Monday, June 13, 2022



Keeping Schools Open During Pandemic Helped Swedish Children Avoid Learning Loss

There’s no evidence that Sweden’s youngest schoolchildren, who have never had to miss a single day in school because of the COVID pandemic, suffered any drop in their reading skills, a new study suggests.

When the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus first hit Sweden, the country’s public health authorities made it clear that daycare centers and primary schools, which serve students in grades 1 through 3, must stay open. Swedish government held on to that policy even after its COVID-19 death rates surpassed those of its Nordic neighbors.

Throughout much of the pandemic, Sweden’s response relied heavily on voluntary cooperation. Instead of imposing face covering and social distancing mandates on schools, it only recommended teachers and students to stay at home if they felt any symptoms of illness.

In a study published in the International Journal of Educational Research, a team of researchers at Stockholm’s Karolinska University analyzed data from 97,073 primary school students across Sweden. The goal was to investigate whether Swedish children suffered any potential learning loss over the past two school years.

There is no official national data on student progress in reading during the pandemic because the Swedish government canceled its national tests in 3rd-grade reading and math in 2020, and didn’t require schools to report those test scores in 2021. This prompted the researchers to base their study on data collected from LegiLexi, a popular free-to-use online tool that allows primary school students to test their language skills.

The researchers compared average LegiLexi test scores from the four school years from 2017–2018 to 2020–2021 in two aspects: word decoding and reading comprehension. The result shows that test-takers in the 2020–2021 “pandemic year” performed just as well as those in previous school years in both areas of language.

“We conclude that there is no evidence of a learning loss regarding early reading skills in Swedish primary school students,” the researchers wrote.

This of course doesn’t mean that the CCP virus pandemic didn’t at all negatively affect the reading ability of any individual Swedish child, the researchers noted. But overall, Swedish primary school students’ reading skills did stay at a stable level throughout the pandemic.

“In the light of international studies on reading skills in younger students during the pandemic, we conclude that the decision to keep schools open benefited Swedish primary school students,” they added.

The finding comes amid numerous reports on loss of literacy skills among American children in the aftermath of pandemic lockdowns and widespread school closures.

According to a report (pdf) publish this February by curriculum and testing company Amplify, the percentage of students at highest risk for not learning to read jumped by 8 percent during the pandemic, from 29 percent in the 2019–2020 school year to 37 percent in the 2021–22 school year.

Another study (pdf), conducted by the University of Virginia, found that about 35 percent of Virginia’s children in kindergarten through 2nd grade scored below their expected levels of literacy in the fall of 2021.

“Especially alarming, overall K-2 Fall 2021 scores indicate the highest percentage of students scoring below benchmark at grade-level entry ever observed at the fall assessment,” the study warned.

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'This is not part of the curriculum': Parents' fury after its revealed NYC has spent more than $200k sending drag queens into schools to read to kids as young as THREE - sometimes without parental consent

New York City has been spending heavily on sending drag queens into its public elementary schools, dropping more than $200,000 on appearances since 2018.

Just last month, records show the city paying $46,000 to send Drag Story Hour NYC to public schools, libraries, and street festivals, according to the New York Post.

Some parents say the programs were booked without their consent, while city officials have responded with outrage, according to the Post.

The news comes as debates rage across the country about how gender identity and young children should interact.

In 2022 alone, Drag Story Hour NYC has made 49 appearances at 34 public schools in New York City, according to its website.

The organization characterizes itself as promoting inclusivity, creativity, and acceptance of the self in children, by exposing them to drag queens reading similarly thematic books.

'Through fun and fabulous educational experiences, our programs celebrate gender diversity and all forms of difference to build empathy and give kids the confidence to express themselves however they feel comfortable,' the website reads.

Images from the site show people dressed in bedazzled dresses, shimmering wigs, and heavy eye shadow, reading to young children in classroom, and even helping the kids apply makeup themselves.

