Bill & Melinda Gates appeared on the Oprah Windfrey show this week to talk about the problems with the public school system. This was a two part series. In the first part Oprah showed how broken are the public schools. In the second part Bill Gates presented some solutions.
Like the John Stossel 20/20 report Stupid in America, I think Oprah's focus will help more people become aware just how serious are the problems with public schools.
John Stossel pushed a solution of vouchers. Bill Gates wants to work within the public school system. Bill Gates wants smaller schools so it is harder for the students don't fall through the cracks. Bill Gates is also pushing more technology in the public schools.
Someone once said "Stupid is doing the same thing you have been doing, but expecting different results."
For decades now we've had dozens of reforms in public schools. Things keep getting worse. I think John Stossel's approach would improve education in America. I am afraid that Bill Gates' approach would create lots of excitment and noise, but wouldn't fundamental change anything.
I think Spunky's program Stay Home has a much better chance of success. But then I'm biased.
Lots of blogs are talking about the two episodes. Blogger Search finds over 40. The Third Path has a nice summary. Linda, The Tutor has some thoughts. Kim at Our Life makes a point similar to mine, that part of the fundamental problem is public schools are run by the government. Christine at The Thinking Mother write about how there are many parents who have recognized for a long time that public schools are broken.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, public schools, school reform
Friday, April 14, 2006
The struggle to be a homeschooler has been going on a long time
Dana at Principled Discovery has a post about Plato and education. I realized that the roots of the problems we sometimes have in the United States, and parents are facing in Germany, go way back.
From Wikipedia she quotes a discussion of Plato:
"He advocated extreme methods: removing children from their mothers' care and raising them as wards of the state, with great care being taken to differentiate children suitable to the various castes, the highest receiving the most education, so that they could act as guardians of the city and care for the less able."
There is always someone who thinks children who be educated by the government. What they really want is for children to be taught certain beliefs. As an extreme example Hitler said:
"When an opponent declares, 'I will not come over to your side,' I calmly say, 'Your child belongs to us already... What are you? You will pass on. Your descendants, however, now stand in the new camp. In a short time they will know nothing else but this new community.'"
As parents we need to be constantly working to be informed and involved.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, Plato, Hitler, public school
From Wikipedia she quotes a discussion of Plato:
"He advocated extreme methods: removing children from their mothers' care and raising them as wards of the state, with great care being taken to differentiate children suitable to the various castes, the highest receiving the most education, so that they could act as guardians of the city and care for the less able."
There is always someone who thinks children who be educated by the government. What they really want is for children to be taught certain beliefs. As an extreme example Hitler said:
"When an opponent declares, 'I will not come over to your side,' I calmly say, 'Your child belongs to us already... What are you? You will pass on. Your descendants, however, now stand in the new camp. In a short time they will know nothing else but this new community.'"
As parents we need to be constantly working to be informed and involved.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, Plato, Hitler, public school
Thursday, April 13, 2006
Selections from Google Alerts
The following are selections from recent Google Alerts:
Interesting article about how schools are pushing out some children. The article claims some parents are being forced to become homeschoolers. I haven't heard of this before. One of the problems with I'd with public schools is that often one badly behaved student can ruin a whole class. This article says sometimes schools will finally say enough is enough and dump the child back on the parents. Which in some cases is probably the right thing. The article claims that schools are also pushing out children with special needs, which would be wrong. An interesting benefit to the school is their statistics end up looking better.
Family Passes 30,000 Miles Homeschooling In RV: this sounds like a dream. A family has taken their RV and is traveling around the United States. The two sons homeschool along the way.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, pushed out, family trip
Interesting article about how schools are pushing out some children. The article claims some parents are being forced to become homeschoolers. I haven't heard of this before. One of the problems with I'd with public schools is that often one badly behaved student can ruin a whole class. This article says sometimes schools will finally say enough is enough and dump the child back on the parents. Which in some cases is probably the right thing. The article claims that schools are also pushing out children with special needs, which would be wrong. An interesting benefit to the school is their statistics end up looking better.
