Category: Education (Page 4 of 9)

Georgia school shooting

CNN: Georgia school shooting.

It’s been five days since the Appalagee High School shooting, and the details are starting to come out.  A few items are notable.

Bri Jones, 14, was in second period Wednesday when Colt Gray left the classroom, Jones said. “We didn’t notice he left,” Jones said, adding that he was “always quiet.”  But Gray came back and knocked on the door, Jones said.  Bri said she peeked out the door before she opened it because that’s what her mom taught her to do.  “As I was looking at the door, he was pulling his gun out, and then I froze up, like I froze up and I said ‘no’ to myself,” she said.  The teacher asked for the door to be opened, Bri said, “because she didn’t know he had a gun because she was at her desk.” As she went to open the door, “I was like, ‘No, he has a gun,’” Jones said. 

Everyone in that classroom owes their lives to Bri Jones.  Generally, 14 year-olds are awfully dumb.  Bri should get a statue or t-shirt or something.

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NYT: Algebra in Middle School

NYT: Algebra in Middle School

NYT: Algebra in Middle School

Top students can benefit greatly by being offered the subject early. But many districts offer few Black and Latino eighth graders a chance to study it.

This is why Progressives should never be put in charge of anything, ever.  It doesn’t matter how well they speak, how nice they look or what degrees they have, they can only destroy.  The issue is whether or not advanced students should have the option of taking Algebra in eight grade.  Most students take it in  ninth.

Do bias and inequality keep Black and Latino children off the fast track? Should middle schools eliminate algebra to level the playing field? What if standout pupils lose the chance to challenge themselves?

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WSJ: Grade Inflation

WSJ: Grade Inflation

WSJ: Grade Inflation

This article in the WSJ pisses me off because the only reason public schools function at all is the integrity of teachers.  Normandy and North Royalton had a few teachers who were layabouts or reprobates, but the vast majority thought that their subject was important and intended to hold their students accountable.

Teachers’ grading practices have changed and students’ grades have drifted up in recent years, a pandemic-era legacy that is being met with mixed reaction from educators across the country.

Grade inflation has been an issue for decades.  Parents, students and administrators are generally in favor of grade inflation, with teachers trying to hold the line on accountability.  A few teachers fold under the pressure.

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WOSU: Pan not recommended

WOSU: Recommended speakers

Former First Lady Michelle Obama, NBA icon Lebron James and Olympic gold medal swimmer Michael Phelps were some of the blockbuster names recommended by students, staff and faculty for the Spring 2024 Ohio State commencement.

Those three guys have the national prominence and stature appropriate for a commencement speaker at the third largest university in the country.   For the pedantic, I mean by student enrollment at a single campus.

The last Spring commencement speaker to be recommended by the advisory committee and be chosen in the same year was Apple CEO Tim Cook, who delivered the speech virtually in 2020.

The last university president was incompetent and had an agenda, so chose speakers who weren’t suggested by the advisory committee.  All the speakers recommended by the advisory committee aren’t winners, but it’s a plausible list.  I don’t know what Morgan Freeman would have to say, but it would sound terrific.

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