Free Republic

A defining trend in human intelligence tests that saw people steadily obtaining higher IQ scores through the 20th century has abruptly ended, a new study shows. The Flynn effect – named after the work of Kiwi intelligence researcher James Flynn – observed rapid rises in intelligence quotient at a rate of about 3 IQ points per decade in the 20th century, but new research suggests these heady boom days are long gone. … The researchers sourced their data from the IQ test scores of 18- to 19-year-old Norwegian men who took the tests as part of their national, compulsory military...

Former President Barack Obama and his wife Michele have signed a multi-million book deal with Penguin Random House. Terms of the deal were not released but Financial Times reported bidding for the two-book deal had reached more than $65 million, a record amount for presidential memoirs.

People hate Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. When she spoke at the Kennedy School of Government, students held up signs calling her a "white supremacist." When she tried to visit a school, activists physically blocked her way. The haters claim DeVos knows little about education, only got her job because she gave money to Republican politicians, and hates free public education. Of course, education isn't really "free." Taxpayers spend $634 billion a year on it. It's laughable that activists claim conservatives "cut" education spending. Funds per student tripled over the past several decades, while test scores stayed flat. Some of...

State Senate Bill 169 would have codified Obama-era Title IX guidanceCalifornia Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed Monday a bill to codify the aggressive Obama-era campus federal sexual-assault guidance, echoing concerns about the rights of the accused raised previously by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. Mr. Brown said it was “time to pause and survey the land” before moving forward with more regulations “when we haven’t yet ascertained the full impact of what we recently enacted” with California’s 2014 affirmative-consent law. “Since this law was enacted, however, thoughtful legal minds have increasingly questioned whether federal and state actions to prevent and redress sexual...

College hearings into alleged misconduct ‘must be fair and impartial,’ education secretary saysEducation Secretary Betsy DeVos on Friday rescinded the Obama administration’s Title IX letter on campus sexual assault, sparking outrage from her foes but relief from those who have lambasted the policy for eroding due process by favoring the accuser over the accused. Ms. DeVos also issued an interim guidance for schools on “how to investigate and adjudicate allegations of campus sexual misconduct under federal law” while the department proceeds with its rulemaking to replace the 2011 policy. “This interim guidance will help schools as they work to combat...

... In 2012 the Education Department released a study showing that black students were three times as likely to be suspended and expelled as their white counterparts. Two years later, the department issued a “Dear Colleague” letter warning school districts to address this racial imbalance, or else. The letter said that even if a disciplinary policy “is neutral on its face—meaning that the policy itself does not mention race—and is administered in an evenhanded manner” the district still could face a federal civil-rights investigation if the policy “has a disparate impact, i.e., a disproportionate and unjustified effect on students of...

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos vowed Thursday to replace what she branded the “failed system” of campus sexual assault enforcement, to ensure fairness for victims and the accused. “Instead of working with schools . . . ,” DeVos said, “the prior administration weaponized the Office for Civil Rights.” “We must do better because the current approach isn’t working,” she said. DeVos spoke to about 100 invited guests at George Mason University, where protesters had gathered outside, worried that she would announce changes to the way sexual violence cases are handled on campuses across the country. “One rape is one too many,”...

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is receiving threats after she announced changes to the Title IX program Thursday as it was known under President Obama. Sexual assault abusers are still going to be punished, she emphatically stated, but from now on the accused will be offered due process.

By 2014, California was the top state in eighth-grade algebra enrollment. Common Core erased all those gains almost immediately ... Before Common Core came along, California parents, faculty, and officials spent years developing some of the best-ranked K-12 math requirements in the nation. One result of their careful work was more than tripling the number of eighth graders who ranked proficient in math, and quadrupling the number of eighth graders taking algebra. By 2014, California was the top state in the nation in eighth-grade algebra enrollment. That was the year Common Core went into place. It erased all those gains...

 By the 21st century everyone needed brains but unfortunately nobody could read well enough to locate them. I have been unable to get this report out of my mind: in 2017 65% of American Public School 8th Graders Not Proficient in Reading; 67% Not Proficient in Math. And that’s burying the bad news: in many urban areas proficiency levels are much worse. Detroit came in dead last with 8th grade reading proficiency at 7%, and math just 5%. But the schools are more concerned about social justice than basics. It’s enough to make you weep. While the children in the...

