I remember how it was -- JR
Tuesday, March 29, 2022
California State University Drops SAT Test as ‘Too Stressful’
Chalk another one up for progressives never letting a good crisis go to waste. They have been using the COVID-19 crisis to implement a host of progressive dream programs, including government handouts, eviction protections, enhanced unemployment benefits, universal mask and vaccine mandates, and trillion dollar government spending packages.
A far more insidious, yet lesser known, COVID-19 era invention is the end of standardized tests like the SAT and ACT for admission into college. About 80 percent of universities in the United States eliminated the requirement during the pandemic.
Here is a typical statement: “The California State University understands the challenges that students are facing due to COVID-19. In response, the CSU has temporarily suspended the SAT or ACT test requirements only for students applying for admission in fall 2022 as freshman.”
But, surprise, what starts as temporary, suddenly becomes permanent. CSU, the largest public university system in the country, just made the change permanent, joining the more prestigious University of California system that made a similar announcement last year.
It is not hard to figure out what is behind this: “equity.” In November 2020, California’s radical left failed in their effort to lift the state’s ban on affirmative action in admissions to state schools and in state employment. The ban was first put in place through a vote of Californians in 1996. The effort to overturn it was rejected and by a wider margin (16 points). In defeating affirmative action twice, Californians have been clear: They oppose race or ethnicity playing a role in the admission of students to college.
But the California left does not let the will of the people, or the state Constitution, get in the way of implementing their radical agenda. They simply change the name from affirmative action to equity and keep right on going. Equity, as people are now learning, is not about treating people equally, but rather treating them unequally in order to achieve an equal outcome based on race or ethnicity or whatever other category the left decides needs its help.
The biggest impediment to implementing equity is a standardized test, so they got rid of it. And they are not trying to hide what they are doing. Acting CSU Chancellor Steve Relyea said the move “aligns with the California State University’s continued efforts to level the playing field and provide greater access to a high-quality college degree for students from all backgrounds.” He also said the test was too “high-stress.”
Robert Keith Collins, chair of CSU’s Academic Senate, said, “We all realized that in many cases, the disparities in terms of access outweigh the benefits of the SAT and ACT.”
So, while recognizing that the tests benefit the admissions process, he says they must be tossed out because they create disparities based upon race. He acknowledges that students will now be admitted who are not college-ready, but that professors “welcome the challenge of bringing new students up to college-level readiness.” Up to? The whole point of the admissions process is supposed to be to assure that incoming students are at that level!
The move totally ignores the individual. The fact is African Americans (only 5.8 percent of California’s population), are far more likely to have been raised in a single parent home. As then-Senator Barack Obama noted, children who grow up without a father are nine times more likely to drop out of school. Latinos (39 percent of California’s population) are far more likely to have been raised by recent, legal or illegal, immigrants with less education and English as their second language.
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UK: Children should learn about the benefits of empire, says Nadhim Zahawi
Education Secretary cites the civil service system left behind in Iraq as an example of the positives of colonial rule
Children should learn about the benefits of empire, Nadhim Zahawi has said, as he praised the impact of British rule on Iraq.
The Education Secretary was speaking before the publication of his new White Paper on schools reform, which includes a pledge for all schools to become academies by the end of the decade.
Longer average school weeks and up to six million one-to-one tutoring courses by 2024 are also key components of the policy document.
Asked whether he agreed with Kemi Badenoch, the equalities minister, that teachers needed to “tell both sides of the story” when teaching the British Empire, Mr Zahawi said: “Yes, I do.
“Let me give you an example. My parents fled Iraq because of Saddam Hussein. If you asked Iraqis before the Ba’athist regime came into office - Saddam's cronies and criminals - Iraq was left a legacy of a British Civil Service system that actually served the country incredibly well for many, many decades.
“That's the sort of thing that actually children should be learning about, and, of course, all aspects of empire. And I think that's important.”
'Too many teachers reinvent the wheel'
Mr Zahawi’s White Paper, published on Monday, warned teachers against diverting from the National Curriculum in their classes, amid new safeguards in recent weeks designed to ensure schools remain politically neutral.
“Curriculum design is an expert skill, yet too many teachers reinvent the wheel and design new lessons,” it said.
“This situation fails those new teachers and fails the children they teach. In no other profession are newly trained employees expected to discover by trial and error how to deliver.”
