Any country voting in a moron as President deserves whatever surpression of rights and forfeit of wealth it gets. No I did not work for 50+ years for what I have, I stole it all...the tragedy is many who live around me believe that HS and vote for people who peddle this crap.
Great piece on education and the failure of the standard public education . Just by there own measures this is just going down hill as you point out . The results in big city's like Chicago are just so sad and the worst part is in parts of the city it close to 0 learning going on . It's always been hard for any one in the city to find good education and now it seems almost impossible unless you go private . https://wirepoints.org/84-of-kids-in-chicagos-elected-school-board-district-3-cant-read-at-grade-level-wirepoints-new-report-cards/
So sad and depressing the fail on education . In Ill. we have no school choice , it was voted out , union pressures .
Thank your for this article. You did miss the mark on one point - the purchase of 2,200 ukulele's. While that might sound frivolous, I assure you it is not. Thankfully my now 23 year old son was educated in a CA Central Coast school district that highly values music education. He and many students that have ADHD and other learning challenges were saved by music education. 30% of the student body at his high school were involved in band, jazz band, choir, musical theater etc. Having an extraordinary band, choir & drama teacher most certainly helped. I am still in contact with his band teacher and send him emails thanking him for his patience in taking on "difficult" students, some who like my son went on to become extraordinary musicians. My son went from being a 5th grader (Band starts in 5th grade) who could not write a paragraph to graduating high school with a B+ GPA and attaining an AA in Music, with a certificate in Audio Engineering. He and his composer friend astounded me when they were in high school talking about Music Theory and the mathematics involved in music. He is now working towards a B.S. in Computer Science. His instruments included: Trumpet, drums, bass guitar, double bass, electric guitar.
So Hurray for the purchase of the ukulele! I am all for sports, theater and dance too - we all learn in different ways and the confidence building these activities produce transfer to other subjects.
Here are some of the benefits that music education - yes including playing ukeleles. They are in an inexpensive introductory instrument that allow for more students to be involved.
"Music improves cognitive and non-cognitive skills more than twice as much as sports, theater or dance. Kids who take music lessons have better cognitive skills and school grades and are more conscientious, open and ambitious."
"Music Students Score Better in Math, Science, English Than Nonmusical Peers
WASHINGTON — High schoolers who take music courses score significantly better on exams in certain other subjects, including math and science, than their nonmusical peers, according to a study published by the American Psychological Association."
“In public education systems in North America, arts courses, including music courses, are commonly underfunded in comparison with what are often referred to as academic courses, including math, science and English,” said Peter Gouzouasis, PhD, of the University of British Columbia, an author of the study of more than 100,000 Canadian students. “It is believed that students who spend school time in music classes, rather than in further developing their skills in math, science and English classes, will underperform in those disciplines. Our research suggests that, in fact, the more they study music, the better they do in those subjects.”
The research was published in the Journal of Educational Psychology®.
What a crock of horse crap. Take him to a music teacher for $50 an hour and call it a day. Our school district has 13% of students reading at grade level, all on my dime, and 15% live in intact families, guess what the problem is??
Regarding education, I would be curious what would happen if parents started to take away the phones, at least at school? Convince a 12 year old that long division is important to learn when they can ask their phone and get instant answers (to anything or everything). I once spoke to a room of high school students (about 100) and to warm up the room I held up my phone and asked — what is this? Sure, first answer “a phone (moron implied)”. Then what else? After a few easy ones, the kids got on a roll — encyclopedia, dictionary, a library, calculator, music, video, photos, and for those of you who would appreciate it, one student actually said “an NSA listening device”. I couldn’t keep up on the grease board as the uses of the phone kept coming. So… why do homework? Why learn anything? If you need to know it, ask your phone. Yes, a phone is a major distraction if we think of social media, texting, etc. But, for kids, has it become a substitute for their own brain (at least the stuff we learned in school). Technology is moving so fast in so many directions it is hard to keep up with being able to use it, let alone the consequences. We had our 5 year old granddaughter staying with us for a couple weeks and almost every day she started working us to work on her parents why she “needed” to have a phone.
I think there is more to the education issue these days than just unions and curriculum….
"But opponents of school choice, including teachers unions, say these laws direct resources away from public schools... Some say school choice is part of a right-wing agenda."
- Yes! Why continue to support a failing system? What company would do this?
"Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, went so far as to say school choice is “undermining democracy and undermining civil discourse and undermining pluralism.”
The teachers unions are a big part of the problem with other contributing factors such as iPhones, parents not enforcing study and homework, passing kids when they are failing, giving everyone a trophy etc.
re: Hezbollah - Good retaliation for the incessant bombing of northern Israel by the Mossad (we think it was them). Really, the way US intelligence is these days, it must have been Mossad that thought of and carried out these stealth operations.
Has Kamala done anymore interviews? Trump's rallies are bigger and better than ever. I don't see how Kamala has a chance.
