Michael Moore: “America is We, the People”

Michael Moore answers question on “American exceptionalism”; gives his version of the Pledge of Allegiance. “American exceptionalism” has been a hot-button focus of contention in recent curriculum controversies, and features in several posts here on Curricublog. This past Sunday (October 2, 2011), Michael Moore was featured on the interview and call-in show IN DEPTH on C-Span’s BookTV. […]

Ab-using measurement (education testing, & misreading a JAMA report)

True or false: New research shows that for older people, a faster gait leads to a longer life. Answer:  False — despite news coverage to the contrary (apparently). Since this is a blog about curriculum-related matters, I want to start by explaining why this post is even here. Then I will review the story about […]

Defending science, history, etc.: A promising precedent?

It seems to me that the case of David Rudovsky and Leonard Sosnov v. West Publishing Corporation (United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania 2010), provides an intruiging suggestion for defending genuine science and social studies materials for school curriculum. A December 21 article in the Philadelphia Inquirer reports the outcome of this case. In […]

Welcome, Rachel Maddow

Rachel Maddow is dropping in on us to do her show from here, tomorrow night, Tues. October 5. I’m not kidding. The announcement is here, on her blog. She will be broadcasting from the Deer Park tavern here in Newark, Delaware, which is right next to the Willard Hall Education Building, home of the University […]

TN Biology textbook challenged (with videos)

Knoxville parent Kurt Zimmermann (often misspelled “Zimmerman”) has generated a lot of buzz over his challenge to a high school biology text, because of its reference to creationism as a “myth.” After Zimmermann’s request to have the book thrown out was reviewed and rejected by Knoxville’s Farragut High School, he appealed their decision to the […]

“We Report, You Decide” (with video)

Check out this video under the Headline History Being Rewritten? Texas textbooks: Hearings being held to change history textbooks on foxnews.com: “Reporting” from Austin, Fox’s Peter Doocy says it’s “kinda scary” if people are going to be teaching about things in history “in a way that’s favorable to their views.” “Who’s behind this?”  host (“news […]

wingnuts cry “bias” on AP report (with links to audio and video)

At a right-wing blog titled “Wolf Howling,” there’s a post titled “AP Goes APE Over Texas School Book Changes,” attacking April Castro for her coverage of the Texas State Board of Education’s demolition of the state’s social studies standards. “Wolfhowling” writes: The author, Ms. Castro, does not want to admit that what we are seeing […]

“Are Too Many Students Going to College?”

The cover feature for the November 13 issue of the Chronicle Review section of the The Chronicle of Higher Education is a forum on the question: “Are Too Many Students Going to College?” People are sure to differ in their judgments as to how that question should be answered. What I want to call attention […]

CERU: 12th Annual Report on Schoolhouse Commercialism Trends

The Commercialism in Education Research Unit, a partner center of the Education Policy Research Unit at Arizona State University, has released Click: The Twelfth Annual Report on Schoolhouse Commercialism Trends: 2008-2009. The word “Click” is part of the title this year (not just part of the link), since this year’s report is concerned with children […]

Mooney & the “new atheists”: another round

Another round in the ongoing Neuatheismusstreit was touched off by an opinion piece in the L.A. Times by Chris Mooney and Sheril Kirshenbaum, authors of the new book Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens Our Future. They write: It often appears as though Dawkins and his followers–often dubbed the New Atheists, though some object to […]

NY Times: “Flexbooks” displacing textbooks

Lewin reports that “Textbooks have not gone the way of the scroll yet, but many educators say that it will not be long before they are replaced by digital versions — or supplanted altogether by lessons assembled from the wealth of free courseware, educational games, videos and projects on the Web.”

This is interesting in many ways. For one thing, it underscores the necessity of having teachers who understand their subjects well. “Flexbooks” could greatly increase the importance of the teachers relative to state boards and legislatures.

Luskin on FoxTV: 100% of textbooks wrong on evolution

From Newshounds (“We watch Fox so you don’t have to”): http://www.newshounds.us/2009/05/07/foxfriends_interview_intelligent_design_spokesman_to_critique_textbook_treatment_of_evolution_fair_and_balanced_or_bizarro_world.php

001.9 (more on creationism & the Dewey Decimal System)

The Sensuous Curmudgeon has pursued the question of creationism and the Dewey Decimal system, commenting that If the DDC were working as your Curmudgeon thinks it should, all Discoveroid books would be given whatever DDC number is appropriate for books about the Bermuda Triangle and Alien Abductions. This is one of those things that probably […]

Intelligent Design and the Dewey Decimal system

I felt a vague recollection of something involving ID and Dewey Decimal some time ago. Thanks to Google Desktop, I was able to come up with better than vague memories. Here are the links:

Ebert slams Ben Stein’s Expelled

Ebert begins his column titled Win Ben Stein’s mind: I’ve been accused of refusing to review Ben Stein’s documentary “Expelled,” a defense of Creationism, because of my belief in the theory of evolution. Here is my response. For more on Ben Stein and Expelled:

more on Ben Stein: “Darwinism cannot explain gravity”

============== Added Feb. 1, 2009: Here’s the current form of an amendment that Texas State Board of Ed Chairman McLeroy (with an egregious quote-mining rampage) got added to the current draft of the Texas science standards, as approved at First Reading Jan. 23, to be put to a final vote in March: [Students will] Analyze […]

fair, or “balanced”?

Some observers have commented that nothing new or noteworthy emerged from the November 19, 2008 session of the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE). Well, maybe this isn’t new, but I think it deserves notice: Despite the overwhelming imbalance of testimony favoring standards that would support the teaching of real science in Texas, newspaper stories […]