The Peninsula (Qatar's Leading English Daily) -- August 31, 2007

DOHA — "The Supreme Education Council (SEC) is giving final touches to a soon-to-be-released comprehensive review report on Qatar's ongoing education reform ... Titled 'Education for a New Era: Preparing Qatar for the Future', the 100-odd page document contains five main sections that chronicle the history, accomplishments and challenges of the country's reform in the education sector, said SEC sources ... Launched in 2003, the ambitious reform initiative was aimed at a radical restructuring of Qatar's public education system. SEC believes that in four short years, the reform has made rapid progress incorporating curriculum standards that meet international benchmarks, establishing autonomous schools that foster creativity and critical thinking and developing evaluation tools that provide the ability to report and track schools progress." -- Read the Full Article

Inside Higher Ed -- August 31, 2007
by Scott Jaschick

"When newly minted Ph.D.’s get their first chance not only to teach sections of intro political science (as they did in grad school), but to pick the books, they are quickly confronted with a reality about their students: 'They don’t read the textbook, ever,' said Ryan Lee Teten, assistant professor of political science at Northern Kentucky University ... At the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association Thursday in Chicago, Teten talked about his frustration over this, to nods of agreement in the audience. When he read the textbook (he didn’t name it, but said it was one of the standards for intro courses), he wasn’t much surprised by the students’ reactions. 'If I’m falling asleep reading this....' he said ... At a session on innovative teaching techniques, Teten described how he has replaced the textbook with Jon Stewart’s America the Book, while other panelists described the use of oral exams in undergraduate courses, and a variety of strategies to encourage students to become more involved in their own education ... Student involvement is certainly a major goal of Teten’s. He noted that students today are cynical about government and don’t trust traditional news sources — but as evidenced by the popularity of Stewart’s “The Daily Show” and other Comedy Central offerings, they do have an interest in the news ... When Teten received a copy of 'America the Book' as a Christmas present, he started thinking about whether it could be a substitute for the textbooks. On one criterion for making the switch — would students read the book? — Teten said the choice was easy. But he stressed that he also wanted to consider whether the book would provide a good introduction to the key topics an intro course should cover, and whether it would encourage critical thinking." -- Read the Full Article

The Cornell Daily Sun -- August 30, 2007
by Gabriel Arana

"In a Sun column some time ago, a graduating senior prided himself on having gone through Cornell and having remained a 'conservative' — one of the few on a campus that pushes the 'liberal agenda.' Reflecting on his experience in the community, he lamented that while racial, ethnic and sexual diversity are plentiful at Cornell, the campus is unfortunately bereft of 'ideological diversity' ... While this paean to diversity invokes all the positive associations of the term, 'ideological diversity' is at heart deeply anti-intellectual ... I can only think that this student went through Cornell and missed the point. This is a person who spent four years dividing students into 'liberal' and 'conservative,' for whom these terms connoted not incongruous and unstable collections of ideas, but a single, fixed identity. Moreover, this identity had to be defended, kept pure from the miasma of the (essentially corrupting) university atmosphere ...Modern universities stand as symbols of confidence in human thought, dedicated to the Enlightenment belief that 'veritas vos liberatum.' They serve as fora where complex ideas are produced, examined, challenged and put to the test ... Students who consider themselves conservative should feel comfortable expressing themselves on campus. Some of the persecution complex is endemic to the worldview of a moral crusader, but as has been discussed in the national media, professors will often crack a political joke that relies on the assumption of shared political values, something that happened in a lecture I attended this past week. A Republican falls outside of the circle of humor in a joke made at the Republican Party. These 'paper cuts' matter ... I don’t think one can — or should — eliminate politics from the classroom; important ideas will always have political valences. But it is intellectually lazy of professors to crack jokes without fully putting the issue on the table and giving students the opportunity to respond. And it is similarly a problem for ideologically identified students to come to college thinking the point is to defend their values. At a leading center of higher learning like Cornell, the real point should be to think critically about ideas and put down the banner. " -- Read the Full Article

Institute for War & Peace Reporting -- August 30, 2007
by Mariwan Hama-Saeed

"Equality and democracy in higher education must be practiced, not preached ... Higher education in Iraqi Kurdistan could prove to be a shining example to universities in the rest of the country, if significant changes are made to the way it is administered ... The Kurdish government has promised a bright future for its youth, with opportunities to study at excellent new universities, such as the American University of Iraq, to be built in Sulaimaniyah ... At the same time, higher education has benefited from the arrival of Arab academics who have fled sectarian violence in central and southern parts of the country, and Kurdish intellectuals who have returned from the Europe and elsewhere ... But the university system requires extensive reforms before it can serve Iraqi students. The region's universities are hindered by politics, corruption, a lack of resources and a culture that does not promote critical or independent thought ... These higher education problems — which are crippling Kurdistan on almost every level — could jeopardise the future of Iraqi Kurdistan and Iraq ... Over the next few decades, Iraq will continue to face many challenges that will require open-minded citizens who can think critically. In order to lead the country, the disillusioned younger generation needs to acquire the skills and knowledge that are currently not offered in Iraq’s Kurdish universities." -- Read the Full Article

The ChronicleHerald -- August 30, 2007
by Bill Howatt

Halifax, Nova Scotia — "A key ingredient for effective leadership is the ability to motivate and inspire a group of people to work together as a cohesive team. However, before a group of people can ever function as a highly functioning team, the group dynamics need to be addressed ... Group dynamics influence how a group of people interact, socialize and align their thinking, values and commitment. Teambuilding without a foundational understanding of group dynamics often falls short of achieving its potential ... Too many managers assume teams will mysteriously form without guidance and leadership, but any winning team must first bond and be aligned ... Some questions for a manager to ask themselves: 'How many successful teams have I had the privilege of being a part of?' and 'Why was the team a success?'... With critical thinking, the manager will discover the team did not just happen; it went through a process and evolved over time ... Each of the points below represents various group dynamic milestones that directly influence and impact how people put together to work as a team will ultimately perform." -- Read the Full Article

The Daily News Journal -- August 30, 2007
by Britney Reed

Murfreesboro, TN — "As a future educator, I was disheartened to read of the school system's continued support of and dependence on standardized tests such as the ACT (Aug. 16, "College-bound, but prepared?") ... Standardized tests, in their current multiple-choice format, do not gauge a student's competence in the areas tested; rather, they ask students to give clear-cut right answers to questions that require little to no critical thinking and higher-level reasoning. In other words, the tests require students to rely on short-term memory, cramming to memorize as many facts as possible in order to score well; facts that are later 'dumped,' forgotten almost as soon as the proctor says, 'Pencils down' ... What good does this cram-and-dump, unengaged approach to learning do students? Very little. Students often do not gain a deep understanding of the material they are supposed to know for college, and are often misrepresented by their scores. High scores do not necessarily represent students with high levels of intelligence or proficiency, since the tests really evaluate test-taking skills and rote memorization, and similarly, low scores should not automatically be assumed to belong to unprepared or incompetent students. However, these assumptions are routinely made, while year after year, new crops of young minds shell out their parents' cash to organizations like the College Board because in most, cases, they need a quantitative statement about their abilities — a numerical test score — to get into college ... Below-average test scores are not the problem. The problem is an educational system that funnels increasingly more time, funding and teacher energy into test-prep and 'higher standards.' Until educators and administrators wake up and realize that the accountability movement has gone horribly awry, and decide to actively affect change by refusing to bow down to the power of state-mandated and other forms of standardized testing, and focus instead on engaging students on a deeper level, more students will continue to troop off to college without the critical-thinking skills and passion for learning needed to succeed at the university level and beyond ... I strongly recommend that anyone who is interested in standardized testing, and everyone involved in education at any level, read 'The Overachievers' by Alexandra Robbins and the assorted works of Alfie Kohn, as one letter can in no way fully express the negative effects of standardized testing ... And for those who might wonder: I took the ACT as a high school junior and earned a composite score of 28. I also scored highly on both the SAT and the AP U.S. History exams. However, it is my belief that I would have been just as prepared for UT-Martin's honors program if I had not taken a single standardized test." -- Read the Full Article

The Exponent Online (Purdue Student Publishing Foundation) -- August 30, 2007
by Nadine Mahasneh
 

"On Wednesday, students from all over Purdue ripped open envelopes bursting with questions as they competed in the Digital Information Literacy Contest ... About 70 students signed up for the contest and had 30 minutes to answer 100 questions, which tested their Internet literacy. The three highest-scoring contestants received cash prizes. The main focus of the contest, held in Stanley Coulter Hall, was to use the Internet to find the answers, rather than test people's knowledge ... Daniel Poynter, a senior in the College of Liberal Arts and the main organizer of the event, said that there were two focuses, other than just testing a person's Internet research skills ... 'Our first focus is that we need people to be thinking critically now, more than ever,' Poynter said, 'to stop people who don't have our interests from pitching products to us that we don't need.'" -- Read the Full Article

American Thinker -- August 30, 2007
by David J Rusin

"The technology of war may change, but the nature of war is immutable. Wisdom passed down from the ancient masters can therefore provide powerful insights into the chief ideological, political, and military challenge of the twenty-first century ... Composed in China around 500 B.C., The Art of War remains one of the most seminal expositions on conflict, armed and otherwise. Among Sun Tzu's many contributions is his simple yet profound diagnosis that knowledge plays the key role in separating victors from the vanquished: 'If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.' Hence, while tactics proceed from strategies, strategies proceed from fundamentals: the who, what, and why of a given struggle ... Six years have passed since Islamic jihadists dramatically brought their war against Western civilization -- and indeed all civilized peoples -- to America's shores on the morning of September 11, 2001. How well do we know our enemy and ourselves in the wake of that terrible day? Moreover, how does our grasp of the fundamentals compare with that of the Islamists? Such assessments are vital, as compliance with Sun Tzu's maxim will determine the likely outcome of the Long War ... For the sake of concreteness, let us begin by defining the adversaries. On one side is a radical movement that operates under the banner of Islam, drawing inspiration from its scriptures, traditions, and jurisprudence. The ultimate objectives of this campaign are the reestablishment of the caliphate and the imposition of global Islamic rule, with preliminary mileposts to include the replacement of secular Arab and Asian governments with Taliban-style Islamic states, leading inexorably to the destruction of Israel. Despite a deep confessional divide, radical Sunnis and Shiites pursue common geopolitical ends ... Opposing them is the West, a society founded on Judeo-Christian values, the creativity of its Renaissance, and the critical thinking of its Enlightenment. The West is comprised of Europe and its many scions, and is led by the United States. In addition, a number of culturally non-Western countries have adopted the Western political and economic system, and are therefore allies in this conflict. Islamic radicals see the West as their overarching enemy for reasons both ideological and strategic: our freedoms are anathema to them and our power stands in the way of their global designs." -- Read the Full Article

About.Com (News & Issues) -- August 29, 2007
by K Kris Hirst

"The first tentative step forward towards archaeology as a science took place during the Enlightenment, also known as the Age of Reason. Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries was a time of great growth in scientific and natural exploration. Scientists, poets, philosophers, and painters reached into classical antiquity, particularly Greece, to wonder how rationalism, what they considered the supreme human reason, ever came to be realized. Human society everywhere must develop linearly, it was felt, beginning with stone tools, growing with the invention of agriculture, and ending with the pinnacle of human culture--European scientific society (at least according to European scientific society) ... The only systematic archaeological investigation during the Enlightenment project was Thomas Jefferson's excavations in Virginia in 1784; most antiquarians were content to theorize ... The Enlightenment ended with the American and French Revolutions, but the main concept of the Enlightenment--that of the 'Great Chain' of human cultural evolution--was to lead men (rich European men) to investigate the globe over the next century. Unfortunately, the concept of equality, that all societies were the same, just at different levels of evolution, was dropped. Instead, a classificatory system was developed, producing both studies of the individual histories of various societies, and a fierce underlying chauvinism in the scientists themselves of the 'natural' sovereignty of the European peoples ... One of those lit by the fires of the Enlightenment was Jacques Boucher de Perthes, a French customs officer. During the 1830s-1850s, he discovered a mess of extinct animal bones, numerous handaxes, and other artifacts in Ice Age deposits at the site of Abbeville along the Somme River in France, and had the nerve to call them 'Ante-Diluvian' (that is, 'before the flood'). To make any kind of claim questioning the purely factual basis of the Bible was, well, heresy. In 1847, de Perthes published a long rambling account of these artifacts, arguing that they were clear evidence that humanity was clearly older than 6,000 years. He was widely ignored until 12 years later when two British archaeologists visited Abbeville, found elephant bones in situ with stone axes, and published a treatise supporting de Perthe's assertions of the antiquity of humans." -- Read the Full Article

