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« Reply #1 on: June 17, 2016, 11:14:58 PM » |
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The Patriot Post Digest 6-17-2016
From The Federalist Patriot
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FEATURED RIGHT ANALYSIS
Failing Another Common Core Test17
By Allyne Caan
In a shocking and utterly unanticipated turn of events, a new report suggests that pedagogy which teaches 2+2 is 4 only by way of 17 does not adequately prepare students for college or life thereafter.
Okay, we’re completely kidding. Because the latest report is that Common Core has failed the test, and that’s not shocking at all.
ACT, the organization best known for its college admissions testing, recently released its National Curriculum Survey18, a survey conducted every few years that asks educators what they do — or don’t — teach and solicits input on what prepares students for academic success. While ACT typically questions educators from elementary to postsecondary levels, this year, for the first time, the survey also included “workforce supervisors and employees” to identify what they see as essential for career readiness.
You’ll recall, of course, that Common Core proponents touted19 its ability “to ensure that all students graduate from high school with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in college, career, and life,” and assured that the standards are “aligned with college and career expectations.”
Who knew such promises were only an exercise in creative writing? In truth, the standards are disconnected from the reality of college and career expectations and instead are simply aligned with Washington bureaucrats' expectations.
The ACT report found, for example, that just 16% of college instructors believed students entered their classes prepared for college-level work — a drop from 26% in 2009 and 2012.
What’s more, ACT notes20 that while secondary teachers may adhere to Common Core standards in teaching “source-based writing,” college teachers “appear to value the ability to generate sound ideas more than some key features of source-based writing.”
Relatedly, just 18% of college professors said their students were prepared to distinguish among fact, opinion and reasoned judgment. Naturally, colleges will now need to develop “safe spaces” and “trigger warnings” for those who haven’t developed these fundamental abilities. Newsflash: These skills are also critical for pursuing a successful career outside of government.
Other notable findings pointing to Common Core’s deficiencies include the fact that some teachers are teaching math topics not included in Common Core — indicative of the standards' deficiencies. And many fourth- to seventh-grade math teachers begin teaching STEM-related topics sooner than Common Core dictates.
Meanwhile, as Reason notes21, “The survey also showed critical gaps between what is considered in the workforce as necessary for success and what is actually included as part of the standards.” What matters to employers? Things like problem solving, technology and the ability to work with others face-to-face.
The ACT survey is simply the latest “F” in a string of failing report cards22 for Common Core. It’s little wonder states are rejecting the standards23 faster than you can solve a Common Core math problem.
The real takeaway here is that the federal government makes an abysmal schoolteacher and is no better at being principal or superintendent. Perhaps that’s one of many reasons our Constitution does not include education among Congress' enumerated powers. Instead, education is rightly a state, local and primarily parental responsibility.
Let’s face it. The federal government doesn’t know what’s best for your child and clearly doesn’t understand what private employers value. And in superimposing one-size-fits-all mandates on classrooms across America, Washington is harming — not helping — kids' chance at succeeding in life, regardless of whether or not they attend college.
Beltway bureaucrats simply have no business in Johnny’s fifth-grade science — or math, English, history, or P.E. — class. But like a classroom bully, the federal government won’t back down on its own. It’s up to states — and we the people — to stand up to the bully and not relent until he leaves school grounds once and for all.
MORE ANALYSIS FROM THE PATRIOT POST
The Hidden Cost of Climate Compliance24
Another Year, Another ObamaCare Rate Increase25
House Oversight Committee Censures IRS Chief26
OPINION IN BRIEF
Ken Blackwell: “Just as Trump addressed concerns over his potential judicial picks by offering a list of possible Supreme Court nominees, he should promise to appoint a principled independent to be attorney general. Not a long-time partisan, like so many attorneys general in a succession of administrations, Democrat and Republican. There will be abundant clean-up work to do once President Obama leaves office. It should not appear to be a partisan witch-hunt. Moreover, Republicans, too, need oversight. There never was much doubt that between Obama the partisan activist and Obama the man of character, the former would win out. Hence the president’s endorsement of Hillary Clinton even as his administration investigates her for serious security offenses. Which should remind us what is at stake in November. It’s not just a few minor policy disagreements. It’s the integrity of our entire political system.”
For more, visit Right Opinion27.
SHORT CUTS
Upright: “It ought to be common sense — even the most ardent gun-control advocate would never put ‘Gun-Free Zone28’ signs on their homes. Let’s finally stop putting them elsewhere.” —John Lott
Re: The Left: “To call these guns ‘assault weapons’ is just an attempt to instill irrational fear in people with little knowledge of guns. And again, never mind that blunt objects such as clubs and hammers kill more people each year than all rifles put together. [They’re] far too busy for facts, [they’re] trying to scare people into this terrorist watch-list proposal, which obliterates not just the Second Amendment, but also their Fifth Amendment right to due process of law as a prerequisite for the loss of liberties.” —Ashe Schow
Observations: “The presidency as it exists today is a mess. Presidents have too much power, too little accountability and too high a public profile. That makes the job attract the wrong sort of people, and then ensures they’re not up to it. If we were to shrink the government, and shrink the presidency, we might find that what was left would attract better people — and would be easier even for lesser mortals to execute.” —Glenn Reynolds
Braying Jackass: “There is … the need for Islam as a whole to challenge that interpretation of Islam, to isolate it, and to undergo a vigorous discussion within their community about how Islam works as part of a peaceful, modern society. [But] I do not persuade peaceful, tolerant Muslims to engage in that debate if I’m not sensitive to their concern that they are being tagged with a broad brush.” —Barack Obama, at pains to explain his refusal to accurately name the enemy
Belly laugh of the week: “The president is quite proud, as he should be, of his record of making the country safer.” —Josh Earnest (He should check in with CIA Chief John Brennan4.)
Say what? “Obama believes a clash is taking place within a single civilization, and that Americans are sometimes collateral damage in this fight between Muslim modernizers and Muslim fundamentalists.” —The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg after an interview with Obama
And Last… “So [Omar Mateen] raised the suspicions of Disney World, gun shops, & just about everybody else except the federal government.” —David Burge
Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis!
Managing Editor Nate Jackson
Join us in daily prayer for our Patriots in uniform — Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen — standing in harm’s way in defense of Liberty, and for their families. |