The company has received $207,000 from taxpayers since 2018, records show. $50,000 of that has come from the New York State Council on the Arts, and the other $157,000 from the NYC Department of Education, the Department of Youth and Community Development, the Department of Transportation, and Cultural Affairs.

The funds were provided by city council members, with $80,000 being allocated for drag programs in 2022 alone - over three times as much as was provided in 2020 for drag programs.

'I can't believe this. I am shocked,' Helen Qiu, the mother of a Manhattan middle school student, told the Post, 'I would be furious if he was exposed without my consent. This is not part of the curriculum.'

But some parents say that the drag programs have taken place without their consent, and that they only learned about them after their kids came home from school and mentioned them.

'I didn't get any notice, my daughter actually came home and told me that a drag queen came to the school,' said PS 191 parent Reese Harrington. 'I feel like it would have been better for that conversation to happen at home.'

Storm Neverson, the parent of nine and six-year-old girls at the STAR academy, expressed concerns about schools exposing young children to drag queens.

'If they were in junior high school or middle school, I would be okay with that because I feel like they would have a little bit more understanding,' said Neverson. 'At this time, the kids were just a little too young.'

Neverson said that she was told that the program was happening, but that she was not asked if she thought it was okay.

'It was mostly just like a heads up, you know, like, "Hey, this event is coming up. We're gonna have these people come in." And that was that,' Neverson said.

Queens City Council member Vicki Paladino responded with outrage over news of the city's drag queen expenses.

'I am considering pulling funding to any school in my district that is implementing Drag Queen Story Hour,' Paladino said, 'We are taking hundreds of thousands of dollars out of the pockets of hardworking New York taxpayers… to fund a program teaching little children about their gender fluidity? Not. On. My. Watch.'

The Department of Education defended the city's expenses on the drag queen appearances at schools, characterizing them as helping prevent violence against transgender people.

'Last year, 50 transgender or gender-nonconforming people were killed in the United States due to their identity,' spokeswoman Suzan Sumer told the Post, 'We believe our schools play a critical role in helping young people learn about and respect people who may be different from them.'

News of the program comes as debates and controversies swirl across the country about the role of gender-identity exposure and education to children.

Just last week, a Dallas gay bar threw a pride month event that invited kids to join drag queens on stage beneath a pink neon sign reading 'It's not gonna lick itself.'

In March, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into a parental rights bill that bans teachers from giving classroom instruction on 'sexual orientation' or 'gender identity' in kindergarten through third grade.

In April, a Tennessee lawmaker said he would 'burn' banned books if he could, as books about gender identity top the lists of banned titles at schools across the country.

In May, a Florida mother sued her daughter's school after teachers created a 'transgender support plan' for her daughter without asking for parental consent.

This month, even Pizza Hut was pulled into the debate after it promoted a children's book that featured a little boy who dresses in drag.

Also this month, DeSantis moved to ban transition therapies for children and revoke Medicaid support for trans adults' treatments in Florida.

That includes suspending access to 'puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgeries'.

'Florida must do more to protect children from politics-based medicine,' wrote state surgeon general Joseph Lapado, who DeSantis appointed to his post in February.

'Otherwise, children and adolescents in our state will continue to face a substantial risk of long-term harm.'

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Australia: Why girls’ schools succeed at producing women who lead

There is probably some truth in the claims below by the partisan Loren Bridge but she ignores the elephant in the room: Girls schools are almost all private, even if they are Catholic schools only.

And private schools are almost all selective in some way. Most require fees for attendance and that selects for parents who can afford such fees -- almost all being from better-off families. And richer people tend to be brighter, which their daughters inherit. So the pupils at such schools will mostly be of above-average IQ. And high IQ helps with almost everything in life

And at least some of the claims above are simply untrue. She says that boys and girls have equal basic ability at maths. But all the psychometric research shows otherwise. And how many Fields medals were won by women? Just one, an Iranian lady

And I haven't even mentioned testosterone

The whole article below is suffused by Leftist bias, so should be taken with a large grain of salt


Much has been said about this exciting “teal wave” of forthright, trailblazing, smart women. Five out of the eight female independents who will take their place on the crossbench of this parliament – Dr Monique Ryan, Dr Sophie Scamps, Dai Le, Allegra Spender and Zali Steggall – are graduates of girls’ schools.