USA Today -- August 29, 2007
by Tom Krattenmaker

"Many of the leading voices among atheists and the 'unreligious' reveal a disdain for religion that can only damage today’s dialogue. Speaking with people of faith, instead of about them, would enrich both sides of this philosophical divide ... Critical thinking might be to secularism what faith is to devout religious believers. Thinking rationally, questioning assumptions, embracing complexity and eschewing the black-and-white — these habits of mind are, to the champions of non-belief, a keystone of the secular worldview and a crucial part of what separates them from religious people ... So why, when it comes to matters of religion, do secularists so frequently leave their critical thinking at the door?... As the atheist writer and religion scholar Jacques Berlinerblau recently put it, 'Can an atheist or agnostic commentator discuss any aspect of religion for more than 30 seconds without referring to religious people as imbeciles, extremists, mental deficients, fascists, enemies of the common good ... conjure men (or) irrationalists?' ... The behavior is unbecoming a school of thought that emphasizes rational complex thinking — and that has so much to offer if its practitioners can only live up to their own ideas about the value of an open mind ... The worst tendencies of atheists (who, by definition, believe God does not exist) and secularists (who are best described as 'unreligious') were framed for me during a recent e-mail exchange I had with a staff member of a humanist organization ... Discussing the relationship between science and religion, I had expressed my view that religion should leave scientific research to the scientists and devote itself, along with the fields of ethics and philosophy, to the mighty issues of the human condition: good and evil, the meaning of life, the nature of love and so forth. To which my correspondent replied: Why would something as inherently foolish as religion deserve a place at the table for discussions of that magnitude?... As someone who has studied religion and attended progressive churches, I was aghast. I had expected an articulate and intelligent advocate for the non-religious worldview to display a more nuanced understanding of that which she stood against ... But, sadly, this is how the conversation often goes when secularists take up the issue of religion. The tendency has perhaps reached its crescendo — or low point — with the appearance and best-selling success of Christopher Hitchens' book God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything ...  Like earlier books by atheists Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris, Hitchens holds up the worst tendencies and misdeeds of religious people like an ugly piñata, on which he then performs the predictable act. But his demolition of religion dishonors the tradition of critical thinking and intellectual seriousness that supposedly define secularism. Berlinerblau suggests that Hitchens and other in-your-face atheist authors are becoming the 'soccer hooligans of reasoned public discourse' ... Not that Hitchens and his like-minded fans don't have a point. They are correct in criticizing those who have used religion to create suffering in the world. And those acting in the name of their faiths have indeed furnished far too many case studies. Unfortunately, the forms of religion most often in the spotlight these days lend credence to the idea that religion is a dark-ages anachronism that must be eradicated if the human race is to advance ... Nevertheless, I find myself wanting to leap to religion's defense when I encounter broadsides against all religion. Yes, many religious people behave in foolish and obnoxious ways, and some do cause harm in the name of their belief system. Yet the same could be said of non-believers. When a Stalin, Pol Pot, or Hitler commits monstrous deeds in connection with an ideology opposed to religion, does that somehow prove the inherent delusion and danger of non-belief?... My point is not to demonize secularists or atheists. There is too much of that already. According to a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll conducted in February, fewer people would vote for a well-qualified atheist for president (45%) than an African-American (94%), a Jew (92%), a woman (88%), a Hispanic (87%), a Mormon (72%), a thrice-married person (67%) or a homosexual (55%)." -- Read the Full Article

Commentary
Aristotle is alleged to have said, "The mark of an educated person is their ability to entertain positions other than their own." An open mind is essential to critical thinking. Yet, most religions and atheist positions are cut from the same cloth. Neither of these "metaphysical" positions is given to recognizing or admitting what can't yet be substantiated. No conclusive proof of the existence, or non existence, of our vaguely defined concepts of god currently exists. However, both religious and secular camps believe what they believe, and the fact that they believe one way or the other is, itself, held as "proof" of their truths' validity. When people already know the truth by equating their beliefs with fact, they aren't thinking critically. Their truths get in the way of their and others' journeys to discovery and learning. Belief systems — religious as well as secular faiths — are generally held together by external third-party "arguments by authority" such as gods, apostles, prophets, gurus, scriptures, literature, language, as well as by our social conditioning and other intellectual blind spots. And, it isn't always that we don't know what we know and don't know, but that we hold the truth in self-righteousness and want to impose our version of it on everyone else. We need to check our legacy beliefs and belief systems at the door and adopt a more agnostic, albeit tentative, working relationship with each other in the things we may believe but don't actually know. The difference between knowledge and belief is a fine one grounded in a non cynical yet skeptical process of objective reasoning. Critical thinking emphasizes the trancendence of egocentricities and sociocentricities with intellectual humility and rigorous independent exploration and examination of diverse points of view that are clear, accurate, precise, and relevant. A seminal pedagogical concept and cadre of best practices that accompany all forms of inquiry, discourse, and understanding in virtually every domain and discipline, it is the foundational competency behind all learning. It’s the key to learning how to learn and to taking ownership of knowledge and skills in all other domains and disciplines. Available to any and all who choose to understand and practice it, it's the purview of neither religious nor secular camps.

Science News -- August 29, 2007
Press Release

San Diego, CA — "Close to 170 undergraduates from the University of California, San Diego and other campuses from around the region and country gathered this month at the 2007 UCSD Summer Research Conference to present findings on a wide range of research studies conducted under faculty mentors ... The students -- representing a host of academic disciplines including engineering, biological and physical sciences and arts and humanities – conducted their individual research projects this summer under the guidance of faculty from UCSD, San Diego State University, Salk Institute and elsewhere ... Sponsored by UCSD’s office of Academic Enrichment Programs (AEP), the annual Summer Research Conference allows undergraduates to share results of scholarly investigations from different academic areas with their peers, faculty members, university staff and other interested individuals ... 'Gatherings like the Summer Research Conference represent a growing trend among higher education institutions to offer undergraduates opportunities to participate in significant research projects outside the classroom,' says David Artis, Ph.D., director of AEP, a unit of Student Educational Advancement, in Student Affairs ... These hands-on experiences, he says, 'help prepare students for graduate school, and enhance their critical thinking skills. At the end of the assistantship,' Artis adds, 'many students consider the experience of working closely with a faculty member on a particular project to be the highlight of their undergraduate educational experience.' Additionally, the experience also serves to encourage more ethnically underrepresented and low-income student participants at UCSD and other institutions to actively pursue doctoral degrees and careers in research and college teaching, says Artis ... 'Many of these students are already contemplating attending Ph.D. programs, medical school, or other professional schools following graduation' ... " -- Read the Full Article

The Arizona Republic -- August 29, 2007
by Joyce Richards

"Achievement of Arizona Inc., a volunteer-driven organization focused on preparing young people to succeed in a global economy, is launching its new elementary-school capstone program, JA BizTown ... Last year, more than 11,500 students in statewide schools participated in what is now JA BizTown. Overall, there were more than 72,000 students at 247 schools participating in various Junior Achievement programs ... JA BizTown encompasses work readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy, providing students in Grades 4-6 with a solid foundation of business-economics and free-enterprise education. Throughout the program, students are encouraged to use critical-thinking skills to learn about key economic concepts as they explore and enhance their understanding of free enterprise ... Through daily lessons, hands-on activities and active participation in a simulated community, students develop a strong understanding of the relationship between what they learn in school and their successful participation in a local economy. JA BizTown helps prepare students for a lifetime of learning and academic achievement." -- Read the Full Article

The Saginaw News -- August 29, 2007
by Diane Boehm

"The mailing I received recently from my state representative in Lansing contained a five-item questionnaire to be completed and returned, presumably to allow his voting to reflect the will of his constituents ... I have found an even more practical use for it -- a real-life example of the either-or logical fallacy that can serve as a basis for discussion in my freshman composition class during the fall semester ... The flaw in either-or reasoning is that it reduces a complex issue to one of two choices, when in fact there may be many other possible approaches to the problem. Learning to recognize this flaw in reasoning is part of the critical thinking ability every university seeks to foster in students ... Take for example the either-or oversimplification of this highly complex issue: 'Do you think Michigan should raise taxes or cut government spending to balance our state budget?' ... Of course we all agree that state and local governments should balance their budgets. Any financial planner -- and every household -- knows that the essence of fiscal responsibility is to balance income and expenses. Yes, we certainly should cut government spending when it is wasteful, characterized by earmarks or not accomplishing its purposes ... But what he fails to mention is that this oversimplified thinking, and the "cut taxes at any cost" attitude, is one of the primary reasons we now have a dysfunctional state government, schools that must try to balance their budgets without knowing the amount of a major source of income and a public that is soured and disillusioned." -- Read the Full Article

Baltimore Sun -- August 29, 2007
by Gregory Kane

"The clock was pushing 10:40 last Saturday morning when the credits rolled in one of the movie houses at the Charles Theatre. Most in the group of about 50 black men and boys -- and one black woman -- were on their feet cheering and applauding as the film ended ... Within minutes, those same men were standing around the movie house discussing the film, debating its more controversial points and perhaps asking whether a documentary that features quotes from mainly black conservatives has any merit ... So what, exactly, is Morton's documentary about? ... What Morton did was get commentary from ordinary black folks and then go after black pundits we don't hear from too often, indeed, the very ones typical black leaders -- think liberal Democrats here -- claim neither represent black Americans nor have the interest of black Americans at heart ... Koli Tengella, a Baltimore teacher and actor, asked Morton during a question-and-answer session if the preponderance of black conservative voices would make his film less credible with some black viewers ... 'Throughout our history,' Morton answered, 'we have always had two voices. Sometimes during the fray, we miss their [black conservatives'] voices. We focus on the phrases 'Uncle Tom,' 'sellout.' But what is their ultimate message? The advancement of a people' ...  Morton's ultimate message in What Black Men Think is that blacks rely way too much on government to solve their problems; that the permissiveness advocated by baby boomers in the 1960s laid the groundwork for so many black households without fathers; and that there is a widespread misconception, even among black people, about who black men really are ... Morton addresses other controversial issues in his film: abortion, black-white marriages, black male-female relationships and black men on the 'down low.' His take on abortion is sure to get his liver sliced out -- figuratively, of course -- by pro-choice forces ... 'Although some of the opinions may not be popular among the 'elite,' upper-middle-class African-American community,' Tengella said, 'they need to be heard. And critical thinking for African-Americans is critical as we move into the future. The status quo is no longer acceptable.'"-- Read the Full Article

Evansville Courier & Press -- August 29, 2007
by Karen Lipinczyk

"It is perhaps a cliche but nonetheless true that it does indeed take a village to raise a child. And the United States is plumb out of villages ... The closest we come is the local public school, where unheralded adults labor day in and day out to provide a safe and nurturing environment, in addition to teaching academics ... Some churches, particularly the historically African-American churches, also provide a broad-based community approach to addressing the needs of our children ... I am one of those American citizens who still believe the will of the people can determine the course of politics. Over the last 20 years the most disturbing observation I would make is that we have become a nation of sloppy thinkers ... Our education system has moved from one that provided training in academic subjects and critical thinking to one that is so entangled with economics, particularly the labor pressures of global corporations, that "job training" would be a more accurate description of what is happening in schools ... The capacity to think critically is a learned skill. If we are not taught how to think, we cannot assess the veracity of what we know ... Many members of the two generations educated since the 1960s have not had the opportunity to question whether what they were being taught, what they were reading in the press and what they were hearing from their elected officials were truth or fabrication." -- Read the Full Article

Afigator (Blog) -- August 28, 2007
by Justin

"There have been many links posted on many blogs to speeches from last June's TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) Global Conference held in Arusha, Tanzania. I was sent this link a few week by Natasha Dantzig, one of the conference staff ... It features Patrick Awuah, co-founder of Ashesi University, small liberal arts college whose mission is to educate leaders of integrity and competence for Africa ... Awuah moved back to Ghana after living in the US for about 10 years to set-up the university. In the video, he talks about his belief that leadership is a major problem in Africa and how today's young people are trained will make all the difference in the continent's future. Ashesi University sets out to do that, offering "a liberal arts education, steeped in critical thinking, idealism, and public service, which is the only way to produce quick-thinking, ethical adults" (from Awuah's bio) ... Aside from a focus on ethics and leadership, in the video, Awuah touches on the uncritical mindeset brought about by the rote-learning style of education common on the continent. Having spent time with a group of very intelligent secondary school students and seeing how rote-learning stifles creativity, I feel very strongly about incorporating methods that stimulate critical thinking." -- Read the Full Article

Port Folio Weekly (The Alternative Voice of the Seven Cities) -- August 28, 2007
by Tom Robotham

