- According to proponents and Joe Feldman, author of Grading for Equity, the following do NOT measure mastery of content and should NOT COUNT towards a student’s grade:
- Homework
- Classroom participation
- Student behavior
- Ability to meet deadlines
- Attendance
- On the other hand, junior high social studies teacher, Eric Wolf, a proponent of “holistic grading,” holds that “a grade is a tool to help students develop the skills, traits, habits, and attitudes to be a successful learner and includes:
- The ability to be engaged
- Coming to class on time
- Participating in classroom activities
- Turning assignments in on time
- Showing intellectual curiosity
- Putting in the effort to learn
Says Wolf, “The ability to handle accountability is the most important thing a student should learn in school. When we eliminate that from our grading, we no longer prepare students for success in life…
- After a nationwide special ed spending study was conducted 25 years ago, a $5.2 million Special Education Expenditure Project followed up during the 1999-2000 school year. The finding: special ed services cost $50 billion–$8,080 per pupil—that year–21% of that year’s overall public-school spending. Next up: a study covering some 1,200 districts and 15,000 students to be conducted during the 2025-26 school year, its results to be published in 2028.
- This just in: A federal judge has recently given Biden’s new Title IX rule a win; it will:
** Expand the definition of “sex-based harassment, so educators who don’t use pronouns based on a student’s preferred gender can be subject to Title IX investigation and potential discipline, even if complying would go against their religious or moral convictions,” explains Epoch Times’s Bill Pan.
** Prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
** Apply to bathroom, locker rooms, and shower areas. If schools or colleges force students to use these facilities based on a student’s biological sex, they can lose federal funding; it does not address sex-separate sports teams.
- The Environmental Protection PA’s recent $26 million in grants to schools and childcare facilities is meant to reduce lead exposure in children in 55 states and territories. The EPA is also investing $15 billion under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to remove lead pipes.
- Of the $800 million set aside for states to use to support our homeless students, just a little more than 50% has gotten to our school districts, says the U.S. Department of Education.
- Recently, Education Week asked teachers if student dress codes, including clothes that expose body parts (shorts, tank tops, crop tops, etc., should they apply to them, too. A sampling of responses:
- “No. The question is insulting to teachers.” ~ Jenn Tate
- “Dress codes are very outdated and way too conservative for both students and teachers. No one should police people’s clothes, ever.” ~ Ligin “Gigi” Vasquez
- “Lead from the front. Be the example.” ~ Dawn Rupert
- Then this from a high schooler: “[Yes] because teachers serve as role models, and we want to see what that looks like in the workplace.”
8. Nurturing Wisdom Tutoring’s Alyssa Coburn calls the changes to the 2025 online ACT college admissions test “a necessary step to expand the organization’s reach and help more students.” This version, therefore:
** Asks fewer questions.
** Will last about 2 hours, not the typical 3 hours.
** Has 44 fewer reading and English passages.
** Offers a now optional science-related section.
- According to the 2022 Census, 84% of our 54 million students, 5 to 17, attend public school, down from 86.3% in 2012. BUT, in 2022, 11.8% of them attended private school, up from 10.6% in 2012.
- Teachers’ unions are now getting into the business of student teacher preparation programs. However, says Jacqueline Kim of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, “We’re in a period of a lot of experimentation. States are approving programs, and they’re flying blind a little in terms of what the optimal structure is for these kinds of programs.”
- When the EdWeek Research Center asked 678 educators, including 423 K-12 teachers, if they would be discussing the election in their classrooms this fall:
** 58% said, “No,” because it’s entirely unrelated to their subject matter.
** 22% said, “No,” because parents might complain.
** 19% said, “No,” because they don’t think their “students can discuss the topic with one another in a respectful manner.
- USA Today’s August 26 “Colleges Cutting Majors Slashing Programs” article explains that these cuts will help colleges make ends meet since Covid relief money has dried up, plus operational costs keep rising and enrollment continues to decline. The move is likely to result in:
- Savings
- Job losses
- Turmoil for students
And so begins the 2024-25 school year …
~ With thanks, Carol
carol@schoolwisebooks.com
