Public Schools & Teachers WTF

[DGS49]

Bill Gates is spending a billion dollars of his own money to try to improve public education, and this jackass things he's doing it to enrich himself.

Un.

Fucking.

Believable.

No doubt the product of an American public school system.

 

[American_Jihad]

Bill Gates is spending a billion dollars of his own money to try to improve public education, and this jackass things he's doing it to enrich himself.

Un.

Fucking.

Believable.

No doubt the product of an American public school system.

Why that's Dawg Gone Stupid x 49, your parents should have homeschooled ya...

 

[JamesInFlorida]

Bill Gates is spending a billion dollars of his own money to try to improve public education, and this jackass things he's doing it to enrich himself.

Un.

Fucking.

Believable.

No doubt the product of an American public school system.

I'm going to go on a limb and say that Bill Gates is more successful than you would ever be in 100 lifetimes combined.

 

[American_Jihad]

Principal Refused to Disclose Election Results after 'Too Many White Kids' Win
"The voters’ voices are not being heard,” said a seventh grader.
10.21.2015
News
Sarah Fisher

School principal Lena Van Haren withheld the results of a student council election because she felt the results were not representative of the student body.Van Haren is the principal at Everett Middle School in San Francisco.

“It’s not okay for a school that is really, really diverse to have the student representatives majority white,” she told the San Francisco Chronicle. “The easy thing would have been to announce the results and move on. I intentionally did not choose the easy way because this is so important.”

No accusations of cheating were made about the election so the legitimacy of the results were not in question. The only issue was that the results lacked diversity. The final vote results were held for a week and parents were contacted about how to have a more representative government.

“This is complex, but as a parent and a principal, I truly believe it behooves us to be thoughtful about our next steps here so we have a diverse student council that is truly representative of all voices at Everett,” she wrote to parents.

Some of the students seemed aware of the problems with the principal's decision. "I feel like it is disrespectful to all the people who were running,” student Sebastian Kaplan told television station KRON. “The whole school voted for those people, so it is not like people rigged the game, but in a way – now it is kind of being rigged.”

...

Principal Refused to Disclose Election Results after 'Too Many White Kids' Win

 

[Jackson]

That

Principal Refused to Disclose Election Results after 'Too Many White Kids' Win
"The voters’ voices are not being heard,” said a seventh grader.
10.21.2015
News
Sarah Fisher

School principal Lena Van Haren withheld the results of a student council election because she felt the results were not representative of the student body.Van Haren is the principal at Everett Middle School in San Francisco.

“It’s not okay for a school that is really, really diverse to have the student representatives majority white,” she told the San Francisco Chronicle. “The easy thing would have been to announce the results and move on. I intentionally did not choose the easy way because this is so important.”

No accusations of cheating were made about the election so the legitimacy of the results were not in question. The only issue was that the results lacked diversity. The final vote results were held for a week and parents were contacted about how to have a more representative government.

“This is complex, but as a parent and a principal, I truly believe it behooves us to be thoughtful about our next steps here so we have a diverse student council that is truly representative of all voices at Everett,” she wrote to parents.

Some of the students seemed aware of the problems with the principal's decision. "I feel like it is disrespectful to all the people who were running,” student Sebastian Kaplan told television station KRON. “The whole school voted for those people, so it is not like people rigged the game, but in a way – now it is kind of being rigged.”

...

Principal Refused to Disclose Election Results after 'Too Many White Kids' Win

That is so wrong. I think we have a problem school. The vote took place and the kids voted for who they wanted to represent them. Their voices were heard. Just because the vote didn't turn out as the principal had hoped, she doesn't have the right to rig the system of voting now.

 

[Jackson]

What standardized testing does, primarily, is teach students to pass tests. It is not educating them, it is teaching them to perform. It's like teaching dogs to do tricks. They do the trick, but they don't understand the reason for or purpose of the trick. They don't link, intellectually, the trick to other tricks, it's just do this trick then do that trick. They don't learn to analyze the trick, they just perform. They don't learn to question or think for themselves. They don't learn to think in broader terms than the trick.

Ironically your post is a great example of the inability to have a broader perspective. Standardized testing does not exclude " thinking in broader terms."

Standardized testing means there is essentially one question and one answer. Those who prepare the tests believe they have all the questions and all the answers. Teachers spend the entire school year preparing students to pass standardized tests, and to do well so the school looks good and the public believes they are successfully educating the children. The school needs to look successful in the eyes of the public so they can continue to try to educate the children, but, unfortunately, as so much emphasis is put on their preparing students for the standardized tests, they have very little chance of doing so. Since standardized testing has become the god of public education in America, and is seeming to do so around the world, this endless, vicious cycle of spending so much time and engery preparing students to be tested and not having the time to actually educate them has become the norm.

