The comment about DC is true; that's where I work. Get to the point fast. Have sound bites at the ready. Have examples. Lead with a headline that's an attention grabber: Kids aren't taught how to add, subtract, multiply or divide, they can't add fractions, standardized tests are so dumbed down they even allow kids to use calculators, and the number of students taking remedial math in college is increasing. And remedial math in college no longer means algebra,it means 7th grade math.

That's your opener. Sure it's exaggerated but not by much. And they're listening.

-- BarryGarelick - 09 Jul 2005

Barry--Do you want to move your stuff over to the page Carolyn set up?

Or move Carolyn's stuff over here?

Or have links to each page?

For now I'm going to put links in.

-- CatherineJohnson - 09 Jul 2005

The 'elevator comments' also work well at the store and over the backyard fence. Like Steve said earlier, you have to be careful not to overwhelm or appear to be a zealot of some sort. I try to use as much common sense in my comments as possible. Also, a reminder of where their kids are going schoolwise in the years to come sometimes helps to snap them out of it a bit.

-- SusanS - 09 Jul 2005

Also, a reminder of where their kids are going schoolwise in the years to come sometimes helps to snap them out of it a bit.

I'm dittoing that.

Now that you've put it this way, I realize this is probably the one talking point I've had success with myself.

As a matter of fact, it was this exact point that galvanized me into action.

I had been living day to day, putting out fires (we've got a whole lot of fires around here) and I hadn't thought about the 'near future'--near future meaning middle school and high school.

Especially given our family situation I think more about the far future: I actually think about the fact that I will die and leave behind two handicapped children, as well as one typical child who will then carry all of the responsibility for his brothers, at least once a day.

Well....that's the far future, let's hope.

And spending my time thinking about the far future was blinding me to what was going to happen to a Phase 3 Christopher once he hit middle school & high school.

Wickelgren got me focused on that, and basically changed my life, and Christopher's.

That's not putting it too strongly, either.

-- CatherineJohnson - 09 Jul 2005

Good point, Susan. Thank you.

-- CatherineJohnson - 09 Jul 2005

talking points that haven't worked well for me

• comparisons of my own school district to the KIPP Academy in the Bronx

• comparison of children's achievement in my own school district to children's achievement in Singapore

-- CatherineJohnson - 09 Jul 2005

The KIPP Academy comparison is particularly galling, because 80% of KIPP 8th graders are taking and passing the New York state Regents A exam, which is required to graduate high school.

Only 40% of Irvington 8th graders are prepared to take and pass the Regents.

KIPP spends $9600 per pupil; Irvington spends $18,000.

KIPP's pupils are all underprivileged urban kids; Irvington pupils are overprivileged suburban.

I say there's a problem here.

But when I bring this up to parents they look at me like I'm from Mars.

-- CatherineJohnson - 09 Jul 2005

KIPP Academy New York

I just had an idea.

Why don't we use this page as a discussion forum, and collect the points and ideas that emerge on TalkingPointsDiscussionPage.

I can keep that page formatted and scannable.

Does that sound good?

-- CatherineJohnson - 09 Jul 2005

Sounds good to me -- actually I created both of these pages, and now I realize I split the discussions, but what the heck.

One thing about a wiki is that you can always reorganize the material later if you want. But for now, we're brainstorming, and we'll just let it flow.

-- CarolynJohnston - 09 Jul 2005

Oh I thought Barry put one of them together--no?

-- CatherineJohnson - 09 Jul 2005

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