Family Passes 30,000 Miles Homeschooling In RV: this sounds like a dream. A family has taken their RV and is traveling around the United States. The two sons homeschool along the way.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, pushed out, family trip
The Carnival of Unschooling is looking for a new organizer
At the end of this month's Carnival of Unschooling, in the last paragraph, Andrea says: "we’re looking for someone to take over the Carnival of Unschooling - whether independant or merged with one they are already running." (The bold emphasis is mine.)
If you would like to run a carnival, consider checking with Andrea. We've found that hosting a carnival is a lot of work, but it is worth it. The Carnival of Unschooling has been on a monthly schedule so you have some time to think about it.
The classic post on blog carnivals is Be The Host With The Most, and one of the points made is that blog carnivals need an organizer who is in charge, and hosts, who take turns hosting an individual carnival. You don't have to do host the carnival each month. We've found that many bloggers are willing to help.
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Technorati tags: carnival of unschooling, unschooling
If you would like to run a carnival, consider checking with Andrea. We've found that hosting a carnival is a lot of work, but it is worth it. The Carnival of Unschooling has been on a monthly schedule so you have some time to think about it.
The classic post on blog carnivals is Be The Host With The Most, and one of the points made is that blog carnivals need an organizer who is in charge, and hosts, who take turns hosting an individual carnival. You don't have to do host the carnival each month. We've found that many bloggers are willing to help.
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Technorati tags: carnival of unschooling, unschooling
The Carnival of Unschooling is up, month 4
Andrea has posted this month's Carnival of Unschooling. There is a good selection of posts about unschooling.
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Technorati tags: carnival of unschooling, unschooling
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Technorati tags: carnival of unschooling, unschooling
Request for submissions for the next Carnival of Homeschooling
The next Carnival of Homeschooling will be hosted by Beverly Hernandez at About Homeschool on the 18th of April. As always check here for details on how to submit. Entries are always due Monday evenings at 6:00 PM, Pacific Standard Time.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, education, blog carnival, Carnival of Homeschooling
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, education, blog carnival, Carnival of Homeschooling
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Online Stanford high school for only $12,000 a year
Currently our public school system fails to help talented and gifted children develop their potential. Cheri Pierson Yecke wrote about this in her book: The War against Excellence: The Rising Tide of Mediocrity in America's Middle Schools. Jan Davidson, Bob Davidson, and Laura Vanderkam in Genius Denied: How to Stop Wasting Our Brightest Young Minds also wrote about this problem. There are a lot of factors, but the result is talented and gifted children tend to be ignored in most public schools.
So it was exciting to read that Stanford will be offering an online high school for gifted students. It is just getting off the ground. They are targeting "students who are home schooled, American children living overseas, students in small or disadvantaged schools that offer few advanced courses." Applications will be accepted next month, and it will start in the Fall.
I was very surprised to read that Stanford will be charging around $12,000 per student. And this is after a $3.3 million gift from the Malone Family Foundation of Englewood, Colorado. The amount seems way too much. But maybe this will be a vanity thing. Parents will be able to brag their children went to Stanford High School.
I've heard that some online schools charge a couple thousand a year. Are there any online high schools that are charging close to the $12,000 mark?
(Hat tip: EDUPAGE)
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, online school, gifted, Stanford, virtual high school
So it was exciting to read that Stanford will be offering an online high school for gifted students. It is just getting off the ground. They are targeting "students who are home schooled, American children living overseas, students in small or disadvantaged schools that offer few advanced courses." Applications will be accepted next month, and it will start in the Fall.
I was very surprised to read that Stanford will be charging around $12,000 per student. And this is after a $3.3 million gift from the Malone Family Foundation of Englewood, Colorado. The amount seems way too much. But maybe this will be a vanity thing. Parents will be able to brag their children went to Stanford High School.
