I remember how it was -- JR
Elementary school teachers must now embrace DEI principles to get hired at many public schools: study
There’s no question students face mounting challenges as they head back to classrooms across the country this month. But are COVID-era school closures solely to blame?
The answer is a resounding no.
The lagging test scores and reading delays that have been widely reported over the past few months stem from much more than simply misguided COVID policies.
A new report from the National Opportunity Project reveals that school districts across America – in red and blue states alike – are now considering teachers’ social and political views alongside instructional qualifications during the hiring process.
This means that if the teacher at the head of your kid’s classroom was hired in recent years, there’s a strong chance he or she was chosen not for their credentials — but because they passed an ideological litmus test.
The National Opportunity Project surveyed more than 70 school districts across America over the past year about their hiring protocols.
They also reviewed district hiring documents such as applications, interview questions, and candidate evaluation rubrics.
Here is what NOP found: Applicants in the Denver Public School system for an elementary art teacher position must: “Lead for racial and educational excellence and work to dismantle systems of oppression and inequity in our community…”
In Georgia, City Schools of Decatur require hiring teams to be staffed for racial and gender equity by “ensur[ing] that there is at least one person of color and one woman or gender-fluid individual on the interview panel. Individuals who embody other aspects of diversity should be included as well.”
Since when were these characteristics needed to determine who should be teaching our kids?
Indeed, more than one-third of the school districts that responded to NOP’s request for transparency around their hiring practice revealed protocols that are clearly based on ideological bias.
Many more districts tout public commitments to divisive ideologies or DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion)-focused mission statements. We’ve known for a long time that these types of controversial policies are commonplace in higher education; but only recently are they permeating classrooms with students as young as preschool age.
What’s the reason for all this? As the old adage goes, “Personnel is policy.”
The people behind these policies aim to change the culture of public schools by only hiring staff who adhere to their political and ideological viewpoints.
The districts’ DEI statements — or commitments to “culturally responsive-sustaining education” in the case of New York Public Schools — are not merely lip service.
They inform every element of the public school experience, including who gets to stand at the head of the classroom.
It’s no wonder far-left political viewpoints now course through much of America’s public school systems; the application process is designed to weed out anyone who thinks differently or is independent-minded.
The National Opportunity Project found that the same schools giving preference to teachers with certain political and social views are adopting other divisive, and sometimes illegal, policies, as well.
In Fairfax County, Virginia, applicants to the public school district are asked, “What does equity mean to you? How do you plan to keep equity at the center of your classroom?” Responses that show strong agreement with DEI concepts such as “equity journey,” “equity work,” and “understanding that race is a social construct” are rated more highly on a scoring rubric.
However, not everyone in Fairfax County thinks this type of discrimination is acceptable.
The school district is facing a federal lawsuit for adopting race-based admissions to its selective math and science magnet school.
In neighboring Loudoun County, Virginia, applicants for teaching positions are asked: “How would race and diversity impact your classroom?”
In the meantime, the Loudoun County Public Schools have faced multiple lawsuits for racial and viewpoint discrimination and bias against a teacher and students in recent years.
In Evanston, a large suburb outside Chicago, the local high school district has highlighted its commitment to “anti-racism” since at least 2020.
The National Opportunity Project’s investigation found that candidates for teaching positions must “demonstrate a commitment to social justice, equity, excellence and high expectations for all students.”
The district’s equity pledge even spurred the creation of Advanced Placement Calculus classes segregated by race.
When it comes to our kids, they need the best and brightest teachers by their side – not people who pass a political litmus test.
As the gaping holes caused by COVID-era closures confirm, American students are struggling to catch up in the classroom and prepare for life after graduation.
School hiring policies should be focused on putting the most qualified adults in front of students, no matter their race, their personal political beliefs, or their point of view on the news of the day.
https://nypost.com/2023/09/09/dei-is-now-required-to-get-hired-by-many-public-schools/
*****************************************************Youngkin Pardons Father Who Erupted At School Board Meeting After His Daughter Was Sexually Assaulted
Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA.) pardoned the Loudoun County father who protested against the sexual assault of his daughter and her school's attempt to cover up the incident.
On Sunday, Youngkin said he righted a wrong after the father, Scott Smith, was convicted of disorderly conduct in August 2021 after he erupted at a school board meeting after its members mishandled the investigation into his daughter's attack.
“I spoke with Mr. Smith on Friday, and I had the privilege of telling Mr. Smith that I will pardon him, and we did that on Friday," Youngkin said on Fox News. “We righted a wrong. He should've never been prosecuted here. This was a dad standing up for his daughter."
The governor claimed the school district covered up the young girl’s attack, where she was sexually assaulted in a school bathroom.
“No one did anything about it,” Youngkin added.
Smith's daughter was sexually assaulted in a restroom at Stone Bridge High School by a biological male who identified as a female. The boy was reportedly wearing a skirt.
Youngkin praised the father’s action, suggesting any parent would have done the same thing.
"Mr. Smith did what any father would do, what any parent would do, which is stand up for their child," Youngkin said. "This was a gross miscarriage of justice."
A month after the incident in August 2021, Smith was arrested and eventually convicted of two criminal charges after the school board meeting went off the tracks involving Sheriff deputies.
