Recommended

Great letter posted at the Journal for Educational Controversy blog.

Student mobility, poverty. . .and conditions beyond control of schools

Student Mobility in Rural and Nonrural Districts in Five Central Region States

Excellent piece about flaws of national standards

Krashen has shared this excellent Op-Ed:

Core Standards: More drill and kill

Published June 21, Atlanta Journal Constitution

http://www.ajc.com/opinion/core-standards-more-drill-553702.html

By Cindy Lutenbacher

Recommended

Dismantling Contemporary Deficit Thinking

Educational Thought and Practice

By Richard R. Valencia

Recommended from Rothstein

Whose problem is poverty?

Op-Ed Greenville News 19 June 2010

Test scores aren't the most serious problem

From Krashen

**Why kindergarten children are studying engineering "before they can spell it"**

Sent to the NY Times, June 14
**Kindergarten children are "Studying Engineering Before They Can Spell It," (June 14) because the US Dept of Education thinks we are behind in science and engineering. Not true. **

American students from well-funded schools and higher-income families outscore nearly every country in the world in science and math. Only our children in high-poverty schools score below the international average. Our average scores are low because we have the highest percentage of poverty of all industrialized countries: 25%, compared to Denmark's 3%. The real problem is poverty.

According to the World Economic Federation, the US is doing well in engineering and science, ranking fifth out of 133 countries in "availability of scientists & engineers," second in "quality of scientific research institutions," and third in the number of patents for new inventions per capita.

Contrary to popular opinion, there is no shortage of technology-trained professionals in the US. There is a surplus.

Stephen Krashen

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/14/education/14engineering.html?src=twt&twt=nytimes