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‘Malpractice’ Category

  1. Discovery Math — Students Feel Stupid

    May 27, 2015 by Tunya

    “Math Sense” Makes You Feel Stupid — Oh, The Irony !

    Not just students feel stupid; parents trying to help with homework are made to feel stupid also. Two generations. What’s the game plan?

    Isn’t education supposed to make you feel capable? Not dumbed down? Not feeling stupid?

    And, let’s remember Daisy’s book — Seven Myths about Education — saying that much of 21st Century Learning is really about pushing an ideological bias into schools. These self-appointed 21st C reformers see their methods as a corrective to right wing and elitist culture. Really?

    Who can find the best description of what the New Utopia would look like if 21st C initiatives in Canada and Common Core in the US were fully implemented? What is the vision?

    Nonetheless: Here is a Report that should stop the Discovery Learning in Math in its tracks. See: Decline of Canadian students’ math skills the fault of ‘discovery learning’: C.D. Howe Institute http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/decline-of-canadian-students-math-skills-the-fault-of-discovery-learning-c-d-howe-institute

    Quotes:

    – Canada fell out of the top 10 countries for math in 2012.

    – the curriculum balance should be tilted in favour of direct instructional methods, recommending an 80/20 split as a rule of thumb.

    – elementary school teachers in training should be required to take two semester-long courses at university in math with the aim of deepening their grasp of the concepts they will be teaching.

    – Provinces should also consider making elementary teachers-to-be write a test in that same content before they’re licensed.

    The comments are worth reading.

    Category Malpractice, Uncategorized | Tags: | No Comments

  2. TIME magazine helps expose education issues

    October 26, 2014 by Tunya

    TIME Article May Be The Trigger To Break The EDUCATION LOGJAM !

    We are just getting a little sniff of the STORM coming up.  The Nov 3 issue of TIME has not hit the stands yet. But, already the massive and powerful teacher unions in the US are starting petitions and boycotts against the magazine because of its upcoming cover story — Rotten Apples – It’s Nearly Impossible to Fire A Bad Teacher.

    Teacher unions in Canada are also getting nervous — and social media is abuzz on the topic. 

    I would suggest that long suffering parents and others frustrated by the public education establishment and its many abuses start cluing in to some of the controversies.  This may just be the best gift the public will ever have to shatter the myths and defenses of a system grown sour and harmful to the life chances of so many young students.

    Here are some of the SYSTEM’s excuses and countermeasures:

    – Due process is necessary to protect teachers.

    – Poverty, race, non-English speaking minorities are the reason for poor results.

    – Underfunding is the problem.

    – Weak-kneed principals are the problem:  a bad teacher can be fired easily.

    – Drop your subscription to TIME; refuse TIME in your library; sign the petition. [Kill the messenger!]

    Here is the opportunity for parents and others to ASK QUESTIONS:

    – How have teacher unions grown to be so powerful and obstreperous?

    – How have governments failed and allowed wholesale abuses to proliferate?

    – Why are parents reduced to fund-raising for schools instead of insisting on accountability?

    – How come curriculum is dumbed-down with social promotions and retreat from the basics with no commitment to even ensure learning to read is a priority?

    – How come “social justice” and collaborative competency and other social-emotional efforts are replacing the 3Rs?  Are the public schools really radicalizing students to feel so oppressed that they need to go out and “change the world”?

    – Why is the school system incapable of change?

    http://time.com/3533556/the-war-on-teacher-tenure/?pcd=hp-magmod    Is one in four a rotten apple?

    http://action.aft.org/c/44/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=9270   Apology demanded by teacher union because teachers are blamed for problems in schools.

    Here is a challenge:  Use these three terms in a meaningful sentence relating to this school issue: Vergara, Berliner, Scott Walker. 

    Category Education Reform, Malpractice, Opinions in media, Parent Tribal Memory | Tags: | No Comments

  3. Teacher Credentialing Needs Serious Scrutiny

    March 23, 2014 by Tunya

    SQE March 23, 2014, on topic — More education doesn’t necessarily make teachers better

    http://www.societyforqualityeducation.org/index.php/blog/read/more-education-doesnt-necessarily-make-teachers-better

    Credentialing Of Teachers Needs Serious Scrutiny

    1          NO, teachers should not get automatic pay raises with increased points on their credentials.  This has little relationship to effectiveness, especially if added points are gained from the teacher’s own choices — which maybe just satisfy a personal interest.  However, if administration recommends further training to acquire more competence, say in special education, that’s a different story.