Speaking at Monega Primary School, in east London - which was deemed “outstanding” by Ofsted inspectors this month after an “inadequate” rating five years before - Mr Zahawi said the thought of children “not getting the education they deserve” is “what keeps me awake at night”.
He said: “I am working tirelessly to bring everyone with us on this journey, so that we can realise the full potential for the next generation - whether it’s the Church of England schools, Catholic schools, religious schools, grammar schools.
“We’re going to spread brilliance throughout the country where everyone in every school is working together and all of us are focused on delivering outcomes. Only by creating this system can we be really confident about levelling up every part of our country and of course championing the interests of every single child.”
Target for greater 'competence and rigour'
Asked by The Telegraph if he would consider supporting more grammar schools, Mr Zahawi praised their ethos and said he would want to spread that across the entire system.
However, he said: “The real difference in outcomes for children’s lives, especially the most disadvantaged, will come if I put every school in a high-performing multi-academy trust family of schools.”
He rejected the idea of the Department for Education entering a “bidding war”, in response to criticism from unions and teachers that the education recovery programme may not be enough to achieve the scale of his reforms.
On what he wanted to see change from his time as an education minister throughout 2018 and 2019, Mr Zahawi said: “Operational competence and rigour. What do I mean by that? When we did the vaccine programme, the greatest focus was on how good we were on the ground.”
The White Paper also set out details of a new register for children not in school, the biggest ever early-years training programme and an annual behaviour survey aimed at guiding best practice.
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Australia: A school assignment that gave students the option to argue in support of the slave trade is under investigation
This Would Be A Rather Good Exercise In Thinking Outside The Box but sensitivities were understandably aroused
Lake Macquarie High School, south of Newcastle, came under fire after the history assignment handed out earlier this month was shared on social media.
It gave students the option to write as the US Economy Minister where “your report will argue for the continuation of the Slave Trade” or as the US Human Rights Minister where “your report wants to stop Slave Trade”.
For those arguing in support of slavery, students were told to outline “the positive contribution” slaves made to economies in Africa, England and the US.
They were instructed to present their viewpoint from an “empathetic perspective”, which was described as to “understand from the viewpoint of the people involved”.
Maria Alier shared the assignment on Instagram, which she had received from a friend of African descent whose siblings were in the class.
She claimed students were even told by the teacher that if they wrote a report advocating for slavery, they were more likely to receive higher marks.
Ms Alier said she was “initially baffled and then quickly insulted” by the assignment brief and couldn’t understand how it was not stopped along the way before it was handed to students.
“Asking kids to justify the unjustifiable and argue for the continuation of indescribably painful and cruel practice such as slavery sends their easily impressionable adolescent minds to the very same right wing material that could manipulate even the most forward thinking kids into a rabbit hole of bigotry and prejudice,” she told news.com.au of her reasoning to share the assignment on social media and encourage people to contact the school and department of education to voice their concerns.
“No one is saying that we can’t learn about slavery or the injustices of the past, but it is not correct to sit there and justify them.”
Ms Alier pointed out it wouldn’t be appropriate to justify the Holocaust or the Stolen Generations, so she couldn’t understand how educators thought it would be for the slave trade.
Commenters on Ms Alier’s Instagram post praised her for publicising the issue, and others shared their reactions on TikTok.
“As a person who has been racially abused for being black in the past, thank you,” one woman wrote. “Thank you so much, you are spreading information and empowering other people to speak out about injustice.”
Another replied: “This is honestly so disgusting that a school will allow this. thank you for sharing this! The school/teachers need to be held accountable.”
Jagorda Manyuon, the older sister of students in the class, told Pedestrian her family received a verbal apology from the principal after persistent complaints were made.
“[They] said ‘I’m not racist’ and I get that. Okay, cool you’re not racist – but can you still do something about this? What’s being done?” she said.
“I’m not sure an apology is enough. These things will just keep happening.”
The NSW department of education confirmed to news.com.au it was “aware of an allegation of inappropriate content appearing in an assessment task” at the school and was investigating.
“The Department has had an Anti-Racism Policy in place for 30 years,” a spokesman said.
“It promotes respect for people from all cultural, linguistic and religious backgrounds and rejects all forms of racism in schools and department offices.”
Ms Alier said what she wanted to come out of the investigation was a public apology to African students, how the department plans to ensure it doesn’t happen again, and better implementation of the school’s anti-racism policy and training.
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My other blogs: Main ones below
http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)
http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)
http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)
http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)
http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)
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