THIS AND THAT FOR AUGUST
Here are some interesting stories from summer, 2015:
Teacher Shortage News
Peter Greene, English teacher and author of the Curmudgucation blog, put together a post entitled Teacher Shortage Coast to Coast back in late July which summarized the data from the U.S. Department of Education report on the subject. The Real Reasons Behind the Teacher Shortage, from Valerie Strauss' Answer Sheet blog, has some additional information, and the USDOE report is embedded.
Dramatic Increase in UW Computer Science and Engineering Majors
Seattle Schools Community Forum blog is written by a parent in the school district, who makes some interesting posts.. In June, the author, Melissa Westbrook, wrote about Computer Science/Engineering trends at the University of Washington. We located the original article, Trends in the First-Choice Majors of Incoming UW freshmen
Two charts from the article show the dynamic changes in first choice selections of UW students
.
Seattle Schools Community Forum blog is written by a parent in the school district, who makes some interesting posts.. In June, the author, Melissa Westbrook, wrote about Computer Science/Engineering trends at the University of Washington. We located the original article, Trends in the First-Choice Majors of Incoming UW freshmen
Two charts from the article show the dynamic changes in first choice selections of UW students
.
Pretty incredible growth when compared to other choices of other majors in the College of Engineering...
And when compared to other popular majors, including Business, Psychology, and Biology. In explaining the growth in interest, the author of the article said, "Students are smart. They understand which field offers the greatest opportunity to change the world!"
We are attempting to gather some data from Idaho universities abut first choice majors of incoming students.
A Different Take
Washington Post columnist Fareed Zakaria wrote an interesting column in the paper entitled Why America's Obsession with STEM Education is Dangerous. In the opinion, he lays out arguments for continuing in the American tradition of a broad-based curriculum, liberal including this:
My point is not that it’s good that American students fare poorly on these tests. It isn’t. Asian countries like Japan and South Korea have benefited enormously from having skilled workforces. But technical chops are just one ingredient needed for innovation and economic success. America overcomes its disadvantage — a less-technically-trained workforce — with other advantages such as creativity, critical thinking and an optimistic outlook. A country like Japan, by contrast, can’t do as much with its well-trained workers because it lacks many of the factors that produce continuous innovation.
Zakaria makes some of the same arguments made by Yong Zhao, the University of Oregon professor whose most recent book, Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Dragon we are reading currently.
PDK Gallup Poll Results
The 47th Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll of the Public's Attitude Toward Public Schools results came out last week. The poll results are very reader-friendly, but here are a few of the key results:
54% opposed use of the Common Core standards, while 24% favored their use in schools.
While 64% of those polled favored allowing choice and charters, only 31% favored the use of vouchers.
And when compared to other popular majors, including Business, Psychology, and Biology. In explaining the growth in interest, the author of the article said, "Students are smart. They understand which field offers the greatest opportunity to change the world!"
We are attempting to gather some data from Idaho universities abut first choice majors of incoming students.
A Different Take
Washington Post columnist Fareed Zakaria wrote an interesting column in the paper entitled Why America's Obsession with STEM Education is Dangerous. In the opinion, he lays out arguments for continuing in the American tradition of a broad-based curriculum, liberal including this:
My point is not that it’s good that American students fare poorly on these tests. It isn’t. Asian countries like Japan and South Korea have benefited enormously from having skilled workforces. But technical chops are just one ingredient needed for innovation and economic success. America overcomes its disadvantage — a less-technically-trained workforce — with other advantages such as creativity, critical thinking and an optimistic outlook. A country like Japan, by contrast, can’t do as much with its well-trained workers because it lacks many of the factors that produce continuous innovation.
Zakaria makes some of the same arguments made by Yong Zhao, the University of Oregon professor whose most recent book, Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Dragon we are reading currently.
PDK Gallup Poll Results
The 47th Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll of the Public's Attitude Toward Public Schools results came out last week. The poll results are very reader-friendly, but here are a few of the key results:
- 64% of those polled feel there is too much standardized testing in public schools.
- Higher percentages of the sample thought that:
- how engaged students are with their coursework (78%)
- the percentage of students that feel hopeful for the future (77%)
- the percentage of students that graduate from high school (69%)
- the percentage of high school grads who "Go On" (38%)
- the percentage of hs grads who immediately get jobs (27%)
Further, poll takers thought that examples of the student's work, written observations by the teacher, and student grades were all better indicators of student progress than standardized test scores.
The results with respect to "opting out" of standardized tests were more mixed, with 44% saying parents should not be allowed to opt their children out of testing, and 41% saying they should be allowed to do so.
55% of those polled were opposed to using standardized test results to evaluate teachers, while 43% favored their use in evaluations.
The results with respect to "opting out" of standardized tests were more mixed, with 44% saying parents should not be allowed to opt their children out of testing, and 41% saying they should be allowed to do so.
55% of those polled were opposed to using standardized test results to evaluate teachers, while 43% favored their use in evaluations.
54% opposed use of the Common Core standards, while 24% favored their use in schools.
While 64% of those polled favored allowing choice and charters, only 31% favored the use of vouchers.
