jeffreymark

ALL THAT JAZZ

One of my favorite online learning tools is the Teaching Company. On numerous occasions I have purchased their lectures and listened to them while I drive. The discs provide an abundance of entry level courses designed to inspire students to launch out into the deep. Recently I purchased the course on Jazz. This particular series provides an introduction and history to the development of the Jazz genera. One can go here to discover more about this American phenomenon whose roots sprouted from the African-American culture. Provided in this link are other links to rare Jazz recordings.

US CITIZENSHIP TEST

Even citizens fared poorly on this test. Go here to learn more and test your knowledge.

SO WHO CARES ABOUT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY?

Let the inmates have the university. Do we really need this communist-atheistic fraternity? So a person graduates from that place, what do they prove? They work their butts off and spend an exorbitant amount of money for a ticket to the communist party. Someone ought to bust school officials for aiding and abetting the enemy and harboring a dangerous fugitive. The whole affair not only sheds light on the corruption at many of our liberal universities, it also is indicative of how far a liberal education (I use "liberal" in the traditional sense of the word) has slid down the moral abyss. Our immorality blinds us to the truth about good and evil. We no longer possess the wisdom to know the difference between the two.
Red State further comments on Columbia and Iranian President Ahmadinejad here.

ACADEMIA HITTING A NEW LOW?

Even the academy is not immune to a self consumed agenda. Thomas Lifson of American Thinker posts his take on the sad state of affairs entrenched within the halls of our great institutions of higher learning:

I used to wonder how German universities, among the most distinguished in the world back then, fell into lockstep behind Hitler. How could the supposedly the best minds allow that?

I wonder no longer. The signs are very discouraging, and it isn't the outlier marginal campuses where the problem is greatest. Not just the University of California and Duke. Harvard, fresh off the disgrace of hounding Lawrence Summers from its presidency, is embracing the madness. Scott Johnson of Powerline writes today:

At Harvard, President Drew Gilpin Faust is proving herself to be immune to concerns about intellectual standards or racial discrimination. Indeed, she seeks "a different Harvard" -- one with so many black professors and staff that it could fill Harvard's stadium.

Read for yourself the sort of faculty enjoying President Faust's embrace, and follow the links provided by Scott.

I devoted more than two decades of my life to a career in academia, the majority of that time at Harvard. I am quite simply nauseated at the level of anti-intellectualism rampant at America's most elite academic institutions. Harvard, with its age, prestige, and $35 billion endowment is leading the academy into a vortex.

The barbarians are not just at the gates or even inside the gates, they are in command.

The academy tends to provide the philosophical animus behind a nation's social actions. In my opinion, solutions my lie in creating scholarships for the best and brightest young conservatives with the hope of their returning as faculty members, particularly targeting the departments of history and humanities. Perhaps too, a more concerted effort to establish conservative chairs within these liberal institutions would provide a fair and balanced curriculum. I may, however, be engaging in nothing more than a naive idealism here. Just a thought, that's all.

PROFESSORS AND EVANGELICALS

David French now possesses the smoking gun, confirming his long held suspicion that university profs don't like evangelicals. World Magazine, an evangelical news source, explains:

David French has known for years that college campuses are bastions of anti-evangelical bias. He knew it when he served on the admissions committee at Cornell Law School and watched his colleagues ridicule evangelical applicants as "Bible thumpers" or members of the "God squad." He knew it during his tenure with an education watchdog organization that routinely challenged university speech codes bent on silencing evangelical viewpoints. He knew it when he shifted into his current role as director of the Alliance Defense Fund's Center for Academic Freedom, a position from which he's filed numerous lawsuits on behalf of victimized evangelical students. But only now can French declare with certainty that his anecdotal observations accurately represent a widespread statistical reality. In a recently released scientific survey of 1,269 faculty members across 712 different colleges and universities, 53 percent of respondents admitted to harboring unfavorable feelings toward evangelicals. "The results were incredibly unsurprising but at the same time vitally important," French told WORLD. "For a long time, the academic freedom movement in this country has presented the academy with story after story of outrageous abuse, and the academy has steadfastly refused to admit that the sky is blue—that it has an overwhelming ideological bias that manifests itself in concrete ways. This is another brick in the wall of proving that there's a real problem."

