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Do Homeschoolers Need Teaching Credentials? I’ve got a Pajamas Media column on the California appellate ruling that bans homeschooling by uncredentialed parents. I believe homeschooling is here to stay. If the ruling isn’t overturned on appeal, it will be overruled by the state Legislature.

David Friedman, “academic economist who teaches at a law school and has never taken a course for credit in either field,” noted Justice H. Walter Croskey’s call for indoctrination.

“A primary purpose of the educational system is to train school children in good citizenship, patriotism and loyalty to the state and the nation as a means of protecting the public welfare,” Croskey wrote.

Friedman writes about unschooling his children. His daughter is now applying to college, using her SAT scores — and a very long list of the books she’s read — in lieu of grades.

Joanne Jacobs
Author of “Our School: The Inspiring Story of Two Teachers, One Big Idea, and the Charter School That Beat the Odds.”
Ashworth University Contributing Blogger

*Joanne Jacobs’ solution-based perspectives on education reform have earned her a reputation as one of the most trusted education bloggers on the web. We’re honored to have Joanne as a member of our AU contributing bloggers’ network. For more insights into Joanne’s life and work, please visit her highly informative website here and check out her acclaimed book linked above. Thanks Joanne!

In yet another sign that the home school education movement is gaining mainstream acceptance, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California has denounced a court ruling restricting the rights of parents who want to home school their children.  The following article outlines the details of this developing story.  Scharzenegger referred to the ruling in question as “outrageous” and stated that “parents should have the right to decide what’s best for their children.”  We here at Ashworth University applaud the Governor’s stance against the governmental regulation of parents’ rights and are happy to see the home school movement continue to gain momentum on the national stage.  As always, if you have any questions about Ashworth University’s Home School initiatives, please feel free to contact us at any time.  Dr. Lisa Bryde, our manager of Research and Curriculum Development, will be happy to advise you on what homeschool options best fit your family’s needs. 

You can contact Dr. Lisa Bryde at: 

lbryde@ashworthuniversity.edu

Ryan Rode
Interactive Services Manager
Ashworth University

Making students accountable for test scores works well on a bumper sticker and it allows many politicians to look good by saying that they will not tolerate failure. But it represents a hollow promise. Far from improving education, high- stakes testing marks a major retreat from fairness, from accuracy, from quality, and from equity.
- Sen. Paul Wellstone (1944-2002)

Standardized testing is quite the hot topic, to say the least. I remember spending pretty much the entire semester of Tests & Measures in college debating the validity of standardized tests.

A lot of educational institutions are being accused of “teaching to the test”. If you have to teach to a test, then obviously the test isn’t really testing what it should be, right?

Standardized tests are used for different purposes. We won’t get into the political purposes right now, but we all know that those exist. In elementary, middle, and high schools, they are used to make sure that students are performing at an appropriate level, and they are used to place students in appropriate courses at the appropriate level. These tests should be testing grade-level knowledge, reasoning and problem solving ability, writing skills, etc. A well constructed test does just that – it tests whether or not the test taker has certain knowledge and skills and can apply that knowledge and those skills.

Special thanks to SideLong for permission to use this photo.

I have seen student records where a student is earning decent grades in math courses like Algebra and Geometry, but then they are unable to pass a state exit exam in math. What is the problem here? Is it that the students are not actually learning the material? Are grades being “given” to students? I find it impossible to believe that a student can earn a B in Algebra I and Geometry and then fail a math exit exam that most likely only skims the surface of basic Algebra and Geometry. Is the test bad or are the courses bad?

The only thing I really have to go on to answer that question is that the tests are standardized while the courses are not. We see students across counties and states performing at or above level in their high school courses and then failing exit exams. What are these tests actually testing? I’m not saying the courses themselves are perfect, I doubt they are. Improvements on these courses that are being made are based on how students are performing on these tests though, and that is a little scary. Courses should be designed so that the student learns and understands the material, and the tests should be designed to make sure they have done just that.

If we are teaching to tests, especially bad tests, we are really failing our students.

Nicole Burris
Associate Registrar
Ashworth University

Special thanks to Jan_Tik for permission to use this photo.

Susan Jacoby thinks we’re a “nation of dunces” who are smug about our ignorance.

“There is no quick cure for this epidemic of arrogant anti-rationalism and anti-intellectualism; rote efforts to raise standardized test scores by stuffing students with specific answers to specific questions on specific tests will not do the job.”

Jules Crittenden responds to Jacoby’s slur on schools

“About achievement testing, it’s much decried by those who say it is unfair to the underprivileged, non-English speakers, over-simplifies, forces teachers to teach to the test, etc. I’d suggest it’s unfair to those who don’t study. Requiring children to actually demonstrate knowledge of math, English and science in order to graduate may be the single greatest educational innovation of our time, forcing schools that had demonstrably not been teaching at all to at least teach for the test. And rather than simply encouraging rote instruction, the testing impetus has required teachers to see to it that students grasp the basics and become literate if they hope to graduate, something our prior system did not.”

There’s nothing new about American politicians appealing to the common man. It’s a chicken in every pot, not a copy of War and Peace, after all. I don’t think we’re stupider than in the past, if only because the bar is very low. We certainly have many more years of schooling. (more…)

 
              Thanks to juanjoseixas for permission to use this Photo.

