{If you want to learn, you must practice REPITITION AND CORRECTION. Understanding is the REWARD for repetition.}

EXACTLY!

I see the Liberals pushing for "discovery" math while the Asians have the kids memorize. Later, after the kids know all the facts reflexively, then they can start the applications.

But this "discovery" nonsense SOUNDS great, and the Liberal educators add all sorts of platitudes: "Involvement," "enhances learning," "learn by discovery," "more meaningful," blah, blah, blah.

In the meantime, the Asian kids are pulling farther and farther and farther ahead, and the teenager at the cash register can't give change unless the register tells him how much.....

{Nations that put more funding into their public education.}

Perhaps you should have read the post above. The FACT is that the US, per student, has the second highest funding IN THE ENTIRE WORLD. (Among industralized countries, that is.) The only country that beats us is Switzerland.

And the Liberal wants "more." Yes, a characteristic of Left-wingers is More, More, More....

America is a storefront for the Corporate mob.

Morris Berman is well known as an innovative cultural historian and social critic, and
has held visiting professorships in the U.S. and Europe.

He is the author of The Reinchantment of the World, Coming To Our Senses, and
Wandering God: A Study in Nomadic Spirituality.

{My kid have a lot of spelling homework. Considering that the English language is one the most fucked up and an inconsistent languages on the planet, I can see why. Kids are encouraged to spell words the way they sound so they can understand sentence structure first. Spelling is not as important in the beginning.}

Yes, English has irregularities: Oven is spelled with an "ov," so why isn't "of" spelled "ov," etc.

That said, it is reasonably regular, and research has found that in the early grades, a phonetic approach is the best to develop beginning reading. And spelling reinforces this.

Check this out. It is a free research-based program that is used SUCCESSFULLY by schools across the country. Don't take MY word for it, even though I was part of a team that successfully implemented this in a Florida county.

https://dibels.uoregon.edu/

{2+2 was never 5 in my kids homework. The math my children are performing today is more advanced than what I was learning in school at the same grade. }

Is the school teaching some kind of "discovery math?" That is a Left-winger program. Not good. Kids need to memorize math facts, not "discover" them. The dumb movie, "Dead Poets' Society" has done harm to education, with the treacle about the students having to be "creative" and other bafflegab....

{Parents should teach morality and NOT the school?}

Of course. Heck, Left-wingers are putting pressure to have teachers tell children that their parents are wrong, especially about issues concerning sex, marriage, and capitalism.

We're beginning to bet how many sentences it will take you to blame Liberals for whatever problem is being discussed. Whatever the number, we know that you will trot out such whining very, very soon, instead of engaging in intelligent discussion on the topic. Then again, you've proved repeatedly that intelligent argument is well beyond your capabilities, so blaming Liberals is the only road open to you.

{It began from the mid-1960s. Something else began at that time: The rise of the LIBERAL welfare state ...}

You've put forward this simplistic idea. Again, I confront you with the obvious question, "If it is the Liberal Welfare State that "dumbs down" a society, why is it that the countries with the best performance in reading, writing,, and math are the Scandinavian Social Democracies?

Moreover, the countries that lag farthest behind us are ones that have spent even less than the U.S. on social welfare programs.

The obvious conclusion is that the GOP kept us from going far enough with social welfare programs.

Last time, if I recall, you tried to say that it's those nice homogenous (read: all white) societies that let the Scandinavians "overcome" the evils of Socialism. If all those blondes figured out the miracle powers of laissez-faire capitalism, they'd be ruling the world I suppose. Golly, I hope they don't find out!

I am given to understand, by those that know these things, that you are not even an American citizen and actually live in a foreign country and that you are a mentally unstable person looking for attention on various websites because those in your native homeland shun persons with disabilities. Is this true...you poor thing ?

Don't respond to it, only encourages it and gives it input for it's own blog in it's native country.

{you are not even an American citizen}

Your rage is not appropriate for someone who does not agree with your political point of view.

{and actually live in a foreign country}

Please broaden your horizons. People from one country sometimes live in others for periods of time for education, work, adventure, study, business, curiosity and all sorts of reasons. It truly does broaden one mind. Another thing: It helps understand one's own country and society much more. Even Jefferson, upon returning from France, wrote about it.

{those in your native homeland shun persons with disabilities.}

Interesting comment. I am a disabled veteran. Why would you mock that?

This is a political forum, not an educational one. If it were educational, we could have a discussion about why the issue of promoting "self-esteem" was a failed idea that still permeates and affects our educational system.

But since this is a political forum, I simply referred to the origins of the self-esteem movement.

But, if you want to discuss something like that - self esteem per se and how it has affected education - be my guest. But don't use the excuse that I just blame Liberals for everything to duck out of a reasoned and mature exchange, OK?

{I confront you with the obvious question, "If it is the Liberal Welfare State that "dumbs down" a society, why is it that the countries with the best performance in reading, writing,, and math are the Scandinavian Social Democracies? }

I cannot account for them because I do not know their educational system. YOU are drawing an unsupported conclusion that "since they have socialist-type of government and do well in academics, then the cause must be socialism." But they had this kind of system in a homogenous society for a long, long time, of course. A homogenous society!

I refer to America, and when it changed. What were the variables going on in the society at the time, and how did they affect the educational system, general thinking, and so on?