Read the rest of the story here.

FIRST BORN BOYS SMARTER THAN YOUNGER SIBLINGS

All you younger boys in the family need to watch this video. They're plotting against you. Not to worry. Take my advice. Arrange for your older brother to suffer some sort of unfortunate accident. You get my drift? Do that, and you'll become the family genius. If the video fails to open go here and read the story.

PARENTS AND PUBLIC SCHOOL SUCCESS

Folks who seek to blame public education for all of society's ills need to read this story from the Dallas News. Seems as though little Brett George never missed a day of school in 14 years. The DN highlights this significant factor in the matter:

"We believe that school is a job," said Brett's father, Allen, a junior high science teacher. "And if you have a job to do, you have to do it."

But even the most loyal workers sometimes get sick. So what secret to good health and even better attendance does this family from Hallsville – about 140 miles east of Dallas – keep?

Mr. George said they're in bed eight hours a night, every night – including weekends. There's no sleeping in.

They always eat dinner – two vegetables and a protein – together.

And they steer clear of refined sugars, meaning Snickers are reserved for camping trips and special occasions.

TO RETAIN OR NOT RETAIN

Terry Cullen at the Wall Street Journal opens her heart to us and reveals a struggle she and her husband face over their child's education. She states the issue this way:

My husband Gerry and I are at odds over a decision that could have a major impact on our son Gerald's future: Should he repeat the second grade? By repeating second grade, Gerald may greatly improve his grades -- which, if it keeps up, will affect his ability to get into a good college, potentially leading one day to a higher-paying job. By going on to third grade, Gerald will keep pace with his friends and avoid the social stigma and self-doubt of having been left back -- and a college education isn't always the key to financial security and a happy life.
When is the best time to hold a child back in school? Is tutoring growing more common because kids aren't achieving the government's No Child Left Behind standards? Join me in a discussion.
The first position is mine. The second is Gerry's. And that's where we butt heads.

My wife, an educator for over 20 years, informs me that when a school retains a child, nine times out of ten the child never socially and academically fully recovers. Ample evidence exists suggesting the same. Consider a study from the University of California in 2002. The research piece entitled: Exploring the Association Between Grade Retention and Dropout: A Longitudinal Study Examining Socio-Emotional, Behavioral, and Achievement Characteristics of Retained Students,
The study unveiled a notable correlation between a mother's attitude toward education and a retained child's success in school. Mothers who placed a lower value on education, yes you guessed it, their children were slightly more prone to drop out than those children whose mothers placed a high priority on education. The study also revealed that retained children often demonstrated increased social aggression even into their adult years.

Other studies backed by the 1999 National Academy of Sciences and published in the Boston Globe focused on the retention of 9th grade students. The Boston Globe states this concerning the findings:

For 40 years, study after study on grade retention has reached the same conclusion: Failing a student, particularly in the critical ninth grade year, is the single largest predictor of whether he or she drops out. Unless accompanied by targeted and intensive supports and interventions, this practice yields no academic gains for the retained students, results in huge management problems, and financially taxes the school system.

We delayed two of our boys initial school enrollment for a year because of their summer birthdays. Studies show that developmentally boys lag a year behind girls their own age, but often catch up in high school. Delaying a child's entry into school for a year presents fewer problematic issues than retention. The delay worked well for one of our boys. Our oldest, however, suffered because he achieved academic readiness early. Delaying a child may place a load of guilt on a parent. Yet, it remains a difficult choice for anyone considering this move.

Terry Cullen is in for a gut wrenching struggle. Good luck.

KUDIOS TO WEST VIRGINIA TEACHERS

West Virginia school teachers walked out of the classroom in several counties yesterday protesting a low pay scale. A 3.5 percent wage increase failed to satisfy many teacher groups. An article from the Charleston Daily Mail explains:

The average West Virginia teacher earned $41,388 last year and has about 18 years of experience, state officials said.
If the walkout was meant to motivate Gov. Joe Manchin to call a special session on teacher pay, the strategy didn't work, Manchin spokeswoman Lara Ramsburg said today.
"The governor has been consistent in telling the leadership of both teacher organizations that he will not be calling a special session on teacher compensation this year, so if that was the thought process behind today's walkout, that's unfortunate," she said.

