Wednesday - January 18, 2012
HITLER ONCE SAID …..
Hitler once said, give me the children. Almost worked.
I was gonna do another anti EU rant when I ran across this. So hey. Now I don’t have to cos this does it for me.
Important, scroll down at the link for the video which I am unable to embed here.
Revealed: How children are ‘brainwashed with European propaganda’ handed out by EU staff at education fairs
European Commission official says they need ‘to start early enough with the young people before they form prejudices and are misinformed by other sources’
By CHARLES WALFORDEU ‘propaganda’ is being handed out to teachers to indoctrinate pupils at a young age, it has emerged.
A Brussels official responsible for providing classroom material to UK schools admitted a desire to teach youngsters about the ‘values of EU membership’ from a young age, before they are ‘misinformed’.
The revelation that aggressively pro-European leaflets were being handed out at an education fair to ‘brainwash’ pupils has been heavily criticised.
UKIP deputy leader and education spokesman Paul Nuttall MEP told the Express: ‘It is what we always suspected but could never prove. Now we can. They [the EU] are effectively using our cash to brainwash our children. And it has to stop.’
A video has emerged of Judith Schilling, the European Commission’s publication manager, handing out EU-focused leaflets at the Education Show in Birmingham.
She tells an interviewer: ‘Everybody has now picked up on the idea that we will never succeed to convince people about the value of being a member of the European Union if we do not start early enough with the young people before they form prejudices and are misinformed by other sources.’
Mr Nuttall said he has written to Education Secretary Michael Gove and Schools Minister Nick Gibb saying the teaching programme appears to breach the law banning promotion of ‘partisan political views’ in schools.
Pupils must be given a balanced presentation of issues, he said.
Mr Nuttall has also called for the European Commission to be made to halt its schools programme pending an inquiry and to order schools to stop using such aids.
Ukip leader Nigel Farage said: ‘It is vital that such an important issue, which is essentially the deliberate political indoctrination of our children, be dealt with in as open and as transparent a way as possible.’
It comes after the EU was accused of trying to ‘brainwash’ children after pupils all over the country were given pencil cases with its logo emblazoned across it.
Posted by peiper
on 01/18/2012 at 02:28 PM
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Permalink • Thursday - January 05, 2012
Digging Beyond The Headlines
About a zillion blogs and news sites are running this story:
Kenyan Parents Attack Teachers After Widespread Exams Failure
The chairman of the Kenyan teachers’ union says angry parents are attacking teachers nationwide after their children’s dismal performance in a national exam.
Wilson Sossion of the Kenya National Union of Teachers said Thursday that rioting parents have forcefully closed at least 10 primary schools. They are angry that their children failed national exams that determine if the children get into high school.
Sossion says the union is investigating the death of a head teacher from a school in Narok, a town in central Kenya. The man is believed to have committed suicide after the results of all 38 students from his school were canceled over allegations of cheating.
Government statistics show that more than half the 760,000 children who sat the examination last year may not go to high school.
And, given just that bit of info, the comments are flying all over. Blame the teachers! The schools need more money! Tax the rich! Blame Bush! Sounds a bit familiar, right?
The first thing you need to know: in Kenya, if you don’t pass the grade school exit exam you don’t get to go to high school. An 8th grade education is deemed sufficient for many jobs, and that’s all you get. Further down the road, you have to pass the high school exit exam to both graduate and to earn a chance at a spot at university. Nothing I have read has made me aware that Kenya has any kind of vocational education program, as many counties here in the USA do for students who may want to head straight into the workforce in lieu of further schooling. But in the US, even those kids graduate high school right? I think so, but we have lots of schools here. It’s not like that in Kenya.
But is there any more to this story?
Well, yes.
There is a “scandal”; the kids who went to very small, expensive, private schools all did extremely well (Kenyan TV news video report). Is this really a scandal though, when in most of these schools you need to already be a very good student to get in to begin with? Or was there cheating?
Hmm, it seems there was plenty of cheating going on, but I can’t find out if it was only at the fancy schools or not. I only found that nearly 8,000 students in 335 schools had their exams nullified ...
Pupils from 335 schools countrywide had their results cancelled due to cheating, Education minister Sam Ongeri said on Wednesday.
Prof Ongeri noted that senior teachers, supervisors and even parents were involved in abetting the vice.
In one instance, a teacher conned parents and candidates of Sh810,000 in the pretext that he would supply them with Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exam papers in advance. In another case, a pupil had answers written on a sandal he was wearing in the exam room.
Prof Ongeri on Wednesday displayed the sandal as he released the KCPE results. He also showed a shirt with exam answers written on it.
