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Category Archives: Education
If You Overemphasize Test Scores, Don’t Be Surprised When People Cheat to Raise Them
Last Monday, Michelle Rhee condemned a USA Today investigation of the successes that Washington, DC, public schools achieved under her tenure. From 2006 to 2010, most of which saw Rhee as chancellor, the percentage of students in Crosby S. Noyes … Continue reading
Honoring Our Educators
“Part of compensation is public esteem. When governors mock teachers as lazy, avaricious incompetents, they demean the profession and make it harder to attract the best and brightest. We should be elevating teachers, not throwing darts at them.” — Nicholas … Continue reading
"Who Needs Harvard?" – by Steve Miranda
I just came across a provocative article produced by the Brookings Institution titled, “Who Needs Harvard?” The author writes, The researchers Alan Krueger and Stacy Berg Dale began investigating this question [Does getting into a highly selective college really matter?], … Continue reading
Posted in Education
Tagged Alternative Education, American Education, Harvard, Ivy League
2 Comments
A Plea for Civics Education
Civics used to be a class taught to most children in the United States. Now, it has been incorporated into history classes, and is only a brief part of most history curricula. Civics is the “study or science of the … Continue reading
Posted in American Politics, Education
Tagged Citizenship, Civics, Education, Governmennt, Voter turnout
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40% of Americans Believe The Earth Began About The Time Human Beings Domesticated The Cat
If one is disposed to enjoying life – for at least some of one’s meager duration – as a privilege and a pleasure, one might call it fortunate that 13.7 billion years ago the universe was banged into existence. Considering … Continue reading
Posted in American Politics, Education, Religion, Science
Tagged age of earth, charles darwin, creationism, daniel dennett, darwinian evolution, darwinism, evolution, gallup poll, genesis, j.b.s. haldane, james d watson, jared diamond, jesus, natural selection, rachel carson, radiometric dating, Richard Dawkins, stephen jay gould, steven pinker, young earth creationism
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The Reluctant Pinball Wizard – by Steve Miranda
Background: I work at a progressive independent school in Seattle called Puget Sound Community School. We offer a full slate of classes that can help students earn credits towards a Washington State diploma, but we do not require students to … Continue reading
Guest Post: A Less Perfect Island by Juan Carlos Reyes
At the onset of 2011, Puerto Rican authorities have a mess on their hands: an egregious social violation that has gone almost entirely unnoticed by the international media, a constitutional infringement that the Puerto Rican government will have to answer … Continue reading
Hope Locally: Pro-Equality Candidates Head to Annapolis
In January 2011, when the new class of Delegates and Senators is sworn in at the state capitol in Annapolis, Maryland will have seven openly gay elected officials in state-wide office. Only California has as many, and no state has … Continue reading
Posted in American Politics, Education, Sexuality
Tagged Equality, LGBT, marriage equality, Maryland
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The Big Lie – by Steve Miranda
So much attention in education gets focused on things like teacher credentials, textbook adoption, and creating the right standardized tests. We focus on content delivery and assessment. There is—stunningly—very little attention paid to what’s going on in the mind of … Continue reading
Posted in Education, Science
Tagged content delivery, Education, information, polynomial equations, standardized tests, teacher credentials, textbooks
6 Comments
Who Still Cares About Incest?
David Epstein, a Columbia University professor of political science, was discovered last week to be engaged in a consensual extramarital relationship with an adult person, and this, for some reason, warranted a headline. The adulterous couple has allegedly been exchanging … Continue reading
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