RSS Feed

‘Education Reform’ Category

  1. fuzzy math — stale-dated

    October 28, 2015 by Tunya

    [ published on Filling the Pail blog — https://gregashman.wordpress.com/2015/10/29/fuzzy-maths-jumps-the-shark/comment-page-1/#comment-1106 ]

    The Same Conditions Are Ushering In Even More Education Malpractice

    Some say it’s government failure behind poor performing schools — failing to bring in quality control regulations . Some say it’s the education system itself that rules the roost, a job security haven for its workers and devil take the hindmost.

    At any rate, fads prevail in public education that drive logically minded people nuts, be they parents or concerned teachers. Whole language and fuzzy math should be movements that are way past their shelf life as research findings do not produce good ratings; but they persist.

    It was Dr Seuss who called-out the “whole language” movement. Years after publishing his “Cat in the Hat” (1957) he said: “I did it for a textbook house and they sent me a word list. That was due to the Dewey revolt in the Twenties, in which they threw out phonic reading and went to word recognition . . . I think killing phonics was one of the greatest causes of illiteracy in the country . . . there were two hundred and twenty-three words to use in this book . . . I read the list three times and I almost went out of my head. I said, I’ll read it once more and if I can find two words that rhyme that’ll be the title of my book . . . I found ‘cat’ and “hat”, , , “

    This photo should be a cautionary tale where fuzzy math prevails and where 2 + 2 = 5 if the student can show his work http://i.stack.imgur.com/hl9F8.jpg

    Now, these two movements are just dress rehearsal for what’s going on today. “Transformations” are the name of the game currently — Common Core, Personalized Learning, 21st Century Learning, etc. Hard skills as reading, writing, arithmetic and knowledge are being downplayed in favor of soft competences as creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, etc. These have been deemed THE essentials that employers will demand in the future. Does anyone REALLY know what the future holds?

    Of course, a cynical observer would say these new competencies are not measurable by objective standards so deliberately avoid accountability. It’s time to adopt hardheaded policies and practices that support proven evidence instead of pie-in-the-sky philosophies.

    Category Education Reform, Malpractice, Uncategorized | Tags: | No Comments

  2. Tall poppies in Education – cut down to size

    October 23, 2015 by Tunya

    Call-out Against “Massachusetts Miracle” Tall-Poppy Syndrome

    [This was a reply submitted on Jay P Greene’s blog about Bill Gates http://jaypgreene.com/2015/10/14/emperor-gates-has-no-clothes/]http://jaypgreene.com/2015/10/14/emperor-gates-has-no-clothes/ ]

    Thanks to Sandra Stotsky and others in Massachusetts, attention is focusing on the deliberate dumbing-down of a high scoring school system. But now, Common Core is being pushed. Education programs have been working so well for so many years that Mass. has a reputation for great reading, math and science scores. In the blogosphere, education consumers and critics often mention this American state as a model to be followed.

    It’s likely some kind of unprincipled envy that’s conspiring to bring Massachusetts education down to size. Cut down the tall poppy. See “The Tall Poppy Syndrome” http://www.societyforqualityeducation.org/index.php/blog/the-tall-poppy-syndrome

    That happened in Canada in the province of Alberta. For many years AB was the top scoring province in the country and measured highly against international education scores as well. The main reason performance was high was due to choices parents had between schools including charter schools since 1994.

    But, the usual culprits despising choice, plus the adoption of 21st Century Learning “transformation” (like CC) have cut down this “tall poppy” to size. Scores have been dropping and right now there is a huge parent effort to at least bring back some rigor to Math.

    An alien to Planet Earth would shake his head in sorrow and puzzlement. Why would excellent programs to help children learn be compromised by untested experiments? And, why do free-democratic nations that embrace human rights allow only a few to exit these programs? Thankfully people like Stotsky and Greene are calling-out against these kinds of absurdities!

    Category Education Reform, Obstacles, Opinions in media, Uncategorized | Tags: | No Comments

  3. Call-out of Gates

    October 15, 2015 by Tunya

    Call-out Of Gates Urgently Needed 

    Look at the title of this story — Imposing Common Core On America Is Way Harder Than CURING MALARIA – Bill Gates : http://dailycaller.com/2015/10/08/bill-gates-imposing-common-core-on-america-harder-than-curing-malaria/


    It is timely to ask: Who is advising Gates ? The story says Gates complained that “obstinate, noncompliant parents” were the problem behind resistance to Common Core. Yet his own children are in an expensive non-CC school. What advice caused him to avoid CC? Probably good advice. After 7 years of quietly funding experimental education programs he is now being more public about his well-funded agendas for others. Yes, for others, not his own family !