Naturally, when accused of being complicit in the cheating, the teacher’s union immediately announced plans to sue the government for leaking the answers ahead of time ...
Teachers plan to sue Knec over tests
Teachers have demanded naming of those behind the Standard Eight examination leakages that led to the cancellation of results for 7,900 pupils.
Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers assistant secretary-general Lewis Nyakweba and Kenya National Union of Teachers’ Nyamira branch executive secretary Julius Matwere threatened to take legal action against the Kenya National Examinations Council (Knec) over the leakages.
“We are going to stage demonstrations against Knec for cancelling results of many children in the country without explaining who was responsible and how examination question papers leaked from its custody,” Mr Nyakweba said.
... and it looks like at least some of it was going on in the tony private schools ...
Knec cancelled Standard Eight results for 22 schools, mainly private academies in Nyamira County that were allegedly involved in examination irregularities.
Ok, that accounts for 8K out of 380K; two percent. What about the rest? What really is going on here? Probably less than 1% of the students go to private academies, yet half the kids in the country failed the test. That’s 50 times more than those who failed just because they cheated. Was the test too hard? Was it the wrong test? Is government run public education in Kenya just about worthless? Or are Kenyan students just not capable or willing?
Of course, there will always be voices calling for lowering the bar ...
[from before the exam was given] The 2011 KCPE results were released earlier this week on Wednesday 28 December. According to the KNEC, out of the total 776,214 candidates who sat for the KCPE this year, just under half (48.26%) attained 250 marks and above (the cut-off pass mark out of a possible 500 marks) and only 5,806 (0.75%) scored over 400 marks. Two candidates — a boy and a girl — tied to take the top positions with 442 marks each.
When one considers that an average of 30% of KCPE candidates each year fail to secure a place in secondary school, and the proportion seems to be increasing year on year, it becomes clear that the competition to excel in KCPE is pretty high, so much so that cases of exam cheating have become increasingly rampant with each passing year. This year, some 8000 candidates (about 1.5%) had their results cancelled as a result of cheating and other irregularities.
...
it becomes clear that the time is nigh for us as Kenyans to rethink our attitudes towards the meaning of success when it comes to academics. Students are under too much pressure, not just to pass exams but to excel. The all-or-nothing attitude is part of the reason why exam cheating and leaking of exam questions is turning slowly into a cartel involving not just pupils but their parents, teachers and exam invigilators!
It’s high time for our primary school pupils to be appropriately counselled to know that there is more to life than passing exams, and failing KCPE should not mark the end of the road.
But it just may be that the bar was already set quite low ... and in truth it is the students who are the problem ...
A mathematics teaacher from a school in Nairobi says that his students have such a negative attitude that when asked to worked out the change from a hundred shillings after buying bread worth sh 40, 30% of the students did not attempt while 25% of those who attempted did not get it correct. Not that these students are not able to answer the question but the attitude they approach the test makes them blind to such a problem.
KCSE 2011 mathematics paper 1 and paper 2 on a scale is the most favourable in many years. Paper 1 is such a aper that the current form two student may score 80% which an A. The current form three student can easily schore an A in paper 2.
We loud the KNEC for attempting to demystify the examination by encouraging the student with problems that they are able to attempt. It may be be what the teachers have been waiting for to motivate students to like mathematics. However it will not be strange to find that most students will not perform well in the subject.
As an aside, if I recall my high school days, I’d say that at least a quarter of the students weren’t really ready for it, and just kind of cruised through in neutral. And that was back in the good old days. Maybe Kenya ought to be proud that a mere 30% couldn’t cut it. And it may also be that not going to high school is not that big a deal in Kenya, I don’t know. In the USA it is. Heck, since we long ago dumbed down our schools to the drooling level, now every menial job demands a college degree, because most college degrees are no better than what a high school diploma used to be. So if Kenya has not yet dropped the bar onto the ground and then dug a deep ditch for it, more power to them. And thus an 8th grade education there may not be so bad at all, really. But what if they have, and even a slow student over here could ace the KNEC primary school tests? What would that say?
So I still don’t have the answer to the big problem. But I do know it isn’t wise to take some of the news at headline value: 11 Kenya exam officials killed in line of duty is misleading in the extreme. Almost all of them had died in car accidents at early points in the year, or from terrorists. Not a single one died at the hands of those outraged parents who are attacking the teachers and education bigwigs. Meanwhile Kenyan parents are locking teachers into their classrooms, and in parts of Africa that is one really bad precursor. Machetes and fires often follow on.
