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Saturday, December 3, 2011
Does an abstract curriculum lead to an inability to define purpose of task? | The Classroom Sooth
Does an abstract curriculum lead to an inability to define purpose of task? | The Classroom Sooth:
Does an abstract curriculum lead to an inability to define purpose of task?
I teach law, and I try very hard to get my students to form solid arguments, often finding this challenging and frustrating. ”Why can’t they clearly articulate what I know they know?” or “why on earth would they use that piece of evidence when it doesn’t really coincide with what the point they are making?”
Students are living in the abstract. Reading is abstract. Math is abstract. What exactly is experienced in the classroom anymore? Does this level of abstraction make the question , “why?” more complicated for students to answer.
In other words, are students less and less able to reason, justify, or make evident because they don’t study tangible experiences? Evidence that isn’t tangible is highly complex to process; the brain has to fill in the missing pieces the best that it can.
Programs Tying Federal Money to Policy Outcomes May Be at Risk - NYTimes.com
Programs Tying Federal Money to Policy Outcomes May Be at Risk - NYTimes.com:
Programs That Tie Funds to Effectiveness Are at Risk
Nicole Bengiveno/The New York Times
The Obama administration has expanded the home-visiting program created by the Bush administration.
By ANNIE LOWREY
Published: December 2, 2011
WASHINGTON — Policy experts and academics consider home-visiting programs — where nurses counsel teenage mothers and other at-risk parents — to be among the most effective social interventions. The programs slash the incidence of neglect, bolster infant health and in some cases save taxpayers money by cutting costs.
Blogs
Yana Paskova for The New York Times
Programs like Head Start do not make money contingent on results.
But not all programs follow best practices, or even track their results. To tackle that problem — to make the initiatives more effective and accountable — the Bush administration created a pilot program tying federal financing to policy
Bloomberg’s Remarks on Teachers Draw Scrutiny
In a speech at M.I.T., Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg advocated fewer educators and more pupils per room.
Mayor Hits Nerve in Remarks on Class Sizes and Teachers
By MARY ANN GIORDANO and ANNA M. PHILLIPS
Published: December 2, 2011
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg faced tough questions for a second day Friday on comments he made about two of the most sensitive issues in New York City education: teacher quality and class sizes.
Related
Speaking on Tuesday to students at M.I.T., the mayor said that in his ideal world he would fire half the city’s teachers and pay those remaining twice as much to teach classes double the current size.
White House Pushes for Weighing Race in Admissions
Guidelines from the Obama administration focus on the wiggle room in court rulings on affirmative action, suggesting the use of admissions criteria that are often proxies for race.
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