"Some of my earliest memories revolve around a little red schoolhouse ... No, I’m not going to tell you how I walked five miles, barefoot in the snow, uphill—each way. But the schoolhouse, situated about a mile from my house—that was real. Sometimes I would ride my bike there. It was where I first read about Dick and Jane and Spot; it was where I learned basic arithmetic, my tongue protruding slightly as I concentrated with all my might while awkwardly gripping a No. 2 pencil. And it was the room in which I sat, puzzled, as my second grade teacher announced that the President had been shot ... It seemed perfectly adequate for its purposes, the teaching of the three Rs and the coping with national tragedies alike. But it was as spare and utilitarian as they come: rows of small desks for us kids; a full-size desk for the teacher; a blackboard; a coat closet, and restrooms. That was about it. Hence my amazement when, over the summer following second grade, the city completed construction of a brand new elementary school, right around the block from my house ... Don’t worry: I’m not going to go all Wonder Years on you, or anything. My point in recalling this school, which we knew as P.S. 23—in New York, public elementary schools don’t have names—is that it made me feel as if education must be something pretty important. Why else would grown-ups build such things?... I couldn't help thinking of P.S. 23 again, a few years back, when my son began third grade in the newly completed W.H. Taylor Elementary School. The classrooms and corridors were pleasant enough. So was the library. (That is to say, the 'media center.') What struck me most, though, was that there was no auditorium. Nor was there a gym. Instead, there was one large room, with a divider, which was to serve as cafeteria, auditorium and gymnasium ...  Ironically, my son had gone to first and second grade in an older school that had all of the amenities I’d had at P.S. 23. Now, as he entered third grade, he seemed to be moving backwards. Admittedly, it was not the equivalent of my little red schoolhouse—Taylor is a lot nicer than that. But it did suggest to me, if not to him, that education might not be so important to Americans after all. It suggested to me, instead, what seems to be a prevailing attitude these days: We need to fund public education, by and large as a way of feeding the workforce of the future; but we’re not going to waste money on unnecessary frills like gyms and auditoriums—not for little kids. On the contrary, we’re going to do it as efficiently as possible. And after we build these facilities, we’re going to measure the enterprise therein, every which way, because Lord knows, the taxpayers need to feel that they’re getting their money’s worth ... It seemed to me, as I sat in Taylor’s…what is it? Cafetorium? Auditerianasium?...that this new trend of cutting of corners with multi-use rooms, which seem designed to deaden the aesthetic sensibilities of children, coincided with the rise of the 'standards' movement, which seems designed to deaden the imagination of children and teachers alike ... I may be wrong about the cutting of corners. According to an article in the September issue of Harper’s Magazine, funding for public schools has never been higher. In fact, the article states, the nation has tripled its educational spending since 1960. A lot of good it did. According to the article, the United States ranked 15th among 31 countries in a reading exam sponsored by the Program for International Studies Assessment. I have a few more thoughts on the money issue, which I’ll share in a future essay. But let’s assume the long-standing argument of conservatives is correct: that money is not the issue ... What is the problem with public education? ... Peter Schrag, who wrote the article in Harper’s quotes both liberal and conservative spokesmen making the same point: that the 'military-style reading and math drills prompted by…No Child Left Behind…have pushed out history, music, art…and may in fact be destroying American schools' ... One problem with the standards movement, as many people have pointed out, is that it emphasizes rote learning rather than critical thinking. I’m reminded, in contrast, of a passage from Jean-Jacque Rousseau’s 'Emile,' or 'On Education' ... 'Forced to learn by himself,' Rousseau writes, '[Emile] uses his reason, and not another’s…From this constant exercise there ought to result a vigor of mind similar to the vigor given to bodies by work and fatigue. Another advantage is that one advances only in proportion to one’s strength. The mind, no less than the body, bears only what it can bear….'[B]y overburdening memory without the participation of understanding, one runs the risk of never withdrawing anything from memory suitable for understanding' ... A second problem with the SOLs is that they are so excruciatingly reductionist in their approach. They reflect a lack of vision on the part of society—a belief that excellence is no longer a possibility and that the best we can hope for is adequacy and employability' ...  In this context, I turn to the great educational theorist Howard Gardner. In his book The Disciplined Mind: Beyond Facts and Standardized Tests, Gardner writes that 'three very important concerns should animate education: the understanding of the realms of truth, beauty and morality. This understanding,' he writes, is 'sufficiently meaningful…that it can be justified in its own right….[But] such understanding is also necessary for productive citizenship….Without such understanding, people cannot participate fully in the world in which they—we—live' ...  The third problem with the standards movement is that it signals to students, parents and society alike that education is terminal—that the chief end of education, including college, is the mastery of certain skills that will lead to gainful employment: In other words, life on a consumer’s treadmill ... I contrast this approach to yet another passage in one of my favorite books on the subject, Mortimer Adler’s Reforming Education: 'The Opening of the American Mind' ... 'Since, for everyone to become an educated person, it is necessary for his or her learning to continue throughout [their] lifetime…the most crucial contribution [colleges] can make is in the field of the arts—the liberal arts, which are the arts of learning and the arts which discipline our creative powers' ...As I’ve talked with educators over the years, I’ve met a handful who continue to think and speak in such terms. Perhaps more would do so if they weren’t pressured by gutless administrators and cynical politicians to focus on the task of raising test scores. As it is, most feel that they have little choice. As a result, we’re left with an education system that is based on a profound lack of faith in the human mind and the human spirit. What a disservice this is—to all of us." -- Read the Full Article

Bad Astronomy and Universe Today Forum -- August 28, 2007
by Peter B

"The 2007 Australian Skeptics Prize for Critical Thinking will be awarded for work that investigates popular conventional wisdom and beliefs which lack reliable evidence or scientific method, and that promotes rational thinking about such matters by the public, educators and the media. Our Prize is aimed to attract entries from educators across the broad spectrum, journalists or others in the media, and academic or private researchers ... Our inaugural Prize in 2006 attracted a high standard of entries from a wide variety of fields. The winner of the $10 000 Critical Thinking Prize was Dr Martin Bridgstock from the School of Science, Griffith University, who instituted a course, Skepticism, Science and the Paranormal, as an elective for second year students. His course, which encouraged a skeptical approach to many common beliefs, has consistently attracted an increasing enrolment each year since 2003. We also awarded a runner-up Prize of $2000 to Ms Kylie Sturgess, an English teacher at MLC, Perth, for her initiative in devising a course to encourage students to investigate popular beliefs using skeptical principles. Details of both winning entries can be found on the Skeptics website, www.skeptics.com.au ... The Prize of $10,000 is to reward critical investigation of irrational paranormal beliefs or pseudoscientific claims. Entries are welcomed from any interested Australian, whether involved professionally or by way of private enthusiasm. For example, eligible work includes the contribution of teachers at any level of education, who have devised programs that encourage critical thinking in students, beyond normal curriculum requirements. Similarly we welcome entries from journalists who have promoted critical thinking or exposed threats to it. The work can be in any media and can be one item, a series or an ongoing activity ... Rules for Entries ..." -- Read the Full Article

The Des Moines Register -- August 28, 2007
by Meg Hawkins

"Carlisle High School principal Mike Anthony is concerned how students in the school district will handle the tougher statewide graduation requirements that went into effect this fall ... But he knows students will benefit ... 'Can they do it? I think so,' he said. 'But I think we've dumbed down some things over the years' ...  This year's crop of ninth-grade students is the first in Iowa to be required by law to take four years of English and three each of math, science and social studies. The increased requirements come as the nation's educational systems are under increased pressure from lawmakers who want higher test scores, parents who want brighter children, employers who want better-skilled workers and taxpayers who want more from their investment ... Many Iowa school officials say they have made high school classes tougher, but not because the Legislature told them to do so ... 'This has not been a catalyst for additional rigor,' said Liz Celania-Fagen, executive director of high school programs in Des Moines. 'It has made more of our students 'college ready' as far as entrance requirements' ... Des Moines officials have eliminated some general courses, such as an introductory science class. Students now choose biology, chemistry, physics or earth sciences. Likewise, in math, some of the basic courses are now classified as electives, and students must instead take algebra and higher-level math ... In our opinion, they're taking more rigorous courses sooner," Celania-Fagen said. "There's a huge movement on the need for students to be college- and career-ready. There's a need for math, critical thinking, problem solving, 21st-century skills.'" -- Read the Full Article

Gulf Times -- August 28, 2007

Doha, Qatar — "The number of students entering pre-medical education at Weill Cornell Medical College-Qatar (WCMC-Q) has reached a six-year high with 79 freshmen, including 20 Qataris ... Among them is the youngest student ever to enrol at WCMC-Q, 14-year-old Lebanese Iqbal El Assaad, who is sponsored by HH Sheikha Mozah Nasser al-Misnad ... Such has been the demand for places this year that, in a new development, that WCMC-Q opened a waiting list for the two-year pre-medical programme ... 'The number and quality of applicants continue to rise – no doubt about it, WCMC-Q is firmly on the map of pre-medical and medical education in the region,' associate dean for Admissions and Student Affairs, Maya Hammoud ... WCMC-Q dean Daniel R Alonso, highlighted the quality of the freshmen students by stating that this is not only the largest class the medical college has admitted, but it is also one of the strongest and most talented ... For El Assaad, entering WCMC-Q’s pre-medical programme is a dream-come-true after graduating from high school at the age of 12 ... 'When I was offered the opportunity to come and study here, I chose WCMC-Q,' he said ... While the majority of the freshmen have entered the pre-medical Class of 2013, 17 have joined a new, year-long foundation programme designed to nurture their abilities to better prepare them for the pre-medical programme ... The foundation programme has opened following the success of a pilot project run during the spring semester this year ... Covering the basic sciences, mathematics and English writing, with an emphasis on critical thinking and problem solving, it gives participants the opportunity to build on their skills in core areas and thereby enhance their chances to succeed in the pre-medical programme." -- Read the Full Article

Dissident Voice -- August 27, 2007
by Bill Williams

"On Friday, August 24th, it was learned that DePaul’s University has decided to cancel Professor Norman G. Finkelstein’s classes for the autumn quarter. Finkelstein was scheduled to teach two undergraduate courses in the political science department, one called 'Freedom and Empowerment' and the other called 'Justice and Social Equality' ... What is the stated reason for the cancellation of Finkelstein’s courses, both of which are filled to capacity? Professor Finkelstein, it seems, in the judgment of DePaul’s administration, constitutes a security threat to DePaul faculty and staff. In a previous article, I documented that Finkelstein simply confronted Dean “Chuck” Suchar outside of 990 Fullerton on June 14th after the special LA&S emergency meeting devoted to discussing the procedural and academic freedom violations in the Finkelstein and Larudee cases. It’s reported that Suchar did, in fact, maintain that the real reasons for Finkelstein’s tenure denial were confidential. Finkelstein was informed by faculty who attended the meeting that Suchar reported that he had secret information on the controversial political science professor. Suchar apparently alleged that he felt harassed by Finkelstein, calling for the administration to issue a restraining order against his colleague ... In an irony sure not to escape Dissident Voice readers, Finkelstein is being barred from teaching courses devoted to examining 'Freedom and Empowerment' and 'Justice and Social Equality'. In addition, Finkelstein is being thrown out of his office and might not even have access to office space this coming academic year at DePaul. Naturally, DePaul students are outraged and are demanding a serious explanation from Dean Suchar and other DePaul administrative officers. Not expecting a serious answer from the administration, while anticipating wider assaults against critical thinking and dissent, the students are planning an academic freedom conference at the University of Chicago for October 12th. The conference’s keynote speakers are Noam Chomsky (MIT), John Mearsheimer (Univ. of Chicago), Akeel Bilgrami (Columbia), Neve Gordon (Ben-Gurion University, Israel), and Tariq Ali (Verso Books)."-- Read the Full Article

MediaBistro.Com's Daily Fishbowl DC -- August 27, 2007
by Patrick W Gavin

"From an internal memo sent by the Washington Post's Phil Bennett, obtained by FishbowlDC: ... The section we've launched today opens a great new creative space in Washington, to our readers, for The Post's best talent. You could see this morning the promise of its simplicity. Style & Arts isn't by itself meant to represent a big idea, but to present a big, open place for original ideas, characters and stories to develop and live ... That character of openness and possibility -- similar in its way to the blank starting points in Screens, Stages, Studio (even Conversations) -- should make it a place where your best work comes into focus, as a home for innovation and new stuff (including the ten-column photograph!). This will become more true as we improve the section by burning off some residual clutter and introducing some new things in the weeks ahead ... As you can see today, the section brings greater coherence and a more striking identity to the whole Sunday Post, especially to our cultural coverage. As a showcase for critical thinking, creative writing and original voices, it presents exciting potential for a long second life on the web. We need to make that happen." -- Read the Full Article

AOL (Blogging Stocks) -- August 27, 2007
by Zac Bissonnette

"You mean watching reality television and playing Playstation doesn't make you a good writer?...That seems to be the conclusion that a number of employers have reached. In a survey of 100 human resource executives, 45 listed written communication skills as the skill-set that entry-level employees most often lack. Other top choices were critical thinking and time management ... The problem may be that workers have just gotten too informal with their communications because of instant messaging and text messaging. 'Yo bro, waz gud' may work with friends, but hirers tend to be unimpressed." -- Read the Full Article

