Valuable Reading Programs from the Past

 64 Reading Programs dating back to 1775

 

"I have examined each of these programs for effectiveness - 

and freedom from dyslexia producing attributes."   - Don Potter

47. Lectures on Reading (1775) Thomas Sheridan. An old but extremely important work.

64. The Looking-Glass for the Mind; or Intellectual Mirror: Being an Elegant collections of the Most Delightful Little Stories & Tales: Chiefly Translated from that much-admired Work L'AMI DES ENFANS. (1814) A truly delightful book that will build your child's vocabulary and make them think about the more important things in life.


donpotter/education

Stanford Lecture Collection | Human Behavioral Biology | Robert Sapolsky

Dr. Terrence Moore- Common Core and the Destruction of Literature

Classical Education vs. Common Core

Pioneer Institute: Study Calls for Draft Science and Technology/Engineering Standards to Be Withdrawn

“Astonishing” gaps in science content too large to be resolved editorially.

BOSTON – Massachusetts’ draft pre-K through introductory high school Science and Technology/Engineering standards contain such startling gaps in science that they should be withdrawn from consideration, according to a new Policy Brief published by Pioneer Institute.

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“The proposed science standards have significant, unacceptable gaps in science content,” says Dr. Stan Metzenberg, a professor of biology at California State University and author of “A Critical Review of the Massachusetts Next Generation Science and Technology/Engineering Standards.” “For example, they are stunningly devoid of Mendelian genetics and large parts of cellular biology. This is an astonishing oversight for a state that has notable institutions of higher education and a thriving biotechnology industry.”
At the high school level, the draft standards almost completely exclude Mendelian genetics. These concepts are not easily absorbed before high school, and their exclusion means students won’t be exposed to ideas that revolutionized biology at the beginning of the 20^th century.
Their exclusion also makes it impossible to understand modern evolutionary theory and for students to grasp their own risk of carrying inherited disease. Massachusetts’ current science and technology/engineering curriculum frameworks include three Mendelian genetics standards.
The draft standards also exclude large parts of cellular biology, failing to teach high school students about the nucleus, mitochondria or chloroplasts.
Massachusetts currently has a curriculum framework for each of the body’s seven major systems (digestive, circulatory/excretory, respiratory, nervous, muscular/skeletal, reproductive and endocrine). But the draft would include these systems in a single composite standard, reducing students’ understanding and lessening their ability to talk to and understand their own physician and make healthy choices.
The draft standards never mention the name “Charles Darwin” and don’t adequately develop the basis for concepts of natural selection, making it exceedingly difficult to address Darwin’s theory of evolution in later grades.
Finally, the way the draft standards are written is overly complex, using sometimes ambiguous or grammatically incorrect language that fails to clearly communicate what students should know and be able to do. This ambiguity causes difficulty in the later grades.

About the Author
Dr. Stan Metzenberg is Professor of Biology at California State University, Northridge. He has 20 years’ experience teaching biological science at the university level. He was a senior science consultant for the Academic Standards Commission in California (1998) and a state Board of Education appointee to the California Science Project (1999-2003), the California Curriculum Development and Supplemental Materials Commission (2003- 2006) and a content review panelist for development of the California Standards Tests (1999-2010). He has recently assisted the ministries of education of Saudi Arabia (2010) and Qatar (2015) in training teacher leaders to use newly adopted science instructional materials.

About Pioneer
Pioneer Institute is an independent, non-partisan, privately funded research organization that seeks to improve the quality of life in Massachusetts through civic discourse and intellectually rigorous, data-driven public policy solutions based on free market principles, individual liberty and responsibility, and the ideal of effective, limited and accountable government.


whatiscommoncore

Colleges That Change Lives: University of Puget Sound, Whitman College, Willamette University, The Evergreen State College, Reed College

For those of us who have struggled to meet our children's educational needs in public schools only to find private schools won't accept them either, college seems all the more an unrealistic opportunity. The non-profit group Colleges That Change Lives offers a less traveled road....but also maybe a higher road.