If you could explain how stanardized testing teaches students to think in broader terms, when the tests have prepared questions and preconceived, expected answers, please do so; otherwise, your statement is nothing but pretentious hot air.

Yes, the standardized test is designed to have one acceptable answer...the right one. When you have given correct facts, then that is what is tested. 2 + 2 = 4 will always be correct. That's because that the given facts are being tested. One needs a foundation of knowledge before they can expand to extensive critical thinking skills where more than one answer could be right. Standardized tests have never stated that they test at a higher level of thinking, just basic facts.

 

[Unkotare]

What standardized testing does, primarily, is teach students to pass tests. It is not educating them, it is teaching them to perform. It's like teaching dogs to do tricks. They do the trick, but they don't understand the reason for or purpose of the trick. They don't link, intellectually, the trick to other tricks, it's just do this trick then do that trick. They don't learn to analyze the trick, they just perform. They don't learn to question or think for themselves. They don't learn to think in broader terms than the trick.

Ironically your post is a great example of the inability to have a broader perspective. Standardized testing does not exclude " thinking in broader terms."

Standardized testing means there is essentially one question and one answer. Those who prepare the tests believe they have all the questions and all the answers. Teachers spend the entire school year preparing students to pass standardized tests, and to do well so the school looks good and the public believes they are successfully educating the children. The school needs to look successful in the eyes of the public so they can continue to try to educate the children, but, unfortunately, as so much emphasis is put on their preparing students for the standardized tests, they have very little chance of doing so. Since standardized testing has become the god of public education in America, and is seeming to do so around the world, this endless, vicious cycle of spending so much time and engery preparing students to be tested and not having the time to actually educate them has become the norm.

If you could explain how stanardized testing teaches students to think in broader terms, when the tests have prepared questions and preconceived, expected answers, please do so; otherwise, your statement is nothing but pretentious hot air.

Yes, the standardized test is designed to have one acceptable answer...the right one. When you have given correct facts, then that is what is tested. 2 + 2 = 4 will always be correct. That's because that the given facts are being tested. One needs a foundation of knowledge before they can expand to extensive critical thinking skills where more than one answer could be right. Standardized tests have never stated that they test at a higher level of thinking, just basic facts.

That's not exactly true.

 

[koshergrl]

Bill Gates is spending a billion dollars of his own money to try to improve public education, and this jackass things he's doing it to enrich himself.

Un.

Fucking.

Believable.

No doubt the product of an American public school system.

I'm going to go on a limb and say that Bill Gates is more successful than you would ever be in 100 lifetimes combined.

Didn't bill drop out of school?

 

[koshergrl]

Yes, indeed he did, as did some other notables, including Steve Jobs.

"America's richest man is also arguably the world's most famous billionaire dropout."

Billionaire Dropouts: Five School Dropouts Who Made a Fortune

 

[Jackson]

What standardized testing does, primarily, is teach students to pass tests. It is not educating them, it is teaching them to perform. It's like teaching dogs to do tricks. They do the trick, but they don't understand the reason for or purpose of the trick. They don't link, intellectually, the trick to other tricks, it's just do this trick then do that trick. They don't learn to analyze the trick, they just perform. They don't learn to question or think for themselves. They don't learn to think in broader terms than the trick.

Ironically your post is a great example of the inability to have a broader perspective. Standardized testing does not exclude " thinking in broader terms."

Standardized testing means there is essentially one question and one answer. Those who prepare the tests believe they have all the questions and all the answers. Teachers spend the entire school year preparing students to pass standardized tests, and to do well so the school looks good and the public believes they are successfully educating the children. The school needs to look successful in the eyes of the public so they can continue to try to educate the children, but, unfortunately, as so much emphasis is put on their preparing students for the standardized tests, they have very little chance of doing so. Since standardized testing has become the god of public education in America, and is seeming to do so around the world, this endless, vicious cycle of spending so much time and engery preparing students to be tested and not having the time to actually educate them has become the norm.

If you could explain how stanardized testing teaches students to think in broader terms, when the tests have prepared questions and preconceived, expected answers, please do so; otherwise, your statement is nothing but pretentious hot air.

Yes, the standardized test is designed to have one acceptable answer...the right one. When you have given correct facts, then that is what is tested. 2 + 2 = 4 will always be correct. That's because that the given facts are being tested. One needs a foundation of knowledge before they can expand to extensive critical thinking skills where more than one answer could be right. Standardized tests have never stated that they test at a higher level of thinking, just basic facts.

