4 Red States Defy National Education Trends, See Higher Math, Reading Scores

4 Red States Defy National Education Trends, See Higher Math, Reading Scores by Kevin Stocklin at The Daily Signal. Test scores for America’s grade schools continue to show a dismal decline in basic reading and math skills, but four red states that were once seen as laggards are now bucking the nationwide trend…Mississippi, Louisiana, Indiana, and Tennessee have achieved consistent improvement in their kids’ scores. Education experts say much of this is about getting back to basics in how these subjects are taught, while maintaining tough standards for students and teachers. Read

U.S. Education Dept. Unites Conservative Groups to Create 'Patriotic' Civics Content by Sequoia Carrillo at NPR. The U.S. Department of Education announced a partnership Wednesday with more than 40 conservative organizations to create programming around civics aimed at the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the United States. This coalition "will take bold steps to educate, inspire, and mobilize youth toward active and informed citizenship," U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a press release. Read

Student Safety: Can Other States Learn From California on School Security Funding? by Jonah McKeown at National Catholic Register. As concerns over political violence continue to simmer in the wake of the Aug. 27 Annunciation school shooting, Catholic schools and parishes throughout the nation are actively reevaluating their security protocols — hiring professional security teams, enlisting volunteers, and doing long-overdue technological upgrades — with many wondering where the funds for these upgrades will come from. In California, a program instituted only a couple of years ago and boosted by the state Catholic conference has already pumped hundreds of thousands of dollars into the state’s Catholic schools for security improvements. Read

“You have 18 months” by Derek Thompson at The Argument. The problem of the next 18 months isn’t AI disemploying all workers, or students losing competition after competition to nonhuman agents. The problem is whether we will degrade our own capabilities in the presence of new machines. We are so fixated on how technology will outskill us that we miss the many ways that we can deskill ourselves. Read

The Problem with Our Infinite Appetite for Distractions by Neil Postman and Jeanne Schindler at Humanum Review. As Huxley remarked in Brave New World Revisited, the civil libertarians and rationalists who are ever on the alert to oppose tyranny “failed to take into account man’s almost infinite appetite for distractions.” In 1984, Huxley added, people are controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New World, they are controlled by inflicting pleasure. In short, Orwell feared that what we hate will ruin us. Huxley feared that what we love will ruin us. Read

The Art of the Proof (ft. J. Jacob Tawney) by Mark Bauerlein at First Things. In the ​latest installment of the ongoing interview series with contributing editor Mark Bauerlein, J. Jacob Tawney joins in to discuss his recent book, Another Sort of Mathematics: Selected Proofs Necessary to Finally Acquire an Education in Mathematics. Listen

What Is Freedom? by Alvaro de Vicente at The Heights Forum. Freedom is an ideal that people are instinctively drawn to. At the same time, the word is often used in unclear ways. Especially in a political context, people are quick to defend freedom with great energy—but rarely do they attempt to define it. As a foundational concept for the education and formation of boys, it is worth spending time reflecting on what freedom is. Read

Pro Tips (and a Good Read) to Get Catholic Kids Interested in Praying the Rosary by Katie Warner at National Catholic Register. “[Sacramentals] aren’t just ‘extras’ in the Catholic faith — they’re powerful reminders of spiritual realities, and I hope this series will help to inspire a new generation of Catholic children and parents to use these gifts often,” says Shaun McAfee, author of the new book St. Dominic and the Holy Rosary (TAN Books). Read

Trendy Parenting vs. Real Life: What Actually Works by Rachael Killackey at Refine. This past weekend, I was browsing a favorite used bookstore in search of a particular parenting book. The shelves in the parenting section were packed with options—including the one I had set out to find—and I was struck by the guarantees in their titles. From raising “successful” children to incorporating Montessori practices from birth to teaching kids anti-racism, each book claimed something different was foundational to parenting. While many contained real wisdom, many also presented themselves—through titles and descriptions—as the only way to parent. Read

The Heart of Culture: A Brief History of Western Education Review by Thomas Jay at ClassicalEd Review. At just over 100 pages, this slim volume published by the Habiger Institute for Catholic Leadership at the University of St. Thomas (Minnesota) is an excellent primer on the crucial role education has played in the formation and perpetuation of Western culture. Admittedly, such a brief account “can only hope to sketch in the broad outlines of the Western educational narrative.” Nevertheless, this book is highly informative, highlighting important milestones in the development of Western education over the past 2500 years from the Greek ideal of paideia to Renaissance humanism to the Enlightenment, John Dewey, and progressive education. Read

Newman, the North Star for the Renewal of Education by George A. Harne at The Imaginative Conservative. From the plenitude of St. John Henry Newman’s works and the commentary on them, at least five principles may be highlighted as a kind of constellation, principles that are inexhaustible sources for reflection. Each can be further investigated in Newman’s The Idea of a University and his less well-known but equally important Rise and Progress of Universities, works that should be read in conjunction. And though these works are devoted to education at the level of the college and university, the principles drawn from these books can easily be transposed to earlier stages of education. Read

Featured: Leading a Discussion on the U.S. Constitution by Mary Frances Loughran at Cana Academy. Leading a Discussion on the U.S. Constitution is an excellent companion to our guides Leading a Discussion on the Declaration of Independence and Leading a Discussion on the Federalist Papers. It also stands alone as a rich guide to the United States Constitution all by itself. This comprehensive guide gives the complicated historical and philosophical context for the writing of the document; a treatment of the greatest debates surrounding the founding; important discussion questions; possible essay assignments; and appendices and a bibliography for further study. Learn More

Throwback Thursday

How Music Training Speeds Up Brain Development In Children by Assal Habibi at Intellectual Takeout on August 29, 2016. Over the past two decades, several investigators have reported differences in the brain and behavior of musicians compared to nonmusicians. Music training has been found to be related to better language and mathematical skills, higher IQ and overall greater academic achievement. Also, differences between musicians and nonmusicians have been found in areas of the brain related to hearing and movement, among others. Read