Wonder why that is.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
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While the PISA is hardly the test to measure success, the article does point out a few factors:
-Boys are falling significantly behind girls in pretty much every subject, very well known problem in the educational community here. One factor for this is apparently that reading for pleasure has dropped among them. PISA relies heavily on reading comprehension, which would make even understanding the test items difficult. So around 50% of school children are not performing as well they could.
-Then there's the ever present connectivity provided by technology. Research suggests that the constant use of the Internet (phones, tablets, computers) leads to: shallower information processing, increased distractibility, and altered self-control mechanisms. This is a global phenomenon.
-Cuts to the education budget due to government austerity policies. Basically, less support staff, bigger class sizes etc.
-Increased number of immigrant children in schools. Finnish is mandatory and can be a serious challenge depending on the person's linguistic background.
Ironically, as the interviewee points out, the Finnish education system was never designed with PISA in mind, while other countries are essentially orienting their policies towards it. So the good results of the past were merely side-effects of the system, not an intended consequence. Getting passed by other countries that are focusing on it is therefore not a surprise.
In the end it's almost impossible to say what made some countries go up and some down. Japan and South Korea work inhuman levels of hours to get where they are (as per their working culture), while Finland did barely anything compared to it, yet still scored just a little higher or lower.
So the answer is...¯_(ツ)_/¯
edited 13th Mar '17 4:02:02 AM by TerminusEst
Si Vis Pacem, Para Perkele
United Earth
Hi! I'm an engineer! I want to start a school someday! How should I go about preparing myself for that?
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
So a just hired principal of a Kansas school had to resign when a student newspaper found out that her credentials were bogus
. Apparently none of the adults noticed.
Some other articles about this incident mention that Kansas is one of 10 states where principals do not have editorial authority of student newspapers (not sure about the formulation here). I take, which are the other 9?
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
This reminds me of that one episode of Gumball where the same thing happened
edited 7th Apr '17 9:00:26 PM by Xopher001
https://ph.news.yahoo.com/philippines-just-made-free-tuition-113000459.html
State-run universities are getting free tuition. Though some think that the upper middle class and the elite are gonna get away with this if they attend said place like the University of the Philippines. Others think that the budget is gonna outweight it.
But it's set to get Duterte more popularity with the public.
Why can't OUR insane populist president get rid of tuition ?
Prolly because he can't. And doesn't care.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Some of the Senators are respoding to the implementation of the free tuition by ensuring that those who studied very, very hard from the lower class should be able to avail of it.
And it's official.
The University of the Philippines is not going to collect any tuition.
https://www.pressreader.com/philippines/philippine-daily-inquirer/20170809/281818578925072
My Hair Provides Affordable Healthcare
NPR: In Turkey, Schools Will Stop Teaching Evolution This Fall
The Turkish government is phasing in what it calls a values-based curriculum. Critics accuse Turkey's president of pushing a more conservative, religious ideology — at the expense of young people's education.
At a playground in an upscale, secular area of Istanbul, parents and grandparents express concern over the new policy.
"I'm worried, but I hope it changes by the time my grandchildren are in high school," says Emel Ishakoglu, a retired chemical engineer playing with her grandchildren, ages 5 and 2. "Otherwise our kids will be left behind compared to other countries when it comes to science education."
With a curriculum that omits evolution, Ishakoglu worries her grandchildren won't get the training they'll need if they want to grow up to be scientists like her.
Nearby, an American expat who's married to a Turk pushes her toddler on the swings and describes a book they've been reading at home.
"It's for 3- to 5-year-olds, and it teaches evolution," says Heather Demir. "It starts off, 'I used to be fish, but then I grew some legs.'"
The Demir family plans to leave Turkey before their son reaches grade school, in part because of this new curriculum.
"I just think it'd be too confusing for him, to teach him two opposing viewpoints," Demir says.
