Active shooter training for schools: Teachers shot with plastic pellets
Goddamn… people are truly stupid.
Category: Schools,
‘School Hardening’ Not Making Students Safer, Say Experts
It’s the proverbial “Quick Fix,” in the form of millions of dollars allocated to “target harden” schools. Eager to demonstrate decisive, quick action to understandably anxious parents, officials have purchased products ranging from mega-expensive state-of-art surveillance technology, to metal detectors, facial recognition software, bullet-proof whiteboards, and fortified entries.
Kenneth Trump, a school safety expert, calls it the triumph of the “wow over the how.”
..While improving physical security in schools is essential (specific recommendations in the report include installing internal locks and limiting the number of entry points), “we cannot convert our schools into prisons and treat our students like prisoners,” said Pringle.
…While educators, school leaders, and school safety experts are championing proven best practices, the $2.7 billion security industry is working overtime – with noticeable success – to convince districts that sophisticated and expensive products and services are the answer to their problems.
According to AP, security firms in 2018 “helped Congress draft a law that committed $350 million to equipment and other school security over the next decade. Nearly 20 states have come up with another $50 million, ad local school districts are reworking budgets to find more money.”
“School safety is the wild, wild West,” security consultant Mason Wooldridge told AP. “Any company can claim anything they want.”
The security hardware and product industry has hijacked school safety, says Ken Trump.
“They have become increasingly organized in their lobbying of Congress and state governments. Their focus includes taking school security out of the hands of education agencies and put under the authority of homeland security departments, which, by their nature, tend of focus on the physical security measures and infrastructure hardening,” Trump says.
According to available research, as a school safety strategy, target hardening doesn’t work and is likely counterproductive.
‘School Hardening’ Not Making Students Safer, Say Experts – NEA Today
hmmm
Betsy DeVos Explains “Benefits” of Larger Class Sizes
Why waste time and energy on conducting research when you can just make it up instead?
Betsy DeVos Explains Benefits of Larger Class Sizes | C-SPAN.org
The look on the face of the guy sitting behind her is everything,
‘Major distraction’: school dumps iPads, returns to paper textbooks
[A] Sydney school has declared the e-book era over and returned to the old-fashioned hard copy version because it improves comprehension and reduces distraction.
…”[Students] have messages popping up and all sorts of other alerts,” said Mr Pitcairn. “Also, kids being kids, they could jump between screens quite easily, so would look awfully busy and not be busy at all.”
…Teachers also found the iPads …did not contribute to students’ technology skills.
…”The ease of navigation through the textbook was easier with the hard copy. …They learn better the more faculties they use, the more senses they use in research and reading and making notes.”
…Research into [the preference for] hard-copy textbooks “points to greater perceived comfort, comprehension, and also retention of what’s been read,” she said. “Some have found that there’s less immersive involvement [in digital text].”
…When students were asked about the general themes of a text, …the printed version made them better able to answer specific questions.
The study’s authors suggested print be preferred when an assignment demands more engagement or deeper comprehension.
‘Major distraction’: school dumps iPads, returns to paper textbooks
hmmm
‘Traumatic’ MCAS Question Removed From Exam After Students Complain | Edify
Teachers’ unions and advocacy groups on Wednesday demanded that state education officials invalidate an MCAS exam after the test contained a now-removed question asking students to write from the perspective of an “openly racist” character in the novel “The Underground Railroad.”
…According to the groups, the exam asked students to “write a journal entry from the perspective of the character Ethel, who is openly racist and betrays slaves trying to escape.”
…The press release from the unions and advocates, however, included a statement from the book’s author slamming the exam.
“Whoever came up with the question has done a great disservice to these kids, and everyone who signed off on it should be ashamed,” Whitehead said in the release.
‘Traumatic’ MCAS Question Removed From Exam After Students Complain | Edify
wow
9-year-old U.S. citizen detained by Border Patrol for 32 hours at Mexico border while walking to school
She did not explain why Julia was held for about 32 hours.
…Galaxia, Julia’s mother, also said that they forced her son, Oscar, to sign a document insisting that Julia was his cousin, not his sister.
“He was told that he would be taken to jail and they were going to charge him for human trafficking and sex trafficking,” she told NBC 7.
Julia was eventually released after the Mexican consulate got involved.
Detaining in the first place is ridiculous. If they can’t exercise better judgement than this, why are these individuals still employed by Border Patrol?
But bullying a child into lying about his family is unconscionable, the officers involed should be in jail.
Thousands of Moroccan teachers stage protest over pay terms
About 10,000 teachers staged a new protest in the Moroccan capital Rabat on Sunday to demand permanent jobs, hours after police had used water cannon to disperse an overnight demonstration.
Thousands of Moroccan teachers stage protest over pay terms | Reuters
hmmmm
Students perform haka to pay tribute to classmates killed in Christchurch – YouTube
Students from various schools paid tribute to two of their peers who died in the Christchurch shooting by performing a haka, a ceremonial Maori dance to mourn the victims and honour the dead. They were joined by scores of fellow students to form a deafening chorus.
Students perform haka to pay tribute to classmates killed in Christchurch – YouTube
n/t
Why the college admissions scandal brings up affirmative action
Factors such as donations, athletics and legacy status are baked into the admissions process, which has traditionally benefitted wealthy families. Yet affirmative action, which is intended to help underrepresented minorities, gets intense scrutiny and legal challenges.