Education Week -- August 27, 2007
by David J Hoff

"David J. Hoff has been reporting on the biggest issues in K-12 education for more than 10 years for Education Week. He primarily reports now on the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act ... Miller's Three-Point Plan ... Rep. George Miller said last month that NCLB 'is not fair, not flexible, and is not funded.' In response to one question on this PBS Web chat, the chairman of the House education committee lays out three things he wants to change about the law ... 1.) Revise assessments 'so they measure critical thinking, problem solving, and other important skills.' New tests could reduce the amount of test-prep and 'drill-and-kill' of 'low-level skills,' he writes ... 2.) Create growth models to 'ensure that teachers get credit' for raising test scores across the achievement spectrum, as well as for helping students on the bubble between basic achievement and proficiency ... 3.) Spur 'more relevant and rigorous' standards by requiring states to ensure their standards are linked to the skills and knowledge students need to succeed in college or the workplace ... In the response to another question, Rep. Miller says science labs are the types of performance measures he would like to see included in the reauthorized NCLB ... See also the answers from Rep. Howard P. 'Buck' McKeon, R-Calif., the senior Republican on the committee. He agrees that standards should be tied to college and workplace readiness and that AYP should be determined by student growth. But he's silent on Rep. Miller's ideas to assess critical-thinking skills and to include performance-based measures ... Over the next month or two, we'll see if these two can bridge their differences on testing and other issues." -- Read the Full Article

Taipei Times -- August 27, 2007
by Wei Shaozheng

"China's restrictions on media freedom are nothing new. This time around, the fabricated story of cardboard-filled meat buns by a Beijing television reporter lends weight to the government's excuse for maintaining media control ... With the Chinese Communist Party Congress approaching, Beijing has set out to tighten its grip on the media. The Central Committee's Propaganda Department -- the organization that monitors the content of the publications for consistency with the party's political dogma -- is kicking off a wide-ranging clampdown on 'false news' and 'illegal publications' ... Such a 'well-intended' campaign to sustain 'harmonious society' showcases Beijing's lack of confidence ... To build a progressive and cooperative national image, Beijing has long been scheming to blind people to reality. The ban on reporting the real situation of the 172 trapped miners at Huayuan Mine in Shandong and probing the details of the deadly collapse of Fenghuang Bridge in Zhejiang exemplifies the government's reluctance to face the music. However, the disguise fails to whitewash the blot on the Communist leadership, and leaves the unnerved public to speculate, spread rumors and cast doubt on the regime's credibility ... On the other side, Chinese officials are running short of confidence in their subjects ...They have underestimated the citizens' ability to detect bias, distinguish facts from opinions, and reconstruct messages delivered by the media. Under the pretext of protectionism, the people's right to knowledge is trampled on and, in the meantime, the people are deprived of the opportunity to develop critical thinking." -- Read the Full Article

The Washington Post -- August 26, 2007
by Karen Houppert

"It is 5 o'clock on a Friday night in April, and Ignacio Evans and Jermol Jupiter are makeing plans ... Heads bent close together, Jermol's braids knock up against Iggy's Mohawk as they map out their evening. They whisper. They argue. They reach an agreement ... Then, with a cocky smile, Jermol, one of the Baltimore Urban Debate League's hottest high school debaters, stands up and begins to speak. Fast ... 'In 1999, the Sentencing Project, which keeps track of incarceration rates by race and offense, reported that 32 percent of African American males between the ages of 20 and 29 are in contact with the criminal justice system as compared to 6 percent for white males and 8 percent for Latino males,' says Jermol, quoting from 'The Warrior Method: A Program for Rearing Healthy Black Boys,' a 2001 book by Raymond Winbush, a professor at Morgan State's Institute for Urban Research in Baltimore. 'Based on current rates of incarceration, the U.S. Justice Department estimates that 28 percent of black males will enter state or federal prisons during their lifetime' ... Speaking with the rapid-fire speed typical of competitive debaters, who have only eight minutes to cram all their arguments into an opening statement, Jermol waves his hand in front of his stomach like a metronome that keeps his pace so swift as to make his words almost unintelligible. He spits out facts about the nation's prison system and black men's disproportionate place in it. 'Sixty-seven percent of prison inmates were of color, compared to 65 percent in 1990, with African Americans making up 46 percent of state and federal prisoners,' he says ... 'If this trend continues, by the year 2015 half of all black men in America will be in contact with the criminal justice system via incarceration, probation, parole or indictment' ... Iggy and Jermol are participants in what began nine years ago as a pilot program in eight Baltimore schools to teach democracy -- as well as critical thinking, basic literacy and research skills -- to underprivileged urban kids but has snowballed into a wildly popular competition drawing more than 1,000 students from 60 schools to Baltimore's tournaments on any given weekend. The kids compete in citywide, national and even international debate competitions (Jermol went to debate in England last year; Iggy, to the Czech Republic this summer)... Organizers get the students on their feet from the start, arguing in front of their peers about a topic they are already familiar with. 'Immediately, they get the thrill and rush that comes from having people listen to them instead of lecturing them, and there is something very exciting and empowering about that -- especially when they get rewarded with a trophy for doing it well' ... These 'intellectual athletes' can get 500 additional hours of academic instruction each year through debate practice and the research that goes into preparing their arguments, Spiliadis says, but, just as important, debate becomes an empowering tool for them. 'They become critical thinkers and speakers, and effective advocates for themselves and their communities.'" -- Read the Full Article

Santa Cruz Sentinel -- August 26, 2007
by Andy Shapiro

"With the recent release of last year's standardized test scores, the annual ritual of judging schools based on the results has begun. Thankfully, there are signs that we are beginning to become aware of some of the serious problems stemming from our incessant focus on testing and test scores ... As standardized testing has come to dominate the educational landscape, the impact has been devastating. While many have offered their opinions about the federal No Child Left Behind law that mandates much of the current standardized testing as well as consequences for not making adequate yearly progress, few have done what Linda Perlstein did. A former education writer for the Washington Post, Perlstein spent a year in a low-income elementary school in Annapolis, Md. investigating the impact of testing on children's lives ... In her recently published book, "Tested: One American School Struggles to Make the Grade," she shares her findings. What she discovered should give us all cause for concern: students spent much of their time engaging in test-prep drills; the previous year's test scores were posted throughout the school to make it clear to all what the primary goal was at this school; teachers were required to use scripted curricula; subjects other than "core academic subjects" received minimal attention; there was little opportunity for critical thinking; and even students' writing was required to follow a formulaic structure." -- Read the Full Article

The Cincinnati Enquirer -- August 26, 2007
by Jackie Demaline

"High school students who love to write and love theater are invited to apply to Playhouse in the Park's High School Critics Seminar with Enquirer drama critic Jackie Demaline ... The free seminar meets monthly through the academic year. Students will receive two complimentary tickets to the Marx Theatre main stage season, as well as tickets to productions at other area theaters. The course emphasis is on building writing and critical thinking skills by learning to write theater criticism ... Students will see eight productions, attend nine workshops beginning with a September orientation and are expected to do required writing. Upon successful completion of the criticism course, participating students receive two complimentary tickets to the Playhouse Marx Theatre season until high school graduation.(Seniors receive a student subscription to the 2008-09 season.)" -- Read the Full Article

The Montgomery Advertiser -- August 26, 2007
by Cathy Gassenheimer

"In Thomas L. Friedman's book "The World is Flat," he chronicles how the emerging economies of India and China threaten America's financial well-being. He vividly describes how both countries have captured manufacturing and technology jobs that until recently were held by Americans, and he outlines what Americans must do to adapt and flourish in this changed world ... Daniel Pink, in his new book "A Different Mind," builds on Friedman's view that anything that can be "routinized" or automated will soon be performed by whoever will do the work at the lowest cost. Pink delves into the creative and holistic skills that will be most valuable in this environment ... Taken together, it is clear that our children will live, work and grow old in a different economic world than is familiar to us. It is clear that for Alabama and the United States to remain competitive, we must prepare students for their future, and this preparation must include helping students develop skills of critical thinking, communicating and collaborating." -- Read the Full Aritcle

Future-teach -- August 26, 2007
by Natalie Laderas-Kilkenny

"As I was sitting and listening to lectures at the SALT conference I heard a comment that most of the younger generations don’t have the patience to sit through lectures when they can look up answers and information so quickly on the internet. First, let’s note that not all lectures or lecturers are as painful to sit through as listening to someone conjugate Latin verbs in all tenses. You can still get valuable information from a lecture; however, it’s nice to be able to learn via different media or methods. Second, I’m a little wary of the idea of just expecting students of any age or discipline be able to search for information via the net without little or no guidance. If you read any of the Edgar Rice Burroughs stories or comics from the Tarzan series, you’ll remember that there was this assumption that Tarzan learned how to read on his own by reading through the books without the help or guidance from a teacher. Can we assume that students can learn everything they need to know by just having the almost all the information placed in front of them via the internet? Of course, after many trial and error attempts they might be able to function or apply the information they absorbed correctly. Even with all the information and resources in front of you, you still need a teacher or instructor as a guide to help you determine what’s good information and what is not ... Even within the university setting, this type of learning and validation from an expert must occur. Pre-Net we had libraries. Students would often use the libraries to compile information in the form of papers or studies thus augmenting what they learned in class. Now this will probably date me, but I used the index card method of gathering information from my sources. The professor, instructor or teacher would verify if we got things ‘right’ by giving us a grade on the paper. Though, that’s not always the case if you have a professor who is incompetent or even one who dislikes you and gives you a bad grade as a result ... I still believe that teachers are absolutely necessary to perform this function of validator and guide. However, the traditional model of teacher lecturing and students verifying that they got the information via a paper needs to be augmented. Note, I did not say get rid of writing papers. We all need to learn to form our thoughts and apply critical thinking in writing. It helps integrate what we’ve learned as well as learn to articulate our thoughts in a structured format. I do think that the written paper assignment tends to be overused in learning situations because it’s easy for the instructor to assign, and not so bad to grade as long as you have a teacher’s assistant ...  If educators of the future are to follow a model I’d say let’s follow tradition way back and return to Socratic Methods of teaching your role must evolve from the guy or lady who likes to talk a lot at the front of the classroom to the mentor who watches the students progress, prompts them with though-provoking questions that would help them learn to apply the information that they’re learning successfully. But this is hard work? And in a normal classroom environment of any age level it’s logistically impossible to get to all students and personally monitor their activity and ask them these questions." -- Read the Full Article

The Malaysia Star -- August 26, 2007
by Huzir Sulaiman
 

"China’s leading independent polling company routinely takes the nation’s temperature on hot issues. The results are surprising ... Victor Yue Yuan is a man with his finger on the pulse of the world’s most populous nation – and it’s a pulse that shows an encouraging amount of critical thinking and candour ... Twice a week, the Beijing-based Horizon Research Consultancy Group – the public opinion polling and market research company he founded in 1992 – releases the results of nationwide polls on social and political issues to the media ... More than 800 media organisations in the People’s Republic and another 200 around the world carry the results. The questions posed, and the broad range of publicly reported responses, go some way toward dispelling the notion that China stifles all dissent and tolerates no criticism whatsoever ... I met Yuan a few days ago here at Yale University, where he and I are among this year’s 18 Yale World Fellows." -- Read the Full Article

The Times of India -- August 26, 2007
by Ashwin Ahmad

"The attack on Taslima Nasreen again highlights how Islam is being hijacked by extremists. Ashwin Ahmad profiles three women who, despite death threats, are fighting for change ... Asra Nomani: A former journalist and author, Asra Nomani’s name causes sharp divisions within the Muslim community. While some praise her attempts at helping women become aware of their rights, others see her as a shameless publicity hound, who loves to court controversy. A founder of the Islamic feminist movement, Nomani has been fighting since 2003 for women to be allowed the right to enter mosques by the same entrance as men, pray alongside them and even lead prayers ... On this reason for her stand Nomani says "When I learnt that a woman Umm Waraqa—led women and men in prayer at the time of the Prophet Mohammed, you should know I had spent a lifetime being told the opposite. I was told I couldn’t enter a mosque and when I was allowed in I had to be in the basement or a dark corner' ... Ironically, Nomani spent most of her professional life as a journalist writing on issues other than Islam. But the gruesome murder of close friend and colleague Daniel Pearl in Pakistan changed her outlook. Determined to 'save’'her faith from extremists, Nomani went to Mecca. After her return she found herself being harassed as she tried to step into mosques, determined to pray alongside men ...  Irshad Manji: Even though she has been honoured as a Young Global Leader at the World Economic Forum, a lot of people still aren’t ready to listen to Irshad Manji. A brief look into her background will explain why. The first problem is Manji’s book The Trouble with Islam Today. In the book she talks about the inferior treatment of women in Islam, Jew bashing and the lack of ijtihad or critical thinking within the Muslim community today ... Wafa Sultan: Hero and reformist for some, pawn and Islamophobe for others, Syrian-American Wafa Sultan has been admired and reviled in equal measure. But love or hate her, you cannot ignore this psychiatrist’s importance. Named last year in Time magazine’s list of 100 most influential people, Dr Sultan is someone who has become a much sought after spokesperson on Islam, at least in the west." -- Read The Full Article

