Critical Thinking is not for Everyone.

The latest act in the worldwide WikiLeaks comedy: on Friday, the White House told federal employees and contractors that they're not allowed to read classified federal documents posted to WikiLeaks unless they have the proper security clearance.

It's posted for all the world to see, but if I work in Gov't, then I must adhere to the security limitations so the only people who won't read it are in Gov't.

Stunning.

Update from the drive home:

And then I thought about it a bit. Those with clearance randomly undergo security screenings and occasionally polygraph testing.  One question usually deals with "Have you seen, read or otherwise had knowledge of classified documents for which you did not have the proper security clearances?"  If I had seen something on Wikileaks, the honest answer would have to be "Yes."  That would lead to a whole lot of unpleasantness.

This advice might just save a few jobs.

It's not an agrarian thing, okay?

If Education Secretary Arne Duncan has his way, kids would be spending a lot more time at school — and a three-month summer would be a thing of the past. He continued by explaining that the American school calendar is antiquated and must be modified so that American students can compete at the highest levels internationally.

“Most people realize that our current day is based on the agrarian economy, and we don’t have too many kids working out in the fields nowadays,” Duncan said. “Schools in countries that are beating us are going to school 25-30 days more than us. If you practice basketball five times a week, you’re gonna be better than the people who practice three times a week.”

Most people realize, huh? Then most people would be wrong. And so is our benighted Education Secretary.

First, the summer months are hot. When the yearly schedules were decided upon, it was easier to heat buildings in the winter than to cool them in the summer because, you know, duh, there wasn't any air conditioning. Factories closed. Schools closed. Everything closed. People with the wherewithal escaped the cities and went to the Adirondacks or the Catskills.  People who didn't have money went to Coney Island.

"Why does everyone traditionally get two weeks in August?" and "Why are they called the Dog Days?"  - because it's hot, humid and no one wants to be in a schoolroom, factory, office, etc.


Second, if the whole thing was done for farmers benefit, wouldn't it make more sense to have the time off when the real heavy work was done on a farm? Like planting and harvest? You don't see vacations in October, do you? About the only farm work done around here in the summer is haying and watching the corn grow.

Finally, schools in countries that are "beating us" are different:

1. They give a damn about the PISA testing and their students give a damn. The American schools who participate ... not so much. When was the last time any of our elite schools took that test? Right, they don't.
2. The other countries are remarkably monocultural. Surprising, but the American melting pot isn't the easiest group to get motivated and educated.
3. The other countries have single nationwide set of common standards and fewer choices for books and curricula. Again, it matters because you can tailor you curriculum to your culture.
4.  Those longer days in Japan or England do not bother with sports.  We have chosen this aspect of our kids lives to focus a large part of our schools' attention on.  Again, it matters.  Other countries, if they have sports at all, have morning calisthenics but not school sports.  Sports teams are done as a town, not as a school.  Those who excel are not part of those in school - they're taken out.  

If you did these things with the American schools who took PISA or TIMSS, we'd blow the world away.  How do I know? I've taught these kids, both the top-of-the-line American students (the kind who get 5s on every AP test they take and win academic scholarships from Middlebury) and the top-of-the-line foreign students (from Japan, Korea, China, South America, Middle East Europe -- lots of them from all around the world.)  Look where the world want s to go college.  The US.  Who does well in US colleges. Americans and those foreigners who pick up the Calvinistic, work hard - be nice attitudes.

Oh well, Arne.  Sucks to be stupid.

Spreading the Joke - Classrooms in the Movies

Huston's list is here, and repeated below.
Classrooms in the Movies ...

