#School Education and Literacy

[chaoticgabby]

"wE wErE NeVeR tAuGht tHiS iN sChoOL"

[3liza]

don't want to engage in a debate because I agree with the spirit of this post and don't want to pledge any time to having to sort out misunderstandings that will arise from reblogging it directly. i just want to post some data. reading and math scores were improving very slightly since 1980 but then took a hard downturn at the beginning of the pandemic. No Child Left Behind "improved" test scores, but I was actually in school for that the year they made they switch, and can report that it was because they gutted the entire curriculum to force us to spend all day every day borderline cheating on standardized tests so they wouldn't lose their funding. i assume the methods of cheating on these tests improved and became more institutional after I graduated and I also assume all testing after that point has deeply misrepresentative data due to the score manipulation.

also as a personal aside I did not know anyone personally who used SparkNotes, cliffnotes, et al. they existed but we're not part of my school culture at all personally. the ubiquity of open cheating, essay mills, and obviously chatgpt has absolutely increased but I don't think that has anything to do with intellectual ability, I think it has to do with increasing access online and especially homework being increasingly bullshit and also the number of hours of homework assigned continually bloating.

i can't find statistics on hours of homework assigned in the 90s vs now (actually here's a paper from 2003 estimating USA children spent half that amount of time on homework at that point which aligns with my experience and observation) but statistics in the 2010s estimate high schoolers are assigned around 17 hours of homework a week, which is insane. if you have any sort of executive function issues or interruptions at home that could easily double, and then you're essentially holding two full time unpaid jobs age 14-18. this is way more homework than pediatric and education experts have been recommending as healthy or effective, but they also recommend children are not forced to get up at the crack of dawn every day and be shipped to large punitive holding facilities 🤷

anyway in conclusion the data is largely pointing towards the learning gap being real, but the reasons have nothing to do with kids being different, because they aren't. conditions are just a lot worse and kids are doing what they can to survive, like always, and being failed by adults, like always

[berniesrevolution]

Tim Walz | Trump and Musk are defunding your local public school.

[gossippool]

YOU'RE. YOU'RE. YOU ARE = YOU'RE. NOTICE THE E IN ARE. YOU'RE = YOU ARE. THE APOSTROPHE COMBINES THE YOU AND THE ARE TO MAKE IT YOU'RE. FUCK

[themontessoriacademyofarlington]

Early Childhood - Sandpaper Letters

Sandpaper letters are a fundamental tool in our classrooms, offering tactile and visual experiences that enhance early literacy skills. When students trace the textured letters with their fingers, they engage their sense of touch, which helps reinforce the shape and form of each letter. This multisensory approach supports memory retention and fine motor skills development. Additionally, drawing the letters in the Sand Tray aids in the development of reading, writing, and learning to copy, further solidifying their understanding of letter formation and phonetics.

[autumngracy]

Literacy Crisis: How Decades of Teaching Practices Left Children Behind

Reading Reset is an investigative series shedding light on the potential origin of the state’s poor reading proficiency, its impact on children, the criminal justice system, and possible solutions. Georgia is confronting a reading crisis decades in the making. By the time students reach fourth grade, only one in three can read proficiently, according to a 2025 state assessment. Critics say failed teaching methods, a lack of teacher preparation, and ineffective early interventions are to blame.

[gayvampyr]

im glad we’re finally talking about lack of technology literacy in younger people. everyone assumes we’ll automatically be good at it and have all the know-how because we grew up with it, and sure i might be more knowledgeable about it than say, someone 15 years older, but technology is changing and becoming more “turnkey” and a lot of the customization and workarounds just are not that accessible or obvious anymore. several tech companies boast that their new products are so simple and easy that a baby could do it, and users no longer have to figure out or understand anything behind the scenes because look, there’s a button right there you can press for this issue and if you’re still having problems you can just take it to a technician.

and im not saying this is inherently bad, it’s more accessible to people who don’t know anything about technology, but we are losing our computer skills because we don’t understand the tech and don’t see a need to. you buy a phone or a laptop and it’s perfectly usable fresh out the box and you don’t have to do anything to customize it because they’ve done it for you, which sucks especially considering they often don’t even want you to mess with the programming or software. customization is discouraged so they give you a handful of options they picked out and that’s that, and if your computer goes kaput then instead of learning how to fix it you can just throw it away and buy a new one! and while turnkey tech is a good option for a lot of people, we should still be encouraging know-how and teaching tech literacy in school as we become even more dependent on it. so many young people are struggling to work on computers and no one thinks to teach them because of the generation they’re in. it’s a major issue.

[mercymornsimpathizer]

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[the-blackjay]

Critical thinking, and how the public school system destroys it - a personal observation.

I grew up going to a private school, granted I was the poorest, scummiest, worst dressed kid in this school, but I was there nonetheless. While I have many gripes and disagreements about private religious schools as a whole, I will give them one thing: they taught each student how to formulate thoughts and opinions of their own.

Ironically, this lead me to dissent against religion and find my own way through life outside of the church, but the fact still stands that during my most influential and important educational years, I was actively being instructed on how to read a text book, pluck information from said text book, and formulate my own answer to questions with that information. We were not allowed to copy the answers from the book as they were written!!! We had to actually comprehend what was said, and we had to write our own responses instead of copying whatever was in the book.

This is so important! Reading comprehension is the most important skill a child can have imo, and it's horrifying to know that literacy is declining.