The New York Times -- August 26, 2007
by Phyllis Korkki

"A generation ago, employers were still lamenting the poor technical abilities of their entry-level workers. Well, that’s not much of an issue anymore, thanks to the omnipresence of computers, cellphones and the Internet ... In a survey of 100 human resources executives, only 5 percent said that recent college graduates lacked computer or technology skills, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, the outplacement firm ...The problem now is more basic. Nearly half the executives said that entry-level workers lacked writing skills, and 27 percent said that they were deficient in critical thinking ... It seems that some young employees are now guilty of the technological equivalent of wearing flip-flops: they are writing company e-mail as if they were texting cellphone messages with their thumbs ... In response, employers are sending a message of their own: When you’re in the office, put on those dress shoes and start spelling your words correctly, and in full."-- Read the Full Article

Yemen  Observer  -- August 25, 2007
by Zaid al-Aalya'a

"The US Embassy is extending its program for educational and cultural exchange in Yemen, in the hopes of minimizing the cultural gap between the two countries and eliminating misunderstandings. The Yemen Observer met with Assistant Public Affairs officer Megan Goodfellow to learn more about the new programs: ...Yemen Observer: Could you please tell us briefly about the new programs the US Embassy offers in Yemen? ... Megan Goodfellow: The Public Diplomacy section offers a wide range of different educational exchange opportunities. These range from very precise and educationally-based programs, such as the Fulbright, which offers the opportunity to get a Masters Degree or PhD in the US, to what we call the International Visitor Program, which sends about twenty participants every year to spend two to three weeks in the United States. Almost every field of study is covered, including journalism, women’s rights, judicial reforms, cultural studies, public health, and accounting ...YO: What do you think about the demonstrations at YALI frojm students who are unhappy with the prices and poor teacher performance? ... MG: Every time I meet someone here in Yemen who speaks beautiful English I ask them where they studied and every person says they studied English at YALI. For almost 30 years, YALI has been the most prominent establishment in the entire country for learning English. I think it is the same today that it was five or 10 years ago. The embassy is proud of our history and involvement with YALI, and we would love to see that relationship enhanced. I have had the pleasure of attending two YALI graduation ceremonies, and I am always so impressed with every single student that graduates with critical thinking ability, English, and with their open-minded approach not only to relations between the US and Yemen, but to life in general. I think it is a real life-changing experience for the students who have the opportunity to study there. Everyone that I’ve talked to wouldn’t trade that for any other institute. With regard to the level of teachers that are teaching in YALI, I haven’t heard any complaints about them. The teachers that I’ve met have been particularly impressive and from our talks with the administration, I know they have the highest standards for their students, for their teachers, and for members of the administration." -- Read the Full Article

The Boston Globe -- August 24, 2007
by Nick A Zaino III

"'You know it's not the end of comedy, it's the end of civilization,' says the godfather of political comedy, Mort Sahl. 'The subject matter, I mean' ... Those have always been the stakes for Sahl. Not airplanes or commercials or anyone's mother-in-law. When he started at the San Francisco club hungry i in 1953, it was President Eisenhower and foreign policy. It was an evolutionary leap forward for stand-up comedy as it severed its ties to vaudeville ... Sahl was virtually alone then deconstructing politics onstage. He still feels somewhat alone now, talking about Iraq, President Bush, and the gradual loss of humanity in civilized society over the past 50 years ... That's part of the reason he's flattered to be back in the spotlight a bit more lately. Tis summer, some of the biggest names in comedy -- past and present -- gathered in a tribute to Sahl's 80th birthday. George Carlin, Jay Leno, Bill Maher, Paula Poundstone, Harry Shearer, Bob Newhart, and Albert Brooks were there. The reclusive Jonathan Winters came out to salute his good friend. Woody Allen, who has long considered Sahl a major influence, and Don Rickles sent videos. James Wolcott devoted a column to Sahl in the August issue of Vanity Fair ... According to Maher, Sahl hasn't lost a step. Maher saw him a few years ago and was impressed that he was still sharp, funny, and relevant. "He was doing what I try to do, get laughs,' says Maher. 'He had good jokes, but they were jokes that were also making a point' ... Sahl will get another chance to speak to young adults when he starts his new gig -- college professor at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, Calif. -- in two weeks. His course, which he says is called 'The Revolutionary's Handbook,' is about critical thinking in contemporary politics. 'I want them to detect bias and realize that just going along with popular media, they won't know anything about their country,' he says. 'They won't know a thing about it.' "-- Read the Full Article

ABC Online (Perspective) -- August 24, 2007
by Stephen Law

Austrailia —"Over the last couple of decades an anti-liberal mythology has developed across the West. It tends to blame everything wrong with modern society - from rising crime to teenage pregnancy - on Sixties liberals and, in particular, on liberal attitudes to religious and moral education ... Many social and religious conservatives now argue that if we are to cure these problems we need to move back in the direction of the kind of traditional, authority-based moral and religious education which tended to predominate in religious schools before the Sixties. Perhaps this sort of argument lies behind former Prime Minister Tony Blair's enthusiasm for faith schools and explains why the UK now has 150 new Islamic schools in the pipeline, with new Jewish, Sikh and Hindu schools close behind ... I am not against religious schools. My concern is with the type of education delivered in them. I fear many of these new schools are likely to offer a very traditional form of religious education in which, rather than being taught to think, question and make their own judgments, young people are encouraged to defer more-or-less uncritically to some religious authority such as their imam, rabbi or the Pope." -- Read the Full Article

Pedestrian Infidel -- August 24, 2007
by the Anti-Jihadist

"Being familiar with both Korea and Malaysia, and having seen first-hand how these two nations manage their affairs, there is a number of enlightening conclusions that can be drawn ...  South Korea, by any measure, is a huge success story. In just fifty years, the country has catapulted itself from a bombed-out, resource-poor, dictator-run Third World crap hole to First World status. Korea’s infrastructure and technologies are world-class, and its government is reasonably efficient and accountable ... became independent in 1957 with a significant number of advantages compared to the erstwhile ‘Hermit Kingdom’. Malaysia was emerging from over a century of relatively benign British rule in 1957, not 40 years of brutal Japanese occupation as the Koreans had endured. Malaysia possessed at the time of its founding, thanks to the British, a comprehensive national infrastructure and an excellent education system based on the British model. True, Malaysia was struggling through its own civil war at the time of independence (a.k.a. the 'Malayan Emergency'), but this was not nearly as deadly or destructive as the Korean conflict  (which is technically still going on). Unlike Korea, Malaysia possesses significant natural resources, namely petroleum, timber, tin, palm oil and rubber. Malaysia’s advantageous geographic position gives it direct access to the Straits of Malacca, the world’s most important shipping channel. And Malaysia in 1963 gained control of Singapore, which has emerged as Southeast Asia’s regional center of commerce, and an enormous wealth-generation machine in its own right ... The education system, following independence, eventually resorted to dumping so-called ‘colonial’ ideas like teaching English, and even worse, became heavily Islamified. Critical thinking was jettisoned in favor of mindless memorisation and learning-by-rote. Just how bad has the Malaysian education system become? Nowadays, anyone in Malaysia who is rich enough to send their children overseas for education, generally does." -- Read the Full Article

The San Francisco Chronicle -- August 23, 2007
by Debra J Saunders

"'Many Americans do not believe that the success of our students or of our schools can be measured by one test administered on one day, and I agree with them. This is not fair,' Rep. George Miller, D-Martinez, told the National Press Club last month ... As the House Education and Labor Committee he chairs is expected to roll out a draft for legislation to reauthorize the 2001 No Child Left Behind bill, Miller and fellow Democrats want to change NCLB testing ... Currently, the law requires that students be tested in math and reading every year between third-grade and eighth-grade, then once in high school. Miller explained he would add 'multiple measures of success. These measures can no longer reflect just basic skills and memorization, but rather critical thinking and the ability to apply knowledge to new and challenging contexts'... On the one hand, Miller is right to push to improve NCLB. He wants to allow states to apply graduation rates toward their yearly NCLB progress scores and also would have states include history and science test scores ... On the other hand, when the education establishment touts testing for "critical thinking," that can be code for: Maybe the kid can't read, but look at the bright side, he's smart." -- Read the Full Article

Commentary
This article reflects the current political tension between those who want to put critical thinking at the front of the learning process versus those who think it can be added on as simply another subject after we have taught students memorization as the fundamental skill for learning. The tension is exacerbated by different levels of understanding on just what "critical thinking" is. And, this is as true within academia as it is within government, business, our media and society at large. In fact, critical thinking is the antithesis of rote memorization in that it emphasizes intellectual standards and traits in process over memorization of desired outcomes as its means to the end. In its specific definition, it is a seminal pedagogical concept and cadre of best practices that is necessary to understand anything and everything. It accompanies all forms of inquiry, discourse, and understanding in virtually every domain and discipline. It's the foundational competency behind all learning; the key to learning how to learn and to taking ownership of knowledge and skills in all other domains and disciplines. You can't understand, much less change or correct, what you haven't thought about. So, how critical thinking is taught, tracked, tested, and assessed within the context of other subjects and disciplines gets right to the heart of the fundamental question, “What is education and how do we measure it?”  A concept of critical thinking that organizes instruction in every subject at every educational level across the curriculum -- around it, on it, and through it -- needs to be studied, understood and made the fundamental standard for all teaching, testing and accountability. Tracking, testing and assessing critical thinking contextually across the curriculum within each and every domain and discipline is at the core of its specific definition. There are a number of controversies taking place within education and government aimed at improving the way we teach, learn and assess. Unfortunately, the more general understanding of what critical thinking is, and the prevailing assumption that critical thought adds to the pedagogical complexity and workload as opposed to expediting the entire teaching/learning process, carries many misconceptions that government, teachers, parents and journalists need to revisit through a specific, not a general, understanding of critical concepts. In other words, critical thinking needs to be taught and learned in its specific sense -- by teachers, curriculum designers, politicians, parents, journalists as well as students -- so that we're at least all on the same page with the concept. Everybody should be looking at fostering the critical competencies that incentivize the creative questioning and discovery process within us. These are the intellectual concepts and practices necessary to build well-tempered minds. The alternative, of memorizing answers in limbo and out of context in order to ace tests, is like stealing from ourselves where, only after the test do we discover how little we've retained and how little we ever understood to begin with. Further, teaching and testing for end outcomes without teaching and testing for the means by which students independently arrive at their own end outcomes dumbs down the discovery process between us. This tactic of averaging down results to bring the less intellectually engaged up only creates an illusion that masks the glaring truth: That, each of us questions, discovers, understands, and learns best through our own initiatives, at our own pace, and on our own clock. Our upgraded NCLB needs to reflect this fundamental truth by reworking its foundational premise rather than by attaching political add-ons to pedagogical infrastructure that is inherently flawed.

YourMidloExchange.Com -- August 23, 2007
by Elizabeth Farina

Midlothian, VA — "Sometimes teaching math is not the easiest factual concept to communicate, especially when taking on multiplication. However, for Chesterfield County resident and mathematician Richard Jainchell, a new approach for students was exactly what the educator delivered ... Jainchell, who completed his studies in Theory of Numbers and is founder of publishing company Planet Matheta, wrote two lesson books geared for students who feel the sweat break out every time they  hear the word 'integer.' One book focuses on teaching math basics, with a laminated card game included, called Mathets and another book explains the Jainchell’s newest way to tackle multiplication ...'The method is for the general public. Our children use calculators for a substitute and have no number sense. Calculators destroy mathematical reasoning, which is critical thinking. They must know their tables,' he said." -- Read the Full Article

Tallahassee.Com -- August 22, 2007
by Liam Julian

"Last week, 'U.S. News & World Report' released its latest rankings of the nation's colleges, and my alma mater, the home of the Seminoles, came in at No. 112 in the 'National Universities' category. That dreaded swamp school was an inexplicable 49 ... Say what you will about the U.S. News college guide, but it is the most influential system of categorizing American higher education. It's where high-school sophomores and juniors (and, of course, their parents) turn when they want to know how good a certain college is ... But things start to get tricky when the word 'good' is involved. When we speak of universities, 'good' can mean a heck of a lot of things - which is the same as meaning nothing at all ... U.S. News derives its list by evaluating how well national colleges do in seven, differently weighted categories. Peer assessment (the judgments of administrators from other institutions) makes up 25 percent of a given school's overall rating. Student retention constitutes 20 percent of the final grade; alumni giving weighs in at 5 percent ... The funny thing, though, is that none of the categories grades how well colleges fulfill their main duty, which is how well they teach students. One category - graduation rate performance - attempts to derive how a university's programs actually affect its graduation rate 'after controlling for spending and student characteristics.' But this criterion is just as murky and muddled as it sounds, and it counts a mere 5 percent ... The reality is that we essentially have no idea how well individual colleges teach their students ... Thus, U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, acting on recommendations from a 2006 Commission on the Future of Higher Education report that she commissioned, has started pushing for college accountability - which means testing students in order to grade their schools ... Spellings' impulse is not misguided; the current college rankings are totally insufficient, especially when so much public money is at stake. The reports of sundry dissatisfied employers, who are having a tougher time finding qualified people in the ranks of American college graduates, tell us that a higher-education problem exists. But federally mandated college testing is not the way to solve it ... To start, the feds have done a mediocre job at best of implementing K-12 testing under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). One could drive a truck through the loopholes in that law ... How many college subjects would the feds test? University students major in areas as disparate as husbandry, philosophy and computer engineering. And what makes the feds think that, as has happened under NCLB, colleges won't start teaching to the tests (whatever those tests may look like), in the hopes of boosting their ranks? One would assume that, until Washington can manage K-12 testing, it should forgo any K-16 expansion ... To bolster her case, Spellings has noted that several universities already test their students using the Collegiate Learning Assessment, which evaluates higher-order critical thinking, analysis and communication skills." -- Read the Full Article