Posted by Drew458
on 01/05/2012 at 02:19 PM
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Permalink • Thursday - December 15, 2011
Today’s Lesson: Sex Sells
‘Why I stripped on webcams to pay for my uni fees’: Woman tells how she turned to the sex industry to fund her studies
* She is forced to continue stripping because ‘there are no jobs for young people at the moment’
* One in five lapdancers are students, NUS warns
* NUS says students turning to ‘informal’ sector for cash
* Emma Green was paid £200-a-week to strip for men on webcam
That about says it all, doesn’t it? Read the rest. Savvy young business woman, or lazy skank making excuses? It’s not like she was going for a degree in particle physics.
Personally, I think she looks pretty used up for a 25 year old.
The Brit press loves to publish these “I was forced to turn tricks to pay for my school (or baby, or whatever)” stories, in a bit of socialist arm twisting, since Big Bad Government had to audacity to cut down on the education free ride a while back. Remember the riots?
Posted by Drew458
on 12/15/2011 at 01:49 PM
Filed Under: • Democrats-Liberals-Moonbat Leftists • Education • Media-Bias • UK •
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Permalink • Tuesday - December 13, 2011
For your dancing pleasure
I’ve not been posting lately. Just another bout of bad health. I seem to have gotten over it, though my doctor will tell me for sure later this morning.
I’m posting this video of Barbara and Tim Haller. They were my bosses when I worked for the Dayton Arthur Murray Studio. They taught me how to dance, and I taught my wife how to dance. (wife was one of my first students) Enjoy!
Looks like they are at the Manchester Inn in Middleton. Again. I’ve performed there several times with my students.
Posted by Christopher
on 12/13/2011 at 06:01 AM
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Permalink • Sunday - December 11, 2011
Can’t Say Better Late Than Never
Peiper mailed me this essay a few weeks back. Lazy me for not posting it then, but things haven’t changed one white in the meantime. The author laments the loss of nearly all labor skills in the UK, and is bothered that while the demand for a good part of that labor still exists, the only people available with the skills to perform it are foreigners. Generations of left wing schooling has taught the nation that it beneath them to get their hands dirty doing work ... with the result that their are now millions who are completely unemployable, and this has caused
A million young Britons are on the dole while motivated foreigners fill job vacancies
The economic news has been relentlessly bleak. But it is not the Eurozone nor the banking crisis that presents Britain with its greatest potential crisis. It is unemployment - or rather the fact that so many Britons today are actually unemployable.
This week, unemployment hit a 17-year high of 2.6million and experts warned of a ‘lost generation’ of young people since more than one in five, or one million, aged between 16 and 24 are now out of work.
But these statistics are far from the only ones we should be worried about. What is really alarming is that while fewer and fewer Britons have work, foreigners seem to be taking all the jobs that are available.
Last year, as the number of Britons with jobs fell by 311,000, the number of overseas-born people taking jobs in Britain rose by 181,000 or by 495 per day.
To politicians, obsessed as they are with equality, the disappearance of the working class is a wonderful endorsement of their policies. They boast how so many more of our young are in higher education than ever before, being trained to do something useful in society when they leave college. And it is true that some of them are.
But huge numbers of the young emerge from their colleges resolutely unemployable in any obvious capacity. They have been gulled by these boastful politicians into learning subjects which are entirely unsuitable for higher education, ranging from media studies to hairdressing - subjects which in the past were learnt on the job through apprenticeships and experience.
There are three unbudgeable historical reasons for the unemployment catastrophe we face. The first is the wrecking of our educational system during the Sixties and Seventies. The second is the dismantling of our entire manufacturing and industrial base during the Eighties in favour of ‘service’ and ‘financial’ industries. And the third is the welfare state - which is largely responsible for the erosion of the work ethic in our society.
Fifty years of bad education, 30 years of placing all our hopes in the City of London, and three generations of welfare dependency have put this country in a position where it is almost impossible to see how it can help itself out of its difficulties.
No politician dares to tell the truth to the million unemployed young people, and the millions more ‘students’ who hope to be employed when their studies are complete.
The truth is that this country has been ruined by a political and establishment class with no vision. A class which has undermined the notions of endeavour and duty and replaced them with a cradle-to-grave sense of entitlement in which the State would always bale you out if you were too lazy or too incompetent to work.
It was this deluded liberal class which instilled the belief that to work in a shipyard or a factory or to learn a craft is humiliating —much better to go to a Mickey Mouse university to study some pointless degree.
The result is that we live in a country which makes hardly anything the rest of the world wants to buy. A country whose future is deeply perilous and which has long since lost belief in the three things which made Britain great in the days of Brunel and Wedgwood: training the young; trade; and honest, hard work.
Surely this is a UK-only kind of situation that could never ever possibly happen here in the USA. Right? I’d ask Pedro, Juan, and Jorge their opinions, but they’re over there up on that ladder, still painting that house since 7 o’clock this morning.
