tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383507675225996666.post9062947731206375462..comments2020-10-05T11:20:29.309-04:00Comments on Sundry Verities: Education as Essentialjfillehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17196329082003121004noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383507675225996666.post-62290395683692882352011-08-14T14:44:16.225-04:002011-08-14T14:44:16.225-04:00Lunch with your husband—how fun!
I like the conce...Lunch with your husband—how fun!<br /><br />I like the concept, and this part might actually be true:<br /><br /><i>“The recidivism rate goes way down when people are involved in these kinds of programs…”</i><br /><br /><b>But</b>… this sort of conclusion needs a control—because the participants in this program are self-selected. He says that out of 100 men released from the general prison population, on average 60 come back and 40 stay out of trouble. How does anyone know whether in his class of (say) 20, he didn't get 3 from the former group and 17 from the latter? <br /><br />In other words, without a control, we can't know whether the 85% of his students who stay out of trouble aren't those who would have stayed out of trouble anyway.<br /><br />I'm not advocating a controlled experiment, but I am saying that without a controlled experiment it's very hard to know what effect the class has on these inmates. OK, well, maybe I am advocating a controlled experiment, lest this wonderful program be another victim of the budget director's axe.Collinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13754585516151204932noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383507675225996666.post-3325428272083321392011-08-11T14:57:34.806-04:002011-08-11T14:57:34.806-04:00i'm biased, of course, but this makes me very ...i'm biased, of course, but this makes me very happy :)<br /><br />oh and congratulations again!sarawrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13452412121624532463noreply@blogger.com