Diss Mercury -- August 22, 2007

Diss, UK — "Celebrations were in full swing at Diss High School this week with news that 98 per cent of all A-level examinations taken this year had been passed with what headmaster Stuart Ballantyne described as 'some really outstanding individual results' ... Nearly two thirds of grades were in the A-C range, widely regarded as essential to ensure university places ... Top student was Michael Jones of Banham who swept the board with straight A grades in chemistry, maths, further maths and physics, as well as achieving further success in general studies and critical thinking exams." -- Read the Full Article

The Huffington Post -- August 22, 2007
by Bob Burnett

"Berkeley residents have made two superb documentaries about the long-term impact of the war in Iraq ... 'No End in Sight' asks 'Why did the occupation fail?'  It considers Bush Administration decisions that turned the Iraqis against the U.S. and guaranteed the rise of the insurgency. 'Soldiers of Conscience' asks 'What is this war doing to us?' It studies the impact of Iraq military service on the lives of four soldiers and, by extension, all Americans ... 'Soldiers of Conscience' was produced and directed by Gary Weimberg and Catherine Ryan. The documentary considers the moral/psychological impact of military service in Iraq. It begins with a remarkable statistic: in World War II only 25 percent of American soldiers who had a chance to fire their weapon at the enemy, actually did so. The military saw this as a problem and developed 'reflexive fire training,' a technique to condition American soldiers to kill without thinking. In the Korean, Vietnam, and Gulf wars, the firing rates went up until 85 to 95 percent of American soldiers were willing to fire on the enemy. No one has compiled statistics for the Iraq war but the firing rate is believed to be near 100 percent; the film's grim images of Iraqi dead and wounded appear to confirm this ... 'Soldiers of Conscience' observes, 'The problem with reflexive fire training is that it bypasses the moral process.' Camilo Mejia, one of four U.S. soldiers whose experience is the heart of the documentary, chillingly recalls shooting a young Iraqi without thinking ... 'No End in Sight' and 'Soldiers of Conscience' demonstrate that America now practices decision-making that bypasses the ethical process. We teach 'reflexive fire training' so that our soldiers will kill without thinking. 'No End in Sight' proves that high-ranking Bush Administration officials made snap decisions about the occupation of Iraq without adequately considering the long-term consequences -- they fired without thinking ...That's what's profoundly disturbing about both of these excellent documentaries: they provide further evidence that America abandoned critical thinking in Iraq." -- Read the Full Article

The StarTribune (Minneapolis-St Paul) -- August 21, 2007
by Lora Pabst

"The high school and middle school are the latest to be authorized to teach a curriculum focused on critical thinking and global issues ...  This fall, the Fridley School District will join an increasing number of north-metro school districts that are authorized to offer International Baccalaureate (IB), a program that focuses on critical thinking and global awareness ...  But parents and students likely won't see many differences this year because most of the changes have been made over the past three years, as the district moved through the application process." -- Read the Full Article

Trinicenter.Com -- August 21, 2007
by Zophia Edwards

"Comment: Kids say the darnest things! ... Answer: Not in my classroom! ... This sentiment is largely responsible for the repression of ideas in our education system and has largely remained unchanged since our independence in 1962. Our primary schools, secondary schools and tertiary institutions have maintained a rigid fixation on examinations. Standardized tests are beneficial in that they are useful for comparing students nationwide since they are all required to study the same curriculum for the same exam. What are our standardized tests comparing? Memory. The downside is that the education system is organized in such a way that if you have problems memorizing and regurgitating, you are branded as a person who is "not bright" and your path is set from as early as the S.E.A. examinations. If you have trouble memorizing hard facts, crapaud smoke yuh pipe. Forget prestige schools and forget university. Those doors are not open to you who have problems reciting information, because even if you somehow make it pass the first stage of S.E.A., you end up in the same situation at higher levels in a system that has the same learn-by-heart demands of its students. This culture of education has limited the capacity of our citizens to produce at an optimum level in our society because it has limited creativity of the teacher, of the student and of the resulting workforce ...  Standardized testing limits the creativity of the teachers. Our nation's overuse of exams to assess student performance is having serious negative effects on teaching and learning. The tests have defined curriculum and fashioned instruction. The standardized testing of SEA, CXC, CAPE, A-levels, and even UWI final exams which simply assess memorization - a student's ability to store and reproduce names, dates and facts. What is important is that students memorize the formula and not that they understand it. This leads to a total lack of capacity for comprehending fundamental concepts and thinking in abstract terms. Basically, this means that students are not learning! Teachers instruct students in the alphabet with "A for apple and B for bat." God forbid if a child says A for Anchar! In addition, how the subject is tested has become how the subject is taught and what is not tested is not taught ...  The amount of emphasis placed on learning through past papers and sample tests speaks to the unfortunate importance of the understanding the test format over the importance of understanding the actual material ...  At the university level, more than ever, students should be encouraged to generate a large pool of ideas, a wide range of ideas and think outside of the box. They should not be asked to reproduce a semester's work in a two hour exam because this does not develop their critical thinking skills and analytical techniques. T&T's education system, by enhancing creativity in the classroom, will cultivate originality in thinking which will enable citizens to see things differently and employ new strategies and approaches to solving our problems ...  The real achievers are always those who think outside of the box and who have put their knowledge and talents to creative use in the arts, business, sciences, humanities, sports and across disciplines. This cannot be achieved if the system is stifling the creativity of the people. Memorizing a textbook is no replacement for innovative thinking. The creativity for progress that should have been cultivated in the classroom is lacking. T&T has not adequately tapped into the creative resources of the people." -- Read the Full Article

Commentary
This author fully understands and accurately reflects the dilemma facing all education. If one accepts the suggestion that "creativity" -- a critical intellectual discipline initiated by engaged students working within given content-dense contexts to formulate their own essential independently-created questions and strategies for purposeful discovery, understanding, enlightenment, and validation -- one wonders if the only measure of accountability within education that makes any sense to test students and teachers on is the one that ignites the process; i.e., the intellectual rigor and quality of the thinking itself.

The Jakarta Post -- August 21, 2007
by Ibrahim Isa 

"This is a comment on an article titled The teaching of critical thinking skills written by Hanung Triyono and printed in The Jakarta Post on Aug. 14 ... It is an important remark. For Indonesian students, critical thinking is very important, especially to question the validity of the modern history of Indonesia ... For more than three decades, during the entire period of the New Order under former president Soeharto, students were made to believe all lies and manipulation introduced by the regime. All of the information was considered only to be the truth ... Students followed blindly the interpretations of New Order scholars about, for example, the "bad government during the era of founding president Soekarno" and "the excellent economic policy" of the New Order government ... Therefore, critical thinking should be practiced not only by Indonesian students, but also by their professors and lecturers."

Deseret Morning News -- August 20, 2007
by John Florez

"Thursday, the Glendale community will celebrate the opening of what is hoped will become a touchstone for that community, the Dual Immersion Academy, a charter elementary school ...The DIA is the dream of six women who wanted to create a school where children could acquire the knowledge and values needed to thrive in today's flat world. It is an example of how change takes place — it starts with individuals who have a dream, the passion and the perseverance to make it happen ... It all began two years ago after researching the best methods for students to develop their innate intellectual capacity. Not unlike how learning music increases cognitive skills, the women found that children who learn both content and literacy in two different languages are able to acquire a broader knowledge base, advanced critical-thinking and flexibility needed to become life-long learners — skills needed in today's ever-changing and global community ... The mothers also wanted a school that would become a place where children could learn, practice and internalize the values they thought critical to becoming a part of a neighborhood and global community. They searched for a neighborhood where a school could become a living laboratory, where students could experience the value of sharing and giving to their community. They found just the neighborhood that would fulfill that goal on the west side of Salt Lake: a neighborhood where the enrollment of students would bring different languages and where they could learn by being immersed in dual languages ... Selecting and remodeling some old, rundown buildings in Glendale Plaza has quickly mobilized the residents in joining in the revitalization of their neighborhood. Neighbors, store owners, youths and Boy Scouts have lent their support in the renewal effort to bring new energy and improve the economy and safety for the neighborhood ... The charter school movement may not be the ultimate solution; however, it offers citizens the opportunity to experiment with different ways of delivering education that will prepare students for the global economy. When citizens realize that public institutions belong to them, as do the problems and the solutions, the change process begins." -- Read the Full Article

Evanescent -- August 20, 2007

"I’ve debated with many theists in person and online. Many of them have shown a profound understanding of theology and philosophy, which has left me scrambling for the research books! Some of them have baffled me with facts about science, such as quantum mechanics, that has forced me to go away and do my research. On the other hand, many theists I’ve argued with have shown very little in the way of a serious debating challenge. I think this is because many theists, (if they’re anything like me), were brought up (or taught) a series of arguments in favour of their beliefs and stock answers and defences. They’re even taught stock answers to counter-answers and all the basic apologetics ... One might have been brought up a believer, or chosen to believe. I was brought up with a head full of arguments for god, a stock of rehearsed excuses and counter-arguments, and various reasons why other religions were wrong, and atheism was a mistake ... Sometimes when I debate, I admit, I can lose patience quickly if I feel the other party isn’t being logical or honest. And my penchant for sarcasm often manifests itself. Perhaps what I don’t do enough is show empathy with the believer and make them understand that most of the time, I know exactly where they’re coming from. Now, I don’t want that to sound arrogant, as if I am above anyone and I can see their mistakes now that I’m 'better'. But I think when I was a theist I’d have been slightly more receptive to an 'opponent' if I knew they’d held my beliefs but rejected them. As a believer I’d want to know 'why?!' Perhaps I’m just curious, or perhaps I have a passion for knowledge, but this is one reason why being told to stay away from apostates or critical information on the internet made no sense to me ... There are many atheists who de-converted, and many who were never affiliated with any religion. I won’t pretend that I have any special insight that other atheists don’t have (because I don’t), but I do have the experience of being a fundamentalist and then an atheist. So I’d like to offer the follow observations: ... I think many theists are in for a shock when they debate with atheists. Whereas it’s a self-evident fact are that all humans are born atheists, a professed atheist has at least a modicum of critical thinking, and this is the key thing! It is the one thing that for all the training I was given as a believer, I wasn’t taught this! And because theists aren’t taught it, many don’t expect it. More so, a lot of them don’t understand it ...  Let me say first, if I’m debating with a theist and I use the expressions 'Occam’s razor' or 'post hoc fallacy' or 'begging the question', or 'the regressive fallacy', I am not going to get on my high horse because my opponent doesn’t understand those terms. Not all theists are versed in philosophy, and society in general doesn’t do a very good job of inculcating critical thinking skills, especially in the young. So, fair enough. However, I would genuinely expect any intelligent person to acknowledge a logical fallacy after it’s been pointed out to them. " -- Read the Full Article

Tallahassee.Com -- August 20, 2007
by Jennifer Jefferson

"Florida State University freshmen may have had to put down their “Harry Potter” for “A Hope in the Unseen” by Ron Suskind ... The book was given to about 6,200 freshmen when they attended orientation events on campus earlier this summer. The students were instructed to read the book and prepare to discuss it with a faculty member, upper-class student and their peers at 1:30 p.m. today in Ruby Diamond Auditorium ... The required reading is a new initiative for first-year students ...'One Book/One Campus is an idea that I borrowed from other universities,' said Assistant Dean of Students Patrick Heaton, who also serves as director of Orientation. 'I wanted to do something that would remind our new students that this is a place of higher learning. This is an intellectual exercise that promotes critical thinking and supports college success.'” 