That's not exactly true.

What do you disagree with?

 

[Unkotare]

What standardized testing does, primarily, is teach students to pass tests. It is not educating them, it is teaching them to perform. It's like teaching dogs to do tricks. They do the trick, but they don't understand the reason for or purpose of the trick. They don't link, intellectually, the trick to other tricks, it's just do this trick then do that trick. They don't learn to analyze the trick, they just perform. They don't learn to question or think for themselves. They don't learn to think in broader terms than the trick.

Ironically your post is a great example of the inability to have a broader perspective. Standardized testing does not exclude " thinking in broader terms."

Standardized testing means there is essentially one question and one answer. Those who prepare the tests believe they have all the questions and all the answers. Teachers spend the entire school year preparing students to pass standardized tests, and to do well so the school looks good and the public believes they are successfully educating the children. The school needs to look successful in the eyes of the public so they can continue to try to educate the children, but, unfortunately, as so much emphasis is put on their preparing students for the standardized tests, they have very little chance of doing so. Since standardized testing has become the god of public education in America, and is seeming to do so around the world, this endless, vicious cycle of spending so much time and engery preparing students to be tested and not having the time to actually educate them has become the norm.

If you could explain how stanardized testing teaches students to think in broader terms, when the tests have prepared questions and preconceived, expected answers, please do so; otherwise, your statement is nothing but pretentious hot air.

Yes, the standardized test is designed to have one acceptable answer...the right one. When you have given correct facts, then that is what is tested. 2 + 2 = 4 will always be correct. That's because that the given facts are being tested. One needs a foundation of knowledge before they can expand to extensive critical thinking skills where more than one answer could be right. Standardized tests have never stated that they test at a higher level of thinking, just basic facts.

That's not exactly true.

What do you disagree with?

Mostly this: "Standardized tests have never stated that they test at a higher level of thinking, just basic facts."

 

[Jackson]

Ironically your post is a great example of the inability to have a broader perspective. Standardized testing does not exclude " thinking in broader terms."

Standardized testing means there is essentially one question and one answer. Those who prepare the tests believe they have all the questions and all the answers. Teachers spend the entire school year preparing students to pass standardized tests, and to do well so the school looks good and the public believes they are successfully educating the children. The school needs to look successful in the eyes of the public so they can continue to try to educate the children, but, unfortunately, as so much emphasis is put on their preparing students for the standardized tests, they have very little chance of doing so. Since standardized testing has become the god of public education in America, and is seeming to do so around the world, this endless, vicious cycle of spending so much time and engery preparing students to be tested and not having the time to actually educate them has become the norm.

If you could explain how stanardized testing teaches students to think in broader terms, when the tests have prepared questions and preconceived, expected answers, please do so; otherwise, your statement is nothing but pretentious hot air.

Yes, the standardized test is designed to have one acceptable answer...the right one. When you have given correct facts, then that is what is tested. 2 + 2 = 4 will always be correct. That's because that the given facts are being tested. One needs a foundation of knowledge before they can expand to extensive critical thinking skills where more than one answer could be right. Standardized tests have never stated that they test at a higher level of thinking, just basic facts.

That's not exactly true.

What do you disagree with?

Mostly this: "Standardized tests have never stated that they test at a higher level of thinking, just basic facts."

It was never intended to be a test of higher learning, just basic foundational information. This criterion referenced testing is not like IQ testing that identifies the gifted test takers.

 

[Unkotare]

Standardized testing means there is essentially one question and one answer. Those who prepare the tests believe they have all the questions and all the answers. Teachers spend the entire school year preparing students to pass standardized tests, and to do well so the school looks good and the public believes they are successfully educating the children. The school needs to look successful in the eyes of the public so they can continue to try to educate the children, but, unfortunately, as so much emphasis is put on their preparing students for the standardized tests, they have very little chance of doing so. Since standardized testing has become the god of public education in America, and is seeming to do so around the world, this endless, vicious cycle of spending so much time and engery preparing students to be tested and not having the time to actually educate them has become the norm.

If you could explain how stanardized testing teaches students to think in broader terms, when the tests have prepared questions and preconceived, expected answers, please do so; otherwise, your statement is nothing but pretentious hot air.

Yes, the standardized test is designed to have one acceptable answer...the right one. When you have given correct facts, then that is what is tested. 2 + 2 = 4 will always be correct. That's because that the given facts are being tested. One needs a foundation of knowledge before they can expand to extensive critical thinking skills where more than one answer could be right. Standardized tests have never stated that they test at a higher level of thinking, just basic facts.

