Education and $$$

Report: State spending per pupil
While U.S. schools spent an average $9,138 educating each student in 2006, Utah spent less than $5,500 per student while New York paid nearly $15,000, according to a new U.S. Census Bureau school survey. The report said state governments in 2006 contributed the lion's share of public school funding, followed closely by localities, with the federal government a distant third in terms of its fiscal contribution. Tulsa World (Okla.) (4/2) , Central Valley Business Times (4/1) , The Palm Beach Post (4/2)

Report: Children worse off in some U.S. states
Children born in the 10 lowest-ranking U.S. states are twice as likely to live in poverty, become teenage parents, be incarcerated, or die as children or teens, according to a new Every Child Matters report. "The state American children live in should not adversely affect life chances, but they do," said report author Michael R. Petit, founder of Every Child Matters. "How is it that a poor child in Vermont lives in a completely different world from a similarly impoverished child in Louisiana?" Forbes/HealthDay News (4/2)

Graduation Rates—Should we worry?

It's good to be # 1.

But, being last isn't so hot. . .

The report can be found here (click on the "report" link in the following story):

Report Shows Stunning Failures in High-School Graduation Rates

Now compare to this:

Get Adjusted

(Be sure to check the date of the last article. . .)

From "minimal" to "high-quality"?

How should we respond to this call from a state senator?

Pledging to do more for our schools

If this is true. . .

Received this email today—Is this factually true? And, if it is, does it really prove how poor schools are today?

The email:

What it took to get an 8th grade education in 1895...

Remember when grandparents and great-grandparents stated that they only had an 8th grade education? Well, check this out. Could any of us have passed the 8th grade in 1895?

This is the eighth-grade final exam from 1895 in Salina, Kansas, USA . It was taken from the original document on file at the Smokey Valley Genealogical Society and Library in Salina, and reprinted by the Salina Journal.

8th Grade Final Exam: Salina, KS - 1895

Grammar (Time, one hour)

1. Give nine rules for the use of capital letters.
2. Name the parts of speech and define those that have no modifications.
3. Define verse, stanza and paragraph
4. What are the principal parts of a verb? Give principal parts of "lie,""play," and "run."
5. Define case; illustrate each case.
6. What is punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of punctuation.
7. - 10. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar.

Arithmetic (Time,1 hour 15 minutes)

1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.
2. A wagon box is 2 ft. deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?
3. If a load of wheat weighs 3,942 lbs., what is it worth at 50cts/bushel, deducting 1,050 lbs. for tare?
4. District No 33 has a valuation of $35,000. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school seven months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals?
5. Find the cost of 6,720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton.
6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.
7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft. long at $20 per metre?
8. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.
9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per a cre, the distance of which is 640 rods?
10. Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt.


U.S. History (Time, 45 minutes)

1. Give the epochs into which U.S. Hi story is divided
2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus.
3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.
4. Show the territorial growth of the United States.
5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas.
6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.
7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton, Bell, Lincoln, Penn, and Howe?
8. Name events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849, 1865.


Orthography (Time, one hour)
[Do we even know what this is??]

1. What is meant by the following: alphabet, phonetic, orthography, etymology, syllabication
2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?
3. What are the following, and give examples of each: trigraph, subvocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals
4. Give four substitutes for caret 'u.'
5. Give two rules for spelling words with final 'e.' Name two exceptions under each rule.
6. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.
7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: bi, dis, mis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, sup.
8. Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and name the sign that indicates the sound: card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood, fare, last.
9. Use the following correctly in sentences: cite, site, sight, fane, fain, feign, vane , vain, vein, raze, raise, rays.
10. Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks and by syllabication.


Geography (Time, one hour)

1 What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?
2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas?
3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean?
4. Describe the mountains of North America.
5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia, Odessa, Denver, Manitoba,
Hecla, Yukon, St. Helen a, Juan Fernandez, Aspinwall and Orinoco.
6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S.
7. Name all the republics of Europe and give the capital of each.
8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?
9. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.
10. Describe the movements of the earth. Give the inclination of the earth.

Notice that the exam took FIVE HOURS to complete.

Gives the saying "he only had an 8th grade education" a whole new meaning, do esn't it?

Also shows you how poor our education system has become and, NO! I don't have the answers!
-----
Now go here:

Does this test prove schools are worse today?

And here:

105-year-old Saline County test in nation's spotlight

Too stressed?

Is this true?

Too stressed to eat or sleep on campus

Education Orientation Meeting!

The Faculty in the Education Department is having an orientation meeting for those students who are interested in applying to the teacher education program on March 27 (Thursday) in Hipp Hall 205 at 4:00 p.m.

At this meeting, you will receive the needed information to be admitted into the program, learn more about the transition points as you progress through the program, and the teaching internship. Please plan to attend if you wish to explore certification options or intend to teach in any of the following areas:
* Elementary Education (Grades 2-6)
* Secondary fields (Grades 9-12), includes:
Biology, Chemistry, English, Math, Physics,
or Social Studies
* Languages (Grades PK-12), includes:
French, German, Latin, or Spanish
* Music Education (Grades PK-12)

For more information, please contact charmaine.moore@furman.edu

We look forward to meeting you!

The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. . .

Take this quiz:

American History Quiz: Questions

Then check your answers.

Now, what is "true"? What is "Truth"? And. . .who decides. . .?

Learning Theories and Educational Philosophy

Behaviorism

Constructivism

Constructivism as a Paradigm for Teaching and Learning

Critical Theory

And consider this by Maxine Greene—assumptions about learning? Philosophical grounding?

"Carpe Diem: The Arts and School Restructuring," Maxine Greene (Teachers College Record, vol. 95, no. 4, pp. 494-507)

What do you make of this?

Teaching Kids a Healthy Way to Start the Day

Breakfast Program Helps Improve Scores

By Natalie McGill

Gazette Staff Writer

Paulo Freire

Paulo Freire

Pedagogy of the Oppressed

Chapter 2

Struggling with Educational Tensions

Critical Pedagogy and the Knowledge Wars of the Twenty-First Century	Details PDF
Joe L. Kincheloe

Learning Styles

Online Learning Styles Inventory

4MAT

Individual Differences

A Cycle of Learning

Teacher pay

March 2008 | EPI Book

The Teaching Penalty
Teacher Pay Losing Ground
by Sylvia A. Allegretto, Sean P. Corcoran, and Lawrence Mishel

Be sure to check these PDFs:

Press kit
Read news release
The Teaching Penalty, state-by-state
Growth of pay gap for male and female teachers
For women teachers, what used to be a pay advantage has turned into a deficit

Key links related to Part 1 of Webb

ADEPT

AFT

FU Education Department

INTASC Standards: Teacher Dispositions

National Board Certification

NCATE

NEA

Quality Counts 2008

Teaching Inequality from The Education Trust (June 2006)

NCLB Impact on What Is Taught

This is an important study about what is taught in elementary school. The group looking at elective courses (PE, art, music, etc) will definitely want to read this:

Instructional Time in Elementary Schools: A Closer Look at Changes for Specific Subjects