a Dev(i)o(u)s smile?

If cutting-edge educational technologies can scientifically maximize student learning, then why do so many Silicon Valley bigwigs at Google, Apple, Hewlett-Packard, and Yahoo! send their children to the Waldorf School of the Peninsula, a school which bans computer technology from its classrooms? If high-tech computerization were such a fundamental enhancement to cognitive development, then why did Steve Jobs withhold iPads and other “screen-time” technologies from his children? Why would these tech gurus not practice for their own sons and daughters what they preach (and bankroll) for the public education system? These incongruences signal red flags that the real objective behind the accelerating push for personalized computer learning is not to boost academic outcomes, but to data-mine students for the purposes of corporate-fascist political-economic planning. Continue reading →

“Students’ reliance on screens for communication is detracting—and distracting—from their engagement in real-time talk.”

Recently I stood in front of my class, observing an all-too-familiar scene. Most of my students were covertly—or so they thought—pecking away at their smartphones under their desks, checking their Facebook feeds and texts.

As I called their attention, students’ heads slowly lifted, their eyes reluctantly glancing forward. I then cheerfully explained that their next project would practice a skill they all desperately needed: holding a conversation.

Several students looked perplexed. Others fidgeted in their seats, waiting for me to stop watching the class so they could return to their phones. Finally, one student raised his hand. “How is this going to work?” he asked. Continue reading →

When kids can get their lessons from the Internet, what’s left for classroom instructors to do?

Whenever a college student asks me, a veteran high-school English educator, about the prospects of becoming a public-school teacher, I never think it’s enough to say that the role is shifting from “content expert” to “curriculum facilitator.” Instead, I describe what I think the public-school classroom will look like in 20 years, with a large, fantastic computer screen at the front, streaming one of the nation’s most engaging, informative lessons available on a particular topic. The “virtual class” will be introduced, guided, and curated by one of the country’s best teachers (a.k.a. a “super-teacher”), and it will include professionally produced footage of current events, relevant excerpts from powerful TedTalks, interactive games students can play against other students nationwide, and a formal assessment that the computer will immediately score and record.

I tell this college student that in each classroom, there will be a local teacher-facilitator (called a “tech”) to make sure that the equipment works and the students behave. Since the “tech” won’t require the extensive education and training of today’s teachers, the teacher’s union will fall apart, and that “tech” will earn about $15 an hour to facilitate a class of what could include over 50 students. This new progressive system will be justified and supported by the American public for several reasons: Each lesson will be among the most interesting and efficient lessons in the world; millions of dollars will be saved in reduced teacher salaries; the “techs” can specialize in classroom management; performance data will be standardized and immediately produced (and therefore “individualized”); and the country will finally achieve equity in its public school system.

“So if you want to be a teacher,” I tell the college student, “you better be a super-teacher.” Continue reading →

The presentation of H.R. 610 by Steve King (R-IA) and co-sponsor Trent Franks (R-AZ) and Pete Olson (R – TX) is a perfect example as to why all these legislators and people like Betsy DeVos who have no experience when it comes to the education of our children other than spending money and writing bills, need to stay as far away from education as possible.

“H.R. 610 – To distribute Federal funds for elementary and secondary education in the form of vouchers for eligible students and to repeal a certain rule relating to nutrition standards in schools is just another bill to the road of PRIVATIZING our children’s education and YOU the parents will be left out of the equation.

Mr. Trump – was your idea to “eliminate” or “drastically reduce” the Federal Department of Education just another left over from the Reagan Administration? Reagan ran and got elected on the promise of shutting down the Federal Department of Education and then he appointed Terrell Bell as Education Secretary and he along with the likes of Sen. Lamar Alexander convinced Reagan we didn’t need to “shut down” the department but “tweak it” and “tweak it” they did. Continue reading →

Why do we have millions of children who never become fluent readers? Easy. Our Education Establishment prefers methods that don’t work.

Every language is either a sound-language such as English or a picture-language such as Chinese. They are opposites. You cannot mix them without creating mental chaos. But what do you know? Our public schools insist on mixing them together. This is dogma in today’s K-12.

Most Americans have heard of “balanced literacy.” That’s jargon for mixing them together.

Sound-languages are also known as phonetic languages – for example, Latin, German, Italian, and English. Children read these languages by first learning an alphabet, the sounds represented by the letters, and how to blend those sounds. Then they can read a million words. (They see CAT on the page and blend those three letters into one spoken word. Note that the sounds are contained in the printed words.)

Picture-languages are also known as hieroglyphic, ideographic, or sight-languages – for example, Babylonian, ancient Egyptian, and Chinese. There is no alphabet to learn. Instead children memorize whole diagrams or designs one by one. Continue reading →

A veteran educator reflects on the personalized-learning trend that’s left him wondering if a computer is more capable of doing his job than he is.

