Subject: K12 student academic progress

Posted by Bill Braun on 1/8/2010
In Reply To:K12 student academic progress Posted by Richard Turnock on 1/8/2010

Message:

Thank you, Richard,

If we keep Dr. Forrester's admonition on modeling symptoms in front of us, what in Richard's description could we take to be a symptom (nothing personal, Richard, just using your post as an example of symptoms)? Arguably, I choose:

- Actual skills
- Work habits
- Study habits (I interpret study and work to be separate, albeit related, habits, as did Richard)
- Access to tutors (measured in time and skill)
- Grades
- Achievement gap (against some standard, taken to be a parameter)

If we assume agreement on the above for the sake of making the point about symptoms, then none of the above is the underlying structure of the system. What might the underlying structure be?

Russ Ackoff once posed the question, If you could not change anything about the "local structure" of the named "problem" but you wanted to change the behavior of the named "problem" what would you do? Is that helpful in expanding boundaries and thinking?

Bill Braun

Follow Ups:

K12 student academic progress - Richard Turnock 1/8/2010 
K12 student academic progress - Tim Joy 1/8/2010
K12 student academic progress - Lees N. Stuntz 1/8/2010
School as System - Richard Turnock 1/8/2010