Herald Sun - Kevin Donnelly

“. . . Research into stronger-performing education systems shows that improved productivity, as a result of higher standards, depends on what happens in the classroom. We need quality teachers and a rigorous, effective curriculum. “ (more)

The Associated Press- Staff Writer

“TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — The biggest hurdle for Ohio schools trying to meet a growing demand for Chinese classes is finding someone qualified to teach the language.“ (more)

WMBB News 13 - Bree Sison

“Monday is back to school for Bay District Schools but some young students in Bay County are already hitting the books in three different languages. For 8 year old students at Panama City Renaissance School, math class in Mandarin Chinese is as easy as it comes. “ (more)

Education Week - Debra Viadero

“Students who send and receive instant messages while completing a reading assignment take longer to get through their texts but apparently still manage to understand what they’re reading, according to one of the first studies to explore how the practice affects academic learning.“ (more)

WJHG Channel 13 - Kristina Hamilton

“Wednesday was the opening day for the four-year-old Panama City Renaissance School. The youngsters are learning in not one, or two, but three different languages. After a long summer vacation the students at the Panama City Renaissance School weren’t missing a beat on their first day back in class. An elementary institution,teaching both Spanish and Mandarin Chinese to kids as young as three and four-years-old..“ (more)

New York Times - Sara Rimer

“The average score on the ACT college admissions test fell slightly this year to 21.1 out of a possible score of 36, down from 21.2 last year, the testing agency said. “ (more)

BBC - Staff Writer

“ Nearly half of senior managers believe education in the UK has declined over the last 10 years, despite improvements in exam results, a study suggests.“ (more)

 News Herald - Juliann Talkington

Last month we talked about a survey by the Conference Board, Corporate Voices for Working Families, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, and the Society for Human Resource Management that suggests many young people lack productive thinking skills.

Productive thinking includes creativity and criticality – creativity to generate ideas and critical thinking abilities to select the best options.  In the last column, we focused on creativity.  This month we will talk about critical thinking.

The Conference Board, et al. survey says, “…nearly three-quarters of respondents (70 percent) rated recently hired high school graduates as deficient in critical thinking.”

According to Craig Rusbult, PhD in Curriculum and Instruction and Professor at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, critical or analytic thinking is a disciplined approach to assess the validity or quality of something. It is not necessarily “critical” or negative”.  To the contrary, critical thinking can lead to acceptance, rejection or anything in between.

In business settings, critical thinking is very important, because it can keep “creativity plus enthusiasm” from taking over the decision making process.  Since young people do not have a large experience base, critical thinking skills help new workforce entrants avoid this costly mistake.

Helping a child learn to critically evaluate alternatives is challenging.  Much of the problem stems from the education system’s movement from structured to free-form learning.  In many schools, rules-based English, structured mathematics and principal based science were replaced with iterative approaches - “new math”, whole language, and exploratory science.

Although iterative approaches may get a child to the same place as structured learning, it is generally a time consuming and frustrating process.  And in the business world, it is expensive.

Trying to retrain a young person to approach problems in a rational way after years of a free-form learning creates enormous challenges.  The process is often disconcerting for the graduate and costly for the employer.

As a result, our goal should be to avoid the “disconnect” between school and work environments.  If your child’s school still encourages free-form learning, it may make sense to carefully select classes and teach analytical problem-solving skills after school.  Older math, phonics based reading, grammar based composition and concept based science texts are often helpful.

Most importantly, remind your kids that successful people, regardless of their profession, are analytic thinkers.  And as a result, it is imperative for them to learn this skill.

New York Times - Winnie Hu

“But with the recent boom in the city’s under-5 set, the competition for kindergarten places can rival that of Ivy League admission. This spring, for the first time, several of the 43 Mandell preschool graduates found themselves without anywhere to go.“ (more)

Tennessean - Jaime Sarrio

“You probably don’t know Tim Webb, but if you have kids in Tennessee public schools, odds are you know his work. Since 2003, Webb’s been a major player in the Department of Education, helping put into place some of the state’s most radical education reform in recent history.“ (more)