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‘Malpractice’ Category

  1. need ‘higher standard’ for education

    July 14, 2017 by Tunya

    Education, Especially “Public” Education, Should Be Held To A Higher Standard!

    Because educators can lead people astray, this biblical injunction should be brought forward as a reminder from time to time — “Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly (James 3:1, NIV).”

    In these days when truth is being called upon evermore, we are beginning to see more people brave enough to judge and call out bad “science” in education. Thanks to JPGreene and blog for leadership in this regard.

    See also how the self-esteem hype is being unmasked:

    – “It was quasi-religious”: the great self-esteem con”, Will Storr, Guardian, 3 June ’17, https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/jun/03/quasi-religious-great-self-esteem-con

    – “Why Are Schools Still Peddling the Self-Esteem Hoax? – Social-emotional learning is rooted in ‘faux psychology’”, Chester Finn, Education Week, 19 June ’17, http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2017/06/21/why-are-schools-still-peddling-the-self-esteem.html

    – Selfie, (the book by Will Storr) describes in more detail than the two articles above how the self-esteem project was pushed through to a global education phenomenon despite poor science.

    [rejected by JPG blog — “mendacity” comment of GF accepted — Mendacity — falsehood, deceit, deception, fabrication, dishonesty, deceitfulness, untruthfulness,  unreliability, spuriousness, inaccuracy]

    [submitted as response, but blocked — ]

    Professional mendacity in the education field should be called out.  It ultimately harms both individuals and society.  The deceits and trickeries used to advance unproven education projects and methods need exposure.  Perhaps a trend is emerging.  See how the self-esteem phenomenon is being unmasked; [quotes as above re self-esteem]

    [to JPG FB, and remains — 

    “mis-stating basic facts” in education is a key issue being raised here.  If people twist “facts” to their own purpose how can genuine education reform happen?  Greene gives an example.  Here is another example of exposing an education project based on hype and misuse of “research” — the self-esteem movement unmasked: –   [quotes as above re s-e]  

    [this is the contradiction, irony, of the blocking – so avowedly promote “choice” — my quote in Joanne Jacobs comment “So as educators increasingly opt for private schools for their own children and often rail against choice, the best that the “proles” can hope for —you know, those who are on long waiting lists for alternatives — is for radically more choices. And that is where public policy needs legislation and laws to open up vouchers and the other plans to help parents choose freely.]

     


  2. “I can’t read ” — tearjerker !

    May 5, 2017 by Tunya

    Here Is A Tearjerker !

    It’s beyond tearjerker — it’s a tragedy, a MAN-MADE tragedy !

    Hope this link works for you —

    https://twitter.com/sowhesed/status/859976270402035712 (hover over the picture)

    It should bring up a video of a child, perhaps 8 years old, no sound — she is saying: “I can’t read.” I bet she can talk a mile a minute, with a great vocabulary, BUT She CAN NOT Read! You can see in her eyes she is deeply anguished. Just who has denied her the ability to read?

    Yet, from the brief comment on this twitter screen shot she is being tested in her school. You know — tons of tests that are being administered in schools these days. How can she participate in testing programs without the ability to read? And, by the way, how can she participate in Math. That has been changed so much that reading is now required — the directions and the problems are little narratives that must be read first.

    I think withholding of teaching to read from school children should be a punishable, criminal event!

    I think this photo, if allowed by the parents, should become a poster or billboard for a highly noticeable reading campaign. Perhaps some benevolent group might sponsor such a campaign. Perhaps another lawyers group (as we had in the 70s) could sponsor a symposium on “Suing The Schools For Fraud “ and use the backdrop of the nasty ideological Reading Wars as part of the reason why so many children are denied the skill-training to learn to read. Isn’t compulsory schooling a contract of sorts, and the withholding of the key tool for learning being reading — should this not bring about a simple ethics and legal breach of contract case?

    What kinds of worldviews are at play here anyway?

    [below to ECC, above to American Thinker on “Alien Covenant” ]

    After William Brown's alert about "Alien Covenant" by Bruce Deitrick Price I became more disturbed than ever. When will it ever end — the persistent, insidious Reading War which continues to cripple? I've experienced it here in Canada as recently as last year — a training tape for reading volunteers stressed that sounding out was NOT to be done — "Remember, reading is caught, not taught."

    I recall Deb Andrews fabulous newspaper article a year or so ago where her chart clearly showed that Black and Latino children were way behind in reading proficiency. Why? Research proves that this gap can be overcome.

    I just posted the following to the American Thinker article of Bruce's (yes, late, and probable stale interest by now) but I did want to say something and test whether I could actually produce a link that works (I'm a s-l-o-w techy). If you can't get the link to work, please let me know — it's the little anguished black girl saying "I can't read". Her pain on her face is enough to make you cry.


  3. UNMASKING EDUCATION SWINDLE

    May 3, 2017 by Tunya

    Unmasking Education Swindle

    Look at the long history of criticism of the education system. It’s a wonder that this field still exists — quackery, wasteland, 12-year sentence . . . There was even a legal symposium in the 70s on “Suing the schools for fraud”. The lawyers speculated that there would be a successful case within 5 years ! Didn’t happen.

    Bruce has productively spent the last decades unmasking some of the frauds in education, particularly the disasters dumped on us by seemingly deliberate reading failures. Bruce finds a long history of culprits and economic factors that have enabled wholesale acceptance of questionable practices. Scientific evidence is definitely not a factor in education decision-making, is it?

