Today’s article from Intellectual Takeout Dale Farran spent a decade studying over 1,000 kids who went to a state-run pre-kindergarten—and a control group of kids that wanted to, but didn’t get in. She is shocked and dismayed by what she discovered: By 6th grade the pre-K kids were doing worse all around: worse reading, math and science scores; more learning disorders; and more discipline problems, including serious ones that got them suspended. “It really has required a lot of soul-searching,” Farran told Anya Kamenetz on NPR. Now she’s pondering “what were plausible reasons that may account for this.” One theory she has is that the free pre-K doesn’t look like pricey … [Read more...]
Spend More – Get Less K-12 Washington State
A picture is worth 1,000 words...nothing else to say. … [Read more...]
SWWEducation Blog – Looking to hand the reins
After 10+ years (soon 11) it's time to hand the reins of this blog to someone else. I am happy to continue to assist but the domain and content need to change hands. If you know of someone who lives in South West Washington State and has a passion for K-12 education with a conservative focus please contact me at swweducation at gmail.com … [Read more...]
Those opposing education reform are on wrong side of history
Today's article comes from Chris Cargill in a story published at The Mountain States Policy Center. Give it a read and then ask yourself where you stand about the need to change K-12 education in Washington State. I was recently invited to speak at the City Club in Boise on education policy and the ideas being discussed in the current Idaho legislative session. Realizing the education establishment would be well represented in the crowd, I knew I was heading into a somewhat hostile setting. But Mountain States Policy Center believes in going anywhere at any time to provide a free market perspective. We’re happy to have civil conversations and debate the merit of ideas. We may disagree, … [Read more...]
Washington Policy Institute article on teacher strikes in 2023
For those of you who aren't aware of the Washington Policy Institute give Liv's article a read: WEA union threatens illegal strike to close public schools in Evergreen and Camas » Publications » Washington Policy Center Check out our other articles on this topic as well. … [Read more...]
Battle Ground School District – 2020/21 Budget Workshop
On July 28th 2020 the Battle Ground school board met with the district superintendent, asst. superintendent and head of finance. This was a meeting to share information and get feedback as the district prepares for the August 24th budget meeting for 2020/21. No votes were taken and the public was not allowed to comment (although the public could listen). The budget session lasted about 1 hr 20 min and was the last item of the evening. I took 2 1/2 pages of notes that I will share in this article. I will report AND I will comment. I've spent the past 6+ years reviewing every annual budget for the district and providing comments, suggestions and asking questions. NEVER in that time has one … [Read more...]
School cartoons – enjoy some chuckles
The world is soooo overwhelming with serious stuff and education is front and center. To start the new year off we offer, without comment, some cartoons about K-12 education to help you de-stress. If you come across any you want to share please send them to use and we'll post them (so long as they are not vulgar or inappropriate). Here you go... … [Read more...]
Adam Smith’s Prescription for Education
It seems that today there is an all out assault on anything "old" being wrong, inferior or harmful. But it's ok to use any harebrained educational fad...especially if it's on a computer...to teach children. Along comes the following article originally posted on American Thinker and written by Ryan Walters. Maybe some of the old stuff is as good or better than the "evolved" views of today? Just maybe... The focus of many policies around the country is to create an environment for high quality education at public schools. States require teachers to gain certifications, log professional development hours, and create meticulous lesson plans in the hopes they are creating schools full of … [Read more...]
Emotional ABC’s
Today we bring you the details about another unique effort to teach your children/grandchildren about emotions. Yes...parents and grandparents don't know how to teach their young people about emotions so a software company is going to it for you. They are so eager to get it used their going to give it away to teachers to use in the classroom so you'll be comfortable buying it. Please read on and share... The website (so you can go see for yourself and watch some videos) is: https://www.emotionalabcs.com/ Let's walk through the pieces and pitch and cost... School Readiness The ability to self-soothe and work through emotions is essential for school readiness. It is the … [Read more...]
Top 10 most read articles in 2018
Seems everyone does a review of the closing year so we'll follow that trend. In this article we share our "Top 10" most read articles for 2018 in the order (most read) to #10. Thanks to our readers as we close our 3rd year of the blog. iReady Testing....What is it and is it useful or just another waste of time? Updated December 29, 2018 (id:3592) Robot Teachers - The Future of Education? (id:3149) Florida School Ditches Common Core – Soars To Number One (id:4621) Battle Ground Teachers Union - New Contract (2017-2018 year) (id:4745) Southwest Washington State SBAC (Common Core) Test Scores 2015/16 vs 2017/18 (id:5241) Washington State Common Core Test (SBAc) Results - … [Read more...]