It’s a good essay, well worth the 10 minute read. One thing about it that I do disagree with though, is that the old English class prejudice against being in trade is still in evidence: although the author bemoans the lack of painters, plumbers, electricians, and other manual laborers, he can’t let go of the rotten “this kind of work is suitable for those with low intelligence” attitude. Wrong. Wrong, wrong. “dirty hands, empty head” is a crock; there is no reason on earth that a crown molding specialist can’t have a degree in philosophy, or that an electrician couldn’t possibly understand quantum. Besides ... these days a plumber earns more than a corporate middle manager, sets his own hours, runs his own show, and doesn’t ever have to attend a Monday morning status meeting.
Posted by Drew458
on 12/11/2011 at 07:44 PM
Filed Under: • Education • UK • work and the workplace •
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Permalink • Monday - November 21, 2011
family planning for kiddies age 8 to 9? welcome to the brave new world
SEX ED for kiddies?
At what age should it start at? Is it necessary in the first place?
Someone wrote an interesting article today with reference to faulty parenting. Not so much that the parents were bad ppl or child abusers. But that they belong to a generation that just doesn’t know any better. That’s how they were raised and that’s how they raise their own. Specifically, the making of sex objects however unintended, of little girls. I almost think I understand even without approving. The examples given in the article of the very explicit MTV for example. It’s become the norm and many moms just don’t see any harm. Who am I to judge? I’m not a parent. It must be scary these days because often times, there just isn’t any decent way to always know what a kid is up to. But gosh, at four and five when they’re still practically in babyhood, I don’t think they should be exposed to the things so freely available today. Things that now are simply taken as a matter of course. And have you folks noticed that nobody is ever embarrassed by anything these days? Really. There was a time when some things that are personal and that would cause great embarrassment, are now spoken of freely. Confessions on TV etc. and celebs talking about everything from their bedroom habits to their bowel habits. And many even shed copious tears. Now that is embarrassing. To watch it. Happily, we haven’t a TV here. Don’t miss it.
Today, it’s reported that a judge has ruled it’s okay to use foul language in public, and even use the ‘F’ word to cops because bad language in public is so common nowadays, that it no longer shocks anyone. Therefore, there are no grounds for a legal issue. I’ll post the article in awhile. I guess what I’m getting at is that what’s acceptable now is a lower standard by a very large number of people. I got a bit off topic I know, but it all seems to run together. Doesn’t it?
Parents rebel over lessons on sex for pupils aged four and plans to teach homosexuality to six-year-olds· Disgusted parents threaten to pull children out of classes
· ’My boy still believes in Father Christmas - he doesn’t need to be told about these things,’ said one mother
By CHRIS BROOKEA primary school is facing a parents’ revolt over the content of sex education classes for children as young as four.
Up to 20 families are said to be prepared to withdraw youngsters from the lessons because of concerns they are being sexualised too soon with discussions about homosexuality, masturbation and orgasms.
Under the plans, those aged six could be taught about same-sex relationships and the difference between ‘good and bad touching’. Topics for ten-year-olds include orgasm and masturbation.
Parents who let girls dress in sexy outfits and wear make-up ‘can’t tell right from wrong’
Headmistress says letting youngsters dress in sexy clothing is a sign of society’s eroded moral values
Near-pornographic images on shows such as X Factor partly to blame
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Posted by peiper
on 11/21/2011 at 11:07 AM
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Permalink • Thursday - October 20, 2011
Why Me?
Some idiot at church found out I’m unemployed. He asked if I would tutor some church members looking to get their GED.
I said ‘sure’, thinking that if this is successful, I’ll add it to my resumé.
So, I spend an hour or two, depending on attendance, each Wednesday evening, teaching.
I am appalled!
The students I have are so deficient in math that I wonder how they even got to high school before they dropped out! They have no knowledge of basic math that I learned in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade.
Okay, I’ll give one a pass, She’s dyslexic. If her mom hadn’t told me I’d’ve thought she was an idiot. Knowing that she’s dyslexic, I can teach her. I just had to know that up front.
But I’ve spent my time teaching math: basic geometry; fractions–how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide; and we still haven’t gotten to converting fractions to decimals and percentages. Stuff I learned in grade school. How did they get to high school before they dropped out?
Mind you, I’ll still add it to my resumé.
Posted by Christopher
on 10/20/2011 at 09:15 AM
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Permalink • Wednesday - September 07, 2011
Free web course on the Constitution
I was listening to Rush Limbaugh today and he mentioned that Hillsdale College is running their second annual Intro to the Constitution web course:
On September 15, in observance and celebration of Constitution Day, Hillsdale College will hold our second annual Constitution Day Celebration, this year featuring Congressman Paul Ryan, syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer, members of the Hillsdale College faculty, and other distinguished guests. Once you register for this event – it’s free – you’ll be able to watch all of these speeches and panels live from your home or office. Even if you are unable to watch on the day of the event, we will make all of the videos available to view in the weeks following.