With the public school system failing, one wonders whether the federally mandated emphasis on pass/fail standardized testing (reactive) rather than ian investment in the comprehensive reform of our educational models (proactive) is anything more than a political “red herring.”  The following video features an influential educator by the name of Ken Robinson.  Mr. Robinson eloquently discusses the creativity crisis that our schools are suffering from and proposes possible alternatives to policies that undermine student creativity rather than provide an environment conducive to its’ development.  At Ashworth University High School, we take great pride in our ability to customize our program studies to meet the diverse learning styles of our students.  We’d love to hear from our home school parents out there.  Please share your perspectives in the comments section of this post.  We’ll talk again soon.

Ryan Rode
Ashworth University

Schools across the country are eliminating technical or general level diploma tracks in high schools, and forcing all students to take college prep level courses. I remember reading this article a while back, concerning the issue, and it really shocked me.

High school tech classes to vanish by 2009

While I see nothing wrong with improving the quality of general and technical courses in public high schools, I see a big problem with eliminating them.

Not everyone goes to college.

Someone who has absolutely no plan of attending college in the future should not have to take a college prep English course. In the workplace, you do not need to know how to write an analytical essay on Shakespeare or know how to do Calculus. You do need to know how to write, and you do need math skills, but not necesarily the skills you would acquire in a college prep course, or college prep diploma track. On the same note, I do want to stress that I see nothing wrong with someone who does not plan to attend college gaining analytical skills. I just think that we all learn differently, we all have different goals and plans, and courses and diploma tracks should reflect this.

I believe in options. Without options, students will become discouraged and be more likely to drop out of school. We can’t expect everyone to fit into a box.

Special thanks to sooperkuh for permission to use this photo.

Don’t worry, Ashworth University High School has no plans of eliminating our general program, and we actually hope to add a technical diploma in the future. We believe that is it important to work with the diverse student population that is out there, not try to force them into a “one size fits all” education plan.

Nicole Burris
Associate Registrar
Ashworth University

 
               Thanks to Kafkaesque for permission to use this Photo.

Forbes magazine recently featured a commentary piece by Bill Gates on expanding educational opportunities.  Gates speaks very candidly about his concerns for education– which include a lack of skills based training, a shortage of qualified teachers, and his overarching belief that our education model/system suffers from what he terms a “problem of scale.”  Fortunately, Gates’ feels confident that technology and all its’ potential applications can be the most effective tool in balancing issues of scale.  Many of us often overlook the philanthropic contributions of the world’s richest man.  We must note that he has literally invested billions of dollars in educational incentive programs.  Let us know what you think about Gates’ prescription for change.  You may be surprised how inspiring his vision for education turns out to be.

Ryan Rode
Interactive Services Manager
Ashworth University

     
              Thanks to Joline Anthea for permission to use this Photo.

I wrote a blog post yesterday on the brilliance of wi-fi access in the car.  I don’t want to beat a dead horse, but an added detail won’t hurt.  To make a long story short, as wireless router technology advances, so are the spaces, from airplanes to hotel bathrooms, where we can connect to the Internet.  Subsequently, the following story about wi-fi enabled school buses in Arkansas, never a state at the top of the educational charts, struck me as a surprisingly timely and positive educational adoption of web based applications.  The students profiled are mainly classified as “gifted”; I must confess to a slight cynicism when school systems seem to “test” such technologies on their highest performers rather than the crowd at large, so-called “average” students whose’ participation will arguably be a more accurate indication of general acceptance than the gifted or “exception” student body.  I shouldn’t be cynical though; this initiative will open up more doors than it will close.  From this perspective, education is a numbers game.    Are the school buses in your area equipped with wi-fi?  If so, please let our home school community know how it’s working out. 

Ryan Rode
Interactive Services Manager
Ashworth University

There’s an interesting change afoot, and it relates to the use of social networking in education.

MySpace and Facebook are just two examples of social networking sites, but unfortunately, their early prominence has created a stigma around social networking that the technology itself doesn’t deserve. The understandable concerns created by these early and popular networks have overshadowed some amazing changes that are taking place in educational environments when the tools of social networking are being used with students and teachers.

“Social Networks” are really just collections of Web 2.0 technologies combined in a way that help to build online communities. In December, Classroom 2.0, the social network I started for educators interested in Web 2.0 and collaborative technologies, won the 2007 EduBlog Award for “best use of a social network for educational purposes” and now has nearly 5,000 members. The twist here, of course, is that Classroom 2.0 is a network for teachers (yes, adults, those sometimes called “digital immigrants!) who are interested in the use of Web 2.0 in the classroom and who are using the site for personal professional development. The ability to have productive, engaging dialog with others in a community is a natural fit for all ages in education. (more…)

The primary objective of Ashworth University’s home school blog is to provide our home school parents with information, resources, and analyses on the contemporary educational environment that their children experience.  We attempt to be a support system for you, parents of a different generation, that will be seen as a trusted resource you can depend on to better understand the techno-social trends influencing every aspect of our educational system.  In terms of concise explanations of the Internet’s most popular and mainstream  social media applications, the media production company, Commoncraft, is perhaps second to none with their accessible videos designed to teach novices exactly how things work.  In this video, the general concepts behind online photo sharing services are broken down in simple terms.  Photo publishing/syndication technologies are second nature to your child’s generation, so we recommend that you become as informed as possible.  It only takes a few minutes to familiarize your self with the basics.  Click on the image above to watch this video and be sure to share your thoughts.

Ryan Rode
Interactive Services Manager
Ashworth University