#academic malpractice

[commonsensecommentary]

“Why would we have any trust in our government or the educational institutions and legacy news organizations who today act as propagandists for campaigns of hatred directed at Americans who do not want to be forced to abandon their faith, patriotism, and freedom? The leadership of our nation has perhaps never been more egregiously distant and disconnected—yet simultaneously demanding and damaging—during the entire course of our 250-year history.”

America's Trust Crisis: Navigating Low-Trust Societies

Explore the decline of trust in America and the impact of government overreach on society in this insightful analysis of our current cultura

[commonsensecommentary]

“We today live in a society that has largely abandoned the “3 R’s” that are needed to glue any country together—responsibility, restraint, and reason—so it is not a mystery why learning has taken a backseat to mindless distraction.”

Cell Phones, Schools, Students, And Stupidity

Schools have long realized that student cell phones are a distraction that impedes learning, and recently a number of states and districts h

[commonsensecommentary]

“We want to make our students college and career ready…. Nowhere in college do you get 50% for doing nothing. Nowhere in the world of work do you get 50% for doing nothing…If I don’t show up to work, they don’t pay me 50% of my salary even if I made a reasonable attempt to get there.” (However, this keeps the classroom seats filled, the state aid based on mere attendance—results be damned—rolls in, and another generation of graduates is robbed of their futures. Welcome to Woke public education!)

No D’s and F’s? No extra credit? Will Bay Area schools’ switch to equity grading help or harm students?

The new policy will go into effect for all 6th through 12th-grade classes in Dublin next year. Some parents and teachers worry the changes w

[commonsensecommentary]

I wrote this nearly a decade ago. I don’t think I would change a word.

(From my blog archive)

Why Do Our Public Schools Never Improve?

Quality public education is, as I have written many times before, the foundation of our society, and our ongoing failure to provide it to al

[commonsensecommentary]

Just a reminder of why I (a retired teacher) detest teacher unions:

“Reading and math proficiency scores have fallen by as much as 30 percent during the past decade, according to data obtained from the Illinois State Board of Education.”

The Chicago Teachers Union's Political Machine | City Journal

The union pursues radical politics even as public school enrollment declines and student learning suffers.

[commonsensecommentary]

From my blog archive:

I repost this commentary periodically just so I can be called a troglodyte by the “progressive” educators who are busy producing high school graduates who are wholly unprepared for college and career success.

Let the howling begin!

In Defense Of Homework

Over the past several decades, although there have been sporadic attempts to revive it as a classroom practice, homework has largely disappe

[commonsensecommentary]

“A while back I purchased the reading textbook I was using in 5th grade back in 1969 as a used book from Amazon, and I was astonished to find that the material was so entertaining and challenging. The stories were set on the American frontier, the South American pampas, a Viking village, and Thomas Jefferson’s home in Monticello and coupled with selections from Shakespeare, Walt Whitman, T.S. Eliot—and even the Book of Job. Speaking as an educator, it was enough to drive me crazy when I consider the thoroughgoing ignorance of history and our world culture that is now commonplace among high school graduates—and often leaves them staring uncomprehendingly at even modestly challenging readings.”

Addressing the Decline of Reading Skills in American Students

Explore the crisis in American reading skills as high school students struggle with comprehension, impacting their futures in college and ca

[commonsensecommentary]

“ . . . as much as one might feel badly for young adults who suddenly discover their college coursework did not prepare them adequately, we must recognize that continuing to hand out Bachelor’s degrees to the incompetent does deep and lasting harm our entire nation—damage that continues to erode our prosperity, civic order, and national security on a daily basis.”

The Upcoming Battle Against College Exit Exams

It has been a very long time since a high school diploma was a meaningful credential in America. Decades of relentlessly lowered academic st