Then, for the next five weeks after our Constitution Day Celebration, we invite you back to this site for a special lecture series we are calling the “Introduction to the Constitution.” Included in what we will discuss is:
What the framers of the Constitution understood about the document they were writing, especially its fundamental principles true of human beings at all times and in all places;
Why the fundamental features of the American Constitution are representation and separation of powers;
Why the key to a republican form of government is the vibrancy, size and independence of this private society.This program will serve as the basis for future educational programs on Constitution and related topics, including a more complete Online Constitution Class, of which this series will serve as a basis. We will be asking for your participation and feedback along the way to help us improve our efforts.
If you have not already, please take a few minutes to register for this program, the Constitution Day Celebration and the “Introduction to the Constitution” series. And please share this information with others – your friends, family, and colleagues who, like you, understand the vital need for restoring an understanding and love of the Constitution in our great nation.
We look forward to your partnership in this important work.
Best regards,
Dr. Larry Arnn
President, Hillsdale College
If you are interested, visit Rush For Hillsdale to sign up.
It’s free (yes, you will be asked for a donation), but I’d hurry. I signed up as soon as Rush mentioned it. While testing the link, I’ve found that the Hillsdale servers are overwhelmed.
Posted by Christopher
on 09/07/2011 at 02:56 PM
Filed Under: • Education • Patriotism •
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Permalink • Monday - August 08, 2011
How Obama Fixes Education
There is simply no problem that can’t be solved by moving the goalposts right over the horizon.
Obama Administration Exempting Schools From Federal Law’s Testing Mandate
State and local education officials have been begging the federal government for relief from student testing mandates in the federal No Child Left Behind law, but school starts soon and Congress still hasn’t answered the call.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan says he will announce a new waiver system Monday to give schools a break.
The Obama administration requested a revision more than a year ago. Duncan said another school year is about to start and state education officials have told him they can’t keep waiting for relief from the mandates.
“I can’t overemphasize how loudly the outcry is to do something now,” Duncan said.
Duncan has warned that 82 percent of U.S. schools could be labeled failures next year if No Child Left Behind is not changed. Education experts have questioned that estimate, but state officials report a growing number of schools facing sanctions under the law.
Are you kidding? Fire the whole damn lot of them, throw out the unions, throw out the lefty namby-pamby touchy-feely bullshit, and get back to actually teaching. My bet is that improvements could be made overnight. We’ve had nearly a decade of this program, with all sorts of milestones and tracking and accountability markers. Why are we hearing this bullshit now? How dare they! Why are the schools that haven’t made the grade for years even still open? Why is their a single carryover teacher or administrator working there? They all should have been fired years ago. But oh no. Instead, the first cheat was to redefine the meaning of “proficiency” and to set the bar nice and low in most of the states. Then a long term plan to eventually someday meet those “tough” standards went in ... in other words, while the school systems have been busy Hating Bush, they’ve been busy spending trainloads of federal dollars, and doing just about dog-squat to make things better. And now they want a Note From Mom getting them out of gym? Hella no!
9 years is 2/3 of an entire scholastic generation, from 1st grade to high school. The Class of 2014 ought to be bleedin geniuses as far as I’m concerned. At the very least they should be acing these exams. It’s not like NCLB is all that demanding. No, it’s because our education system sucks, and almost nobody in it has made any real effort to improve things a jot. All they’ve done is increased spending, given themselves great big raises, and loaded the school systems down with excess management. And all those billions? Up in smoke. Don’t even ask, because no paper trail will ever be forthcoming. Teaching? What’s that??
And what of the tens of millions of students? Will they now not graduate? Or will they get their slip of paper, and never even have the smallest shot at college or the jobs market, because they can’t read, write, or do even simple arithmetic. I don’t blame Bush. And I don’t blame the students. I blame the school systems, and I blame the parents.
No Child Left Behind is exactly what the federal Department of Education should be doing: setting national standards, and then going away. No money to hand out, no involvement in state affairs, no keeping of statistics. This is the test. You take it in the 4th grade, and if you pass it you go to the 5th grade. There is another test you take in the 8th grade; pass that and you get to go to high school. There should be a final one for would-be graduates. Pass that, and you can have your diploma. Fail any of the tests and you are automatically enrolled in intensive summer school, at the end of which you get to take the level exam again. Pass it and move forward. Otherwise you get left back and have to repeat 4th, 8th, or 12th grade all over again.