At a news conference last month, Turkey's education minister announced that new textbooks will be introduced in all primary and secondary schools, starting with grades 1, 5 and 9 this fall, and the rest next year. They will stop teaching evolution in grade 9, when it's usually taught.
"Evolutionary biology is best left to be taught at the university level," Education Minister Ismet Yilmaz told reporters. "It's a theory that requires a higher philosophical understanding than schoolchildren have."
That means students who don't go on to university may never learn who Charles Darwin was.
"Among scientists, of course, we feel very sorry and very, very worried for the country," says Ali Alpar, an astrophysicist and president of Turkey's Science Academy, an independent group that opposes the new curriculum. A Turkish association of biologists and teachers' unions have also expressed concern about the new textbooks.
"It is not only evolution. Evolution is a test case. It is about rationality — about whether the curriculum should be built on whatever the government chooses to be the proper values," Alpar says. He also objects to how the government has converted many secular public schools into religious ones — Turkey's publicly funded Imam Hatip schools — in recent years.
Some Muslims, like some Christians, believe in creation, not natural selection. Turkey is majority Muslim, with a constitution that emphasizes its secular character.
But a battle has been underway between secular and religious Turks ever since President Recep Tayyip Erdogan came to power. He was elected prime minister in 2003, and president in 2014.
Erdogan does not support implementing sharia law. But he has repeatedly been elected by religious voters who felt their beliefs were neglected during decades of enforced secularism.
In a barber shop in the Istanbul neighborhood where Erdogan grew up, a bearded man in a traditional Muslim cap chats with the barber as he gets a shave. He explains how he kept his daughter out of school when Turkey didn't allow girls to wear headscarves in classrooms. The ban was lifted in middle schools and high schools in 2014.
"In school, they taught us humans evolved from monkeys. But that's not true," says Suat Keceli. "I support our government taking it out of biology textbooks. I think it's Satan's work."
In revising these textbooks, the government sought input from a small cadre of religious academics, including the president of Turkey's Uskudar University, a private institution that will host an academic conference on creationism this fall.
"Most Turks don't believe in evolution because it implies that God doesn't exist, and we're all here on earth just by chance! That's confusing," says the university's president, Nevzat Tarhan. "Turkey is a modern democracy, but we should not be afraid to embrace our Islamic culture as well."
Outside an Istanbul flower shop, two college students, Zeynep Terzi and Betul Vargi, are part of what Erdogan calls the new "pious generation." They wear headscarves. But they also support the separation of religion and state — and accuse the president of chipping away at it.
"You can't learn religion in school, I think. It's about you and God. You should learn maybe in your home," Terzi says.
"They can send their kids to mosques. Schools are for science, I think," says Vargi.
Terzi is in medical school. Her scientific training in Turkey makes her competitive for jobs here and abroad. But she fears that might not be the case for the next generation of pious Turks.
In which John Stossel distills a documentary that makes a case for privatized education: This is Part 1. Part 2 is also online, but the rest are forthcoming.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=231O0LSLpS0
TL;DW: Part 1: Government-run schools fail to innovate new ways to teach and educate as we keep throwing more money at schools, but test scores have been flat since we started tracking them, and how some teacher's unions can ruin good education so they don't look bad (Jaime Escalante)
Part 2: Private education success around the world! In places like India where government run schools are piss-poor but budget private schools have amazingly high success rates. And popular teachers in South Korea can make millions of dollars a year through selling popular lectures over the internet for an affordable price.
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Stossel is only relating the information presented in the documentary for those who don't want to watch all three hours of it. I just think it's something to think about
edited 26th Aug '17 3:02:19 AM by Serenity92
"Sometimes the scandal is not what law was broken, but what the law allows." - Edward Snowden
Oh, bother.
John Stossel? Now I know to ignore it.
I am guessing the parts he is leaving out are the parts that might hurt the case for privatization a bit.
edited 26th Aug '17 3:03:17 AM by M84
Disgusted, but not surprised
Perhaps. I'd have to find 3 hours out of my day to watch and find out. More than anything, I just think it's food for thought and discussion.
