Take the Intercollegiate Studies Institute civics quiz
December 3, 2008
I’m going to be blunt. There are a lot of ignorant Americans walking the streets of this great country, and I’m not sure what to do about it. We already know dollars spent per student, teacher to student ratios nor the number of computers in the classroom have much effect on academic performance, so today let’s think about what will work; add your suggestions in the comments section.
What’s got me in this grouchy mood? Well, todays column from Walter Williams brings to light results from a national survey on civics awareness. You know, civics, the study of citizenship and government. The results, well, they suck.
The liberal education syndicate
August 14, 2008
I’m using syndicate to imply a negative connotation. Here at Conservative247 we try our best to pass along information that is educational. Generally, it’s no holds barred when it comes to providing lessons about what defines conservative concepts here in the United States.
If you have not added Walter E. Williams to your reading list, you really should. Yesterday’s syndicated column - this time using syndicate in the mass media distribution way - brings Williams back to one of his top issues; black education.
Black schools in Washington, D.C. and Baltimore developed top-notch graduates including doctors, lawyers, civil rights leaders, military commanders and a Supreme Court justice; all prior to the 1950s. Read more
What is the Cost of Educating Kids?
April 14, 2008
Quite frequently local municipalities provide data detailing how much money is spent per pupil for budget disclosure. But are the numbers we are provided the real cost of educating kids in the United States?
It should be a pretty easy calculation, take the total amount of money spent to run the facility, pay teacher salaries and benefits, pay the administrators, buy the books and supplies, play the utilities bill and then divide that by the number of kids in the school.
But what if a town or city is only using money appropriated to the schools that is contributed by the local tax base in their per-pupil spending numbers? Read more
Muslim Public Charter School Exposed
April 13, 2008
This has certainly been a very quite story. What happens when kids pray together at a public school event? What happens when a valedictorian wants to mention God and her faith during a graduation ceremony? What happens when a teacher wears a cross in the classroom?
We’ve all read about the results; students are barred from praying, valedictorians are forbidden from attending graduation and teachers are fired. It’s all about this mythical wall between church and state, but if you visit Inver Grove Heights in Minnesota, you’ll have the opportunity to send your kids to a Muslim charter school through the 8th grade. Read more
High School Dropout Rate Crisis
April 2, 2008
If anything can be defined as a crisis, the current high school dropout rate statistics just might qualify. America’s Promise Alliance, founded by Colin Powell, released a report entitled Cities in Crisis, A Special Analytic Report on High School Graduation [PDF, 1.8 MB]. Overall, only seven in 10 high school student go on to graduate, even less go on to attend higher education.
The report provides data and does a good job of breaking down the differences between urban, town, rural and suburban dropout rates; it does not suggest causes or propose solutions. But how do school districts that have the highest dropout rates - as high as 75 percent in one city - compare to those with the lowest? How is the academic structure different? Does the city have a true school choice with a voucher program? Shouldn’t we review the political approach - liberal versus conservative - of these school districts? Read more