FULL TITLE: Mother is left stumped by her seven-year-old daughter's maths homework question (but could YOU work it out?) A mother was left scratching her head after trying to help her seven-year-old daughter with her maths homework. Angie Werner was stumped when she tried answer the conundrum and turned to social media to help her out. The problem asked how many entrants were in a dog show and while at first the answer appeared to be simple - in fact it left many parents completely miffed. PROBLEM ON LINK

WASHINGTON - U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos gave a far-ranging speech today in Washington at an American Enterprise Institute conference, “Bush-Obama School Reform: Lessons Learned.” She announced the death of Common Core, at least in her federal agency. DeVos also decried the federal government’s initiatives to improve education. “We saw two presidents from different political parties and philosophies take two different approaches. Federally mandated assessments. Federal money. Federal standards. All originated in Washington, and none solved the problem. Too many of America’s students are still unprepared,” she said. And she touched on a favorite topic, school choice. “Choice in...

I have not seen anything pertinent that Betsy DeVos has done for the education system (how about getting rid of the dept of education), so I thought I'd post and ask those in the know. What is the latest about ridding ourselves of common core, or implementing the Bible back into schools? Or incorporating vocational training back into high schools which is exactly what this nation needs. The messaging that every kid needs to go to college or they're a loser makes me sick. The school system is awful, truly. Our kids (foster, who have since left home) quit school...

A new study from the Pioneer Institute in Boston shows that in Massachusetts, Common Core, like the world, is with us late and soon. Unfortunately, it's got all the world’s drawbacks and none of its benefits. "The previous standard provided a coherent line-up of texts in the parenthetical phrase, four works that form a single national and historical lineage (Declaration, Preamble, Bill of Rights, and Lincoln’s Second Inaugural)," the report reads. "One can identify the curricular focus easily and fill in more material that follows from it: some of the Federalist Papers, various constitutional amendments, Frederick Douglass’s speech on the...

Bill Gates and Gates Foundation were one of the main backers of the Common core education program. The US education system had been bad before Bill Gates, George HW Bush and Obama and No child left behind and Common Core. However, the last 17 years have been continued failure in improving education in the USA. The Gates Foundation has spent $3.4 billion on public education in the United States. They spent a lot on the development and implementation of the highly controversial Common Core State Standards – Gates now says that 60 percent of his new investment will go to...

An alarming discovery coming out of City Schools. Project Baltimore analyzed 2017 state testing data and found one-third of High Schools in Baltimore, last year, had zero students proficient in math. But that’s not all we found. In the midst of that troubling number, there are some bright spots. Most mornings, at Baltimore Collegiate School for Boys, start the same way – with students chanting the school’s motto in the gym. “There’s an urgency about the work we’re doing,” said Jack Pannell, the school’s founder. That urgency was born out of need. “Nine out of ten black boys in Baltimore...

“A highly charged political debate between a student and his teacher is garnering a lot of attention. The video captured 10 minutes of the confrontation, though the student said the debate lasted longer. What happened? The video begins as the Latino student and his teacher debate about police brutality in America. The student cites facts — that black-on-black crime is more prominent and police shoot more white people — but the teacher simply dismisses the argument by criticizing him. “You’re clearly a radical, a conservative,” the teacher says. As the debate goes on, the student says he obtains his statistics...

A 9th-grade assignment at a Mississippi high school is causing concern and disgust among parents. A mother recently posted her student's assignment to Facebook in a special group that was created for the growing discontent parents feel toward public school education — "Inappropriate Common Core Lessons." This particular assignment asked 14-year-old students to determine the identity of a fictional rapist based on sperm DNA.Not surprisingly, parents were not amused. The mother who posted the assignment reported that the teacher did not require the students to complete it — and parents were grateful for that — but she was still disturbed...

It looks like this is as close to an apology or admission of failure as we're going to get, folks. Sorry about that $4 trillion and mangled years of education for American K-12 kids and teachers.

About 70% of Los Angeles high school graduates enroll in two- or four-year colleges, but only 25% graduate within six years. ... it’s hard to assess recent district efforts that could be seen as pushing in different directions. On one hand, the district is touting higher standards: a high school graduation requirement that all students pass the courses necessary for applying to a four-year state college. On the other hand, the district requires a grade of D only in these classes and the colleges require a C or better to apply. The district also offers an array of “credit recovery”...