education issues

To try and increase attendance and literacy a school district in California bought in a provider called 'Woke Kindergarden' and the results were declines in those benchmarks. From the San Franscisco Chronicle (Archived version of the article is linked below the quote)...

As announced earlier this year the Britsh University of Exeter is starting up a course in 'Magic and Occult Sciences' and why, well the penultimate statement in the course summary explains it quite clearly... https://blogs.exeter.ac.uk/magic/2023/06/27/ma-in-magic-and-occult-sciences/ Given...

Some states including California and Oregon have decided that the best way to address racial inequities in graduation rates and grade levels is to dumb down curriculum and standards. These ideas including that "math is racist," and other denunciations of core educational components, are based on...

Greg Abbott said today https://twitter.com/GregAbbott_TX/status/1401978575054684175 What is 'patriotic education'? Will it involve teaching that Vicente Guerrero emancipated all slaves in Mexico in 1829? Or that 95% of Texas’ economy was based on cotton production picked by slaves? Or...

The 18th Century view on Africans and Maths... Thomas Jefferson The 21st Century view on Africans and Maths... (e.g. A much more elaborate way of saying the thing that Jefferson said in the 18th Century...) From the 1st 'stride' of 'A Pathway to Equitable Math Instruction...

Jair Bolsonaro, Brazilian President, on Twitter April 27, 2019: The Minister of Education, Abraham Weintraub, is studying how to decentralize investment in philosophy and sociology at universities. Students who have already enrolled will not be affected. The objective is to focus on areas that...

https://au.news.yahoo.com/defeated-teachers-open-letter-parents-discipling-children-094256858.html You only have to look at the rise of the phrase "I'm unable to adult today" to understand this person may have something, though my personal belief is that the generation described in the letter...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/2018/01/22/oxford-university-gives-women-time-pass-exams/ One would have thought that a prestigious university like Oxford would have done research before insulting women with their condescending "can't compete with men" policy change. But no, political...

One of the most shameful political decisions in recent years was the one by the former Liberal government to require religious education classes, despite our constitution holding that education shall be "secular and free" (it isn't free either). The Labor government, not wanting to upset the...

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2014/01/creationism_in_texas_public_schools_undermining_the_charter_movement.single.html If some groups wish to teach this stuff in their own private schools, they are the students they graduate will have to deal with the consequences...

Another day, another proposal from Michael Gove about how to change education. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-26015535 Apparently if state schools act more like private schools then they will get the same results. This conveniently ignores the fact that private schools have many times...

“If you shoot a gun and the bullet travels at X speed towards a soldier standing 500 metres away, how long does it take to kill him?” But things are improving. http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/06/education-in-afghanistan-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/

OK, so Santorum made another outrageous fundamentalist claim: Colleges are turning theists into atheists: Rick Santorum Sounds 'Indoctrination' Warning Over Obama College Plan So I figured this was not his original idea and it was likely to be bouncing around Evangelical and other...

The BHA (British Humanist Association) is claiming victory in a campaign to ensure that free schools are not allowed to teach ID or creationism as an alternative to the theory of evolution in science classes. ETA: Here's the full press the release from the BHA.

Linky. I read a comment about this that strikes me as correct: charter schools are about reforming labour, not education. And what makes this "Noble" chain different? As with most private schools, it seems like simple biased samples: Linky. As always, Democratic connections seem to underlay...

First, as a disclaimer, let me say that Ms. Tricky is a tutor. She tutors students for standardized tests. She works for a well-known company which is quite good at helping kids prepare for standardized tests. The tutoring is not cheap at all, though only a tiny fraction actually goes to Ms...

Is education optimal? The complete article is at this link: http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/life/does-going-to-college-make-you-smarter-or-poorer-2445161/ Unfortunately, we can't actually see the people that are making posts on the internet. For all we know, some of them are pre high school...

A lot of people around the world are robbed, subjugated, tortured, and even murdered by despotic governments and/or totalitarian religious thugs. So it's a fine thing for a free nation to have a tradition of sheltering political refugees who are facing certain imprisonment or death at home for...

US Grants Home Schooling German Family Political Asylum While it seems a social issue at first glance, it's really doubly political: international, as well as the propriety of government demanding how you educate your children.

More goodness, from the Republic of Texas. The opening paragraph: __________ During the Texas State Board of Education hearings on science standards for Texas schoolchildren, BoE member and staunch creationist Barbara Cargill decided that the age of the Universe was up for vote. Oddly enough, I...

Who'da thunk it? Legislators may strip education board of power Politicians actually demonstrating some common sense!

From TFN Insider: seems that the Texas Board of Education, is having a go at trying to re-do the curriculum. Again. To quote from the article: --- The Texas State Board of Education is set to appoint a social studies curriculum “expert” panel that includes absurdly unqualified ideologues who are...

I've placed this here, because of the content; although, it could probably be crossed-posted. I guess if you can't get ID taught in schools, do the next best thing: attempt to 'question' what's being taught... Courtesy of the Wall Street Journal...

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/education/Evolution_teaching_provision_fails_first_test.html But there are more votes to come... gah.

Good news, everybody! http://www.star-telegram.com/state_news/story/1118331.html

I have not done an exhaustive search so I'm not sure if there are other threads regarding this; the NYTimes and AP are reporting that the Texas state's Board of Education has given final approval to officially offering bible study classes in public high schools. Classes started in 2007 pending...

The head of the appropriations committee in the Texas House has proposed HB-1287, which would require all 1,700 Texas high schools to offer two elective classes on the Bible as literature--with the sole textbook being the Holy Bible. You can hear a representative of the Texas Freedom Network...

Someone get Michael Newdow and the ACLU http://www.herald-zeitung.com/story.lasso?wcd=15080 New Braunfels trustees approve elective Bible class By Jessica Sanders The Herald-Zeitung Published January 17, 2006 A Bible course will be offered at New Braunfels High School next semester despite...

You have mentioned in the past that public education does not have to be funded by government. Unfortunately it usually does not get far past that before moving on to other points. Could you describe such a plan? I'd like to see if the idea works for me...

http://www.cnn.com/2004/EDUCATION/11/06/evolution.schools.ap/ Leave out the facts, throw in some ID or creationism, and what are the kids left with? They are being robbed of a decent education. I've said this before, they have catholic and other private schools where they teach what they want...