This is a topic and interview that you may find interesting. Do you accept their premise and conclusions? Emily Hanford reveals how America’s educators adopted a flawed system for teaching reading to kids—and, as a result, completely failed them. The article appeared in The Free Press: Why 65 Percent of Fourth Graders Can’t Really Read (thefp.com) Many parents saw America’s public education system crumble under the weight of the pandemic. Stringent policies—including school closures that went on far too long, and ineffective Zoom school for kindergarteners—had devastating effects that we are only just beginning to understand. But, as with so many problems during the pandemic, COVID … [Read more...]
Evergreen School District Levy – February 2022
Voters are being asked to approve or deny the latest Evergreen levy. The following comes from a local resident who believes the vote should be "NO". Give it a read and see what you think: Opposed Statement to the Evergreen School District Levy: Per OSPI’s website, less than half of ESD (Evergreen School District) students met standards for English 49.7%, Math 39.3%, and Science 40.6% (10% below Washington’s state averages). Until focusing on academics, no more money is warranted as $15K per child is already State/Federally funded. This resolution increases the current levy from$1.72 to $2.12 (23% over 2 years). You’re ESD Superintendent and his $305K salary was terminated … [Read more...]
‘Telepresence’ robots are making virtual school feel a little more like real school
Todays article comes from The Washington Post and Jennifer Davis. She explores technology and robots introduced during the pandemic and the impact on K-12 education. You'll either love it or it will scare the ........ out of you. It has been a year full of the unexpected for families who have had to quickly adjust to masks, quarantines and virtual and hybrid learning, all thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. For Eliza Engel and her son Thomas McKnight, one of the surprises 2020 has brought is that the sixth-grader at Burgundy Farm Country Day School in Alexandria, Va., now attends class with the help of a robot. “It’s really, truly amazing, because it looks like … [Read more...]
Big Teacher Is Watching
The dramatic expansion of the use of computers to help educate and train students is supposed to be a good thing. Is it really? Is there anything going on behind the scenes that you may not be aware of but should be if you knew? We don't share many articles from Bloomberg but today's an exception. The article is a really long but informative. Grab a refreshment and sip it as you read (yes it will take 5-7 minutes to read it). Give it a read and then decide...should you be worried and do something about it in your local school district? The pandemic caused schools to embrace laptops, tablets, Zoom, and an app called GoGuardian that tracks everything students (and, sometimes, … [Read more...]
Battle Ground SD Covid Impact Update
It may be hard to get information from your school district as the school year starts regarding the impact of Covid. If you reach out to your district and can get information please share it with us so we can publish. In the case of Battle Ground we were provided some information that was sent out to employees of the district AND we took a look at the agenda for the Sept 13th school board meeting. So what do we know as the 2nd week of September at the BGSD? The following email was sent out to employees. No idea if parents received the same or not. It appears (see below) that there is link on the website showing cases since September 1st. Dear staff, We have been notified that … [Read more...]