"Sometimes the scandal is not what law was broken, but what the law allows." - Edward Snowden
Oh, bother.
If you want to provide food for thought, make sure the person serving it isn't the kind of guy who wants to legalize blackmail, among other crazy things. They probably slipped something into the dish.
edited 26th Aug '17 3:14:19 AM by M84
Disgusted, but not surprised
I've been watching Stossel for years, I don't think he actually wants to legalize blackmail. That kind of flies in the face of libertarian non-aggression. He certainly takes contrarian positions in interviews and plays devil's advocate a lot, but I always find myself with something to think about afterwards
Nevermind. I didn't notice the link at first. I'm still not sure if that's his actual position though. It's hard to tell sometimes when someone always likes to play the contrarian. Also it definitely comes from differentiating between blackmail and extortion (I believe both are wrong, but I never said I agree with Stossel on everything)
edited 26th Aug '17 3:18:07 AM by Serenity92
"Sometimes the scandal is not what law was broken, but what the law allows." - Edward Snowden
Oh, bother.
Blackmail is arguably the least objectionable thing he has defended.
What I love about economics is that it can show that what seems harmful is actually good for society. It illuminates what common sense overlooks.
This is all covered in the eye-opening book “Defending the Undefendable” by economist Walter Block.
Most people call child labor an unmitigated evil. David Boaz of the Cato Institute and Nick Gillespie of Reason.tv say that’s wrong.
“If we say that the United States should abolish child labor in very poor countries,” Boaz said, “then what will happen to these children? … They’re not suddenly going to go to the country day school. … They may be out selling their bodies on the street. That is not an improvement over working in a t-shirt factory.”
In fact, studies show that in at least one country where child labor was suddenly banned, prostitution increased. Good economics teaches that as poor countries get richer and freer, capital investment raises the productivity of labor and child labor diminishes. There’s no shortcut through government prohibition – unless you like starvation and child prostitution.
FFS
edited 26th Aug '17 3:18:27 AM by M84
Disgusted, but not surprised
I was just trying to focus on the education thing. I just like watching Stossel, not because I agree with everything he says and feel enlightened or whatever afterwards, but because I like to challenge myself philosophically and intellectually, and he always gives me something to think about. Even though more often than not, I come out with the same view, I still have a better understanding of someone's argument for far-leaning libertarianism, or more left-leaning views when I watch stuff like Maddow or right-leaning values when I read Glenn Beck articles. I hardly ever agree with everything I read or watch, I just like to know how all sides feel and think and argue their points to better understand my own views.
Again, I just posted that as food for thought and for anyone who wants to, to watch it as opposed to a 3 hour documentary. Any further discussion on Stossel's merits (or lack thereof, depending on personal political views and experience) would be better had through DM or elsewhere
edited 26th Aug '17 3:26:40 AM by Serenity92
"Sometimes the scandal is not what law was broken, but what the law allows." - Edward Snowden
United Earth
"TL;DW: Part 1: Government-run schools fail to innovate new ways to teach and educate as we keep throwing more money at schools, but test scores have been flat since we started tracking them, and how some teacher's unions can ruin good education so they don't look bad (Jaime Escalante)"
It's not public education's fault that some governments are stupid. Counterexample: Finland. They have blown away all the rules and innovated the shit out of things, becoming the best in the world at educating kids.
Likewise, examples of private education selling utter overpriced boiled-over garbage are hardly uncommon. I point you to the UK's "Public School" system.
Examples of unions doing garbage work are easy to find. So are those of unions doing wonderful contributions.
edited 26th Aug '17 3:30:11 AM by TheHandle
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
I always found the name for UK's "Public School" to be a little misleading. And I'm not necessarily advocating for a complete privatization of all school systems. I just thought it was an interesting conversation to have. Any school system is going to have troubles, that's just the nature of things. Same thing with unions, they have the capability for good and bad, the trouble is trying to find a system that either negates their need, or allows only (or mostly) the good to flourish.
edited 26th Aug '17 3:36:38 AM by Serenity92
"Sometimes the scandal is not what law was broken, but what the law allows." - Edward Snowden
United Earth
I agree.