Get rid of the DOE and allow State and local governments to decide educational standards and curricula. Hopefully in this scenario more districts will allow school vouchers.
I worked for NAEP (National Accessment of Educational Progress) for 3 cycles over 10 years. My first cycle "accommodations" were rare and usually made sense when you met the student.
By the last cycle I worked in CA, "accommodations" had turned into a scam. The percent of students with "accommodations" had become a laughing matter. If nothing else, many many students had "requires extra time for testing" which in theory had no limit. In my third cycle, I saw two (2) stu,dents take extra time out of 100's and 100's with this "accommodation". I think school district collect more money for students with "accommodations".
One caution about NAEP testing. School districts are not required to participate in NAEP testing. The state department of Education will lean on districts to sign up for NAEP, but, at least, in California cannot mandate it.
This leads to odd results. Poor rural schools took NAEP over and over while the highest performing urban district in my area never took it at all. I believe that this district viewed NAEP testing as the waste of an instructional day.
I worked for NAEP (National Accessment of Educational Progress) for 3 cycles over 10 years. My first cycle "accommodations" were rare and usually made sense when you met the student.
By the last cycle I worked in CA, "accommodations" had turned into a scam. The percent of students with "accommodations" had become a laughing matter. If nothing else, many many students had "requires extra time for testing" which in theory had no limit. In my third cycle, I saw two (2) students take extra time out of 100's and 100's with this "accommodation". I think school district collect more money for students with "accommodations".
One caution about NAEP testing. School districts are not required to participate in NAEP testing. The state department of Education will lean on districts to sign up for NAEP, but, at least, in California cannot mandate it.
This leads to odd results. Poor rural schools took NAEP over and over while the highest performing urban district in my area never took it at all. I believe that this district viewed NAEP testing as the waste of an instructional day.
Progressives love--LOVE--Islamic terrorists.
And it upsets them when they get their genitalia blown off, even though they asked for and deserve it.
Any country voting in a moron as President deserves whatever surpression of rights and forfeit of wealth it gets. No I did not work for 50+ years for what I have, I stole it all...the tragedy is many who live around me believe that HS and vote for people who peddle this crap.
Great piece on education and the failure of the standard public education . Just by there own measures this is just going down hill as you point out . The results in big city's like Chicago are just so sad and the worst part is in parts of the city it close to 0 learning going on . It's always been hard for any one in the city to find good education and now it seems almost impossible unless you go private . https://wirepoints.org/84-of-kids-in-chicagos-elected-school-board-district-3-cant-read-at-grade-level-wirepoints-new-report-cards/
So sad and depressing the fail on education . In Ill. we have no school choice , it was voted out , union pressures .
Thank your for this article. You did miss the mark on one point - the purchase of 2,200 ukulele's. While that might sound frivolous, I assure you it is not. Thankfully my now 23 year old son was educated in a CA Central Coast school district that highly values music education. He and many students that have ADHD and other learning challenges were saved by music education. 30% of the student body at his high school were involved in band, jazz band, choir, musical theater etc. Having an extraordinary band, choir & drama teacher most certainly helped. I am still in contact with his band teacher and send him emails thanking him for his patience in taking on "difficult" students, some who like my son went on to become extraordinary musicians. My son went from being a 5th grader (Band starts in 5th grade) who could not write a paragraph to graduating high school with a B+ GPA and attaining an AA in Music, with a certificate in Audio Engineering. He and his composer friend astounded me when they were in high school talking about Music Theory and the mathematics involved in music. He is now working towards a B.S. in Computer Science. His instruments included: Trumpet, drums, bass guitar, double bass, electric guitar.
So Hurray for the purchase of the ukulele! I am all for sports, theater and dance too - we all learn in different ways and the confidence building these activities produce transfer to other subjects.
You might like watching "The Mighty Ike" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vc8icufKYM4
Here are some of the benefits that music education - yes including playing ukeleles. They are in an inexpensive introductory instrument that allow for more students to be involved.
"Music improves cognitive and non-cognitive skills more than twice as much as sports, theater or dance. Kids who take music lessons have better cognitive skills and school grades and are more conscientious, open and ambitious."
"Music Students Score Better in Math, Science, English Than Nonmusical Peers
WASHINGTON — High schoolers who take music courses score significantly better on exams in certain other subjects, including math and science, than their nonmusical peers, according to a study published by the American Psychological Association."
https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2019/06/music-students-score-better
“In public education systems in North America, arts courses, including music courses, are commonly underfunded in comparison with what are often referred to as academic courses, including math, science and English,” said Peter Gouzouasis, PhD, of the University of British Columbia, an author of the study of more than 100,000 Canadian students. “It is believed that students who spend school time in music classes, rather than in further developing their skills in math, science and English classes, will underperform in those disciplines. Our research suggests that, in fact, the more they study music, the better they do in those subjects.”
The research was published in the Journal of Educational Psychology®.
