Archive for January, 2008
National History Day
My son participated in his first local National History Day competition. It turns out that his performance team will be progressing to the city competition. I had told them that they need to set realistic goals for city. After all, this will be their first time and they’ll be going up against teams that have [...]
Randolph-Macon College
Randolph-Macon College is a small liberal arts of less than 1,200 students just north of Richmond, Virginia. The college has two programs that I find appealing. It has a First-Year Experience that goes beyond freshman seminars. Undergraduate research appears to be prominent with it’s Schapiro Undergraduate Research Fellowship. And for those who ranking is important, [...]
College Admissions Selectivity Equals Quality?
The Princeton Review is one the sites I’ve been frequenting in my search for colleges that might accept my son and that he might accept. One interesting feature is its list of rankings. The New 2008 “Best 366 Colleges” Rankings on The Princeton Review We’ve created 62 rankings lists across 8 categories, based on feedback [...]
Education Expert, Homeschooling, and Socialization
The San Antonio Express News published a very positive article on homeschooling. The best part was that when they presented the obligatory “expert” view on homeschooling who you expected to give the standard “problems with socialization” spiel, you got this instead: MySA.com: Our Point Of View: On Motherhood and Parenting in San Antonio Experts say [...]
So who’s going to stop them?
Star-Telegram.com: | 01/19/2008 | Evolution’s status may be debated by state board The state’s public school curriculum, called Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills, says students must learn “the theory of biological evolution.” Section 3A of the biology curriculum states that students must use critical thinking to make informed decisions, including analyzing a theory’s “strengths and [...]
If they’re allowed to do whatever they want, then they didn’t break the law
More on the Texas SBOE’s rejection of a third grade math book. Now the majority has voted to strike the minority reports from the official record of the board’s minutes. It seems that while our San Antonio representative couldn’t bring himself to vote on the original matter, he has joined the majority in censoring the [...]
Because they don’t like it
Rejection of math textbook sparks debate on state board’s authority | Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | Latest News The state Board of Education’s unusual decision to reject a math textbook used by Dallas and 70 other Texas school districts has evolved into a power struggle over the approval of classroom materials [...]
You can teach creationism as long as it’s quality creationism
Texas delays decision on offering science degree at creation college | Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas News on Yahoo! | The Dallas Morning News The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board said Tuesday that it will wait until April to decide whether the Institute for Creation Research can offer an online [...]
Start checking your kindergartner’s credit report
A new database will be collecting kindergartner’s social security numbers. Company gets kindergartners’ Social Security numbers, data | Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | Latest News The new database for kindergarten test scores also includes sections for children’s names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, gender, school identification numbers and parents’ names [...]
Albion College
From my basic list of liberal arts colleges I love Albion’s “Prospective Student” page. It starts with “do you believe that your first 18 years of life can be accurately and completely reflected in one admissions applications?” Well, of course not which is why you should visit Albion. Like most small, liberal arts colleges, it’s [...]