That's not exactly true.

What do you disagree with?

Mostly this: "Standardized tests have never stated that they test at a higher level of thinking, just basic facts."

It was never intended to be a test of higher learning, just basic foundational information. ....

Nope. The SAT, for example, was not designed to test subject-area knowledge but rather analytical and other problem-solving academic skills. The ACT, on the other hand, does test content knowledge to a greater degree.

 

[Jackson]

Yes, the standardized test is designed to have one acceptable answer...the right one. When you have given correct facts, then that is what is tested. 2 + 2 = 4 will always be correct. That's because that the given facts are being tested. One needs a foundation of knowledge before they can expand to extensive critical thinking skills where more than one answer could be right. Standardized tests have never stated that they test at a higher level of thinking, just basic facts.

That's not exactly true.

What do you disagree with?

Mostly this: "Standardized tests have never stated that they test at a higher level of thinking, just basic facts."

It was never intended to be a test of higher learning, just basic foundational information. ....

Nope. The SAT, for example, was not designed to test subject-area knowledge but rather analytical and other problem-solving academic skills. The ACT, on the other hand, does test content knowledge to a greater degree.

I believe we agree.

 

[Unkotare]

That's not exactly true.

What do you disagree with?

Mostly this: "Standardized tests have never stated that they test at a higher level of thinking, just basic facts."

It was never intended to be a test of higher learning, just basic foundational information. ....

Nope. The SAT, for example, was not designed to test subject-area knowledge but rather analytical and other problem-solving academic skills. The ACT, on the other hand, does test content knowledge to a greater degree.

I believe we agree.

Well, alright then.

 

[psikeyhackr]

Bill Gates is spending a billion dollars of his own money to try to improve public education, and this jackass things he's doing it to enrich himself.

Un.

Fucking.

Believable.

No doubt the product of an American public school system.

What is curious is that so many people talk about improving education but then can't suggest something as simple as a National Recommended Reading List.

That would be a LEVEL PLAYING FIELD for all of the kids that want to learn things. But what is there to learn from reading Catcher in the Rye?

How about:

Thinking as a Science (1916) by Henry Hazlitt
http://www.scribd.com/doc/104611461/Henry-Hazlitt-Thinking-as-a-Science
LibriVox

The Tyranny of Words (1938) by Stuart Chase
Anxiety Culture: Tyranny of Words - excerpt
The tyranny of words : Chase, Stuart, 1888-1985 : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive


Worlds Within Worlds: The Story of Nuclear Energy, (1972)
Volumes (1,2 & 3 of 3) by Isaac Asimov
Worlds Within Worlds: The Story of Nuclear Energy, Volume 1 (of 3) by Isaac Asimov
Worlds Within Worlds: The Story of Nuclear Energy, Volume 2 (of 3) by Isaac Asimov
Worlds Within Worlds: The Story of Nuclear Energy, Volume 3 (of 3) by Isaac Asimov

Omnilingual (Feb 1957) by H. Beam Piper
Scientific Language: H. Beam Piper’s “Omnilingual”
Omnilingual
LibriVox

Badge of Infamy (Jun 1957) by Lester del Rey
LibriVox
Badge of Infamy

psik

 

[Unkotare]

The broken record is still skipping...

 

[American_Jihad]

Students Forced to Deny God or Fail Assignment
"A kid was literally graded against her faith in God in a classroom."
10.28.2015
News
Sarah Fisher

...

Texas student told a school board yesterday that the students in her class were forced to deny the existence of God or risk failing their reading class assignment.

Jordan Wooley told KHOU-TV that her West Memorial Junior High School reading teacher handed students an assignment that asked them to classify several phrases into three categories: a factual claim, a commonplace assertion, or an opinion.

The 7th grader told the school board: “Today I was given an assignment in school that questioned my faith and told me that God was not real. Our teacher had started off saying that the assignment had been giving problems all day. We were asked to take a poll to say whether God is fact, opinion or a myth and she told anyone who said fact or opinion was wrong and God was only a myth,” Wooley told board members.

“I know it wasn’t just me who was affected by it. My friend, she went home and started crying. She was supposed to come with me but she didn’t know if she could” because she was so upset, Wooley said

“Another student asked the teacher if we could put what we believe in the paper, and she said we could … but you would fail the paper if you do,” Wooley told the board. “I had known before that our schools aren’t really supposed to teach us much about religion or question religion. When I asked my teacher about it she said it doesn’t have anything to do with religion because the problem is just saying there is no God.”