I've heard that some online schools charge a couple thousand a year. Are there any online high schools that are charging close to the $12,000 mark?
(Hat tip: EDUPAGE)
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, online school, gifted, Stanford, virtual high school
Yet another scary teacher - via Michelle Malkin
My mother forwarded me the URL to a column by Michelle Malkin. We have yet another instance of a scary teacher, but as Michelle points out the real problem is that appears this teacher will not have any serious consequences. (We've blogged about scary teachers and lack of appropriate consequences before: here, here, here, here, here, here, and here)
Michelle writes about Steve White, an eighth-grade science teacher in Alabama, who recently showed his science class a video attacking President Bush and other conservatives. The video had lots of swearing. One parent complained and the teacher was told White had been "reprimanded."
The real problem about scary teachers is not that that exist, but that the public school system doesn't respond appropriately. Often the school does very little, or it takes a long time to get rid of a scary teacher. And in fairness to public schools, often the contracts with the teachers unions make it very hard to fire a teacher.
Michelle's closing line was great: "Sunlight, as always, is the best disinfectant. But if your government schools aren't willing to clean up the mess, there's always homeschooling."
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, scary teacher, public education, Michelle Malkin, Steve White
Michelle writes about Steve White, an eighth-grade science teacher in Alabama, who recently showed his science class a video attacking President Bush and other conservatives. The video had lots of swearing. One parent complained and the teacher was told White had been "reprimanded."
The real problem about scary teachers is not that that exist, but that the public school system doesn't respond appropriately. Often the school does very little, or it takes a long time to get rid of a scary teacher. And in fairness to public schools, often the contracts with the teachers unions make it very hard to fire a teacher.
Michelle's closing line was great: "Sunlight, as always, is the best disinfectant. But if your government schools aren't willing to clean up the mess, there's always homeschooling."
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, scary teacher, public education, Michelle Malkin, Steve White
The Carnival of Education, week 62, is up
This week the Carnival of Education is being hosted this week at The Magic School Bus. Considering the name of the blog, you might think there would be a PBS theme for the carnival, but Bora goes with a very Biblical approach.
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Technorati tags: carnival of education, education, teaching
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Technorati tags: carnival of education, education, teaching
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
More scary teacher news, sad to say atleast one gets to go free
Today's Google Alert had a bumper crop of news about scary teachers. The following came with a search pattern of [teacher guilty].
The headlines reads State could revoke license of teacher in teen-sex case. The teacher, Nicole M. Long, pleaded guilty to sexual battery, a third-degree felony. And the Ohio Board of Education might revoke her teaching license. It boggles the mind. Is there anything a teacher could do that would automatically revoke the teaching license?
A Manhattan high school administrator, Steven Mark Rubinstein, was caught trying to hook up with more underage girls in an Internet sting operation. Not only do we have to be careful about the teachers, but we need to remember that the school administrators, the ones watching over the teachers, need to be watched.
This is the one I really don't understand. A music teacher, William Liddle Jr., pled guilty to 13 felony sex crimes, but the judge decides to suspend the entire sentence because the teacher has multiple sclerosis. Liddle has a get out a "Get Out of Jail Free" card. It is sad the guy has multiple sclerosis, but it didn't slow him down when he was committing the crimes. It shouldn't excuse him from serving his time.
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Technorati tags: scary teacher, public education, Nicole M. Long, Nicole Long, Steven Mark Rubinstein, Steven Rubinstein, William Liddle Jr., William Liddle
The headlines reads State could revoke license of teacher in teen-sex case. The teacher, Nicole M. Long, pleaded guilty to sexual battery, a third-degree felony. And the Ohio Board of Education might revoke her teaching license. It boggles the mind. Is there anything a teacher could do that would automatically revoke the teaching license?
A Manhattan high school administrator, Steven Mark Rubinstein, was caught trying to hook up with more underage girls in an Internet sting operation. Not only do we have to be careful about the teachers, but we need to remember that the school administrators, the ones watching over the teachers, need to be watched.