Yes, under the Drew Plan you could have 21 year old “kids” graduating high school. Gee too bad. At least they’ll know how to read and count change.
Naturally, it’s only fair that if teachers have more than X% of failing kids in their group, then they lose their jobs as well. Might have to set up some kind of entrance exam to make sure all teachers not only know their subjects, but know how to teach.
Posted by Drew458
on 08/08/2011 at 03:57 PM
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Permalink • Thursday - July 07, 2011
School Cheating, Part 2
I couldn’t say it better myself: take 3 minutes and go and read
America’s public education system has been a sham since those very first look-the-other-way decisions were made by social-engineering elites. The biggest lie of all is that liberals will say to their dying day they did it for the children.
Never has such a shameful pile of self-serving poppycock passed for “love.”
I still remember from the ’70s a very prominent ad for charitable giving. The United Negro College Fund solicited donations to support the system of historically black colleges with this haunting statement: A mind is a terrible thing to waste. It was so true then. It is still just as true.
And sadly, the vast majority of those Atlanta school children cheated out of their educations were black. Self-serving, self-advancing, self-deceiving teachers and administrators have succeeded in wasting more genuine human potential than one mind can possibly even conceive — all of it sacrificed on the phony altar of liberals’ vainglorious pretense. If this isn’t a crime against humanity I truly cannot imagine what would be.
If those administrators and most of the teachers had been white, this cheating scandal would be now denounced by liberals as nothing short of “racist terrorism.” But since the highly acclaimed superintendent is black and originally from Jamaica to boot, this whole scandal will be whitewashed in liberal double-speak and individualized in the extreme. Atlanta’s black mayor can get away with calling the release of the scandalous GBI report “a dark day for the city.” A white mayor would have been rhetorically tarred and feathered for such a blatantly “racist” statement.
I need a font with bold flashing arrows and a built in air raid siren. Bold just doesn’t cut it.
Appearances matter more than content. Period. Video really did kill the radio star.
Hey, wait, she said “tarbrush”? That’s raaaaaacist!!!
Posted by Drew458
on 07/07/2011 at 08:16 PM
Filed Under: • Democrats-Liberals-Moonbat Leftists • Education • Corruption and Greed •
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Permalink • Wednesday - July 06, 2011
Teaching The Wrong Lesson
State inquiry into Atlanta test scores finds widespread cheating
by Philissa CramerReporter Maura Walz’s journey from Gotham Schools to Georgia placed her in the South just in time to cover the education scandal of the century— or at least the summer.
Atlanta’s steadily increasing state test scores were, at least in part, driven by cheating, according to investigators appointed by former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue. Today, Perdue’s successor, Nathan Deal, released the results of the two-year investigation.
Investigators looked at more than half of Atlanta’s 100 public schools and found evidence of cheating in the vast majority of them. They found that more than a third of the city’s principals had knowledge of or input into cheating at their schools; thousands of students had been denied extra help after being given scores they didn’t deserve; and “a culture of fear, intimidation, and retaliation” inhibited whistle-blowing.
State officials say criminal charges are likely to follow for some of the 180 teachers, principals, and district officials named in the report.
America’s biggest teacher and principal cheating scandal unfolds in Atlanta
At least 178 teachers and principals in Atlanta Public Schools cheated to raise student scores on high-stakes standardized tests, according to a report from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
Award-winning gains by Atlanta students were based on widespread cheating by 178 named teachers and principals, said Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal on Tuesday. His office released a report from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation that names 178 teachers and principals – 82 of whom confessed – in what’s likely the biggest cheating scandal in US history.
This appears to be the largest of dozens of major cheating scandals, unearthed across the country. The allegations point an ongoing problem for US education, which has developed an ever-increasing dependence on standardized tests.
The report on the Atlanta Public Schools, released Tuesday, indicates a “widespread” conspiracy by teachers, principals and administrators to fix answers on the Criterion-Referenced Competency Test (CRCT), punish whistle-blowers, and hide improprieties.
It “confirms our worst fears,” says Mayor Kasim Reed. “There is no doubt that systemic cheating occurred on a widespread basis in the school system.” The news is “absolutely devastating,” said Brenda Muhammad, chairwoman of the Atlanta school board. “It’s our children. You just don’t cheat children.”
On its face, the investigation tarnishes the 12-year tenure of Superintendent Beverly Hall, who was named US Superintendent of the Year in 2009 largely because of the school system’s reported gains – especially in inner-city schools. She has not been directly implicated, but investigators said she likely knew, or should have known, what was going on. In her farewell address to teachers in June, Hall for the first time acknowledged wrongdoing in the district, but blamed other administrators.
