John Deering for May 11, 2021

Yep.

Saw a paper today that measured outcomes from a free pre-K program that had some built in control groups because they had insufficient money to give it to everyone, so there was a lottery. Two outcomes: As they expected there was no real advantage when they were measured using the current testing programs. But what they did find was significant: Despite the mandated testing, the kids who got the pre K contact did better by graduating from HS in greater numbers with more going on to college (timing means that we don’t yet know how well they’re doing at graduating from college).

The NRA wanted all teachers armed, at taxpayer expense of course. Very Republican.

Another day at the Nathan Bedford Forrest Middle School.

They’d rather have kids traumatized by mass shooter drills than be inconvenienced by a background check at a gun show.

Today we do state testing because someone thinks it’s a good idea to measure the amount of loss our students have suffered during the Pandemic.

As if teachers didn’t know this already.

Covid spreading big lie ignorant Republicans have put the USA into a poor state.

We need to focus more on teaching critical thinking, than teaching for test scores.

What they’re learning isn’t being tested, because it’s not in the textbooks…

I don’t understand why young people today would choose to be teachers and I was one from 1963 to 2011. The pressure they are under would have been unbearable for me: poor pay, threats of mayhem, standardized test expectations, lack of tenure, buildings dangerous to occupy. But still they soldier on, Praise Apollo.

cause and effect

I didn’t hate school, it was just the ‘principle’ of the thing . . . :-) . . ./S

A lot of instruction time is lost to “Testing Season”. This runs from February to May.