#renaissance learning

[powersrichard-blog]

Instead of rejoicing in the perfection of final solutions [a la Aristotle] we should see their value as merely verbal; preference should be given to empirical observations freed from the metaphysical presupositions that condition research and impose limits upon it.

Paolo Rossi, Francis Bacon: from Magic to Science.  (P. 49.)

[powersrichard-blog]

In Bacon this is a basic theme:  The validity of a philosophy is identical with its ability to produce works and contribute to the welfare of humanity.

Paolo Rossi, Francis Bacon:  from Magic to Science.  (P. 49.)

[powersrichard-blog]

The history of all human culture writes Bacon, covers no more than twenty-five centuries, of which barely five have been favorable to the advancement of learning.  The only three productive periods have been those of Greek, Roman and western European civilizations.  All other epochs were dedicated to wars and strife and were entirely devoid of cultural value.

Paolo Rossi, Francis Bacon:  from Magic to Science  (P. 45.)

[powersrichard-blog]

Samuel Johnson said a book should teach us how to escape existence or to endure existence.

David Shields,  “Upstairs at The Strand”  (P. 180).

[powersrichard-blog]

Just think about those people in the Renaissance like Sir Philip Sydney and his sister Mary.  Literary theory; creative writing; history of literature --- all of these things were learned by translation.  The little schoolkids, I guess they'd get up and do prayers before dawn and then they'd translate Greek hexameters into Latin elegiac couplets.  The whole education was  based on translation and they grew up to love learning.  (Despite the brutality, in a way, of the learning process.)  And they produced great literature.  So translation --- what does it do for one? --- it is the highest form of study.

Robert Pinsky (”Upstairs at The Strand.” Pp. 156-7.)

[artevince-sempre]

A casual reminder that the Accelerated Reader program can go fuck itself.

[thesaddestbookever]

Data-driven insights into reading practice, achievement, nonfiction, and text complexity, as well as popular author commentary on the reading habits of children.

[newstfionline]

Report: Students read way below level that prepares them for college, careers

By Amanda Paulson, CS Monitor, November 18, 2014

American students are reading more nonfiction, but not as much as Common Core standards recommend, and their reading tends to be far less challenging than it should be to prepare them for college or careers.

That’s one take-away from the latest “What Kids Are Reading” report from Renaissance Learning. The organization tracks the reading habits of some 10 million US students at all grade levels through its Accelerated Reader program, in which students record and take quizzes about books they read, both independently and as assigned reading.

For the past five years, its report has contained lists of the top fiction and nonfiction books by grade, for both boys and girls, giving a sense of their reading habits and when kids shift from “Green Eggs and Ham” to “The Outsiders.” In the new report, Renaissance goes beyond the lists to analyze the complexity of kids’ reading material, how much they read, and why it matters.

“Kids who spend a lot of time reading and have success reading are ones who grow most,” says Eric Stickney, Renaissance’s director of educational research. “This raises a lot of questions about the extent to which teachers and parents are providing enough time for students to practice reading.”

Research indicates that students who spend at least 30 minutes a day reading independently, at an appropriate “challenge” level (where they can understand at least 85 percent of what they read), experience the most growth in reading, according to the report. And yet just over a quarter of students in Renaissance’s study read that often, and nearly half read for less than 15 minutes a day.

Students’ reading amount peaks in sixth grade, when they read about 436,000 words per year in books, and then falls to the low 300,000s by the end of high school. Girls, however, tend to read a lot more than boys: The average girl reads some 3.8 million words between Grades 1 and 12, about 25 percent more than the average boy, who reads about 3 million.

“A key cornerstone of reading comprehension is vocabulary,” Mr. Stickney says. “A lot of the words that need to be learned are encountered in literature.... Over time, boys are at a disadvantage because they’re just not getting enough exposure to vocabulary.”

The report also tracks complexity, measuring how challenging books are with the so-called ATOS formula. New standards have specified that reading should rise in complexity as students get older to prepare them for the more complex reading they’re likely to encounter in college or careers. But by the end of high school, the average complexity of the books that 12th-graders are reading is 5.2 on the ATOS scale--a far cry from what standards say they should be reading--between 9.7 and 14.1 for high school--and far lower than the complexity of the average New York Times article (10.6) or college textbook (13.8).

“In elementary school, kids being asked to [read appropriately difficult books], and they can handle it,” says Stickney. By high school, less than 15 percent of students read one or more books in their target range.