The Atlanta cheating scandal also offers the first most comprehensive view yet into a growing number of teacher-cheating allegations across the US, reports of which reached a rate of two to three a week in June, says Robert Schaeffer, a spokesman for the National Center for Fair & Open Testing, which advocates against high-stakes testing.
It’s also a tacit indictment, critics say, of politicians putting all bets for improving education onto high-stakes tests that punish and reward students, teachers, and principals for test scores.
The 55,000-student Atlanta public school system rose in national prominence during the 2000s, as test scores steadily rose and the district received notice and funding from the Broad Foundation and the Gates Foundation. But behind that rise, the state found, were teachers and principals in 44 schools erasing and changing test answers.
I seem to recall a whole lot of attitude about “teaching to the test” when Bush unveiled his “No Child Left Behind” program. It looks like the teachers - union employees all, I guarantee - took the easy way out. Lots of boo-hoo that the federal government wasn’t drowning the schools in free funding (which isn’t their job, nor is it within their proper power to do so). Looks like the lazy lefty loons found an easy way out. At least until they got caught. Why put in any extra effort to actually do your job properly when you can just go in later and fudge the grades? Besides, look at all the free money the government is willing to dish out as bonuses when the scores go up?
I hope this is just the tip of the iceberg. I hope that there is a HUGE public furor. I hope that investigations go on in every school district in the country, and that cheating teachers and administrators are fired and prosecuted. And when it turns out that the vast majority of that cheating happened in “inner city schools” - a code phrase we all understand - and was done by left leaning school employees of any shade, that people will make the connection. These children were ripped off. The taxpayers were ripped off. We need a purge, nationwide. Let’s start with the unions and the curriculum and go from there.
Posted by Drew458
on 07/06/2011 at 09:04 AM
Filed Under: • Education •
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Permalink • Tuesday - June 14, 2011
as I recall, hitler said he could change the world if given the youth
Didn’t he ask for the youth because it was too late to train (or should that be brainwash in modern terms) the adults? Although for awhile he managed that okay.
So in another way, this reminds me of that. There will be a generation growing up making the new laws and rules society will live by.
Not everyone is happy about this however, and they’re making their voices heard. But I can tell you from the things I have seen myself, not read in the morning papers, that the kiddies are being well schooled and indoctrinated in this subject in my particular corner of the world.
Here’s what the kiddies are being groomed to believe. And they damn sure do.
One national curriculum module for seven-year-olds, called Solar, says they must: Understand in simple terms how climate change will affect wildlife, using the example of polar bears.
Think about positive ways we can act now to slow down climate change.
Understand that there are forms of energy production that don’t produce carbon dioxide, such as solar.
A list of vocabulary that the youngsters must know includes: global warming, climate change, carbon dioxide and solar power.
Suggested activities include preparing a written or verbal news flash explaining the terms ‘climate change’ and ‘global warming’ with specific reference to the lives of polar bears and the Arctic.
Questions the class must ask:
Will climate change affect us?
If the ice melts what will happen to the seas?
Will this change where we live?
Posted by peiper
on 06/14/2011 at 09:45 AM
Filed Under: • Climate-Weather • Education •
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Permalink • Wednesday - June 08, 2011
playing soldier and making bang now unacceptable
A couple of weeks ago a little boy in school was reprimanded and sent home because he made a gun with his hand and fingers as so many of us did in saner daze.
I’m spelling it with a ‘z’ because in this case, as in so many others, “DAZE” is applicable.
I suppose that if an adult did that during an argument with someone and things got hot, and one guy did that, it could be seen as a threat. Likewise, kids should not be allowed to make that sort of gesture at their teachers.
But come on, little kids at play making a hand gun and playing cowboys and indigenous people or cops and the alleged suspect shouldn’t be seen by adults as a sign of future crime and evil doing. But apparently some do. This is the irrational world we inhabit these days. Can’t say I like it much but nothing I can do about it except bitch.
Take a look.
School reprimands seven-year-old boys for playing ‘army game’A primary school has been condemned by parents for disciplining two seven-year-old boys after teachers ruled playing army games amounted to “threatening behaviour”.
By Murray Wardrop
Staff at Nathaniel Newton Infant School in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, reprimanded the two boys after they were seen making pistol shapes with their fingers.
Teachers broke up the imaginary classroom shoot-out and contacted the youngsters’ parents, warning them that such behaviour would not be tolerated.The school, which caters for around 180 pupils aged four to seven, said the gun gestures were “unacceptable” and were not permitted at school.
However, parents have described the reaction as “outrageous”, while family groups warned that “wrapping children in cotton wool” damages their upbringing.