As the son and husband of public school teachers I understand a few of the driving issues in public education. In Texas both primary and secondary students take a standardized test called Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS). Eleventh grade students must pass a section of the Math, English Language Arts, Social Studies, and Science in order to graduate. Fair enough. My problem with public education, however, lies with context, not content. Students receive adequate information for enhancing their skills. Most public education personnel I know possess the intellect, faith, and love to give a young person sufficient knowledge for the learning tasks at hand. Over the years, along with increasing bureaucratic demands, teachers set aside more personal time for tutoring and parent conferences. They have little time to eat lunch or go to the bathroom. They receive a grossly inequitable salary when compared to other professions requiring the same level of commitment. Yet, without teachers many of those professions could not exist. And, the public's perception, including conservatives, of education shoots way off the target of truth. Most, not all, student's classroom behavior is indicative of their home life, not the teacher's skill level. Parents who read to their children generally see the fruits of their labor. Children from more affluent homes can afford books and vacations. They travel and see things that kids from lower income families will not see in a life time. My wife, for instance, teaches in a bilingual school. My 8 year old son attends school in an affluent district. This year 99% of students in his district passed the TAKS, while approximately 70-75% passed in the bilingual district. The public sees this as a commentary on a teacher's skill level. They fail to take into account, however, background differences. Many of the Latinos in the bilingual district come from families who rarely speak English much less read and write. The more affluent children get a leg up on the Latinos from the very beginning. In Texas our legislators often reap pressure to write legislation for handing out monetary bonuses based on TAKS passing rates. Furthermore, administrators often fall victim to self consumed parents whose own narcissism deceives them into thinking their little Johnny sits up there with Albert Einstein. When Johnny fails to perform adequately the administrator often gets bullied into bullying his faculty. Both affluent and lower income families fall into this self centered pit. Self consumption knows no boundaries. Most teachers enter the profession with a deep love for the children, only to end up burned out, disillusioned, and retiring early. I ask my wife every year why she continues this masochistic behavior. She informs me she loves the kids. My love is not that big. The only salvation I see in this lies in the fact that every once in a while a seeming stranger may walk into a classroom after school, seeing a tired old gray headed lady bent over a desk and ask, "Are you Mrs. Smith." "Yes," comes the gentle reply. The stranger may then explain, "I'm little Johnny. I want to thank you for believing in me when no one else could. I'm now a proud father working for a respectable business due, in part, to your commitment to me so long ago."

Hang in there West Virginia teachers.

A DISTURBING TREND WITH COLLEGE STUDENTS

The Intercollegiate Studies Institute recently published a provocative study that suggests today's university students know little about American history and traditions. The study entitled The Coming Crises In Citizenship: Higher Education's Failure to Teach America's History and Institutions, makes this assessment of student understanding of American history:

America's colleges and universities fail to increase knowledge about America's history and institutions.
Seniors scored just 1.5 percent higher on average than freshmen.
If the survey were administered as an exam in a college course, seniors would fail with an overall average score of 53.2 percent, or F on a traditional grading scale.
Though a university education can cost upwards of $200,000, and college students on average leave campus $19,300 in debt, they are no better off than when they arrived in terms of acquiring the knowledge necessary for informed engagement in a democratic republic and global economy.

I do not wish to go into the details of the study. Those can be accessed here.

The disturbing factor in all this centers around our ignorance of American history. Newt Gingritch once remarked that many Americans no longer know what it means to be an American. Surely a culture cannot retain its identity if it knows not from whence it came. If our bedrock of freedom and independence gets chipped away through illiteracy one wonders about the nature of the replacement. Currently it looks as though the "anything goes" philosophy stands first in line. Freedom may give way to freedom without a sense of shared values. That indeed may spell the end of freedom.