"These schools share two essential elements: a familial sense of communal enterprise that gets students heavily involved in cooperative rather than competitive learning, and a faculty of scholars devoted to helping young people develop their powers, mentors who often become their valued friends." - Loren Pope 

 

 ...To find a college that changes lives, look for these distinguishing attributes:

• Low student-to-faculty ratios that foster collaboration, engaged learning, and personal attention. Classes are taught by professors, not TAs.
• Faculty are dedicated and passionate about teaching, advising, and mentoring undergraduate students.
• A commitment to undergraduate education that focuses on the liberal arts and sciences. Opportunities for undergraduate research are prevalent.
• A living and learning environment that is primarily residential and emphasizes the benefits of community, personal growth, participation, and involvement.
• Smaller student enrollments that allow students to be known and recognized as individuals.
• Out-of-classroom learning opportunities that provide students with an added perspective about themselves, their interests, and the global community. Participation in internships, study abroad, service to others, and special interest activities is common and expected.
• Holistic admission policies including "test-optional" applications for admission. These schools take into consideration everything about an applicant—not just their numbers on an application.
• Alumni networks that help graduates with professional and career development opportunities as well as foster lifelong friendships based on an involved and engaged undergraduate student experience.
• An ideal living and learning environment where students can meet and exceed their own expectations for personal intellectual growth.

ctcl

5th Circuit Reverses Decision Denying Attorney Fees

In D.G. v. New Caney Indep. Sch. Dist., a victory for children with disabilities, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a district court decision denying a petition for attorney's fees as untimely. COPAA filed an amicus brief supporting reversal of the decision.  
The court of appeals held that the statute of limitations for filing a claim for attorney's fees for a prevailing parent does not begin to run until the school district's time to appeal has expired. Because the statute of limitations did not begin to run until 90 days after the decision in D.G. prevailed, D.G.'s complaint for attorney's fees was timely under even the most restrictive possible statute of limitations, which was 30 days. (The court did not reach the question of which state statute of limitations applied, because even if the shortest one applied, D.G.'s fee complaint was timely.)

“Do not keep the slanderer away, treat him with affection and honor: Body and soul, he scours all clean, babbling about this and that.” ― Kabir

Obsidian Finance Group, LLC v. Cox is a 2011 case from the United States District Court for the District of Oregon concerning online defamation

Plaintiffs Obsidian Finance Group and its co-founder Kevin Padrick sued Crystal Cox for maintaining several blogs that accused Obsidian and Padrick of corrupt and fraudulent conduct. The court dismissed most of Cox's blog posts as opinion, but found one single post to be more factual in its assertions and therefore defamatory. For that post, the court awarded the plaintiffs $2.5 million in damages. This case is notable for the court's ruling that Cox, as an internet blogger, was not a journalist and was thus not protected by Oregon's media shield laws,^[1] although the court later clarified that its ruling did not categorically exclude blogs from being considered media and indicated that its decision was based in part upon Cox offering to remove negative posts for a $2,500 fee.

Cox also asserted that even if the plaintiffs weren't public figures, in order for the plaintiffs to claim damages, they must prove actual malice because she is a "media" outlet. Here, the court again held that Cox did not qualify as "media". In its reasoning, the court cited her lack of a journalism degree, lack of affiliation with traditional media outlets, lack of adherence to journalistic standards such as fact-checking and fair coverage, and the absence of Cox writing any original material rather than assembling the works of others. As such, the plaintiffs could seek damages without any further evidence of actual malice.^[6]

Reactions and current status after district court ruling

The holdings in this case re-ignited a public discussion over whether bloggers should be considered journalists and entitled to the same protections.^[10] Cox suggested that this case "should matter to everyone who writes on the Internet" and that if she "[doesn't] win [her] appeal, we all lose".^[1][11] Padrick responded by saying that "the concept of media [would be] rendered worthless [...] if anyone can self-proclaim themselves to be media". Padrick also pointed out the real damage done to his reputation and business by Cox, and stated his belief that he would have won the case even if Cox had been considered "media".^[11][12][13] Subsequently, a World Intellectual Property Organization arbitration decision ordered the disputed domain names marcjohnrandazza.com, marcjrandazza.com, marcrandazza.com, marcrandazza.biz, marcrandazza.info and marcrandazza.mobi all to be transferred to Marc J. Randazza.^[14]
Cox's motion for a new trial was denied. Currently, Cox is seeking to appeal the judgment, citing First Amendment grounds. Obsidian has filed a motion to seize and sell Cox's right to appeal to help satisfy its $2.5 million judgment, on the grounds that Cox's appeal right is intangible personal property subject to seizure. Cox is attempting to block the seizure to proceed with the appeal.<sup>[15][16][17]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obsidian_Finance_Group,_LLC_v._Cox</sup>

Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling

“Mass schooling damages children. We don’t need any more of it. And under the guise that it is the same thing as education, it has been picking our pockets just as Socrates predicted it would thousands of years ago. One of the surest ways to recognize real education is by the fact that it doesn’t cost very much, doesn’t depend on expensive toys or gadgets. The experiences that produce it and the self-awareness that propels it are nearly free. It is hard to turn a dollar on education. But schooling is a wonderful hustle, getting sharper all the time.”
― John Taylor Gatto