This is the one I really don't understand. A music teacher, William Liddle Jr., pled guilty to 13 felony sex crimes, but the judge decides to suspend the entire sentence because the teacher has multiple sclerosis. Liddle has a get out a "Get Out of Jail Free" card. It is sad the guy has multiple sclerosis, but it didn't slow him down when he was committing the crimes. It shouldn't excuse him from serving his time.
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Technorati tags: scary teacher, public education, Nicole M. Long, Nicole Long, Steven Mark Rubinstein, Steven Rubinstein, William Liddle Jr., William Liddle
Links to interesting postings - 11 April 2006
TIME Pacific has a positive article about homeschooling in Australia and New Zealand. The article had this fun quote "There is nothing on earth intended for innocent people so horrible as a school. It is a prison (where teachers) discourse without charm on subjects they don't understand and don't care about." The quote is attributed to George Bernard Shaw, who the article says was partly homeschooled.
I enjoyed Lydia Lovic's recent column reviewing "Raising Babies -- Should Under Threes Go to Nursery?" by Australian psychologist Steve Biddulph. He argues that day care is damaging to babies' brain chemistry. Biddulph says research has found that children develop best in a one-on-one environment. Lydia had a powerful closing line: "For the record, I don't stay home with our baby because we can afford to. I stay home with her because we can't afford not to."
Valerie Bonham Moon has a mind-boggling post about just how evil are some public schools. You might want to sit down here. Rather than fess up with high drop out rates some public schools are marking the students as homeschoolers. This does two things. It makes the public schools look better, and makes homeschoolers look bad.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, George Bernard Shaw, Lydia Lovic, Steve Biddulph, Raising Babies, drop out rates, school drop-outs
I enjoyed Lydia Lovic's recent column reviewing "Raising Babies -- Should Under Threes Go to Nursery?" by Australian psychologist Steve Biddulph. He argues that day care is damaging to babies' brain chemistry. Biddulph says research has found that children develop best in a one-on-one environment. Lydia had a powerful closing line: "For the record, I don't stay home with our baby because we can afford to. I stay home with her because we can't afford not to."
Valerie Bonham Moon has a mind-boggling post about just how evil are some public schools. You might want to sit down here. Rather than fess up with high drop out rates some public schools are marking the students as homeschoolers. This does two things. It makes the public schools look better, and makes homeschoolers look bad.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, George Bernard Shaw, Lydia Lovic, Steve Biddulph, Raising Babies, drop out rates, school drop-outs
The Carnival of Homeschooling, week 15, is up
This week's Carnival of Homeschooling is being hosted at Tami's Blog.
Spring is a very colorful time of the year, and Tami uses spring flowers for her theme.
She has done a great job of gathering lots of interesting posts about homeschooling. Go check out the posts, and be prepared to spend some time wandering throughthe fields of posts.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, education, carnival, spring flowers
Spring is a very colorful time of the year, and Tami uses spring flowers for her theme.
She has done a great job of gathering lots of interesting posts about homeschooling. Go check out the posts, and be prepared to spend some time wandering throughthe fields of posts.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, education, carnival, spring flowers
Monday, April 10, 2006
Selections from reddit.com - 10 April 2006
The following were found at reddit.com:
An organization called Common Good put together a short list showing how paralyzing the bureaucracy is on public education. (The list was published in 2004.) Here were some of the interesting points:
71.2% of public school teachers agree or strongly agree that "[r]outine duties and paperwork interfere with my job of teaching."
44% teachers say the requirements for documenting disciplinary events "go beyond common sense."
"The contract between the Board of Education of New York City and the United Federation of Teachers is 204 pages long."
CNNMoney.com reports on the starting salaries for college graduates. The top three degrees are engineering, and number four it computer science. So the next time your son or daughter wants to tear about something, you might want to encourage them.