1. …never have more students than desks.
2. …have every student in class, every day.
3. …have mostly the same group of kids at the end of the year as they had on the first day of school. If someone moves in or out, it’s a big event.
4. …have some loud or obnoxious students, but only because they want attention. Inside, they’re all decent people who just need someone to reach out and understand them. None of them are consciously choosing to act like jerks or thugs, and all of them are secretly very, very bright, once you get to know them.
5. …never have more than one kid having a serious emotional crisis at a time. Once that issue is resolved, another kid can have a problem.
6. …never have any students who have been mainstreamed into that class due to politically correct special ed policies. They certainly don’t have ten of them.
7. …never actually seem to do much intensive studying, drilling, or practice. All those feel-good group discussions of emotional discovery someone produce students who achieve very well academically.
8. …are always full of students who look well groomed, healthy, and alert, despite involvement with broken homes, poverty, gangs, and substance abuse. No student in a movie looks or acts any differently than, say, your average young Hollywood actor. For some reason.
9. …are always full of curious young adults who, despite being hard-partying hedonists, speak with the kind of vocabularies that, oddly enough, Hollywood screenwriters would have. They all know the difference between Teddy Roosevelt and Franklin Roosevelt. They know their times tables. They can read for more than five minutes without falling asleep.
10. …rarely have students who come to school high. If they do, they’re just good, smart goofballs who do it for a laugh. All ends well.
11. …never have students who refuse to take the medication prescribed by their psychiatrist.
12. …never have students who bounce back and forth between the classroom and juvenile hall.
13. …are staffed by teachers who can magically command attention with a single request, who enjoy instant rapport with their students, and whose off the wall teaching ideas always work like a charm. They’re certainly more effective than the crusty, strict teachers, who are invariably the villains.

This list seems incomplete ;-)

Might I add ...
... seem to be staffed with teachers who only have one prep.
... have teachers who don't have a life other than school.
... don't ever get interrupted by announcements over the intercom right when the teacher is about to make a really, good point. "Pardon the interruption, the girl's soccer team will leave at 2:40 instead of 2:30."
... don't seem to have kids leave early for appointments, sports.
... never seem to have students go to the counselors office to discuss their difficulties in THAT class.
... never seem to have appointments to miss class to meet with a counselor about the proper ways to prepare for college and to pass their high school classes.
... don't seem to go on field trips in their other classes. "Please excuse..."
... don't take five days to do AYP testing ... and don't eliminate swaths of course material in order to practice test-taking skills.
... don't have a new principal every two years.
Expanding on #6
... don't ever seem to be a homogeneous class of students who are below average.
... has one kid who must really be a misunderstood genius. and he is. Instead of being a whiny, self-important little brat.
... don't seem to have the selfish, overbearing helicopter parents. They're all fighting against an oppressive school system that's just wrong about their kid.

But I am probably repeating things now.

More on Vets and that Penn State Video

One of the commenters tried to make a point:

Posted by: Bornhillbilly
This colleague was doing well in his class when the professor decided to change his grading method in the middle of the term. Since this student needed this class and was concerned about the change, he went to talk to the professor. He told the professor he wasn't happy about a change in the middle of the term. He told the professor he needed to pass the class and that he was just back from Vietnam where he killed over a hundred people. He said one more wouldn't make any difference to him. Somehow he passed that class.

I would have instantly thrown this man out of my class. Blatant threats have no place in college. The professor changes his grading policy mid-course and that's wrong; threatening to kill him over it shows a seriously disturbed mind with no sense of proportion and a total lack of respect for the military services. It's morons like this who make all vets look bad.

I mean, really, how disturbed is this guy? "You put a D instead of a B and I'll kill you over it?" Not only that, how stupid do you have to be to use this anecdote when arguing that vets are treated like grenades without pins?

Penn State goes loopy

This runs counter to every mental image of veterans that I have ever had, save Timothy McVeigh (one freak-crazy bastard out of an entire army). Every other military guy was and is up-front, down-to-earth, hard-working, opinionated as hell (and not always in agreement with me), and basically all-around good guy. This used to be a virtue.

Every one of them was a better student after basic training than before. Every one of them came home with a renewed sense of purpose - exactly the type of person any sane college professor should want.

"Veers off subject ... doesn't seem to understand the assignments ... talk with him every week .. usually ends up arguing with me."

Wow. A person with an opinion. No wonder this twit doesn't feel good about him. This Armchair Psychiatrist smells inferiority complex.

