User talk:JCharlesThompson
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Nomination of Learning-Disadvantage Gap for deletion
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A discussion is taking place as to whether the article Learning-Disadvantage Gap is suitable for inclusion in Wikipedia according to Wikipedia's policies and guidelines or whether it should be deleted.
The article will be discussed at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Learning-Disadvantage Gap until a consensus is reached, and anyone is welcome to contribute to the discussion. The nomination will explain the policies and guidelines which are of concern. The discussion focuses on high-quality evidence and our policies and guidelines.
Users may edit the article during the discussion, including to improve the article to address concerns raised in the discussion. However, do not remove the article-for-deletion notice from the top of the article. Λυδαcιτγ 11:43, 23 March 2015 (UTC)
- In response to the Four Viola's and Audacity's notice about deleting the Learning-Disadvantage Gap article, please consider the following points:
- The Learning-Disadvantage Gap report at first inspection may incorrectly seem like a document of original concepts, especially by someone not immersed in the convoluted world of educational standardized high-stakes testing systems in use today, and the growing movement in opposition to it, but in fact it is not. The anti-standardized high-stakes testing movement is not my own. I am but a pawn in the movement. The Learning-Disadvantage Gap is a collection of original articles and studies that I have accumulated over the past five and a half years from reliable separately published articles not yet compiled in a format easily accessible to the public. Not even the Learning-Disadvantage Gap words and concept is original, as I have borrowed from references as well.
- To clear up any possible misunderstanding, the Gap is compiled and written exclusively by myself with technical assistance by my staff. The name, Music Teacher’s Club, is just that, a name, and this is my very first proposed entry to Wikipedia. I am the owner of a music store, Johnny Thompson Music.com, and chair of Parents and Students for Music and Arts aka AllArtsAllKids.org.
- Having studied Wikipedia policies I believe the Gap avoids cherry-picking of reference articles in a negative sense and synthesis of combining separate ideas to reach any conclusions. Actually, the report does not reach conclusions other that what is from any of the two hundred plus references. All two hundred plus references are interconnected by one goal: educational equality for all.
- I do not pick references that agree with my personal view, rather, I learn first from each and every reference before I report on it. I am the student and messenger, not the teacher. That said, the report may be the first of its kind that combines original works of others that I am aware of.
- This is a neutral report which includes reporting on current educational inequities and non-compliances of statutory and education laws by the United States Department of Education.
- The collection of two hundred plus references to the Gap consists of works by U.S. Department of Education, K-12 teachers, principals, and district superintendents, university professors and studies, parents and students, civil rights groups, court cases, constitutional attorneys, statistical groups, arts advocacy groups, and more. Just one reference alone includes a list of five hundred plus university professors who as a group are petitioning the U.S. Department of Education specifically to stop test-focused reforms particularly NCLB (No Child Left Behind).
- Although written by a potpourri of writers, each with their own expressed views, the goal of each and every reference, and within the stop high-stakes testing movement in general, is equal learning-opportunities for the disadvantaged and all students in America, without regard to their socio-economic and academic standings.
- The Learning-Disadvantage Gap, and in fact big Gov’s standardized high-stakes testing, is not generally known by the American public. The national mainstream media has yet to cover the movement and to spark a national debate. That said, there is a substantial and growing grassroots movement, starting on the East Coast, that has tens of thousands of students “opting out” of March and April NCLB, Common Core, and other state test-based no-excuses high-stakes yearly testing. I will mention at this point that my group, Parents and Students for Music and Arts, has a twitter account and am proud to report that the largest independent anti-high-stakes testing group of teachers follows us on Twitter.
- I consider this Wikipedia report, an honor should it be accepted, a very much needed public service article. It is my plan to continue upgrading quite often. Currently, we are doing so almost daily. I believe it to be a wonderful venue for educating people on the subject with limited time to invest. Also I believe it is so important that parents of economic and academic disadvantaged kids have a source to learn from that offers hope. The Gap welcomes contributions as well as other points of view from Wikipedia’s very large at-large contributing public editors. We are looking forward to having an active Wikipedia article.