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Technorati tags: reddit.com, school, school bureaucracy, college degrees, engineering, computer science
An organization called Common Good put together a short list showing how paralyzing the bureaucracy is on public education. (The list was published in 2004.) Here were some of the interesting points:
71.2% of public school teachers agree or strongly agree that "[r]outine duties and paperwork interfere with my job of teaching."
44% teachers say the requirements for documenting disciplinary events "go beyond common sense."
"The contract between the Board of Education of New York City and the United Federation of Teachers is 204 pages long."
CNNMoney.com reports on the starting salaries for college graduates. The top three degrees are engineering, and number four it computer science. So the next time your son or daughter wants to tear about something, you might want to encourage them.
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Technorati tags: reddit.com, school, school bureaucracy, college degrees, engineering, computer science
Article on Vouchers in Reason
Lisa Snell wrote a fascinating article about school choice and vouchers. Lisa is the director of the education program for the Reason Foundation. Lisa blogs at Education Weak.
The article had several insights into school choice and vouchers. Much of the article focused on how San Francisco has developed a school choice program. It seems to be working well. Many schools have a special focus, for example "Chinese, Spanish, and Tagalog language immersion schools, college preparatory schools, performing arts schools that collaborate with an urban ballet and symphony, schools specializing in math and technology, traditional neighborhood schools, and a year-round school based on multiple-intelligence theory."
One of the things I found interesting was that in one school before school choice the principal had control over about $25,000. Most of the school's budget was controlled at the district level. After school choice the principal had control over about two million dollars.
Another interesting thing was even with school choice the school district often charges a school a flat amount for each teacher. So the schools are motivated to get the best teachers, since they cost as much as a less productive teacher. The Oakland school district added a wrinkle, each school is charged the salary of the teacher. This motivates the principal to consider hiring two inexperienced teachers, which may cost as much as a senior teacher.
Lisa writes that with school choice, all the surviving schools in San Francisco have gotten better. (So far five schools have been closed due to under enrollment. Nineteen more are being considered for closing.) As each school has to compete for students, they all have worked harder, and test results show a significant improvement.
I am afraid the school choice program may suffer some set backs in San Francisco. They have a system for figuring out how much money goes with each child. Some children are worth more money. The thought is much harder to teach some children. And this is true. But most government programs grow more complex every year. Just look at the IRS. Right now the process is relative straightforward, but I expect down the road people will good intensions will continue tweaking the process. At some point, maybe five years, maybe twenty years, the power of allowing parents to choose their schools will be diminished.
It is an interesting article. If you are curious about vouchers, it is worth reading.
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Technorati tags: voucher, school choice, Lisa Snell
The article had several insights into school choice and vouchers. Much of the article focused on how San Francisco has developed a school choice program. It seems to be working well. Many schools have a special focus, for example "Chinese, Spanish, and Tagalog language immersion schools, college preparatory schools, performing arts schools that collaborate with an urban ballet and symphony, schools specializing in math and technology, traditional neighborhood schools, and a year-round school based on multiple-intelligence theory."
One of the things I found interesting was that in one school before school choice the principal had control over about $25,000. Most of the school's budget was controlled at the district level. After school choice the principal had control over about two million dollars.
Another interesting thing was even with school choice the school district often charges a school a flat amount for each teacher. So the schools are motivated to get the best teachers, since they cost as much as a less productive teacher. The Oakland school district added a wrinkle, each school is charged the salary of the teacher. This motivates the principal to consider hiring two inexperienced teachers, which may cost as much as a senior teacher.
Lisa writes that with school choice, all the surviving schools in San Francisco have gotten better. (So far five schools have been closed due to under enrollment. Nineteen more are being considered for closing.) As each school has to compete for students, they all have worked harder, and test results show a significant improvement.