    He is doing the biological right thing by his children — protecting them from harm and hoping to launch them well-equipped into the future. Why would he then want to impose an amateur, not field-tested, poorly researched, one-size-fits-all federal program on other people’s children ?


    From someone outside the system — I am a parent and grandparent — I am ashamed at how “the system” lacks in judgment on this issue. Some sort of mass hysterical delusional intimidation must be going on. Is there really some organized conspiracy to produce a two class system — a small educated ruling elite and an obedient, compliant mass public ?


    There are few who are calling-out BOTH Gates and Common Core pushers on this questionable path.
    Only Jay P Greene, professor at University of Arkansas who supports education choice, seems to have the guts to call-out this hocus-pocus. Please see http://jaypgreene.com/2015/10/14/emperor-gates-has-no-clothes/

    Category Education Reform, Obstacles, Uncategorized | Tags: | No Comments

  4. Using the English Language — Refugee Issue

    October 13, 2015 by Tunya

    Will It Be English For “The Conversation” About Refugees ?

    15 hours after the posting of this article by Wente — http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/the-refugee-tide-turns-in-germany/article26761039/comments/?ord=1 — the most popular comment by “Think_First” has garnered 201 approvals from readers 201 +, 17- for a score of 184, out of 373 comments so far: 1:45 PST).

    This is the key point “Think_First” makes — “ . . . mass, uncontrolled immigration can lead to widespread social problems and crime, even in countries like Germany and Canada. No, it is not xenophobic to have a conversation about it.”

    I agree. We need that conversation everywhere. Wente describes the demographics — "Only a small number of the newcomers are well-educated professionals. Many more are illiterate, traumatized, children, or old. The majority are young men, with few skills and nothing to do."

    Now the question arises — which language will “the conversation” engage? Since it’s reported that 2/3 of the European Union speaks English, will it be English in the ABE (Adult Basic Education) classes and SLL (Second Language Learning) for immigrant school children? English does appear to be the “lingua franca” of international business, science, technology and aviation and likely most Germans speak English.

    One can only hope that practical Germans will continue to use a phonetic approach to the teaching of English and consistently avoid other teaching styles. Since 2002 they have outlawed the Whole-Language method. W-L was tried in 80's but after disastrous results was declared bad practice.” (Unfortunately, North America has not similarly banned this method, accounting for considerable, persistent illiteracy.)

    I’ll be looking for reports about the language training issue in Germany and its refugee challenge. I’m sure the classes will be quick, effective and efficient. We can learn from them — not only in language teaching but how problem-solving proceeds from shared language.

    Category Education Reform, Opinions in media, Uncategorized | Tags: | No Comments

  5. School Choice & budget realities

    October 10, 2015 by Tunya

    Budget Crunch Can Lead To School Choice Decisions

    There is not much of a pent-up demand for school choice from parents, not yet anyway.

    And the philosophical incongruity between a democratic state’s insistence on an educated citizenry and its practice of at the same time providing that education doesn’t bother many.  Might seem like state indoctrination, but distaste for that is not there, yet. 

    No, it’s neither demand nor philosophy that’s informing top-level discussions about education choice.  It’s the utilitarian argument, cost-savings, that’s coming to the fore.

    Take the most radical retreat yet — from compulsory state provision to simple funding the consumer with oversight — Nevada.

    The universal Nevada Education Savings Account plan is slated for a full start in 2016. The registrations for the program are already in full gear.

    What was the trajectory?

    See Wall Street Journal — Nevada Places a Bet on School Choice — http://www.wsj.com/articles/nevada-places-a-bet-on-school-choice-1434319588

    The budget crunch was huge in Nevada.  Immigration was putting a squeeze on the enormous need for portables, trailers and modular construction for new school spaces. Lurking in the background was the example of the already successful education funding structure called Education Savings Accounts — operating in Arizona, Florida, Tennessee and Mississippi. 

    The beauty of the Nevada plan is that it invites innovation.  The unbundling of services is a breakthrough — parents can shop for tutors and services from the community.  Roll-over of funds unused can be applied to subsequent years or even college.  Etc. 

    Budget crunches serve as a wake-up call, don’t they?  BC’s per pupil allotment is $7,390 (with partial funding of independent schools) while Ontario’s is $12,299 (no public funding of independents). 

    Category Education Reform | Tags: | No Comments

Older Entries
Newer Entries