    2          Teachers can get credits just by going to conferences or some strange PD days put on  by the union.  This also does not necessarily have a relation to competence in the classroom and might even have a negative effect.  What if after one day a teacher thinks they know all about “discovery math” for example but cannot apply skills necessary?  What if a teacher takes a critical thinking one-day PD session and the texts and styles recommended are critical theory, critical literacy or critical pedagogy — pure Marxism?

    3          People are wondering just what teacher training is all about.  Does it actually train teachers to teach reading, when phonics is still disparaged by so many faculties?  Why are there so many theory courses which intend to radicalize teachers .  See this report:  Radicalization of Teacher Education Programs in the United States, Lexington Institute, 2012. http://www.lexingtoninstitute.org/library/resources/documents/Education/RadicalizationOfTeacherEducationPrograms.pdf

    4          At least one national government is concerned about teacher training.  Australia has TWO Reviews on the go:  one on the National Curriculum, and one on teacher training.  These two reviews were undertaken because education became a big issue in the last federal election and when a Coalition government came in it decided to follow-up concerns expressed about the “slanted” curriculum developed during Labour years.

    5          What if a PhD is actually counterproductive to the mission?  There is this bizarre story of a community breathing a big sigh of relief on hearing a PhD in Math was hired for the department.  But scores did not go up.  The school board failed to note the specialty of the teacher. The dissertation was on Equity Pedagogy — declaring traditional mathematics to be a form of social oppression. The “expert” was intent on moving the coursework “away” from the transmission of math knowledge, skills, and practices. That’s on pg 34 of this new book criticizing Common Core and 21st Century Learning projects — Credentialed to Destroy: How and Why Education Became a Weapon, Robin Eubanks.

    Category Book Reviews, Malpractice, Parent Tribal Memory | Tags: | No Comments

  4. Freedom be damned — Transformation of Education will happen — like it or not

    February 25, 2014 by Tunya

    How FREEDOM is being compromised — how our 21st Century is like no other — bears a close watch.

    Right now forces are at work to TRANSFORM public education in many nations without our knowledge or permission.  Let's not forget all this is also a big experiment, and the usual protocols for how human subjects are put through the paces are nowhere to be seen.  What if there are HARMS that result?

    Anyway, in your school, in your community, watch for the signals of something DEEP happening — even on the scale of a global world government project !

    It’s a dead giveaway.  If you hear someone rhyme off the 4Cs without skipping a beat, you know you’ve got someone programmed to push “international  “21st Century Learning.

    Kathleen Wynne, Premier, ex-Ed Minister,  got it right — “creativity, collaboration, community and critical thinking.”  Usually, though it’s “communications” for her “community”, but anyway, you get the picture.

    Look for concepts thrown around like “deep thinking”, “going deeper”  — remind you of Transcendental Meditation maybe?  NO, it’s the new “transformation”.  BTW, “transform” and “transformation” are frequently used words. 

    Not “evolve’  mind you, where things happen by degrees and with considerable involvement and understanding.  “Transformation”, on the other hand is imposed and deliberately directed by “leaders” and guided through common documents, and really rather sneakily.  “Shady”, says Stotsky who was once on the CC Panel who broke away from sworn secrecy to raise an alarm.  She’s not the only one from that group.

    Please, just give Google a try.  Use these words — 4cs 21st Century Learning — and you’ll soon be on the track — the international trail.

    Two key books on the topic of Common Core and international agendas are:

    “Credentialed to Destroy – How and Why Education Became a Weapon” by Eubanks (see the reviews on Amazon.com but order from ca) and “The Story-Killers: A Common-Sense Case Against the Common Core”. 

    Spend an hour to hear Dr. Moore about the curriculum expected if Common Core is adopted in the US — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2npftyFvkWo&feature=youtu.be&t=5m49s

    Category Education Reform, Malpractice, Parent Tribal Memory | Tags: | No Comments

  5. Indefensible Education Malpractices

    January 9, 2014 by Tunya

    From the book, Educators on Trial, James Leary

    • Giving a learning assignment as punishment
    • Punishing the whole class for the actions of a few
    • Using grades to manipulate or discipline students
    • Grading students on a curve (so many As, Bs, regardless of the achievement of the students
    • Tests that do not cover material taught
    • Advancing students who have not learned the prerequisites
    • Prescribing the same material to all in a wide-ability class
    • Assigning meaningless homework

     

    Category Book Reviews, Malpractice, Parent Tribal Memory, Uncategorized | Tags: | No Comments

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