I am afraid the school choice program may suffer some set backs in San Francisco. They have a system for figuring out how much money goes with each child. Some children are worth more money. The thought is much harder to teach some children. And this is true. But most government programs grow more complex every year. Just look at the IRS. Right now the process is relative straightforward, but I expect down the road people will good intensions will continue tweaking the process. At some point, maybe five years, maybe twenty years, the power of allowing parents to choose their schools will be diminished.
It is an interesting article. If you are curious about vouchers, it is worth reading.
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Technorati tags: voucher, school choice, Lisa Snell
Request for submissions to The Carnival of Unschooling - Month #5
Atypical Homeschool.net is requesting submissions for this month's Carnival of Unschooling. Here is the request.
Send submissions to: submissions@homeschooljournal.net
Entries are due this Wednesday, the 12th, at 6:00 PM (Atlantic time) .
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, education, carnival of unschooling, unschool, unschooling
Send submissions to: submissions@homeschooljournal.net
Entries are due this Wednesday, the 12th, at 6:00 PM (Atlantic time) .
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, education, carnival of unschooling, unschool, unschooling
Selections from Homeschool Blog Watch - 10 April 2006
In addition to tracking down recent news about homeschoolers, Gary publishes at his Homeschool Blog Watch a list of recent blog posts about homeschooling. Here are a few of his recent findings:
At Mother Crone's Homeschool is a delightful account of a group of homeschoolers who put together a play.
The Accidental Homeschooler posts about how schools are struggling with the problems of junk food in public schools in Junk Food in School, or, Reason 468 Why I Homeschol.
And Isabel Lyman writes on her blog, The Homeschooling Revolution, about an effort in Florida to yet again expand the scope of public schools. This time the politicians want to start screening for signs of suicide. Given how effective public schools are in teaching students how to read, I'd be greatly worried about any effort by the government to evaluate the mental state of children.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, education, junk food, suicide
At Mother Crone's Homeschool is a delightful account of a group of homeschoolers who put together a play.
The Accidental Homeschooler posts about how schools are struggling with the problems of junk food in public schools in Junk Food in School, or, Reason 468 Why I Homeschol.
And Isabel Lyman writes on her blog, The Homeschooling Revolution, about an effort in Florida to yet again expand the scope of public schools. This time the politicians want to start screening for signs of suicide. Given how effective public schools are in teaching students how to read, I'd be greatly worried about any effort by the government to evaluate the mental state of children.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, education, junk food, suicide
Selections from HomeSchoolBuzz.com - 10 April 2006
It seems Gary Davis of HomeSchoolBuzz.com spends a lot of his weekend looking for recent articles on homeschooling. Each Monday morning I find a ton of links to recent news about homeschoolers.
In Homeschoolers get turn on dance floor Gary links to an article about homeschoolers in Chicago who put together a fun, clean, dance. The last line of the article is worth reading.
Home lessons links to a positive article about homeschooling in Minnesota. The article opens with showing how the Oldenburg family helps their children be excited about learning. They first look at the bugs in their back yard, and then go to the library to research what types of bugs they found.
More surfing through homeschooling links to an article about how, like with other sports, some teenagers are homeschooling to have more time to perfect their skill at surfing.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, education, homeschool dance, surfing
In Homeschoolers get turn on dance floor Gary links to an article about homeschoolers in Chicago who put together a fun, clean, dance. The last line of the article is worth reading.
Home lessons links to a positive article about homeschooling in Minnesota. The article opens with showing how the Oldenburg family helps their children be excited about learning. They first look at the bugs in their back yard, and then go to the library to research what types of bugs they found.
More surfing through homeschooling links to an article about how, like with other sports, some teenagers are homeschooling to have more time to perfect their skill at surfing.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, education, homeschool dance, surfing
The Carnival of Kid Comedy, week 5, is up
What dedication! Even with her computer done, Kim got this week's Carnival of Kid Comedy up.
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Technorati tags: Carnival of Kid Comedy, humor, blog carnival, children
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Technorati tags: Carnival of Kid Comedy, humor, blog carnival, children
Saturday, April 08, 2006
Michael Strong on School Choice
My father sent me a URL to a column by Michael Strong. Michael is a co-founder of FLOW. The column is about how many African-Americans want to pull their children from public schools, and the struggles they face.