Leaving my school building the other day, I had an unexpected realization: Perhaps a computer was a more effective teacher than I currently was. The thought unnerved me, and still does as I’m writing this. I’m a nearly 13-year veteran educator dedicated to reflecting upon and refining my teaching craft. But I’m now considering the real possibility that, for at least part of a class period or school day, a computer could—and maybe should—replace me.

For the past several weeks, I’ve begun class with a simple routine: Students enter the room, grab a new Chromebook, log on to the Reading Plus program, and spend roughly 20 minutes working at their own pace. I stroll around the room and help with technology troubleshooting or conference with students, quietly chatting about academic progress or missing work. I’ve also found myself pausing, marveling at what this program promises to accomplish: meeting students where they are academically and, at least in theory, helping a wildly diverse group of students improve their literacy skills. Continue reading →

The percentage of students at Washington, D.C., public schools who graduate from high school in four years is at an all-time high. But at 69 percent, the district’s graduation rate is well below the national average, which is north of 80 percent.

So in a move that mirrors a broader national conversation about how to help kids who have more than a few obstacles in front of them succeed, the district this year put what it’s calling “pathway coordinators” into its schools to make sure kids at risk of dropping out get a diploma—and to help students who’ve gotten off track rebound. Continue reading →

When I found out my child would be attending Wadleigh Secondary School for the Performing & Visual Arts, one of New York City’s “Renewal Schools,” I was hopeful. I went to Wadleigh when I was a girl; I knew it was struggling, but I thought the new focus and resources that came with the Renewal program meant it could only get better. Unfortunately, even with the new label, the school keeps failing its students.

When he announced Renewal Schools in November 2014, Mayor Bill de Blasio made them sound as if they were at the very center of his education platform. He promised that the program would turn around chronically struggling schools. . . Continue reading →

The Smallest School in the Tiniest District in America’s Least Populated State

Brindle and Bronc Vineyard are lucky. Every school day, the young children wake up at 6 o’clock, eat a hot country breakfast, scrub the syrup off their teeth, and hop into a school Suburban that pulls up next to their rural Wyoming cattle ranch.

A few miles down the highway, the Suburban turns down a gravel road and pulls up to the yellow, two-room schoolhouse in Arvada, population 43. . . Continue reading →

The uproar over the new Secretary of Education’s first days in the cabinet and the state of American public education K through 12 ignores the challenge of how we might actually improve teaching. And it can be a relatively simple fix. Continue reading →

A short but memorable scene from the 1960 film, ‘Inherit the Wind‘ – the fictional representation of the Scopes ‘Monkey’ Trial of 1925. It as this scene alone, which re-emphasized the teaching I had received the year earlier from Donald Adair. It still affects me today. ~ J.B.

Going back to the Egyptians in the ancient world, education has always been based on some version of the textbook.

The textbook came into its own in the second half of the 15th century. That was because of Gutenberg. But textbook-based education had always been used, except they were not printed textbooks. They were provided by boring, droning lecturers who had the students write down their boring lectures in copybooks to memorize. There was nothing creative about any of it.

A textbook in the modern world is a book that is written for a committee in a particular academic field. This committee then makes a decision whether or not to publish it based on the committee’s assessment of what university departmental committees will determine. Committee A decides in terms of the expected decision of committee B. Continue reading →

Notorious El Salvadoran gang Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, is recruiting students as early as fifth grade, according to investigators tasked with containing gang violence.

“They’re recruiting in grade-school but generally fifth grade and on,” Northern Virginia Regional Task Force Director Jay Lanham told FOX5.

Fifth graders are a prime target because they’re beginning to find themselves, he said. “Drastic” changes in behavior can tip off a parent to gang involvement, such as when a child loses all interest in studies and sports and “hates” going to school. Continue reading →

The cast: Greenwood (Arkansas) Football Coach Rick Jones, Asst. Principal Chris Young, and Tanya Taylor, Greenwood Director for Economic Development.

The 3 are traveling to Camp Pendleton in San Diego, CA to get their lessons in military indoctrination, propagandizing, and conditioning for the youth in the Greenwood school district.

The article states that the Marine Corps sends around 80 high school & college educators, counselors & administrators to the Pendleton “Marine Corps Educators Workshop”. These numbers could easily translate into more than a million unsuspecting immature student minds to be pretzelized into the warmongering frenzy by so-called educators & other government addicts. Continue reading →

Publisher’s NOTE: Mr. Newby is a well respected author who has penned many books, of which the image of the book cover below was published by Kettle Moraine Publications in the Winter of 2012. What you are about to read will raise your eyebrows and the question, “What does this have to do with Education?” Mr. Newby’s offering today will put off many of you, while it will enlighten others… but there is a purpose, as he lays the groundwork for who controls the book publishing world for the Public School System in America today. As his bio will show, Frank C. Newby knows of what he speaks.

