In his most recent letter, published June 28, Gilroy High
teacher Wayne Scott continues his campaign of disinformation and
gratuitous insult.
In his most recent letter, published June 28, Gilroy High teacher Wayne Scott continues his campaign of disinformation and gratuitous insult.
He says that in my May 21 column I intended SAT scores to be a stand-alone measure. That is an interesting conclusion, as I talked about MAP scores and AP scores in that same column.
Mr. Scott refers to the “Saxton” math series, leading me to wonder if he really did use the Saxon series, and why he has never divulged why it would be a poor choice for GUSD.
Mr. Scott refers to me attacking a respected teacher. I wondered briefly who that might be. After reviewing the most recent letters of Wayne Scott and his students and supporters, I find that Mr. Scott has indeed taught his students something. He seems to have actually convinced them, all evidence to the contrary, that he has been attacked.
One of his supporters, Mr. Benjamin Baxter, did me the favor of locating every insult I ever heaped upon Mr. Scott. I called his students hapless, I said that Mr. Scott attacks like a junkyard dog, and I said Mr. Scott was a rather large obstacle in the path of improvement at GHS.
What I haven’t said is that Mr. Scott is a bad teacher.
But Michael Haney, senior at Gilroy High, in his letter of May 20, says: “Anyone who says that Mr. Scott is not a good math teacher is incompetent and irresponsible in their assertions … To say that he is responsible for the “passing” rate on the AP test is irresponsible to the utmost degree.” These are odd charges to fling out, as no one ever said any such things.
I did not respond to Mr. Haney at the time, because he did not use my name, so I was not sure that he was accusing me of those statements. On Friday, June 4, he rectified that omission, and enlightened us about statistics.
“For example, you cannot compare me, a 17-year-old white male with one parent with a college degree, belonging the middle class, living in a middle class neighborhood, with a household income of $70,000, to another student living in a state project in New York, both parents deceased, no household income, prior criminal record, who is 15 years old.”
Actually, Mr. Haney, I can, and you have just done a good job of beginning the comparison. One can compare apples to oranges statistically. One can compare their sugar content, for example, or their yields per acre.
The interesting thing about your putative 15-year-old above would be if he had great SAT scores. It would be even more interesting if he were attending a high school where many other students of similar disadvantaged backgrounds were earning passing scores on AP exams.
For an inspiring story of a teacher and a school who delivered that kind of education, read “Escalante,” by Jay Matthews. Or if you are not much of a reader, try the movie, “Stand and Deliver.” It oversimplifies, but such is Hollywood.
Mr. Haney finished with a few directives:
“Learn the basics of statistics …”
I hate to break it to you, Mr. Haney, but I took probability and statistics at Harvey Mudd College as part of my bachelors in engineering. That is the calculus-based advanced course, not the algebra-based elementary statistics course you just finished.
“Don’t talk about what happens in our class, because you’re not there, so how do you know what happens?”
Your classmates tell me.
For example, I know that Mr. Scott uses class time to bash President Bush. If all of you are earning passing scores on your AP exams, perhaps he does have time for political propaganda. But it is still not right. So how did you do on your AP? Good news, I hope?
“So what if you’re a taxpayer? So is everyone else!” No, alas, only people who pay taxes are taxpayers. The unemployed, for example, and people who make so little money that they qualify for the EIC, do not.
“At GHS in general, grades don’t mean anything to me, it’s just a measure of effort, not competency.”
Kiddo, in life and in math, effort is everything.