…There is little discussion about underqualified white students who benefit from preferences in the admissions process such as sports, family influence and legacies. …Legacies are applicants who are regarded preferentially because they are the children of alumni. They also tend to be white and wealthy.
…Athletes of patrician sports, such as sailing or water polo, are recruited to college athletics. These types of sports aren’t accessible for students from inner-city schools.
…It is not affirmative action that threatens the fairness in the college admissions process, its supporters say, but rather the advantages of the rich and powerful.
…Americans are “not entirely wrong” to think “that elites are rigging the system for their own benefit and for the benefit of their families,” he said.
Why the college admissions scandal brings up affirmative action – CNN
hmmmm
New York judge won’t let unvaccinated children return to school
A federal judge, citing an “unprecedented measles outbreak” in suburban Rockland County, New York, has denied a request to let 44 unvaccinated children return to school.
New York judge won’t let unvaccinated children return to school – MarketWatch
hmmmm
NEA Today: Here’s What Happens When High School Starts Later in the Day
In 2016, Seattle public schools changed the starting bell from 7:50 am to 8:45 am.
By providing a group of sophomore biology students at each school with sleep-tracking watches and a daily sleep diary, the researchers collected the data two weeks prior to the schedule change and two weeks after. They found that the students on average gained an extra 34 minutes of sleep.
Following the later start time, students were also more alert and engaged in class, absences and tardiness decreased, and final grades increased by 4.5 percent.
Starting school later also helped students combat the symptoms of chronic sleep deprivation, such as fatigue, depression, and memory and cognition impairment.
…Low-income students make up almost two-thirds of the population at Franklin High, compared with only 12 percent over at Roosevelt High. Although Roosevelt’s students experienced little change after the hour setback, Franklin students’ tardiness and first-period absences dropped to levels similar to Roosevelt’s students.
…The task force’s report also pointed out districts would likely save money on programs for disciplinary actions, school health clinics, counseling, and class failures. Students are less likely to need these programs when they get more sleep.
Here’s What Happens When School Starts Later – NEA Today
hmmmm
High school uses ‘hateful’ blackface poster to taunt basketball star
High school uses ‘hateful’ blackface poster to taunt basketball star
WTF?!! Some educators need to be losing their jobs and some kids need to stripped from what ever team or activity they participate in while their asses serve out daily detention for the rest of the school year.
Yes, the kids need to apologize but an apology on its own won’t cut it. They need to face real and dire consequences or the principal should be fired and drummed out of education forever.
Oklahoma bill would revoke teachers’ certification if they walk out and protest
Oklahoma bill would revoke teachers’ certification if they walk out and protest – CNN
Jeezus… Please try and remember that these are TEACHERS, people!
University snow day descends into ‘all out war’ between cops and students
Officers can be seen on video using tear gas and compressed air guns on the students, which were reportedly loaded with “pepper balls.” The non-lethal projectiles are basically paintball pellets filled with pepper spray.
It’s unclear whether the cops were campus police or from the Morgantown Police Department. Students were allegedly throwing beer bottles and other debris at them.
…“Kids having fun on a snow day, the police started the problems and caused the situation to escalate,” tweeted one person in response to WVU’s statement. “The use of tear gas was unacceptable! Let the kids sled and keep them safe, we don’t need another Kent State!”
University snow day descends into ‘all out war’ between cops and students
hmmmm
Duke official steps down after telling students to speak English
The director of graduate studies for a Duke University School of Medicine department stepped down Saturday after screenshots of an email reported to be from her circulated on social media, suggesting students refrain from speaking Chinese to “improve their English.”
…Two faculty members approached Neely to express disappointment that first-year students were speaking Chinese in student study and lounge areas.
…”I encourage you to commit to using English 100 percent of the time” on campus or in professional settings, the email states.
…”They were disappointed that these students were not taking the opportunity to improve their English and were being so impolite as to have a conversation that not everyone on the floor could understand,” the email reads.
…”To be clear,” [Medical school dean Mary E. Klotman] wrote, “there is absolutely no restriction or limitation on the language you use to converse and communicate with each other. Your career opportunities and recommendations will not in any way be influenced by the language you use outside the classroom.”
Duke official steps down after telling students to speak English
And what of the two faculty members???
Smitherman: Administrators have been working on strategies for several students
Smitherman on Wednesday apologized for misusing her insurance to pay for the 15-year-old’s medical care, and the Elwood Community School Corp. board of trustees pledged its continued support for her.
…The matter already has been resolved through an Agreement for Withheld Prosecution, also signed on Wednesday with the Madison County Prosecutor’s Office, dismissing the charges as long as Smitherman is not arrested in the coming 12 months.
Smitherman and her husband, Steve, started helping out the teen and his guardian, Charles Gerard, 97, a great-uncle, according to the probable cause affidavit. That assistance included buying clothing for the boy and cleaning the home in the 400 block of South 33rd Street.
The guardian was not home at the time she picked up the student Jan. 9, so she did not ask for consent, Smitherman said.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Smitherman told investigators she had avoided reporting the boy’s living conditions to the Indiana Department of Child of Child Services because she did not want him placed in foster care.
hmmm
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