Heck, Japan did well in education after the Meiji reforms, a time of burgeoning Fascism, and the Nazis did well. Explain that if you want to draw your flimsy conclusions and associations about educational systems that we really do not know about. Why not stick to what we do know? I assume you were in the American educational system and have seen the changes.

Again, I will most certainly regret putting some effort into writing this post.....

What country is that, Troll-sylvania?

{I cannot account for them because I do not know their educational system.}

You can not account for them because the facts don't fit your ideology. Therefore you must suppose that there are other, mysterious forces at work mitigating the unquestionably corrosive societal effects of their collectivist societies.

Alas, it is not that complex. Democratic Socialism produces better results than Bankster Capitalism.

Simple. True. Objectively observable.

{it is not that complex. Democratic Socialism produces better results than Bankster Capitalism.}

Free-market capitalism, the system you want to destroy, outperforms both. But Socialism is by far the the most evil system devised by humans. Add all the jargon and adjectives to try to hide what it really is, add "democratic" to obfuscate the real agenda. It is only to deceive. If you take an HONEST look at how this farce of "democratic" SOCIALISM came about, you will see nothing but SOCIALISTS who found that they have to compromise and will jump at the chance to force entire societies to have COMPLETE SOCIALISM if it is possible, like a cancer being held back, in remission, and just waiting for a chance to spread its ugly, destructive tentacles in the host and destroy it, devour it.

LOL - U confuse Trollsylvania with Ireland, which Mishima reports is his
'native original homeland'. That he has Irish Passport to come and go to
America now he is in Japan.

He be moving back to America in two years.

"Full blood Irish ancestory" is wot Mish told me.
Confused? I still am.

"U confuse Trollsylvania with Ireland"

Ahh, I did not know the Irish part. I have seen him refer to being an ex-pat in Japan; and have also seen others who claim to know him dispute that. Maybe the Irish bit too and forgot.

I probably should not have responded to that comment anyway. It wasn't in the best taste now that I reread it. And I don't know all the history between some of these folks who seem to know each other. But thanks for the info anyway.

Das okay Gordie, I feel same way at times.

Bot Mishima DID relate to me about Ireland and all becuz i asked him once
on his Good News from Japan webpage; seems like so long ago.

We now see common misspelled words on CNN , for example, or on labels in
super markets (CAESER SALAD).

A sign outside a hospital in Washington D.C.- INFANT, CHILDERN, & ADULT CARE.

And way too many writers don't know what a Style Guide is, either:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Style_guide

http://www.amazon.com/The-Elements-Style-4th-Edition/dp/0205313426
/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1361741558&sr=8-1&keywords=style+guide+strunk

You are right and what was the first bunch of shit from this morning?

The morning newspaper.

Yellow journalism.

Excerpt from Twilight of American Culture:
"If my colllegue at Midwest U now has a student who never read a novel, how long
before he has a student who asks him, "What's a novel?"

Infact, millions of Americans already don't know the difference between 'fiction'
and 'non-fiction'.

In this regard, it is terrifying to note that within a few short months in 1997, Books
& Co., one of the last great independent bookstores in New York had to fold.
Harper-Collins cancelled the contracts of more than one hundred of its authors
and sold Basic Books, it's "intellectual division" and an academic gem and the
New York Times ran an article reporting that so-called midlist-authors - those who
don't write best sellers ( what I would guess amounts to more than 99 per cent
of American writers) were now being heavily rejected by major publishing firms.

Corporate take-over of intellectual property has become quite dramatic and it has
resulted in the replacement of intelligent citizens by mindless consumers, and
a corresponding conceptual flattening of public discourse.

According to journalist and media expert, Ben Bagdikian, whereas in 1981
twenty corporationis controlled over half of the 11,000 magazines published
in the U.S., by 1988 the number had dropped to three."

According to the Wall St. Journal (3-31-89) only 10 percent of applicants in Chicago
were about to meet the the minimum literacy standard for mail clerk jobs, and the
Motorola Corporation reported that 80 per cent of all applicants screened
nationally failed a test of 7th grade English and 5th grade math.

Nobody cares either.

True!
Even worse? Some will *even* brag about the fact that they don't care.

Nobody cares perhaps, but Morris Berman is puttin' it out there for those who
aren't aware of how far we've slumped, can become aware when they do read
his book.

Wot? Either one does or they don't (care), and if they do and don't know of
things like this; it's like becoming more enlightened and doing their part in what
they kin do.

A friend of mine who works for Northwest Mutual, began a 'book a day' reading
to children of employees of the company and stoking their interest in books.

Even small, grass roots programs in neighborhoods help preserve those
things that were once counted on to be in place.

I would think that the 'braggarts' areof the actual 'flatliner' and/or Dead Zone
mindsets. What legacy are they leaving their chlildren?

Would u want to become acquanited with these type of people? Non-conceptual
conversations........meaningless.......or toxic gossip that fill their days.

That it does, vic, that it does. That's why college level students and graduates
are often 'dumber than a 5th grader.'

No, I wouldn't, matka. Especially, the ones who feel compelled to divulge so many aspects of their personal lives on PUBLIC sites.

I just think it goes far beyond public or even private education. It's easy to point the finger at one particular aspect of this phenomenon, but there's a whole lot more going on.

Point. Yeah.

Look into two things:

1. When the decline started.

2. What the changes were - in education and in society.

And yet I read this morning that graduation rates are up in this country. The majority of students entering MD's two year colleges have to take remedial math AND english.

And u read.