The Mad Biologist strikes gold every Sunday
Mining a particularly rich source of interesting stuff to read
Every Sunday I look forward to Mike the Mad Biologist’s Sunday Links. He divides his links into scientific and general-interest, and comes up with great stuff. Here’s a sample:
- Students not knowing how to learn: Thanks, NCLB”
This past Monday my three non-AP classes had their first quiz, on the first chapter of the material in the textbook. It was worth 25 points for 25 answers. It is the same quiz I have given each of the previous two years, since we got a new textbook and began teaching Government in the 10th grade. The first year the scores were perhaps a bit weak, last year a bit weaker, and this year they plummeted. And I have no doubt as to the reason. It is due to No Child Left Behind. If you want a brief exploration of the impact of this horrid piece of legislation, keep reading…
- The real hypocrisy of Idaho’s conservatives
In a foreshadowing of Risch’s comment about the New Orleans victims, the author Marc Reisner ... quotes one of the Teton dam’s earlier opponents about the culture of this part of Idaho: they “get burned up when they hear about someone buying a bottle of mouthwash with food stamps. But they love big water projects. They only object to nickle-and-dime welfare. They love it in great big gobs…“
There’s lots more where that came from. Go read!
How old is NCLB? I am a Sales Engineer ... er, babysitter for sales people ... and I see evidence of lack of cognitive skills that are beyond my admittedly meagre imagination. These folks are in their 20s on up, so I shudder to think that NCLB is exacerbating the situation.
Example: Sales rep rushes over to my desk, almost breathless. “I just sent you an email, I wanted to check if you got it.“
I check and sure enough, an email arrived 7 seconds ago. I hadn’t seen it because I was busy websurfing for ways to kill myself without causing my wife to cry.
Posted by WeeDram on 09/05/07 at 07:43 PM
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