Defending its policy, a spokesman for Nathaniel Newton Infant School said: “Far from stopping children from playing we actively encourage it.“However a judgement call has to be made if playing turns into unacceptable behaviour.
“The issue here was about hand gestures being made in the shape of a gun towards members of staff which is understandably unacceptable, particularly in the classroom.”A father of one of the boys who was disciplined said: “It’s ridiculous. How can you tell a seven-year-old boy he cannot play guns and armies with his friends.
“Another parent was called for the same reason. We were told to reprimand our son for this and to tell him he cannot play ‘guns’ anymore.
“The teacher said the boys should be reprimanded for threatening behaviour which would not be tolerated at the school.”The community primary school was rated as “good” overall in an Ofsted report published last year, but warned that children oughtt to have greater freedom to play.
The inspectors praised pupils’ behaviour as “outstanding”, telling them in a letter: “Your behaviour is excellent and you work very well together.”
They added that they had asked teachers to “make it easier for the children to play and learn outside”.Parenting groups condemned the school’s reaction to the children’s game of soldiers, warning that it risked causing a rift between the school and parents.
Margaret Morrissey, founder of the family lobby group Parents Outloud, said: “It is madness to try to indoctrinate children aged seven with political correctness in this way.“Children have played cowboys and Indians like this for generations and it does them absolutely no harm whatsoever.
“In my experience, it is the children who are banned from playing innocent games like this who then go on to develop a fascination with guns.“We cannot wrap our children in cotton wool. Allowing them to take a few risks and play games outside is an essential part of growing up.
“By reprimanding these youngsters at this age, the school makes a very big issue out of something trivial, which will divide the parents and teachers.”
The case follows a string of similar incidents in which children’s playtime activities have been curbed by overzealous staff over health and safety concerns.
Earlier this year, a Liverpool school banned youngsters from playing football with anything other than sponge balls amid fears youngsters might get hurt.
Other traditional playground games such as British bulldog and even leapfrog are prohibited at 30 per cent 10 per cent of schools respectively, a study by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers union found.
Marcus Jones, the Tory MP for Nuneaton, said: “It is quite apparent that the seven-year-olds would be playing an innocent game.
“This is political correctness gone mad. When I was that age that type of game was common place and I don’t remember anyone coming to any harm from it.”
A bit of confusion here I believe. Either the kiddies were brought up due to disrespectful behavior towards staff, or because they were playing army/soldier make believe. It read like both. How do you see it?
Posted by peiper
on 06/08/2011 at 09:22 AM
Filed Under: • Education •
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Permalink • Saturday - April 16, 2011
test. what state requires by law the teaching of fag history?
Oh good grief.
Can anyone say ... Reading, Writing, Rithmahtik? Jeesh.
Maybe we won’t be going back to Calif. after all.
What a load of rubbish.
And take a look at the list of all the ‘special’ groups that must now be recognized. It isn’t enough to recognize individual achievement and honor those who contribute. No. Now we have to recognize and pay homage to the group they come from.
Fair enuff but I don’t see Jews on that list and heaven knows that group has contributed out of all proportion to it’s numbers. Who do I sue?
Didn’t I tell BMEWS I wasn’t certain Ca. would be where I wanted to be with Gov. Moonbeam in office.
The worst part? We still could end up there. My head hurts and reading this hasn’t done anything for the stomach either.
California set to teach gay history and rights in schoolsCalifornia is set to become the first US state to require the teaching of gay history and rights.
By Alex Spillius, Washington
Children would take lessons on issues affecting gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people, with schools granted discretion about what age to start the lessons.
The law was passed by the state’s senate and is likely to pass the assembly easily, which is also controlled by the Democrats, before being signed by Governor Jerry Brown.
The legislation, sponsored by Democrat Mark Leno of San Francisco, passed on a 23-14 party line vote.
“We are second-class citizens and children are listening,” he said. “When they see their teachers don’t step up to the plate when their classmate is being harassed literally to death, they are listening and they get the message that there is something wrong with those people.”
Republican state Senator Doug La Malfa opposed the bill saying: “I’m deeply troubled kids would have to contemplate at a very, very early age, when many of us are teaching abstinence ... what is sexuality.”California law already requires schools to cover the contributions to the state and nation of:
Women
African Americans
Mexican Americans
Entrepreneurs
Asian Americans
European Americans
American Indians AND
LABOR ACTIVISTS!
AND
A new bill will also add:
The Disabled, to the list.
How many states will follow this crap I wonder. And here we thought the Brit govt. was loopy. I guess my home state now becomes UK Pacific.
What q queer fuckin world we inhabit.
Posted by peiper
on 04/16/2011 at 10:48 AM
Filed Under: • Education • Gay Gay Gay! •
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