I don't understand how Anarchocapitalists think this whole non-agression thing will work. Leonine Contract and other forms of coercion and deception seem hard to avoid with minimal regulation.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Non-aggression principle is the cornerstone of libertarian philosophy (which many anarcho-capitalists falsely claim to be) and is the fundamental reasoning for increasing choice and decreasing regulation. Though I would - personally - specify that decreasing bad or useless regulation, rather than just less regulation all around. Especially when it comes to education. It's why most libertarians are all for school choice and charter schools and private schools. When there's options and none are restricted to those attending, parents can send there children to the best schools even without living in the district, and it will hopefully, convince the school that aren't up to snuff to do better. I realize there's issues with that (sometimes you don't have the budget to hire a new, great teacher) but hard work and reorganizing can fix a lot of issues.
edited 26th Aug '17 4:14:40 AM by Serenity92
"Sometimes the scandal is not what law was broken, but what the law allows." - Edward Snowden
Visiting from the Hoag Galaxy
I went to a private school where the principal literally forgot about a provincially mandated class until the last two weeks of the year. If she hadn't crammed four months worth of classes into those two weeks, none of the people in my year would have been able to graduate. I switched schools the next year and had to repeat a grade because of her terrible approach to the school.
Yes, there are good private schools. However, there usually isn't very much oversight. Ontario mostly just says "Alright, so you need to teach these things for us to recognize your students' education." Unfortunately, it's not an ongoing process.
Education absolutely needs specific standards, otherwise you could end up with a school that completely screws its students over because it omitted something really important that post-secondary institutes have deemed necessary.
Those charter schools that Betsy DeVos yammers on about? They have a disturbingly high failure rate. Not the students failing, the entire school failing, usually in the middle of a school year, thus stranding students who probably can't transfer what they've learned to public school properly. There was at least one school that failed three weeks in, causing massive problems because the school was founded, in part, to capitalize on the fact that the local public system was completely full.
And the issue with people like DeVos is that they claim to be in favour of school choice...but they mostly want to privatize education and drain the public system dry. Of course, Betsy DeVos's fumbling has meant that charter school favorability rates have actually been dropping. Turns out that she's incapable of selling it without sounding like a paid shill.
edited 26th Aug '17 6:35:20 AM by Zendervai
Not Three Laws compliant.
Sometimes though, like with average public schools in Texas, the teachers are more or less required to teach the yearly standardized test. The passing of which means you're only a C student without much room for teaching above and beyond or anything other than the test as it takes the entire year. It's the reason I spent my last 2 years of high school taking dual credit and college courses from a nearby community college. Those were the only years, even being in advanced placement courses for everything I couldn't get from the college that I actually learned anything. They are required to teach to the lowest common denominator, and many students are paying the metaphorical price.
And the success of charter schools or their students is tough to measure fully as there are as many charter schools for as many purposes as there are people who want to start one. Some do great things and are great additions to the educational system and increase choices for parents and students who need them while other are ill-planned and I'll-managed.
"Sometimes the scandal is not what law was broken, but what the law allows." - Edward Snowden
Finland’s schools were once the envy of the world. Now, they’re slipping.
In the 2015 results, Finland’s scores dropped in all three categories: 11 points in science, 5 points in reading and 10 points in math. Among the other top-performing countries, just Vietnam showed a similar drop-off. All the other top-tier countries’ scores stayed the same or increased slightly. Finland is now ranked 12th in math, fifth in science and fourth in reading.
Fun while it lasted.
edited 12th Mar '17 10:57:44 PM by TerminusEst
Si Vis Pacem, Para Perkele