The full quote:
"Baseless pedagogical theories mean that the educators’ long-term captive audience—K–12 teachers, most drawn from the middle academic tier of our high school population and the bottom third of our undergraduate population—will know even less about authentic mathematics than they do now."
William Briggs asks this question:
Here are four problems, published by the New York Daily News, that high school graduates attempted as they entered the City University of New York (CUNY) system. The percents are those who answered correctly.
64%: 5 + 3 (4+6)
44%: How much is 0.2 divided by 5?
34%: Write 3/8 as a decimal
10%: Solve the equation x2 = 9
What should you know about what is being taught to your children? Here's the conclusion of Sandra Stotsky:
"If the bleak math statistics in the United States don’t change soon, such 'surprise' may well be imminent. The math wars, which started in debates about pedagogy, may end in questions about the long-term prospects for American prosperity."
If you go over to the Astoria School District website, on the banner you will read these words:
"Astoria School District Vision: Students of the Astoria School District will achieve their individual potentials through academic excellence and the use of critical and creative thinking. Students will be citizens of the earth, embracing responsibility for self, family, community, and democracy."
Not a single word about math proficiency, or reading and writing at a college entry level.
The Sandra Stotsky article is concise. Read the whole thing here.
You want the government to run Health Care? They can't even run education.
And the picture at the top of this page? The high school posted this pic on their website a while ago. Somebody thought it would be a good idea for the kids to learn about homelessness, so they dragged some boxes into the commons and had kids pretend they were homeless.
What a country.
5 comments:
Woohoo! I aced the 4 questions! Am I now overqualified to be a teacher?
PS - hope your lights stayed on during the big blow.
I've long studied the dumbing down of math curricula. Here's a article I wrote about what I learned:
http://www.willamette.edu/centers/publicpolicy/projects/oregonsfuture/PDFvol6no1/progressive_education.pdf
I had that photo some time ago; it amazed me that some "educators" equated play-acting at homelessness with actual education.
It's one of a number of reasons why I refer to the American Vegetation system - and why I have a blog category devoted to "growing vegetables".
Inno--
Congrats! Me? Aced it. And now?
Smug Prize. I'll hold onto yours until I head down to the Mother Ship. I missed Dad's Weekend...but I'll be down sometime in the next two terms.
I rely upon a private company to provide me with electricity.
Because of this, when there is a problem with power transmission, they are able to respond in ways that PUD's are not able to respond.
PP&L has done an extremely good job of improving the reliability of electricity supply in this extremely rural market. Not a small feat. And they've done it without having to increase the rate we pay for electricity by an objectionable amount.
There will be rate increases coming...because of the way we allow our utilities to pass along increases in costs with rate hikes, any investment that our utilities provide will be reflected in the future. BUT...they most be paid for by current operating revenues.
Public utilities operate under some of the most arcane regulations of any industry in this world. That they are able to do so and still make a profit tells me two things: that private companies do a better job of providing products and services, and two; that markets are always stronger than governments.
My thanks to every PP & L guy who puts his time on the line to provide me with power.
So, yeah, after a twenty some minute disruption in the 0600 hour, the combined time lost was around ten minutes from then to now.
Thanks guys!
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Rob--
I and my staff have direct connection to the current State Superintendant of Schools.
She is totally unfit for the job. But, one must remember the Progressive Agenda at the time of her election.
Would you be willing to send your article to the following address, so that I may reprint your entire article here?
clatsoprepublicans@gmail.com
I'd also wish that you would relay this request to your "co-author", Kimberly Campbell.
Most of what she wrote is conclusary, in my view, that your thesis stands without need for correction. Her only substantive objection appears to be "Efforts to frame the problem of public schools as progressive vs. traditional, such as Rob Kremer’s article in this issue of Oregon’s Future, ignore the most important factor in creating good public schools: the knowledge and capacity of the teacher in the classroom."
Game. Set. Match.
This is not to reduce the intelligence of Ms. Campbell's argument. It is meant to re-inforce her argument. There is a parsing that needs to be reflected within the teaching community; "are we professionals, or are we members of an union?"
As professionals, the relationship between the administration of a school and its teachers shifts from the rules that Ms. Campbell excoriates to an admission that teaching is a craft, more akin to sculpture than to picking up litter.
As the son of one of Portland's best teachers, I'm keenly aware of the damage done to the teaching profession in the 1960's. The rise of unionism meant a decline of professionalism. The dominance of unionism will work as a hedgerow against the advance of correction as we continue to examine the agenda of both the teachers' union and the members of that union.
Thanks for your visit.
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