The column starts with a great opening line: "While pundits and academics argue away, the quiet sucking sound you don't yet hear are African-American families leaving our public schools when allowed to do so."
A big part of the column is about the various groups which are fighting vouchers. Michael covers some of the same points I made back in December when I wrote why vouchers are not going to be wide spread any time soon.
Hopefully more families will realize they have the option of homeschooling, once they decide they have had enough with the public school system.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, education, Michael Strong, voucher, public school
The column starts with a great opening line: "While pundits and academics argue away, the quiet sucking sound you don't yet hear are African-American families leaving our public schools when allowed to do so."
A big part of the column is about the various groups which are fighting vouchers. Michael covers some of the same points I made back in December when I wrote why vouchers are not going to be wide spread any time soon.
Hopefully more families will realize they have the option of homeschooling, once they decide they have had enough with the public school system.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, education, Michael Strong, voucher, public school
Friday, April 07, 2006
Getting an education vs. getting a credential
The University of Pennsylvania Gazette has a powerful article on credential inflation. Two professors, Ivar Berg and Randall Collins, point out that over the years employers keep asking for more and more credentials. The end result is that you'll need a PhD to be a janitor. This is a bit extreme, but they make some good points.
Dr. Berg made the point in Education and Jobs: The Great Training Robbery that employers are using credentials as crude hiring criteria. Berg shows the kind of credential inflation we've had over the last sixty years: "We fought WWII with four percent college graduates and 24 percent high-school graduates..." Berg researched how high-school and college graduates compared in various jobs. After on the job training high-school graduates did just as well as college graduates in many industries.
Dr. Collins wrote The Credential Society in which he claims that the rapid growth of high-school and college education in the 19th century was driven by "the desire of prosperous and middle-class families to secure status for their progeny." Collins studied other credential systems, for example the ancient Chinese civil service, and found that the dominant groups used credentials to control. In the United States he says we've had less mobility over the last couple generations.
Dr. Collins illustrated his point with a sad story about a young man who had been an Army medic in Vietnam. He had practiced medicine on the battlefield. He understood medicine, and Dr. Collins thought the young man would have been an excellent doctor. But the medical schools admission board wouldn't admit him because his grades weren't good enough. The process had become more important than helping students get a good education.
Homeschoolers recognize the basic issue here. There is a different between getting an education and getting a piece of paper. The public school system focuses on getting students through the 13 years of school and then giving them a piece of paper. That credential means they are a high school graduate. Unfortunately it doesn't mean the students were educated. Homeschoolers educate their children.
It is worth reading the whole article.
And remember, when (or if) your children start talking about going off to college, make sure they are planning on getting an education. The credentail is just a piece of paper.
(Hat tip: The Homeschooling Revolution)
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, education, Ivar Berg, Education and Jobs, The Great Training Robbery, Randall Collins, The Credential Society, credentials
Dr. Berg made the point in Education and Jobs: The Great Training Robbery that employers are using credentials as crude hiring criteria. Berg shows the kind of credential inflation we've had over the last sixty years: "We fought WWII with four percent college graduates and 24 percent high-school graduates..." Berg researched how high-school and college graduates compared in various jobs. After on the job training high-school graduates did just as well as college graduates in many industries.
Dr. Collins wrote The Credential Society in which he claims that the rapid growth of high-school and college education in the 19th century was driven by "the desire of prosperous and middle-class families to secure status for their progeny." Collins studied other credential systems, for example the ancient Chinese civil service, and found that the dominant groups used credentials to control. In the United States he says we've had less mobility over the last couple generations.
Dr. Collins illustrated his point with a sad story about a young man who had been an Army medic in Vietnam. He had practiced medicine on the battlefield. He understood medicine, and Dr. Collins thought the young man would have been an excellent doctor. But the medical schools admission board wouldn't admit him because his grades weren't good enough. The process had become more important than helping students get a good education.