This would be no surprise to anyone familiar with the benefits of single-sex education for girls, but for those who aren’t, it’s important to put this figure into perspective — girls’ schools make up just 2 per cent of schools in Australia.

Clearly, there is something inherent to the girls’ school environment that better prepares women for high-level leadership.

So what is it about a girls’ school education that ignites in young women the determination, inspiration and motivation to lead? What gives them the courage and grit to be change-makers in a world that continues to squeeze women onto the edges of the centre stage positions that men carve for themselves?

In girls’ schools, students are intentionally equipped with the knowledge and skills required to overcome social and cultural gender biases, and in doing so, actively break the stereotypical norms that define women in society. This is achieved through an education that rewires the implicit biases that so often limit women.

Women are expected to walk a tightrope between exhibiting the characteristics society expects of women and being seen to have the “strength” to lead. They are in a double bind. The obsession with former prime minister Julia Gillard’s empty fruit bowl in her kitchen illustrated this perfectly.

To resist this concentrated pressure, girls must be encouraged to take a leap of faith. They must leap from the tightrope and defy gendered pressure. To do this, they need the confidence to lead and be disruptors.

A study by the University of Queensland found that confidence levels for girls in single-sex schools matches that of boys, while girls in the general population consistently demonstrate lower confidence levels than boys.

In other words, the study found that a girls’ school provides the environment for girls to develop and maintain innate confidence and healthy self-belief. And it is confidence, or a lack of confidence, that is frequently attributed to the under-representation of women in senior leadership roles.

Let’s be clear — girls aren’t innately less confident or assertive than boys, they aren’t less capable in maths and sciences and they certainly don’t have more body image or mental health issues than boys as infants. It is our patriarchal society that stereotypes women diminishing their self-belief and self-efficacy, quashing their voice and ultimately, their power.

A girls’ school turns the tables on gender stereotypes, and this can be life-changing for a girl.

Girls’ schools provide significant leadership opportunities — 100 per cent of the leadership positions (not just 50 per cent) are held by girls. The power of mentoring and role modelling provided by past students, and the predominantly female leadership of girls’ schools, provides girls with leadership development opportunities beyond those available in co-ed schools. With no requirement to cater to boys, girls’ schools balance the inequality in broader society through purposeful, targeted education.

Data from a US study shows that girls’ school graduates are more likely than co-ed school counterparts to be involved in political activities, demonstrate social and political agency, and be supportive of societal improvements. They are more likely to be change-makers.

Research shows unequivocally that girls thrive in an all-girls environment; they do better academically, socially, and emotionally. Regardless of socio-economic factors, data — not just from a single study but from a plethora of unique studies from all over the world — indicates that girls simply do better in girls’ schools.

Girls in co-ed schools tend to be more self-conscious and less confident; they are less likely to speak up in class, ask questions or take on a leadership role. They are also more likely to have a negative body image and considerably more likely to experience sexual harassment or bullying. In contrast, girls in girls-only environments participate more freely in discussions, are more competitive and take more healthy risks with their learning — skills that are advantageous for life success.

Girls’ schools are at the forefront of gender equality, deliberately challenging gendered norms and purposefully building girls’ confidence, conviction and self-belief, making sure that girls have the skills and knowledge to speak out and to break down barriers.

These are skills our new female MPs will certainly need as they step into the male-dominated Parliament House, famed for its sexism and misogyny. May their voices add power to changing that culture and progressing the ongoing fight for a more equal society.

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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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