"I've tried to explain my grading. He just won't listen. I feel nervous talking to him. His tone is very confrontational. I'm afraid he might lose his temper."

Has he lost his temper or are we projecting, dearie? "No"

It goes on. The scenario plays out with the veteran himself and it really seems to me that the "professor" has no business being in academia. I must just be out of college for too long.

Maybe I'm reacting poorly to the situation because it all rings so false. The GI Bill was an incredible idea last century and it seems that this is the beginning of its destruction. After all, if all those vets are psychos then we certainly don't want them in our colleges, do we?

It reminds me of the beginnings of that silly Rambo movie in which every simple act is interpreted as threatening and every denial is an escalating threat instead of a denial. This actress is playing her role well - I know many like her who misinterpret everything and cannot shift their frame of reference to include someone with whom they fundamentally don't agree. The caricature is spot on.

Kind of unfortunate, really.

Fantasy Reform from Jay Matthews - the bad.

I'm often amused and nearly always irritated at Jay Matthews - from his claim for KIPP being the Deus Ex Machina of the Educational world to his quaint ideas on time management for teachers.

I've posted a copy of his latest attempt at reasonable reform. Read that for context, as I plan on fairly heavy-handed snipping.

2. Unleash charter schools .... charter schools, public schools that make their own rules, are not draining money from school systems. ... School finance experts don't all agree, but I am convinced that charters are a bargain. So let's have more.

If charter schools are so successful because they make their own rules, doesn't that mean that the rules are the problem rather than the public schools? And what exactly makes you so convinced they're a bargain? Or is this another pro-KIPP thing?

3. Have teachers call or e-mail parents -- once a day would be fine -- with praise for their children. ... It doesn't take long. It doesn't cost much. But it nurtures bonds among teachers, students and parents that can lead to wonderful things.

This is priceless. Let's err on the small side even though I know that many of you would love student numbers like this: 120 students * 1.5 minutes = 3 hours. Every night? Wouldn't our time be better spent looking at student work or preparing for the next day? And you have to love the "once a day would be fine." But Uncle Jay ... I'd like to do this three times a day and not teach. Can we call it uber-differentiation if I call on each parent more than once?

4. Have parents call or e-mail teachers with praise. Successful teachers are often taken for granted.

Because I don't have enough email spam now. Let's add another 120 daily emails to read in between the ones from the principal. At least the principal can spell, but I donno about the parents. It'll be simple, just give the kids a point on the next test for every email their parents send me ...

6. Encourage teachers to call on every student in every class. ... A lesson has to be a conversation. Every student has to be involved.

Riiiight. Because I don't do this already. Bad Curmudgeon.

I have been in many classrooms where the teacher does most, sometimes all, of the talking. I imagine many teachers follow this rule, but it seems to me worth urging all of them to try it. It is, again, a change of attitude and method that costs nothing.

Gee Jay, do you think the kids might act differently when a famous writer like you is visiting? "I have been in many classrooms" - were any kids in there at the same time? "I imagine many teachers use this rule" implies to me that you're speaking out of your ass again.

7. Furlough everybody -- including teachers, students and parents -- for an unpaid national reading holiday. This will never happen.

No kidding, Jay. Screw You. You are an elitist moron.
You want to put me on an unpaid furlough so my students can maybe read a book? Are you planning on explaining how I pay my bills in the meantime?

Do you have a thought as to how you're going to explain this "holiday":
1) "Okay, you don't have kids, but you're on furlough today - go read a book."
2) "Buenos Dios, Senor, ..."
3) "No, you can't go get drunk. You have to read a book."
4) "I understand you're living paycheck to paycheck, but you don't get paid today. Instead, we want you to go buy a book called 'Work Hard. Be Nice. How Two Inspired Teachers Created the Most Promising Schools in America. (Paid Propaganda pushed by a Prissy Print Journalist)' Or you can also just go to the library today along with the other 8 million NYCity residents."

Yeah, that'll work.

