Seriously? Grades are worthless? Touchy-feely is better than grades? Authored by Jonathan Turley, It appears that the Harris-Walz campaign to embrace “joy” has taken hold among educators in L.A. The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) voted 4-3 to allow 10 schools to opt out of standardized tests and test preparation beginning in the 2025-26 school year. LAUSD President Jackie Goldberg declared the move was a blow to “corporate America” and would restore the “enjoyment of education.” We have previously discussed how schools have been dropping the use of standardized tests to achieve diversity goals in admissions. That trend continued this month with Cal State dropping … [Read more...]
‘Equity’ Grading Is the Latest Educational Fad Destined To Fail
From Reason Magazine Modern public-education history is littered with novel education theories that have failed so spectacularly that the terms are now used as pejoratives. For instance, when I was in elementary school in the 1960s, the "New Math" focused on teaching abstractions rather than fundamentals. You can find reams of research documenting its failure decades later, but the evidence was recognized almost immediately. That then-new approach "ignored completely the fact that mathematics is a cumulative development and that it is practically impossible to learn the newer creations if one does not know the older ones," according to Morris Kline's 1973 "Common Core," a set of … [Read more...]
Portland Public Schools considers move to ‘equitable’ grade system
So grades are under attack as being unfair? Teachers would determine the grade based on their assessment of the student and various factors? Opinions will matter more than results? Your thoughts? What's your school district planning? Do you know? By Paulina Aguilar Published: Aug. 31, 2023 at 8:52 PM PDT Link to original story PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) - Portland Public Schools is considering moving to an “equitable grading system,” in which teachers assess students’ work while considering their diverse background needs to promote fairness in the classroom. PPS currently runs on a traditional grading system. “Maybe there some like linguistic inaccuracies … [Read more...]