The Gary Null Show – 01.29.18

Today is January 29th and like always The Gary Null Show is here to inform you on the best news in health, healing, the environment. In this episode Gary discusses millennials in the work place, a commentary from Chris Hedges on Donald Trump all of this and so much more. Gary has a new product out for you: Stress Relief Stuff, …

Valerie Strauss – Why school is a ‘confusing mental mish-mash’ for kids

Marion Brady is a veteran educator who has long argued that public education needs a paradigm shift. Here is a new piece in which he explains why schools need a complete transformation in what and how students learn, and why the Common Core State Standards, standardized tests and other elements of corporate-influenced school reform can’t accomplish this. Brady says that …

Diane Ravitch – Why Every Child Should Opt Out of the Standardized Tests

Want to end the obsession with standardized testing? Opt your children out of the state tests. Ignore the threats from state and federal officials. The tests today have taken over too much of the school year. Teachers should prepare and give tests that cover what they taught. What if all students opted out of testing? That’s democracy in action. The elected officials …

Nadia Prupis – Latest SAT Scores Raise New Alarms Over ‘Test-and-Punish’ Education

New statistics show that average SAT scores countrywide have dropped to their lowest level since the college admissions exam was redesigned in 2005, continuing a 10-year trend that education advocates say illustrates the failures of test-driven schooling. According to the College Board, which reported the statistics on Thursday, the average SAT score for the class of 2015 was 1490 out …

College readiness declines when school’s focus is improving test scores, study finds

Education reform policies that penalize struggling schools for poor standardized test scores may hinder — not improve — students’ college readiness, if a school’s instructional focus becomes improving its test scores, suggests a new study that explored efforts to promote a college-going culture at one Texas high school. Published recently in The High School Journal, the case study reveals the unintended …

An Alternative To Failed Education ‘Reform,’ If We Want One – Jeff Bryant

The movement to boycott standardized testing has caught the media totally by surprise. The mostly parent-led effort started with Facebook pages and neighborhood meetings has grown into a firestorm of resistance. As the Associated Press reported this week, “This ‘opt-out’ movement remains scattered but is growing fast.” The article points to New York – where perhaps as many as 200,000 students recently sat out …

How much student testing is too much? – RENEE SCHOOF

If it’s springtime, it must be standardized testing time in schools across the country. It’s also when the debate over whether students are inundated with too many tests becomes hot. Experts say testing is up. Parents who want their children to skip the tests say their ranks are growing. Lawmakers say they’re hearing a loud message about too much unnecessary …

Why the conventional wisdom on schooling is all wrong

Kids go to school to learn stuff. Right? Not exactly, according to veteran education Marion Brady, who has long argued that public education needs a paradigm shift — though not the same one pushed by school reformers who champion the Common Core State Standards, school choice and vouchers. Brady says schools need a complete transformation in what and how students …

Is the Intense Pressure to Succeed Sabotaging Our Children?

Last week in Pennsylvania, a 13-year-old named Cayman Haib(link is external) killed himself after receiving an email from his private school that he was behind in his homework. Obviously, every suicide has deep and complex causes. It would be conjecture to assume that the pressure to succeed at school was the prime driving force behind Cayman’s decision to take his own life. That said, hopefully his death will …