Now, when I transitioned into the public school system in the 7th grade, I naturally kept my old habits and turned in assignments the way I was always taught: writing everything in cursive, and formulating my own answers instead of copying the text book. This actually got me in trouble with my teachers! They called a meeting with my guardians and made me tell them why exactly I wasn't just writing the answers from the book. I didn't have an answer for them, I remember just telling them that that's how I always had to do assignments. They told me to stop doing that because it was making it take longer for them to grade my papers. It's easier when all the students write the same exact answer, and if I was the odd one out writing my own answers, then the teachers had to spend extra time grading me. (They also told me to stop writing in cursive, but that doesn't really matter.)

Now that that is out of my head and onto the internet, I would love to know if anyone has had similar experiences growing up. I firmly believe that making kids write their own answers is fundamental for developing reading comprehension and critical thinking skills.

Why do we have an entire generation of kids not understanding nuance, not practicing discernment, not understanding characters that are complex in nature, and thinking everything is black and white with no room for development or expansion? Because I really believe that they just don't understand the details of what is going on beneath what is being said. Sometimes, the curtains are just blue, but sometimes, the author wants you to dissect the symbolism surrounding them because it gives what is written a deeper meaning.

We need a solution for the next generations. We need to take action now to ensure that these kids can actually read and understand what they're reading. I'm scared for the future, now more than ever, with predatory language being used to take advantage of people. Ballots being just one example of why this is such a pressing issue. How can we fix this? I need some hope.

[My views and opinions are my own. Everyone is allowed to agree or disagree. I'm simply venting my thoughts here so I can stop ruminating and get some sleep. ]

[booksinmythorax]

Teachers. I love you. I love you so much. I respect you so much. You are asked to do so much with so little and as a librarian I can relate to that except I know your situation might be even worse.

So when I say please stop making your students find books to read by Lexile or AR level, know that I say it with no ill intent whatsoever - no intent, in fact, except to keep your students in love with reading and keep their parents from tearing their hair out.

[makiruz]

So apparently in the past several years schools in the USA have been teaching how to read with a method that doesn't work, and sorry for putting the conspiracy hat on, but it sounds like this could be a deliberate attempt to make the population illiterate

[msnihilist]

[teh-nos]

started reading about the shakespeare authorship thing and the first argument from a literary person to say Willy S couldn't have written them is "he didn't go to university," at which point i went "oh wow i didn't realise THIS was the level of 'evidence' people meant"

[lostsemicolon]

A bit of a bugaboo of mine is reading an education or teacher's forum and someone says that thing about how we should maybe possibly be teaching financial literacy in schools and someone chimes in that we in fact do and just nobody pays attention. No we fucking don't. We teach compound interest for like one section of an algebra class, or the absolute basics of how to balance a checkbook which almost feels condescendingly obvious.

I was taught a watered down version of how progressive tax brackets work, but it was taught to the whole grade level at once and so my confusion about it couldn't be answered at the time and I didn't actually learn how it works until years later.

Anyway bringing up these concepts one time shoehorned into a math class where kids are already struggling to keep up isn't teaching financial literacy and people should stop saying that it is.

[leveragecreditrecovery]

Building Bridges to Financial Empowerment: A Call to Read and Engage

Dear Community of Changemakers,

I am thrilled to share my latest article, Welcome to Yonkers Young Entrepreneurs: Building Bridges to Financial Empowerment.

https://open.substack.com/pub/tyroneglover/p/welcome-to-yonkers-young-entrepreneurs?r=1rkcyh&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

This is not just another piece of writing; it is a bold and transformative call to action that highlights the untapped potential of youth in marginalized communities and the power of financial literacy to ignite change.

Why You Should Read This Article:

1. A Vision for Impact: The article outlines a clear, actionable framework to empower communities through education, mentorship, and financial literacy. It’s a roadmap for anyone seeking to contribute meaningfully to breaking cycles of poverty and fostering generational wealth.

2. A Shared Mission: As philanthropists, donors, nonprofit organizations, educators, and advocates, your work is already aligned with the themes explored. This article amplifies that alignment, offering insights on how collective efforts can create lasting change.

3. The Stakes Are High: With economic disparities widening, the time to act is now. By building bridges to financial empowerment, we can unlock the potential of youth—our greatest asset—who are eager for guidance, opportunities, and a seat at the table.

4. Engaging and Inspiring: The article captures real stories, innovative strategies, and an unwavering belief in the transformative power of collaboration. It’s written to motivate, inspire, and challenge us all to do more.

What You Can Do Next:

• Read and Reflect: Dive into the article to better understand how your contributions are vital to the movement.

• Share Widely: Pass it along to your network, colleagues, and peers who share our vision for an empowered future.

• Join the Conversation: Reach out to explore partnerships, share ideas, or simply lend your voice to this important cause.

Together, we can leverage the tools of financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and mentorship to pave a brighter future for all, particularly for youth of color in marginalized communities. This article is an invitation to be part of something greater than ourselves—a movement toward equity, opportunity, and prosperity.

Thank you for your unwavering commitment to making a difference. I look forward to hearing your thoughts and collaborating to turn ideas into action.

With deepest gratitude and high hopes for the future,

Tyrone Glover

Co-Facilitator Leveraged Financial Literacy Investment Club / Executive Director and President Nonprofit Organizations Yonkers Young Entrepreneurs / CEO Leverage Credit Recovery / NAACP, Economic Development Committee Chair / Advocate / Activist / Honorable Discharged Veteran United States Army

P.S. Every share, every read, and every conversation counts. Let’s build bridges together