    Patrick Groff (1924-2014) was heavily involved in the reading issues of the day. Here is a digest of what he saw as fueling the whole-language fiasco: http://www.readinghorizons.com/research/whole-language-vs-phonics-instruction#special

    “The Special Attractions of Whole-Language (WL)
    1 . . . educators historically have been notorious for their inability to resist the lures of educational innovations, regardless of whether or not they have been empirically validated.
    2 . . . WL relieves educators of much direct personal accountability for the results . . .
    3 . . . WL appeals to many educators’ romantic and/or humanistic interpretations of what is healthy child development . . . honoring children’s freedom and dignity is held to be more essential than how literate they become.
    4 . . . in the past, educators have ignored or rejected most of the empirical findings in practically all aspects of their field of endeavor.
    5 . . .the apparent simplicity of WL is alluring for teachers . . . With WL, teachers do not have to submit to pedagogical discipline that a prescribed course of direct and systematic instruction demands.
    6 . . . educators who have liberal social, economic, and political views doubtless are charmed by WL’s decidedly left-wing agenda . . . ”

    Until there is legislation and laws forbidding quackery in education and science is no longer held in disdain we will continue to see spotty education quality from our schools. Thanks to people like Bruce for keeping on exposing the frauds. At least some parents, if they had real choice, could then choose evidence-based schools.

    [ Posted as comment to American Thinker, article by Bruce Deitrick Price, “K-12 ‘Alien Covenant” http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2017/05/k12_alien_covenant.html    ]


  4. Effective Schools for all

    November 21, 2016 by Tunya

    Consciousness, guilt and shame should tell us it's inappropriate for some children to be disproportionately left behind from education.  One fact stands out as particularly outrageous:  2.3 million Americans are behind bars and 40 % are blacks (mostly males) and blacks make up just 13 % of the population.  Here is an article which shows how black teachers feel disrespected — they who should be especially encouraged and celebrated in trying to help this left-behind population.  Black teachers feeling tolerated, not celebrated http://citizen.education/index.php/2016/11/21/black-teachers-feeling-tolerated-not-celebrated/  I sent a comment to this article as below:

    I Like Your Bottom Line

    That you commit to not giving up is so heartwarming!

    I subscribe to your blog and also to a lot of other education sites. You’re one of the best! Your insight comes across as very enlightened and informed by much experience. Please keep asking these questions, bringing forth good research and keeping up-to-date on the statistics. I’m sure there also must be good news about how black children and black teachers and black families can achieve the best possible results from good education opportunities.

    I’m a granny now but when I was active in school reform it was on behalf of parent rights. We used to quote Ron Edmonds often, especially his 1978 quote: “We can whenever, and wherever we choose, successfully teach all children whose schooling is of interest to us. We already know more than we need in order to do this. Whether we do it must finally depend on how we feel about the fact that we haven’t so far.”

    He developed an 8-point checklist, which if it were seriously applied, would, I’m sure, have contributed much to good schools for everyone. Perhaps the one point most seriously ignored was the one about avoiding pitfalls: “Retain awareness of good educational practice plus keep current in the field concerning promising and discredited practices.”
    Much of today’s schooling deviates from proven practices. Perhaps Edmonds can again be an inspiration today! We do need to celebrate good teaching!


  5. Teachers — Advocate or Educate ?

    November 19, 2016 by Tunya

    Teachers — Educate or Advocate?

    This story from San Francisco illustrates some of the issues about the role of teachers in public schools.

    San Francisco teacher defends lesson plan calling Donald Trump racist, sexist — http://www.cbsnews.com/news/san-francisco-teacher-lesson-plan-donald-trump-racist-sexist/

    To what extent do teachers have the right to bring their personal views into the High School classroom?

    This teacher made up her own lesson plan, not approved by anyone or any authority. The School District said it had no part in it. But, when the news came out, the teachers’ union and the National Education Association advertised it in their media outlets.

    A Republican spokesperson was quoted: “It’s boiling down the results [of the election] . . . into two words: racist and sexist . . . Some of these students probably have parents who voted for Donald Trump. How are those students going to feel . . . ?

    This opens up questions in our neck-of-the-woods.

    Do teachers have “autonomy” or license to create their own lesson plans?
    Do teachers use lesson plans that might be controversial that are provided by the teacher union? See this controversy — http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bctf-pulls-controversial-online-counter-military-recruitment-posters-1.3850942

    Should teacher unions produce lesson plans? And why do they fight tooth-and-nail during collective bargaining for increasing power over professional development? See these obvious left-slanted PD Math workshops last month in BC:

    * Social Justice as a platform for problem solving — Social justice lies at the intersection of school mathematics and students lives. In this workshop we will explore initiatives to engage students with social justice issues through problem solving . . .

    * Social Justice and mathematics: Beyond the equation— . . . mathematics through a social justice lens. Social justice, in general, is about equity and the development of a critical mindset that can identify inequities is an essential competency of an educated and democratic citizen . . . mathematics may be one of the most accessible and productive ways to develop this critical mindedness. I will draw on and share numerous mathematical inquiry activities and general approaches to mathematics teaching supporting the revised curriculum and its move toward a socially-relevant education.

    I think we urgently need to reconfigure education so that parents can choose between activist progressive schools and those that educate, not advocate! Parents should be at the forefront, with transparent information available, to sort out what they want for their children and be able to avoid discredited, crappy, and obviously political agendas if they don’t want them!

    [ ssubmitted to Educhatter blog on topic — ‘Crap-Detection’ in Teaching: How Do We Separate the Good ‘Brain Science’ from the Bad?  ]