I am going to post some comments form "Education Blogs" and combine them at times, to give you all a flavor of what is going on.
>>>>>>A friend of mine (fellow grad student in our math department) actually lost her position because of education majors. She taught a special math course for elementary education majors, and they protested because they were expected to do "high school level math" (their words). Apparently their honest belief was if they weren't going to teach anything past the sixth grade, they shouldn't be expected to know anything beyond the sixth grade level. The roar of protest from the students led to my friend being denied a teaching position the next semester.
Most of the mathematics education majors I've met (who are training to be high school teachers) are far brighter.<<<<<
>>>>Paying off the math mortgage
A student who doesn't quite make the grade can borrow grade points from the teacher at a primary school in Shanghai.
Students who do poorly on a test can ask their teachers to lend them a few points to improve their grade, but twice as many points must be paid back on the next test, assuming they achieve a better mark.
If they don't, interest on the loan continues to run at 100% per test until it is paid off.
It is reported that about 40% of students at the school have taken out such loans.
One 10-year-old earned an extra 19 points on a test to pay off her "maths mortgage."
Tyler Cowen wants to see a free market in grade points, with students allowed to trade and borrow among themselves.<<<<
That's the reason there are so many Liberals in Academia!
>>>>>>We try to hire the best, smartest people available," Brandon said of his philosophy hires. "If, as John Stuart Mill said, stupid people are generally conservative, then there are lots of conservatives we will never hire.
"Mill's analysis may go some way towards explaining the power of the Republican party in our society and the relative scarcity of Republicans in academia. Players in the NBA tend to be taller than average. There is a good reason for this. Members of academia tend to be a bit smarter than average. There is a good reason for this too."<<<<<
>>>>University of Colorado Stumped Over Free Speech February 10, 2004
As reported here last week, conservatives at the University of Colorado have been planning an anti-affirmative action bake sale. Now Brad Jones, chairman of the CU-Boulder Young Republicans, reports that Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Ron Stump has threatened to “shut down” the bake sale if it occurs. Indeed, according to an article in today’s Colorado Daily, Stump actually argues that the bake sale would be illegal under the 1964 Civil Rights Act!
Ron Stump, CU Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, cited two federal laws under which the university calls the bake sale illegal, Colorado General Statute 24-34-60 and the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
"Our position is that such an activity is illegal based on the university's non-discrimination policy," Stump added.
The CU Young Republicans said they were going to federal court today protect their First Amendment rights.
“Ironic, don’t you think,” Brad Jones asked, “that suddenly CU cares about the 1964 Civil Rights Act, using it wrongly to shut down a demonstration on the evils of racial discrimination.”
“Ironic” is not the word for it. “Moronic” is.<<<<<<< |
