I love the classic book The Saber-Tooth Curriculum, and I was reminded of it when I read The disposable academic in The Economist, I was reminded of it. In education we’re increasing the cost without increasing the benefits, and that’s not sustainable. Educators should be thinking of better ways to operate now, before unchosen and…
I have the same sort of ambivalence on evaluating school performance as I do regarding church performance. A “by the numbers” approach keeps people from (successfully) making excuses, but it may not measure what you actually want to measure. In the case of schools, as I see it, the problem is that education is not…
You can find the full story in the Florida Times-Union. I am a supporter of merit pay, but in this case merit pay was tied to test results, which makes me much less happy. Even though I think pay should be based on merit everywhere, one must measure the merit in some realistic manner. I…
I wrote about this before, and commented that it seemed to accomplish nothing–nothing, that is, except to possibly encourage some school boards to tangle with the federal courts. That version, however, has been replaced in committee. I’m going to do something I don’t usually do, and put in a “tear line” so this won’t get…
I marked this story a couple of days ago. In my view, merit pay is such an obvious idea, not to mention merit hiring, merit promotion, and lack-of-merit firing, that I don’t see why it would be controversial, except, of course, amongst those who lack merit. But there is one valid area of controversy–measuring merit….
When I get annoyed at the Democrats, which I do frequently, I’m often directed by smiling friends to the Republican party. Obviously you’ve seen the light. We’re the party of freedom. In case you’re wondering why I don’t buy it, consider the working of the Texas Board of Education. (This is only one small point…
The Civil Justice & Courts Policy Committee, who ought to know better, has cleared CS/HB 31 with only three negative votes. I’m guessing someone is thinking, “What harm can it do?” I’d suggest a vote against wasting time.
It’s Florida HB 31 (full text – original – committee substitute), and either version of it accomplishes pretty much nothing, thought the original version might have led some school boards to get into legal trouble, something many of them are quite adept at without help. I am opposed to officially sponsored religious events, but am in…
Jonathan Smith, Vice President of Florida Citizens for Science (of which I am a board member) presents a column on science education in Florida today in the The Ledger (Lakeland, FL): A key quote: Parents are the ones who must endeavor to help shape their children’s future by guiding them down the paths of interests…
One of the things I think has not been discussed enough in the current job situation, though I think President Obama has done extremely well on this one point compared to his predecessors, is the simple fact that jobs for minimally educated people are disappearing, and thus many of the new jobs that are being…