February 16, 2017
Jeffrey Bennett, Publisher

Why would anyone in their right mind write an article that defies all known Christian concepts and teachings? Why would I want to make some readers angry enough to want me, “To Burn in Hell?“

The answer is, today in our society, there are organizations that are working very hard to change the way we live, think and learn. To paraphrase a line from Robert Ingersoll, written in 1893. “Someone has to do it, so it might as well be me.” I will present you with the truth. Do with it what you wish.

If you read this article, you run the very real risk of having your beliefs shaken to their very foundations. The normal life today allows very little time to learn and question. Survival in the twenty first century is a mind numbing experience. You believe you are very religious. You get up each Sunday morning and trudge off to church. You are permitted to place your contribution in that little, felt lined plate, listen to an hour of mindless platitudes and voila! You have your fix for another week. Did you ever ask yourself on Monday afternoon, what message the preacher had given you on Sunday morning? If you honestly remember any portion of the sermon, it would be a miracle. If you do not really remember, you are a typically brainwashed human being, immersed in religious beliefs. You are there not because it is right but because it is expected. Continue reading →

Whether one agrees with or is opposed to the ‘climate change’ debate – the point here is that – school districts are beginning to take back the right to educate our youth as the DISTRICT sees fit – as it should be. ~ Publisher

Lawmakers in Idaho have approved new K-12 science standards that do not reference the established science of climate change and the impact of human activity on the environment.

The Feb. 9 vote from the House Education Committee came mostly down party lines. According to Idaho Ed News, 11 Republicans on the panel approved the proposed slate of science standards after five paragraphs* mentioning the topics were removed from the initial draft. The committee’s three Democrats voted against removing the climate change language. Continue reading →

Litchfield Park, Arizona Food Service director named Nutrition Hero

DAVID SCHWAKE, left, Food Services director for the Litchfield Elementary School District, checks on cabbage growth Feb. 7 with the help of kindergartners Kaylee Arthur and Colton Carter at Litchfield Elementary in Litchfield Park. Schwake has been with the district for 19 years and was recently recognized as a School Nutrition Hero. View photo by Jordan Christopher

When you imagine a hero, most likely capes and laser vision come to mind, but you probably don’t picture someone who feeds pupils in public schools.

David Schwake, Litchfield Elementary School District’s Food Service director since 1994, was named a 2017 School Nutrition Hero by the national nonprofit School Nutrition Foundation.

“I didn’t cry. I didn’t get real emotional, but my wife did,” Schwake said. “I was pleasantly shocked. I don’t think what I do is anything special; I just think I do what every food service director should do.”

Schwake was nominated by the school district and chosen by SNF for providing healthy menus and environments for pupils, volunteering at local organizations and food banks, creating effective school initiatives that teach children nutrition and helping the community at large. Continue reading →

Public schools are commonly described as engines of democracy and citizenship, and a bulwark against social strife, which makes the Democrats’ bitter and unremitting campaign against Betsy DeVos all the more ironic.

DeVos, the next secretary of education, is a billionaire who has for years channeled her money and energy into the cause of education reform, especially for the underprivileged. Yet her nomination drove the Left to a frenzy of opposition evoked by no other Cabinet nominee.

The confirmation of the new secretary was a blow to the powerful teachers unions that exercise so much clout in Democratic Party circles. The unions depend for their wealth and influence on the public education monopoly that keeps millions of students trapped in chronically failing schools, and like all monopolists they have a visceral antipathy to competition. They despise DeVos because of her passion for dramatically expanding school choice — through charter schools, online “virtual” teaching, homeschooling, or vouchers to pay for private or parochial school tuition. Continue reading →

“I do not believe in terrorists’ idea of a ‘holy war.’”

Kids in public schools learning about the religion of Islam in great detail continues to happen in the U.S.A.

TruthRevolt has kept a careful eye on this phenomenon, reporting on instances such as in California, Florida, Tennessee, and Minnesota where students either sang songs about Ramadan (complete with the lyrics “Allahu Akbar”), designed a Muslim prayer rug, or wrote down the five pillars of Islam, including “all people must submit to Allah.” Continue reading →

You do not have to have an extensive knowledge of history to be acquainted with the terror that was Soviet Russia under the tyrant Joseph Stalin. But like most horrible ideologies, communists are seeking to whitewash their bloody history.

In Western schools, we are seeing a trend of this kind of propaganda to our children. We wonder why our children are being poisoned against their parents and their past, while we continue to hand them over to their socialist school masters. Continue reading →