Did you say Payne?
Donald Cohen Cutler - Former Eisendrath Legislative Assistant, & Communications Manager at the Union for Reform Judaism.
In a recent Mark Pelavin post he wrote about the "great profile" of Ruby Payne in the "Money Issue" of the New York Times Magazine. While it pains me to do so, I must disagree with Mark's choice of descriptions regarding this article.
I have to say the profile seemed a bit fluffy. Payne did say over and over again that her work is designed to help teachers teach those from different socio-economic realities then their own, but she doesn't accept the criticism that all of her work is based on her observations as a teacher, girlfriend (and later wife), and school administrator. The piece does address the fact that every reputable educational institution discredits her work; regardless the Magazine gave Payne a major platform on which to spread her anecdotal information. Rabbi Jill Jacob's at Jspot wrote about the profile as well. She points to Payne's work as a collection of "gross generalizations (and often offensive ones at that)." I agree with her critique.
This article is congratulatory of non-scientific observation being passed off as facts. It was shocking to find it next to such well documented and well researched articles in this issue of the Magazine. But like I said, the rest of the Magazine was fantastic and I suggest reading it.