Homeschoolers recognize the basic issue here. There is a different between getting an education and getting a piece of paper. The public school system focuses on getting students through the 13 years of school and then giving them a piece of paper. That credential means they are a high school graduate. Unfortunately it doesn't mean the students were educated. Homeschoolers educate their children.
It is worth reading the whole article.
And remember, when (or if) your children start talking about going off to college, make sure they are planning on getting an education. The credentail is just a piece of paper.
(Hat tip: The Homeschooling Revolution)
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, education, Ivar Berg, Education and Jobs, The Great Training Robbery, Randall Collins, The Credential Society, credentials
The Homeschool Blog Watch
Gary Davis, who runs HomeSchoolBuzz.com, has put together something pretty cool. He has a Homeschool Blog Watch which lists recent posts from various homeschooling blogs. Here is the announcement. Here is the blog watch. It is pretty cool.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education
Thursday, April 06, 2006
Reminder - send in your submissions for the next Carnival of Homeschooling
The next Carnival of Homeschooling will be help at Tami's Blog. As always check here for details on how to submit. Entries are always due Monday evening at 6:00 PM, Pacific Standard Time.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, education, blog carnival, Carnival of Homeschooling
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, education, blog carnival, Carnival of Homeschooling
Maybe the Chicago school district was on to something
Last month we poked fun at how blind students in Chicago public schools were being required to take driver education classes.
One of my brothers forwarded me the URL for an article on new technology which is helping blind people to see.
It is an amazing world.
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Technorati tags: chicago school district, driver education, blind
One of my brothers forwarded me the URL for an article on new technology which is helping blind people to see.
It is an amazing world.
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Technorati tags: chicago school district, driver education, blind
Links to interesting postings - 6 April 2006
The Headmistress, at The Common Room, has a basic tutorial of A Charlotte Mason Education.
Valerie Bonham Moon, at the Home Education Magazine, has some more homeschoolers who are winning contests.
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Technorati tags: Charlotte Mason, spelling bee, spelling contest
Valerie Bonham Moon, at the Home Education Magazine, has some more homeschoolers who are winning contests.
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Technorati tags: Charlotte Mason, spelling bee, spelling contest
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Links to interesting postings - 5 April 2006
In the NY Times is an article No Child Left Behind? Ask the Gifted, about how children with high intelligence rarely get their needs met. As we've mentioned before Cheri Pierson Yecke's book The War against Excellence: The Rising Tide of Mediocrity in America's Middle Schools, the public schools spends something like 15 times more money for the children at the bottom 3% of the intelligence scale, than for the top 3%. The public school system is failing to help gifted children develop their talents. With homeschooling parents can help each children develop to their full potential.
It is always nice to have data. Joanne Jacobs found a census report on how much money the United States is spending on kindergarten to 12th grade. In 2004 it was $8,287 per student. Here are a selection of some of the comments to Joanne's post:
"So... we now spend about twice as much per student (adjusted for inflation) as we did fifteen-twenty years ago. Do you think we're getting twice as much for the money?"
"Problem is, it's a failing system. In the real world, failures don't survive that long."
"My main beef with the education establishment is over the quality of their product, not the price."
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Technorati tags: gifted, education, War against Excellence, school spending, school waste
It is always nice to have data. Joanne Jacobs found a census report on how much money the United States is spending on kindergarten to 12th grade. In 2004 it was $8,287 per student. Here are a selection of some of the comments to Joanne's post:
"So... we now spend about twice as much per student (adjusted for inflation) as we did fifteen-twenty years ago. Do you think we're getting twice as much for the money?"
"Problem is, it's a failing system. In the real world, failures don't survive that long."
"My main beef with the education establishment is over the quality of their product, not the price."
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Technorati tags: gifted, education, War against Excellence, school spending, school waste
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