Yemen Times -- August 20, 2007
by Shaker Lashuel

"It takes a conversation with young Yemeni students to realize that primary education in Yemen is in critical condition or a discussion with a college graduate to reveal how deficient and lacking higher education is. This is certainly not a scientific way to measure a country’s quality of education, but when the evidence is so obvious it is hard to ignore. The issues plaguing education are also clear to both educational experts and the common man who see that both the process and the product of this system can not meet the demand of an evolving global market. Yemeni college graduates do not even meet the demands of the local market. Employers in Yemen often find university graduates deficient in writing and communication skills, some can not even write a simple job application letter, or fill out a simple form ... In 2002, while I was in Yemen I was impressed with a science text book curriculum that was different from the one I used as a student many years before. The book emphasized research-based, hands-on and critical thinking approach to learning science which was excellent. When I interviewed a science teacher about the book I realized that he was not ready to teach using this approach, has he and the other 24,250 teachers received in-service training to help them teach the new curricula? Do the science teachers have the resources and materials needed to implement the modern science curricula? " -- Read the Full Article

Herald Tribune (Southwest Florida's Infomation Leader) -- August 20, 2007
by Tiffany Lankes

"Kindergarten teacher Toni Gray's plans for her classroom offer a glimpse of what students across the region can expect when they return to school today ... Her students at Sarasota's Ashton Elementary School will spend most of their time doing hands-on activities in small groups, with more advanced students helping other children. Instead of dictating lessons from the front of the room, Gray will circulate between the groups, individually helping students complete their assignments ... 'Learning starts to become more fun," Gray said. "The children become more responsible for their learning, and they like that' ... Gray's strategies reflect what is becoming an increasingly common shift in how schools are teaching children ... Gone are the days when students sit in neat rows following along in textbooks as their teacher lectures. Instead, students will be spending more time working in small groups on interactive activities that encourage creativity and critical thinking. Schools across the region are training teachers to tailor their lessons to how their students learn best -- by homing in on audio or visual strengths, for example." -- Read the Full Article

2TheAdvocate.Com -- August 20, 2007
by David Brown

Baton Rouge, LA — "Given the recently released LEAP retake results, I am even more concerned about Louisiana’s children and the future of our state ... While they indicate better performance for some, the number of students not able to pass the LEAP is still alarmingly high ... I am also concerned about the number of parents and educators who have expressed that the LEAP is not the best way to evaluate overall student performance ... A chief concern is having to teach “to the test,” rather than being able to teach real skills and critical thinking. Parents are concerned about their children who perform well in classes, passing regular tests and assignments, but then fail the LEAP test and must repeat an entire grade." -- Read the Full Article

The International News -- August 20, 2007
by Shahid Siddiqui

"One common problem with most of the initiatives to reform education in Pakistan is that only the visible aspect of quality is focused. For instance, the number of schools, teachers, buildings, and facilities, etc. are mentioned as indicators of quality. These are indeed integral components of quality but the other aspect of quality, which is not quite visible, is often ignored or underestimated. By the invisible aspect of quality of education I mean what actually goes on in classrooms, i.e., the quality of teaching and learning. The visible and invisible aspects of quality of education are complementary to one another. But the initiatives to reform education seem to focus more on the visible aspect for some understandable reasons ... It is relatively easy to bring a change in the visible aspect, e.g., erect a building, paint the furniture and flowerpots, etc. Besides it is easy to demonstrate the visible change. For instance everybody can see the sparkling red paint of flowerpots sitting in front of the head teacher’s office and can appreciate the ‘change efforts’. But what about the invisible aspect of the quality of education, i.e., the quality of teaching and learning that takes place in the classroom?... Most of these initiatives are backed by foreign funding. A typical approach in donor-funded projects is to demonstrate performance by showing numbers in the end of the project reports. As most of the projects have a stipulated period of time to finish the project, donors and recipients focus on the quantitative numbers and figures to measure their deliverables. A contemporary example is the initiatives in teacher education. A large number of teachers are being ‘trained’ in a short period of time. The end of the projects reports mention inflated figures of trained teachers and political leaders take credit of the ‘great efforts’ they have put in to enhance the quality of education. The fact of the matter is that most of the decision-makers have nothing at stake as far as quality of education in the mainstream schools is concerned as their own children don’t go to these schools. So the façade of large-scale teacher training is no more than a farce as no meaningful, sustainable change can be brought by teachers who have undergone crash teacher-training courses ... The lack of political will, a misleading notion of quality and ineffective teacher-education programmes contribute to the perpetuation of the status quo of education. What is essentially lacking in our education system is the ability of students to think on their own, use reasoning skills, raise pertinent questions, and explore alternatives. The result is a large-scale production of graduates who can cram the contents of a subject, do well in their exams, but who lack the skill of critical thinking." -- Read the Full Article

Asharq Alawsat (The Leading International Daily) -- August 19, 2007
by Sayyed Wild Abah

"In his newly released book entitled ‘Defeating Hitler’, former Knesset speaker and chairman of the Jewish Agency, Avraham Burg, stated that Zionism did not liberate the Jewish people but rather was a disaster that led to the creation of a “violent and closed ghetto” that is similar to the camps that Nazis set up for Jews ... Burg caused major uproar with an article that was published in September 2003 entitled ‘The end of Zionism’, in which he argued that the “Zionist enterprise” was over and that it did not produce a nationally consistent and stable society but rather produced a perverse and corrupt mix that was based on oppression and injustice ... According to Burg, the Zionist revolution that, at the beginning, was based on two pillars, namely, “a just path” and an “ethical leadership”, has failed in its project and is no longer able to inspire and mobilize new generations of Jewish communities. However in his new book, he overwrites this audacious judgment and unequivocally reaffirms the intellectual and ideological relationship between Zionism and Nazism. He calls for reviewing the identity of the Israeli state as he considers it contradictory to Jewish spiritual symbolism and modern democratic systems altogether ... Zionism is no longer a spiritual condition that reassures the religious individual nor has it become a democratic entity that guarantees equal rights for its citizens. In fact, it has become some sort of “Russian Spartan that breeds on violence and is established upon swords and wars' ... Burg stands strongly against the ‘Law of Return’ upon which principle of “Israeli citizenship” was founded. He contends that it is a racist law that excludes current inhabitants of territories and replaces them with strangers based on the pretext of alleged religious and national affiliations ... Obviously, if such comments were made by a religious non-Jew who had occupied the highest posts in the Israeli state, he would have been considered anti-Semitic and would have been subjected to judicial prosecution even in major Western democracies that enjoy freedom of speech ... In Britain, a new movement emerged recently within the ranks of the Jewish community under the name of ‘Independent Jewish Voices’ (IJV). Some of its most prominent figures include the famous historian Eric Hobsbawm and well-known novelist Harold Pinter. The declared reason behind the emergence of this movement was to create a climate in which Jews from various backgrounds would be able to criticize Israel without being accused of betrayal. The movement also called for establishing a distinction between the right to criticize Israel and anti-Semitism which must not be a pretext to limit the freedom of thought and expression as well as an oppressive tool against advocates of human rights who denounce the violations of the Jewish state ... One of the most prominent figures in this field is distinguished British historian Tony Judt who, during his youth, fought with the Zionist movement and volunteered in the Israeli army during the 1967 war before becoming a member of a movement against the Zionist ideologies and Israeli policy. Judt publishes his articles regularly in some of the most important American intellectual journals and magazines, namely the New York Review of Books, The Nation and the New York Times. His articles focus on demanding the elimination of restrictions imposed upon critics of Israel and those who reject the Zionist ideology ... In this context, he wrote a provoking article in 2003 in a supplement of the New York Times in which he deemed Israel a historically transcended political situation. He called for a shift from the “State of Jews” (Herzl Project) to a natural secular and democratic state that accommodates its Arab population including displaced Palestinian refugees. In his book entitled ‘Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945’, Judt looks at the fact that the post-Cold War era had eliminated all taboos and opened all doors that were previously closed to free critical thinking, especially to criticism of Zionism ...This literature is still unknown within the Arab political discourse, which favors an inciting and struggling discourse that is still incapable of communicating with Jewish elites that are anti-Zionist and that are against Israel's aggressive policies." -- Read the Full Article

News By Us, not news bias -- August 19, 2007
by Lee Culpepper

"I joined the Marine Corps after college because I felt compelled to serve our country and to defend the rights of others. I feel proud to have served in the Corps, and I believe my experience taught me a greater appreciation regarding the incredibly high cost and value of freedom ... Consequently, I simply cannot think like those Americans who take our freedoms for granted. I also fail to understand how any American can recklessly abuse our freedoms. My father used to describe such people by saying, 'Son, some folks live their entire lives with their heads between the wrong two cheeks' ... Even armed with my father’s wisdom, I could hardly believe two stories I was reading recently, except that they involved The New York Times and the ACLU.  Last week, Steven Levitt, co- author of [i]Freakonomics[i], published his 'Freakonomics Blog' on The New York Times website. In 'If You Were A Terrorist How Would You Attack?' Levitt gleefully offers some ideas for how terrorists could most easily wreak chaos in America, and he smugly solicits more ideas from any oxygen-starved readers willing to respond. Naturally, I question why our government has not exercised its primary responsibility to protect us from such a menace. At a minimum, officials should question Levitt to see if he’s actually smart enough to deny serving as an al Qaeda-propaganda strategist. Being so full of himself, who knows what he might reveal?  As a courtesy, government agents could at least encourage Levitt to breathe some fresh air. People who honestly believe they are assisting the government by publishing such treacherous garbage, a claim Levitt makes, are clearly lunatics that present a danger not only to themselves, but also to others. On the other hand, if they are intentionally undermining the American effort to protect us from terrorists, they should be tried for treason and hanged. Certainly during a war, the government should keep such people under surveillance for those individuals’ own protection ... When it comes to morons, one naturally thinks of the ACLU. Recently its lawyers filed a federal lawsuit that accuses a Transportation Security Administration official and JetBlue Airways of discriminating against a man of Arabic decent. He describes himself as a 'new American…fighting for his rights.' The problem began when airport officials asked Raed Jaraar to change t-shirts before boarding his flight. The shirt he was wearing boasted the ambiguous message: 'We Will Not Be Silent'—scribbled in Arabic and English across the chest. The vague message, the Arabic writing, the age and sex of the passenger – BUT MOST OBVIOUSLY HIS ETHNICITY – would be considered logical clues to people getting enough oxygen to their brains. Fortunately, some clear-thinking and observant passengers reported their concerns to officials. How the trained security officials failed to detect these raging red flags probably points to public education’s failure to develop critical thinking skills – a topic for another article. Meanwhile, here are some simple analytical questions that an inquisitive security guard could have asked in this situation: 'Cool shirt, who or what are the 'we' in its message?  About 'what' are the 'we' refusing to remain 'silent'? And why is the message unclear?” (That’s just polite conversation.)" -- Read the Full Article

Mideast Youth (Thinking Ahead) -- August 19, 2007
by Matthew

"It’s really sad that some people are so cynical and full of rivalry they give themselves permission to suspend critical thinking in order to entertain the notion that Darfur is some sort of plot for Jews and Israel to gain an advantage over their rivals. Come on. Think about it, people. How long did Sudan’s Arab/Muslim controlled government fight a civil war against the Christian/Animist Dinka and other tribes in the south? How long were there reports of slavery? And yet … no mega media campaigns. No organized structure ...  If there were an insidious and illicit motive here, don’t you think it would make much more political and public relations sense to try and mobilize the international community by attempting to paint a picture of 'poor, helpless, non-Muslim, minority victims' suffering at the hands of 'brutal, oppressive, Arabs/Muslims,' rather than focus on a cause in which all the players are Muslim? If this were some sort of calculated strategy to demonize Arabs and Muslims, it would have been done back then when Israel could have worked with Christian and secular communities to act as a united front. But they didn’t because that’s not what’s going on here. " -- Read the Full Article

BlogHer -- August 19, 2007
by Leslie Madsen Brooks

"The New York Times reported this week that students at some high schools are being forced to declare majors. The schools see such a move as making their students more competitive for college. The NYT article explains that students 'are expected to stick with their major through four years unless they have a compelling reason to change' ... I'm still looking for a compelling reason to ask 8th or 9th graders to select a course of study that will force them into a particular intellectual or vocational track. And yes, I'm using the word 'track' here deliberately, because while in theory a few of the schools are adopting the major program in order to make their working-class students more competitive, in practice these programs, in my experience, lock students into ability-based tracks that prevent them from moving into more challenging courses ... My first college roommate switched majors from history education to geography to library science to education to range management--and during this process went to three colleges and joined the Army Reserves as a hydrologist. She went to grad school, briefly, in environmental engineering, did a stint in Americorps, then went to (most of) law school before finally settling on becoming an artisan baker. As crazy as that may seem, she needs to take that winding path between ages 18 and 30 to explore all the different aspects of her personality, all of her interests. Chances are, if she had declared a food services major in high school, she wouldn't have gone straight to the culinary academy. Rather, she would have been ready to move on to the next thing--and she'd be unprepared for that next thing because she wouldn't have had the chance to take as many different courses and electives as possible to broaden and deepen her critical thinking skills. I've taken a similar, albeit not quite as dramatic, route to where I am now, and much of who I am grew out of the broad spectrum of courses I took in high school and college." -- Read the Full Article