However, his conviction of resisting arrest was eventually tossed out.
“I really appreciate what he had done because when he campaigned, he made it very clear that if he were elected, he would do what he could to get to the bottom of what happened to not just my family but everything that was going on in Loudoun County," Smith said in a statement.
Youngkin has been a vocal opponent against the Left’s transgender propaganda. He has vowed to crack down on Virginia public schools that refuse to enforce requirements that parents be informed if their child expresses any gender confusion at school.
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/saraharnold/2023/09/10/youngkin-pardon-n2628205
*********************************************************Australia: Poor reading and writing skills are dooming students to failure in high school and university, eminent scientist warns
One of Australia’s most eminent scientists has blasted a lack of basic literacy for sabotaging students’ success in high school and university, as damning new data reveals that failed teaching methods could cost a generation of children $12 billion in lifetime earnings.
High school science teachers have blamed low literacy for students’ struggles in the high-stakes STEM subjects of science, technology, engineering and maths.
Australia’s former chief scientist, Alan Finkel, is demanding more focus on the phonics-based teaching of reading and writing in primary school, as well as the basics of mathematics, to stop students failing in high school.
“These are muscle memory subjects you need to know early,’’ Dr Finkel said on Sunday.
“In literacy, not teaching phonics has been a serious problem because we have a generation that hasn’t been taught effectively how to read. And good luck picking up mathematics at university for a subject like engineering or architecture if you didn’t learn it at school.’’
Shockingly low levels of literacy are also revealed in a report by Equity Economics, which calculates $12bn in lost lifetime earnings for children who fail to master reading and writing.
The report is under consideration by a panel of experts advising education ministers on key targets and priorities for their next national school reform agreement.
Teachers Professional Association of Australia’s Scott Stanford launched a scathing attack against the sheer…
It shows the ACT is the only state or territory in which year 9 students are reading at the level expected for their grade, based on mean scores from last year’s NAPLAN literacy and numeracy tests.
ear 9 students performed at the level expected of a year 8 student in South Australia, NSW, Victoria and Western Australia. But in Queensland and Tasmania, year 9 students had the reading ability of a year 7 student, in terms of mean scores.
The report says four out of every 10 students in Australia do not meet international reading benchmarks for 15-year-olds.
“Children with lower levels of literacy are more likely to end up in the lowest income bracket in the future,’’ the report states.
“This perpetuates a cycle of reliance on government assistance and escalates costs within healthcare, housing, employment and justice systems. The impact extends across lifetimes and generations.’’
Dr Finkel, an eminent neuroscientist and electrical engineer who served as chief scientist from 2016 to 2020, warned that low levels of literacy were sabotaging teenagers’ learning in other subjects at high school.
Many science teachers “do not think their students are proficient in what many would consider basic skills.’’
“Literacy and numeracy underpin the higher-order thinking we expect in our science classrooms,’’ he said.
“Students in science should be applying their knowledge from maths and English classes to reinforce their learning and access scientific concepts.’’
The warning from such a high-profile scientist will put pressure on the nation’s education ministers to mandate the teaching of phonics-based reading – in which students sound out letter combinations to “decode’’ words instead of guessing them by looking at pictures, or learning them by heart.
Dr Finkel, who has also served as special adviser to the federal government on low emissions technologies, co-founded science education company Stile Education, which provides curriculum materials to one in three Australian high schools.
In Stile Education’s latest survey of more than 1100 Australian high school science teachers, 57 per cent per cent felt their students’ literacy levels were limiting their ability to understand science in high school.
Half felt their students’ poor grasp of maths was limiting their ability to understand science. Students could not use basic spreadsheet tools to manipulate or visualise data.
Dr Finkel said children also needed to be taught to touch type, given they spent so much time on computers.
Forty per cent of teachers felt their teenage students were not proficient touch typists – an important skill if children were to avoid injury such as carpal tunnel, tendinitis or repetitive strain injury from using keyboards incorrectly.
Alarmingly, given the rapid rise of generative artificial intelligence such as ChatGPT, 40 per cent of teachers felt their students could not understand the difference between a good and a bad source of information on the internet.
To reduce cheating and improve learning, Dr Finkel called for a return to pen-and-paper exams in schools, with students reading their answers aloud, to “bypass any opportunity for AI to be involved”.
Dr Finkel said it was essential that students learn to think for themselves, based on the foundational skills of reading, writing and maths taught in schools.
“People need that ability deeply ingrained in their brains, so they can be part of a real-time conversation,’’ he said.
“Too few students can tell the difference between good and bad information on the internet.
“In the workplace, if you’re having a discussion with people around the table, you expect each of your colleagues to articulate their thoughts clearly and verbally.
“You can’t do that if everyone says, ‘I need 10 minutes to research my answer’.”
Federal Education Minister Jason Clare said on Sunday that he was “interested in what works’’.
“Phonics is a critical part of that and so is catch-up tutoring,’’ he said. “Some children need extra intensive support, either one-on-one or in a small group to help them catch up and keep up.’’
Mr Clare said educational priorities and targets for schools were under review for the next schools reform agreement with state and territory governments next year.
******************************************************
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)
http://jonjayray.com/blogall.html More blogs
******************************************************
No comments:
Post a Comment