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Recent Posts
- Iowa Academic Standards Hold Teachers Hostage 31 October, 2022
- The absolute worst “real world” problem I have ever encountered 27 May, 2022
- Do We Still Need Public Schools? 22 April, 2022
- In Praise of Memorization 9 April, 2022
- Reading Before Writing 8 February, 2022
- Rate Busters 15 September, 2021
- Cheating in the Classroom: We all have a choice 13 August, 2021
Comments
- Betty Peters on Reading Before Writing
- a on Stanford Professor Jo Boaler’s Math Revolution and War Against Algebra 2
- Samuel Adams Richardson, Sr. on Cheating in the Classroom: We all have a choice
- Math Teacher 101 on Stanford Professor Jo Boaler’s Math Revolution and War Against Algebra 2
Authors
Category Archives: Will Fitzhugh
Reading Before Writing
Will Fitzhugh, The Concord Review8 September 2018 The extra-large ubiquitous Literacy Community is under siege from universal dissatisfaction with the Writing skills of both students and graduates, and this is a complaint of very long standing. The Community response is … Continue reading
Posted in Curriculum & Instruction, Humanities, K-12, Reading & Writing, Will Fitzhugh
Tagged academic rigor, education, standards
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Rate Busters
Will FitzhughThe Concord Review1 September 2021 Back in the day, when Union contracts specified the number of widgets each worker was expected to produce during a shift, that number was called “the rate.” Anyone who produced more than that number … Continue reading
Rare Books
There is a general consensus among EduPundits that teacher quality is more important than student academic work in producing student academic achievement. That is mistaken. There is a general consensus among Social Studies educators that High School students are incapable … Continue reading
Academic Fitness
A few years ago I was at a conference of a few hundred History/Social Studies educators, consultants, etc. at the Center for the Study of the Senate in Boston. I was introduced, as The Concord Review and I had recently … Continue reading
Posted in Curriculum & Instruction, History, Humanities, K-12, reading, Will Fitzhugh
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Students Last
Will Fitzhugh The Concord Review 6 April 2017 The great social psychiatrist Harry Stack Sullivan wrote that the principal problem with communication is that we think we express meaning to others, when in fact we evoke it. That is, what … Continue reading
A New Core
The Concord Review December 2, 2016 Dinosaur scholars like Mark Bauerlein argue that the decline in the humanities in our universities is caused by their retreat from their own best works—literature departments no longer celebrate great literature, history departments no … Continue reading
Hard Work by Students
In my ten years of HS teaching I saw good (hard-working, interested in learning) students do well with good teachers, and ALSO do pretty well with poor teachers… I saw poor (not working, not interested in learning) students do poorly … Continue reading
Trickle Down Academic Elitism
When [mid-20th century] I was in a private school in Northern California, I won a “gold” medal for first place in a track meet of the Private School Conference of Northern California for the high jump [5’6”]—which I thought was … Continue reading
Posted in College prep, Education Fraud, Education policy, K-12, Testing/Assessment, Will Fitzhugh
Tagged awards, elitism, recognition, standards
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PEER PRESSURE: Academic Incentives & Rewards for Secondary Students
PEER PRESSURE Academic Incentives & Rewards for Secondary Students Heartland Institute Will Fitzhugh The Concord Review 2 July 2014 In their new book, Rewards: How to use rewards to help children learn—and why teachers don’t use them … Continue reading
Posted in College prep, Education policy, K-12, Will Fitzhugh
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MEDIA BLACKOUT
Will Fitzhugh The Concord Review 8 February 2014 In the United States, our media are not allowed to report on or discuss exemplary student academic achievement at the high school level. For example, in the “Athens of America,” … Continue reading
Posted in College prep, Education policy, K-12, Will Fitzhugh
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Brief sketch of the problem…
In the United States, we pay attention to and celebrate the work of HS athletes. We carefully ignore the exemplary academic work of diligent HS scholars–the results follow as you might expect—we get what we want. Will Fitzhugh ——————————— HIGH … Continue reading
On Writing
“First, we stopped demanding that students read anything very challenging in school, and then we stopped holding our teachers or students accountable for the quality of student writing.” On Writing National Center on Education and the Economy By Marc Tucker … Continue reading
WHEELBARROW
“Wheelbarrow” 13 December 2013 There is an old story about a worker, at one of the South African diamond mines, who would leave work once a week or so pushing a wheelbarrow full of sand. The guard would stop him … Continue reading
Posted in College prep, K-12, Reading & Writing, Will Fitzhugh
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Driven to Distraction
DRIVEN TO DISTRACTION Will Fitzhugh The Concord Review 7 February 2013 “We have now sunk to a depth at which the restatement of the obvious is the first duty of intelligent men.”—George Orwell While we spend … Continue reading
Posted in K-12, Reading & Writing, Will Fitzhugh
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Major Players
Will Fitzhugh The Concord Review 3 September 2013 Who are the Most Important Players in U.S. education debates, and in our schools? Well, let’s see—there are EduPundits, legislators, governors, consultants, professional developers, publishers, the Department of Education, foundations, … Continue reading
Posted in Education policy, K-12, Will Fitzhugh
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The College Puzzle
Stanford University The College Puzzle A College Success Blog by Dr. Michael E. Kirst Homework Insufficient In USA Secondary schools April 17th, 2013 Guest Blogger: Will Fitzhugh The most important variable in student academic achievement is, of course, student academic … Continue reading
Posted in College prep, K-12, Will Fitzhugh
Tagged academic rigor, college success, homework, Korean students
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