When Wooley said that there was a God, her teacher told her that God wasn't real and insisted her answer was wrong. “It was really confusing to me at first because I didn’t really know what to do, so the first thing I did was tell my mom,” Wooley told KHOU.

Wooley's mother Chantal was also surprised about the assignment. “That a kid was literally graded against her faith in God in a classroom so who would want to be known,” Chantel told KHOU.

The school issued a statement, defending the assignment saying it was intended to spark critical thinking.

...

Students Forced to Deny God or Fail Assignment

 

[Jackson]

Students Forced to Deny God or Fail Assignment
"A kid was literally graded against her faith in God in a classroom."
10.28.2015
News
Sarah Fisher

...

Texas student told a school board yesterday that the students in her class were forced to deny the existence of God or risk failing their reading class assignment.

Jordan Wooley told KHOU-TV that her West Memorial Junior High School reading teacher handed students an assignment that asked them to classify several phrases into three categories: a factual claim, a commonplace assertion, or an opinion.

The 7th grader told the school board: “Today I was given an assignment in school that questioned my faith and told me that God was not real. Our teacher had started off saying that the assignment had been giving problems all day. We were asked to take a poll to say whether God is fact, opinion or a myth and she told anyone who said fact or opinion was wrong and God was only a myth,” Wooley told board members.

“I know it wasn’t just me who was affected by it. My friend, she went home and started crying. She was supposed to come with me but she didn’t know if she could” because she was so upset, Wooley said

“Another student asked the teacher if we could put what we believe in the paper, and she said we could … but you would fail the paper if you do,” Wooley told the board. “I had known before that our schools aren’t really supposed to teach us much about religion or question religion. When I asked my teacher about it she said it doesn’t have anything to do with religion because the problem is just saying there is no God.”

When Wooley said that there was a God, her teacher told her that God wasn't real and insisted her answer was wrong. “It was really confusing to me at first because I didn’t really know what to do, so the first thing I did was tell my mom,” Wooley told KHOU.

Wooley's mother Chantal was also surprised about the assignment. “That a kid was literally graded against her faith in God in a classroom so who would want to be known,” Chantel told KHOU.

The school issued a statement, defending the assignment saying it was intended to spark critical thinking.

...

Students Forced to Deny God or Fail Assignment

I'm horrified to think that kind of malarkey exists. The families should not let this go. Go to the superintendent with this assignment. I'm glad she went to the media.

 

[American_Jihad]

Teacher Writes Song for 7th Graders to Sing About Islam
In California?! No way!!
11.19.2015
News
Trey Sanchez

A middle school teacher in Anaheim, California, rewrote the lyrics to a popular hit song as a way to teach her 7th graders about Islam. But one mother is upset because she feels it promotes the religion.

According to EAGnews.org, Nichole Negron's son mistakenly brought home a learning journal that is normally kept at school. But being that she is an involved mother, she looked through it and found the teacher's lyrics pasted to a page. Her son said they sang it several times in the classroom.

Here are the lyrics (sung to the tune of Rachel Platten's "Fight Song"):

Like a sandstorm
On the desert
Sending camels
Into motion

Like how a single faith
Can make a heart open
They might only have one god
but they can make an explosion

Chorus:

And all those things they have to say
Islam … Allah’s on the way
They will preach them loud tonight
Can you hear their voices this time?

This is their fight song,
Spread Islam now song,
Prove that they’re right song,

Their power’s turned on,
Starting right now they’ll be strong
They’ll play their fight song,

And they don’t really care,
If no Jews or C’s believe,
Cause they still have
A lot of others to reach

Umayyads, and Abbasids
Seljuk turks and ottomans,
Spread the faith,
Say Spread the faith

The Moguls rule in India,
Spreading Islam from their bones,
Still believe,
Yeah they still believe

Chorus

Like a sandstorm
On the desert
Sending camels
Into motion

Negron brought her concerns before the teacher and the assistant principal, but wasn't taken seriously. The teacher said she was only trying to prepare the students for a test, but admitted to thinking it might be problematic. The assistant principal blamed the mother's faith for finding the song offensive.

"I am a Christian," the mother said, "but that shouldn't matter."

EAGnews reports:

...

The report states that an apology was issued by the school district and they promised to investigate.

CAIR, the Council for American Islamic Relations, was asked to comment and even they questioned the teacher's motives. But not without a reminder that a concerned mom is treading dangerously close to xenophobia:

Especially with the recent attacks ISIS has been doing, knowing that this potentially Islamaphobic backlash might come about, what was the teacher’s intention?

A picture of the son's journal was provided:

Teacher Writes Song for 7th Graders to Sing About Islam