FAIL.

Jay Matthews Strikes Again

I'll comment on this in a separate post, but I'm including it here so that the original source can't archive it to oblivion. In the meantime, enjoy the reading.

Boosting Schools' Value Without Spending a Dime
By Jay Mathews / Washington Post
February 16, 2009; Page B02

As happens in every recession, Washington area school systems are cutting back. It's depressing. Here's an antidote: Harness the creativity of educators, parents and students to improve our schools without more spending. Some teachers I trust helped me come up with these seven ideas.

1. Replace elementary school homework with free reading. Throw away the expensive take-home textbooks, the boring worksheets and the fiendish make-a-log-cabin-out-of-Tootsie-Rolls projects. One of the clearest (and most ignored) findings of educational research is that elementary students who do lots of homework don't learn more than students who do none. Eliminating traditional homework for this age group will save paper, reduce textbook losses and sweeten home life. Students should be asked instead to read something, maybe with their parents -- at least 10 minutes a night for first-graders, 20 minutes for second-graders and so on. Teachers can ask a few kids each day what they learned from their reading to discourage shirkers.

2. Unleash charter schools. I know, I know. Many good people find this suggestion as welcome as a call from a collection agency. They think charter schools, public schools that make their own rules, are draining money from school systems, but the opposite seems to be true. In most states, charters receive fewer tax dollars per child than regular public schools. Yet they often attract creative principals and teachers who do more with less. School finance experts don't all agree, but I am convinced that charters are a bargain. So let's have more. That won't save money in the District, one of the few places that pay as much for charters as regular schools, but Maryland and Virginia would find more charters a boon if they dropped their suburban, aren't-we-great notions and listened to what imaginative educators in a few little charter schools could teach them.

3. Have teachers call or e-mail parents -- once a day would be fine -- with praise for their children. Some great classroom teachers make a habit of contacting parents when kids do something well. Jason Kamras, 2005 national teacher of the year and now a leading D.C. schools executive, used to punch up the parent's number on his cellphone while standing next to a student's desk. It doesn't take long. It doesn't cost much. But it nurtures bonds among teachers, students and parents that can lead to wonderful things.

4. Have parents call or e-mail teachers with praise. Successful teachers are often taken for granted. Struggling teachers need moral support. Both kinds would be fortified by a friendly message. They would also learn something from what parents say is working for their children.

5. Have every high school student read at least one nonfiction book before graduation. I am not talking about textbooks. Will Fitzhugh, publisher of the Concord Review, a journal of high school research papers, has been campaigning for nonfiction school reading. I was surprised, when I looked into it, how overloaded high school reading lists are with fiction. Nonfiction, with all those facts, is often more challenging for this age group. Good. If every English teacher substituted one nonfiction book for one novel on the required list, schools would improve without any extra expense.

6. Encourage teachers to call on every student in every class. Teachers who have exceptional results talk to me a lot about this. A lesson has to be a conversation, they say. Every student has to be involved. I have been in many classrooms where the teacher does most, sometimes all, of the talking. I imagine many teachers follow this rule, but it seems to me worth urging all of them to try it. It is, again, a change of attitude and method that costs nothing.

7. Furlough everybody -- including teachers, students and parents -- for an unpaid national reading holiday. This will never happen. But small experiments might work for some schools or communities. My wife will be taking an unpaid week's furlough soon with all the other employees of her company to cut costs. She will likely spend some of that time reading to our 2-month-old grandson, hoping the words soak in. If everyone set aside a day for books (or maybe, dare I hope, newspapers), we might regain a sense of what a quiet day of reading can do for the soul. Forgoing one day's pay would unite the country in something we haven't seen in some time: mutual sacrifice. (Those in thriving industries could donate the money to a good cause.) We could hold the national reading day in April, school test prep season, so kids wouldn't miss much. Free reading has always been my favorite frugal school fix. Even a few more minutes a day can't hurt.

If you have cost-free ideas to improve schools, post them on my blog at http://www.washingtonpost.com/class-struggle.