I’ll spell it out: if children can’t read, lives are ruined

This article comes out of Britain, but fits our system as well.  Here is the very frank opening paragraph:

"This country’s education system is a betrayal of this country’s children. It blunts their intelligence, narrows their perspectives and blasts their future prospects. How often does that need to be said? Of course it is not universally true; many children defy the system, one way or another. But the point is that the system is bad. If the word “institutionally” means anything, this country’s education system is institutionally unfit for purpose."

The schools have been focussed on testing with the result that the broader curriculum has been neglected.  The children have been denied a wide and deep  education in favor of teaching-to-the-test minimalism.  Unfortunately, this hyper attention to testing is not working. 

 In yet another attempt to plug the holes, some argue that arts and humanities need to be re-invigorated.  

"However, there is no point in proposing a wide and imaginative course of study for children who cannot read well. A child who cannot read well cannot learn. He or she cannot possibly share the riches of a wide education or the freedom of the literate mind to teach and enrich itself when others can’t or won’t. And the reason our schools fail so badly, the reason teachers teach narrowly to the dubious “literacy” tests, is that they have failed to teach little children to read properly in the first place."

This is a fundamental issue in American schools as well.  A good education MUST be broad, but it is pointless to introduce art and philosophy if the 3 Rs are weak.  Children need a strong foundation to build on.

For those who are tempted to think that problems in the UK's system really are not comparable to ours, know that the US ranks lower than the UK in international comparison testing.  This is true for math & science comparisons and literacy comparisons.

Full article: The Sunday Times

Summer-born children 'more likely to struggle at school'

Children born in the summer struggle for years at school as they are put at a "clear and long-term disadvantage in the education system", according to a major review.

It comes amid debate over the best way to educate summer-born children.

They are more likely to play truant and even commit suicide when they grow up after falling behind older classmates.

Pupils with birthdays in June, July and August are also less likely to succeed in sport and become professional athletes.

There are no words to express my thoughts on this.  I am struck dumb.

Full article: The Telegraph

UK schools have 20,000 unqualified teachers

This is an interesting article considering the tone and outcry reflected in  this recent post about creating youth apprenticeships in the classrooms. 

The number of unqualified staff, who include those currently in training on a "fast track" into the profession, and foreign teachers whose qualifications are not recognised in the UK, has mushroomed from just 3,000 when Labour came to power in 1997 to more than 20,000 last year, government figures have revealed.

 

How, then, can the call to allow only certified teachers/parents to homeschool be justified?

Here is a cryptic line... with no analysis to explain it.  Why is this so?

Last year, research found that pupils from poor homes are more likely to be taught by unqualified teachers than those in well-off areas.

Full article: The Independent

Thousands of school-leavers to work as teaching assistants under new Government plan

Now that's a headline!  

The British government is proposing an apprenticeship program for teenagers within the schools.  They will be assisting and tutoring younger students as well as working in support services.

Plans for a new breed of classroom apprentice will see the teenagers given roles in secondary schools, helping to teach pupils only a little younger than themselves. 

Thousands more would be taken on in non-teaching roles such as grounds staff and lab technicians  -  and in other public services, 

The reporter implies that this idea is simply a cheap solution to logistical problems.

The recruits will help fill staffing gaps created by new teachers' contracts which guarantee them half-a-day a week away from the classroom to catch up with admin.

Opponents immediately responded that 16 year-olds were too immature and irresponsible for such duty, that this will never work, and only highly qualified (and certified) assistants should be used.

Christine Blower, acting General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said: 'The idea that anyone can do the job of assisting in classrooms is hardly one that will endear Ed Balls to teaching assistants, never mind teachers.

Here is an intriguing line... with no more information given.  What were the results?

A small number of schools have experimented with classroom apprentices paid £120 a week.

While the wording of this is quite alarmist, give this idea a second run through.  Many homeschoolers and educational theorists alike feel that giving students a sense of purpose can help them become much more involved and motivated to learn.  Teens are capable of many things, our culture simply does not expect much of them.

Responsibility can be a good thing.

Full article: The Daily Mail (UK)

N.B.  The article suggests that these assistants will be recruited from "school-leavers" (drop-outs?) but does not provide a foundation for that assertion.

Its a catastrophe for the apostrophe in Britain

How can this be a good thing?

England's second-largest city has decided to drop apostrophes from all its street signs, saying they're confusing and old-fashioned.

"Confusing and old-fashioned"???  Other arguments were presented  for removing the apostrophe, but they were fairly thin.  The truth is as quoted;  people do not understand what that little squiggle means.  

Presumably it is much easier and cheaper to change every sign in the city than to actually educate the populace in the first place.  Or better yet, leave it up to the individual to solve the riddle of that dangling dot...

This fits with an earlier report concerning the words chosen to be excluded from new children's dictionaries in Britain.  Words that specifically dealt with English history, Christianity, and the monarchy were removed.   These were to be replaced with modern words from popular culture and technology.   

Full article: Associated Press

Israeli Entrepreneur Plans a Free Global University That Will Be Online Only

WOW...

“The open-source courseware is there, from universities that have put their courses online, available to the public, free,” Mr. Reshef said. “We know that online peer-to-peer teaching works. Putting it all together, we can make a free university for students all over the world, anyone who speaks English and has an Internet connection.”

This is exciting news. It signals a complete and radical change in the current stagnant for-profit system. Definitely something to watch as it grows.

Presumably, once this gets going, anyone who can pay the nominal testing fees can enroll. A true merit/skills based system. That sounds radical!

Full Article: New York Times

Taliban threats close Pakistan schools

The Associated Press reports on violence related to the education of girls in northern Pakistan. The resurgent Taliban has destroyed over 170 schools and threatened more:

Muslim Khan, the militants' spokesman, said they would not allow any girls' schools to operate until the army withdraws from the valley and Islamic law is imposed.

"These schools are being run under a system introduced by the British and promote obscenity and vulgarity in society," Khan told AP by telephone from an undisclosed location.

Khan said a system of girls education would be developed in line with the teaching of Islam.

This puts our concerns about education somewhat in perspective...