What a crock of horse crap. Take him to a music teacher for $50 an hour and call it a day. Our school district has 13% of students reading at grade level, all on my dime, and 15% live in intact families, guess what the problem is??
Regarding education, I would be curious what would happen if parents started to take away the phones, at least at school? Convince a 12 year old that long division is important to learn when they can ask their phone and get instant answers (to anything or everything). I once spoke to a room of high school students (about 100) and to warm up the room I held up my phone and asked — what is this? Sure, first answer “a phone (moron implied)”. Then what else? After a few easy ones, the kids got on a roll — encyclopedia, dictionary, a library, calculator, music, video, photos, and for those of you who would appreciate it, one student actually said “an NSA listening device”. I couldn’t keep up on the grease board as the uses of the phone kept coming. So… why do homework? Why learn anything? If you need to know it, ask your phone. Yes, a phone is a major distraction if we think of social media, texting, etc. But, for kids, has it become a substitute for their own brain (at least the stuff we learned in school). Technology is moving so fast in so many directions it is hard to keep up with being able to use it, let alone the consequences. We had our 5 year old granddaughter staying with us for a couple weeks and almost every day she started working us to work on her parents why she “needed” to have a phone.
I think there is more to the education issue these days than just unions and curriculum….
"But opponents of school choice, including teachers unions, say these laws direct resources away from public schools... Some say school choice is part of a right-wing agenda."
- Yes! Why continue to support a failing system? What company would do this?
"Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, went so far as to say school choice is “undermining democracy and undermining civil discourse and undermining pluralism.”
- See what I mean?
The teachers unions are a big part of the problem with other contributing factors such as iPhones, parents not enforcing study and homework, passing kids when they are failing, giving everyone a trophy etc.
Could the, uh, quality of public education excuse the continued lack of interest in...
“…for the present, no one knows who is in charge of the United States.”
(Asking for a friend.)
Actually, the old man just gave a presser on Trump:
https://babylonbee.com/news/biden-promises-next-trump-assassin-will-be-a-woman-of-color
God bless the Bee.
Off Topic
Bari Weiss | All-In Summit 2024
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qJl9xO86Yg
Sep 19, 2024
Other public school success stories? What about Oprah Winfrey, Michelle Obama, Maya Angelou??
Their success goes way beyond the school.
The cream rises despite the substance
Drug overdoses are down.
MAGA: Boooo!
Fed cuts interest rates.
MAGA: Booo!
re: Halloween costume - Islamophobia strikes again.
re: Hezbollah - Good retaliation for the incessant bombing of northern Israel by the Mossad (we think it was them). Really, the way US intelligence is these days, it must have been Mossad that thought of and carried out these stealth operations.
Has Kamala done anymore interviews? Trump's rallies are bigger and better than ever. I don't see how Kamala has a chance.
https://san.com/cc/trump-supporters-walk-out-on-maga-rally-before-it-ends/
Get rid of the DOE and allow State and local governments to decide educational standards and curricula. Hopefully in this scenario more districts will allow school vouchers.
I can't get my long comment about "student accommodations" to post. The short version "student accommodations" are a every increasing scam.
So in the UK, all the university students who dress like terrorists (and all protesters who dress like terrorists) will soon be locked up?
As long as they're aiming to take the piss, but humor is not one of the defining features of the Keffiyistas..
I worked for NAEP (National Accessment of Educational Progress) for 3 cycles over 10 years. My first cycle "accommodations" were rare and usually made sense when you met the student.
By the last cycle I worked in CA, "accommodations" had turned into a scam. The percent of students with "accommodations" had become a laughing matter. If nothing else, many many students had "requires extra time for testing" which in theory had no limit. In my third cycle, I saw two (2) stu,dents take extra time out of 100's and 100's with this "accommodation". I think school district collect more money for students with "accommodations".
One caution about NAEP testing. School districts are not required to participate in NAEP testing. The state department of Education will lean on districts to sign up for NAEP, but, at least, in California cannot mandate it.
This leads to odd results. Poor rural schools took NAEP over and over while the highest performing urban district in my area never took it at all. I believe that this district viewed NAEP testing as the waste of an instructional day.
I worked for NAEP (National Accessment of Educational Progress) for 3 cycles over 10 years. My first cycle "accommodations" were rare and usually made sense when you met the student.
By the last cycle I worked in CA, "accommodations" had turned into a scam. The percent of students with "accommodations" had become a laughing matter. If nothing else, many many students had "requires extra time for testing" which in theory had no limit. In my third cycle, I saw two (2) students take extra time out of 100's and 100's with this "accommodation". I think school district collect more money for students with "accommodations".
One caution about NAEP testing. School districts are not required to participate in NAEP testing. The state department of Education will lean on districts to sign up for NAEP, but, at least, in California cannot mandate it.
This leads to odd results. Poor rural schools took NAEP over and over while the highest performing urban district in my area never took it at all. I believe that this district viewed NAEP testing as the waste of an instructional day.