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SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT
If Taught Properly
Further to yesterday's posting, Ontario's premier is now saying that Ontario set the bar too high and that it is unreasonable to expect 75% of the province's students to be able to master the curriculum for their grade.
Here's what the ever-popular George Bush had to say on this topic. "Some say it is unfair to hold disadvantaged children to rigorous standards. I say it is discrimination to require anything less - the soft bigotry of low expectations. Some say that schools can't be expected to teach, because there are too many broken families, too many immigrants, too much diversity. I say that pigment and poverty need not determine performance. That myth is disproved by good schools every day. Excuse-making must end before learning can begin."
As a reading tutor, I know that virtually every child can learn to read at grade level, if taught properly. John Mighton over at JUMP says the same thing about math. Three very important words.
SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT
Something Is Fishy in the State of Denmark (Apologies to Mr. Shakespeare)
Today, Ontario's Education Quality and Accountability Office released the results of the 2010 Grade 3, 6, and 9 testing. In general, a higher percentage of students is meeting the provincial standard, but the pattern is kind of strange. The students were tested in reading, writing, and math in grades 3 and 6, and in math in grade 9. Improvement was shown over a five-year period in every category except grade 3 reading and grade 6 math. Does anyone have an explanation as to how, for example, grade 3 students can get better at math, grade 6 students get worse, and then grade 9 students get better? This isn't the way things normally work!
SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT
Kids Say The Darnedest Things!
Here's a little joke for you. Or is it?
The little boy was getting poor marks in school. One day he said to his teacher, "I don't want to scare you, but my daddy says that if I don't start learning more, somebody is going to get a spanking."
SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT
Only the Shadow Knows For Sure
Here's an interesting report on what's happening to class sizes in the US. In a nutshell, a few years back it was fashionable to mandate smaller class sizes. Sadly, student achievement has not improved as a result but the reduced class sizes have been continued because they are very popular with parents/voters. Now, however, the huge and continuing expense of smaller classes is starting to bite, and many jurisdictions are no longer able to afford to maintain their class size reductions. It will be very interesting to see what happens as a result. Will student achievement fall? Will parents/voters express their displeasure at the ballot box? Will Ontario abandon its own class reduction initiative? Stay tuned for the next exciting episode.
SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT
A Conversion on the Road to Damascus?
This new policy paper from the Ontario Ministry of Education means that the province's teachers are now allowed to penalize students who hand in their assignments late or not at all. This is a definite reversal of the Ministry's trend towards ever more "progressive" policies. Is it possible that it signals a change in overall direction? We live in hope!
SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT
Eat Sleep Work Move
In today's fast-paced world, kids seldom get enough sleep - and there are serious consequences, according to this article: depression, obesity, car accidents, and low grades to name a few. So perhaps bus pick-up times of 7:00 am are not such a good idea.
Another interesting article outlines some sensible things that can be done to improve student performance, above and beyond good teaching and curriculum. They are:
- Cultivation of the attitude that brain function can be improved by determination and hard work
- At least eight or nine hours of sleep every night (a theme may be emerging here)
- A high-protein breakfast
- Daily exercise
SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT
Spelling It Out
Do spelling and punctuation errors get you down? Then maybe you should join the Typo Eradication Advancement League. But beware! The intrepid members of this organization have been warned to "keep walking or they would make sure we didn't walk again". They have also been fined $3,000 and banned from speaking publicly about fixing typos. It seems that pointing out spelling and punctuation errors can be bad for your health and your pocketbook!
Since apostrophes seem particularly prone to abuse, here's a link to an excellent site called "The Care and Feeding of Apostrophes". And when it comes to spelling, we have a number of excellent articles in our newsletter archives (scroll down to Spelling).
SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT
The Customer is Always Right
This look at public transit in Toronto appeared in the business section (no less) of the Toronto Star. It is full of free advice for the TTC in how to improve customer service in the monopoly it enjoys. For those of you outside of Toronto, the Toronto Transit Commission has seen sleeping ticket-takers and overall eroding quality and service. An advisory panel has just released report that says the TTC will go off the rails unless it "creates a culture of customer service." The article writer asks, "But what exactly is a customer service culture? And how can a monopoly with a captive market turn itself into an empathetic organization that delights its customers?"
SQE has been asking the same of public education for decades. The answer is to challenge the monopoly. SQE has many solutions for school choice that readers can find out about here, here, and here.
SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT
Purple Algebra
Click here for a site that provides free help for students who are struggling with algebra - including free on-line tutoring and lessons.
SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT
Pan-Abode Schools
It would be interesting to talk to an architect about Los Angeles' newest public high school. The $578M price tag seems a bit excessive, even for La-La Land, but it does exemplify a trend towards expensive schools that is occurring in Canada as well.
The question that I would like to pose to the architect is whether it would be possible to develop a dozen or so standardized blueprints, sort of like Pan-Abode buildings, that can be customized as needed but which can be built much more economically than one-off buildings. I mean, Tim Horton's and Wal-Mart do it and, while their buildings may not be architectural knock-outs, they're comfortable and functional, and they cost way less.
Of course, given the current funding model, there is no incentive for school boards to economize on school buildings. I'm guessing the concept of Pan-Abode schools won't be explored any time soon.