you that culture is important but I would push
it down to a more fundamental level - achieving a critical mass of
families/students who have a goal of doing well in school and sustaining that
critical mass over the years.

Kids are heavily influenced by what their peers are doing. They need to
have at least some classmates who want to do well.  If not, the only
motivation for doing well will have to be their families/culture,
and that's not enough to have a well-performing school district.

This critical mass can come from culture (Mormons, Jews, various Asian
backgrounds, etc) or from other factors such as location (grade schools in
college towns or near scientific industries like aerospace.)

If there aren't other motivated kids around and absent a very strong
family culture, then it can be almost impossible for a motivated and
bright kid to learn.  In nearby Baltimore there were 25 high schools a
couple of years ago in which not a single kid taking standardized
tests (2000+ kids total) was reading at grade level. I'm sure there
were dedicated parents trying their best for their kids but that
was not enough. What a waste of potential for those kids.

Chris