The Sunday Paper -- August 19, 2007
by Stephanie Ramage

“'Viewed from Iraq, where we just spent eight days meeting with American and Iraqi military and civilian personnel, the political debate in Washington is surreal. The Bush administration has over four years lost essentially all credibility. Yet now the administration’s critics, in part as a result, seem unaware of the significant changes taking place.' Thus, Brookings Institution fellows Michael O’Hanlon and Kenneth Pollock began their July 30 op-ed column in the New York Times ... 'Here is the most important thing Americans need to understand,' they continued. 'We are finally getting somewhere in Iraq, at least in military terms. As two analysts who have harshly criticized the Bush administration’s miserable handling of Iraq, we were surprised by the gains we saw and the potential to produce not necessarily ‘victory’ but a sustainable stability that both we and the Iraqis could live with' ... The claptrap that has occurred in response to their piece in the Times has amply proven the duo’s point that many of the administration’s detractors are so driven by their hatred of President Bush that they can’t allow themselves to see progress in Iraq, although it is clearly and irrefutably happening. The problem, say their critics, is that O’Hanlon and Pollack have not 'harshly criticized the Bush administration’s miserable handling of Iraq.' Well, not to put too fine a point upon it, but calling Bush’s handling of Iraq 'miserable' might, by most standards, be considered harshly critical ... What has been lost in the boringly predictable rush to discredit anyone who sees anything at all positive in Iraq is truly critical thinking. Those who cite O’Hanlon and Pollock’s support for the war completely ignore the fact that neither of them has said they didn’t support the war." -- Read the Full Article

Uncondition -- August 18, 2007
by Dianne Jost

"I just read an interesting interview with Noam Chomsky in the Le Monde Diplomatique paper version in French by Daniel Mermet. For the English translation, see Democracy's invisible line. Actutally I like the French title a bit better: Le lavage de cerveaux en liberté ... I have learned quite a bit by putting my rusty thinking machine through Chomsky's intellectual acrobatics. However here and on other occasions, I do not agree with him on a few issues ... It must be noted that there is one bridge to build in this apparently very connected world of ours and that is the one between public opinion and democracy. But you see, it is not that simple. A majority is not necessarily right, and democracy is not just the implementation of the will of a majority. Democracy is an evolving set of tools all used to serve human's natural tendency to self-organize. If a majority is not a critical decision factor in democracy, what is?... The interplay of mutual and non-reciprocal masturbation of Media and Government is however an interesting phenomenon. Who is using whom, for what purpose, and who on earth is getting any satisfaction?... If as Chomsky claims 'not only are citizens excluded from political power, they are also kept in a state of ignorance as to the true state of public opinion' what is it that is happening?... Now, all is good and well, and there is a lot of food for thought in much of what Chomsky has to say, however the following does not quite go along the lines of what I have been thinking: ... 'We are living here and now, not in some imaginary universe. And here and now there are tyrannical organisations – big corporations. They are the closest thing to a totalitarian institution. They are, to all intents and purposes, quite unaccountable to the general public or society as a whole. They behave like predators, preying on other smaller companies. People have only one means of defending themselves and that is the state. Nor is it a very effective shield because it is often closely linked to the predators. But there is a far from negligible difference. General Electric is accountable to no one, whereas the state must occasionally explain its actions to the public' ... I contend that governments and big corporations are hit by the same ills: the tyranny virus knows no distinction between the two. While it is the government that legitimizes the nature of the corporation, it is the corporation that finances the government as it is the one directly creating revenue - value - from its assets. There is a codependency between government and corporation that not many people - the critical thinking kind - are willing to look at. It ought to be looked at, and it ought to be looked at really hard, and the nature of its relationships examined. Questions of ethical basis need to be asked. Who is serving whom, and for what purpose?" -- Read the Full Article

YourHub.Com -- August 18, 2007
by Jane Barnes, Jeffco School Board President

"As the new school year begins, we have the opportunity to challenge ourselves and our wonderful children with learning opportunities that will truly make them 21 st century learners ...The following excerpt is from a 'Welcome Back' address I gave to the Jeffco Schools Administrators at the end of July 2007. I feel it speaks to issues that all of us embrace, or should embrace, as we support and nourish the development of each Jeffco child ... 'Last year I talked to you about what business expects from our students. Students will need strong critical thinking skills, collaborative skills, and good communication skills. Currently, 30% of American high school students do not graduate in four years and of those who do go on to college, not much more than one-quarter graduate with a degree in technologically intensive fields.'-- Read the Full Article

Reflection -- August 18, 2007
by  Nancy Dick 
 

"I learned that we are in the midst of profound economic change. Like many, I was cynical following the hype and spectacular crash of the dot-com 1.0 era. But as Buzz Bruggeman said this week, (I’m paraphrasing) we generally overestimate the impact for the short term and underestimate it for the long term ... I question more than ever what skills we need to give the two-year multimedia students in the program I teach in, and begin to think teaching the how-to’s of technology is going to play a smaller role, and critical thinking and communications skills a larger one. Ironic, because technical education has always been philosophically nearly diametrically opposed to traditional liberal university education, but more than ever, critical thinking and communication cut across the entire educational landscape." -- Read the Full Article

cliPcliP -- August 17, 2007
by Piter
 

The Christian Post -- August 17, 2007
by Ken Connor

"Abraham Lincoln once famously observed, 'The philosophy of the school room in one generation is the philosophy of government in the next' ... The truth of Lincoln's observation is, no doubt, at the core of the apprehensions that New Yorkers have expressed about the Khalil Gibran International Academy scheduled to open next month in Brooklyn ...Our current climate of political correctness in this country has produced a dizzying double standard as it relates to Christianity and its competing world views—including Islam. Can you imagine the response of New York City educrats to school organizers who would have the temerity to advocate public funding of a school that would focus on the life and teachings of Jesus, promote the virtues of Western Civilization, and offer field trips to the holy city of Jerusalem (complete with side trips to Bethlehem and the Sea of Galilee)? Why, those "constitutional Neanderthals" would be thrown out on their ear! Their proposal wouldn't even pass the laugh test at the NYC DOE. Before you could say "ACLU," there would be a federal lawsuit to enjoin public funding of the proposed "inherently religious" enterprise. Not so, however, with Kahlil Gibran International Academy. In post-modern New York City, all religions may be equal, but some are more equal than others ... Second, it is duplicitous to suggest that one can separate Arabic culture from the religion of Islam. That's like trying to square a circle. It can't be done. In Islam, there is no separation of church and state. Islamic fundamentalists do not draw a distinction between religion, culture and politics. The three are united under Sharia law. These religious zealots see the state as a primary vehicle for advancing Islam. Indeed, the coercive power of the state is essential to spreading the teachings of the Koran. The words, "religious liberty," are not in the lexicon of these fundamentalists. "Convert or die!" is their mantra. Will citizens of the Empire State be funding the education of the next generation of suicide bombers who are committed to the expansion of a worldwide Islamic state? Inquiring minds in the Big Apple want to know ... One would hope that these concerns would be self-evident to school officials charged with the responsibility of educating New York City's schoolchildren, but apparently they are not. Sadly, those who dare to voice their concerns are branded "intolerant bigots" by the NYC educational elites. For the elites, to be deemed "intolerant" or "bigoted" is a fate worse than death in the Age of Tolerance and Moral Relativism ... The fact that the school officials do not credit even facial legitimacy to the concerns being raised by ordinary citizens speaks volumes about the critical thinking skills of New York's educational establishment, many of whom are products of New York City schools. One can only conclude, therefore, that the NYC public school system is, in fact, in dire need of radical reform—just not the kind that radical Islamists have in mind." -- Read the Full Article

Telegraph.co.uk -- August 17, 2007
by Liz Lightfoot

"As universities devise more and more entrance tests to help spot academic potential, students have been finding another way to improve their chances ... The brightest are gradually moving back to the traditional 'harder' subjects such as maths, single sciences and languages they hope will most impress admission tutors ... The exam boards disclosed yesterday that the much-debated rise in candidates achieving the top A grade is being fuelled by pupils at independent and grammar schools and they are the ones looking for ways to best demonstrate their ability ...They may feel attracted to media studies or information and communication technology but are more likely than sixth formers at comprehensives to sign up for maths, physics or a foreign language. That's why 43.7 per cent of maths entries were graded A and 30.8 per cent of physics compared with only 14 per cent of media studies and 9.5 per cent of information and communication technology, examiners suggested yesterday ... Examiners said critical thinking enabled students to "consider and weigh arguments and develop rigorous thinking" but denied that they needed to study it to make up for the loss of demand for such skills in other A-levels ... Examiners and government ministers said students and schools had worked hard and deserved them. Civitas, the independent think tank, said evidence showed that the exam could not be taken as a valid measure of improvements in education because there had been 'an unambiguous trend towards students of the same ability getting better grades.' "" -- Read the Full Article

The Washington Post -- August 16, 2007
by Irshad Manji

"Love and religion do not always mix. No wonder the most common question sent to my website these days comes from young Muslims in America and Europe. They desperately want to know if they can marry non-Muslims ...Their parents and imams tell them that Islam forbids marriage outside the faith. But that is not necessarily true. Dr. Khaleel Mohammed, a progressive American imam educated at traditional universities in the Middle East, has written a clear defense of inter-faith marriage from an Islamic perspective. I have posted his “blessing” on my website ... Now, this interfaith blessing is such a popular download that I have had to get it translated into several languages to keep up with demand. Welcome to a hot 21st-Century issue, as more Muslims are born in the West or migrate to it, then meet people of other religions ... What this imam did goes beyond matters of the heart. It reflects the power of using the mind to reinterpret the Qur’an for contemporary times. He has captured the spirit of ijtihad (pronounced ij-tee-had), Islam’s own tradition of creative reasoning. As globalization persists and pluralism spreads, both Muslims and non-Muslims need to know that Islam offers a positive alternative to the tribal mentality ... Ijtihad has a history of achievement. In the early centuries of Islam, 135 schools of interpretation flourished. In Muslim Spain, scholars would teach their students to abandon "expert" opinions about the Qur’an if their conversations with the living, breathing Qur’an produced better evidence for their peaceful ideas. And Cordoba, one of the most sophisticated cities in Muslim Spain, housed 70 libraries. That rivals the number of public libraries in most cosmopolitan cities today! ... From the 8th to the 12th centuries, the "gates of ijtihad" — of discussion, debate and dissent — remained wide open. This is also when Islamic civilization led the world in ingenuity. If ever we Muslims needed to renew our commitment to ijtihad, it is now. From the emerging generation, I continually hear this question: “Is there a way to reconcile our faith with freedom of thought?'... Yes, there is. The Qur’an contains three times as many verses calling on us to think than verses that tell us what is forbidden or acceptable. In that sense, re-interpretation – which means re-thinking Qur’anic passages, not re-writing them – is an Islamic responsibility. The Illinois-based Nawawi Foundation even describes it as a “religious duty of the first magnitude' ... That is why I and other young Muslims have launched Project Ijtihad, an effort to revive critical thinking in Islam by sparking honest debates both online and in person. As my story about the American imam shows, Muslims in the West are perfectly positioned to rediscover ijtihad. After all, it is in countries like the United States, Canada and Britain that we already enjoy precious freedoms to think, express, challenge and be challenged on matters of interpretation. What a precious gift ... But even if Project Ijtihad is launched from the West, it cannot stop in the West. People throughout the Islamic world need to know of their God-given right to think for themselves." Read the Full Article

BBC News -- August 16, 2007

"Critical thinking has shot up by almost 60% in popularity as an A-level subject in the past year, results from the Joint Council for Qualifications show ...The number of people who studied it was relatively tiny - just 2,008 out of about 310,000 candidates.

But the new subject had easily the biggest percentage increase from 2006 ...Ministers and exam board officials were buoyed by the resurgence of further mathematics, the second biggest riser, up 8.3% at 7,872 entries ...Mathematics was also up, 7.3%, at more than 60,000 entries, putting it firmly in second place in the "top 10", behind English and supplanting general studies ...  At a joint council news conference, Greg Watson of the OCR exam board said critical thinking encapsulated the sort of skills that were in demand by universities and by employers ...The Schools Minister, Jim Knight, said: "It is encouraging that the numbers of students taking mathematics, modern languages and science subjects are on the rise - in the case of mathematics, there has been a 14% rise in uptake since 2004 ...'We recognise their crucial importance to the UK economy and want to accelerate this trend over the coming years' ... But the think tank Reform said that on a longer view, since 2000, entries in such key subjects were mostly down - maths by 10% and physics by 14%, for example." Read the Full Article

The Sydney Morning Herald -- August 16, 2007
by Chris Bonner

"I can't be blamed for a sense of deja vu about the controversy created by Davidson High School's entry in the Rock Eisteddfod. The piece, Bad Knight II, parodies the US President, George Bush, and his role in the Iraq War, repeating the anti-war theme of the school's previous entry Bad Night in Baghdad, which won the same competition when I was principal of the school three years ago ... Many Rock Eisteddfod performances comment on issues facing students and society. They make strong statements against drugs, racism and violence ... Davidson High School's 2004 entry was unashamedly one-sided. The school made strenuous efforts to make sure parents were aware of the subject matter and happy for their offspring to take part. There was nothing but enthusiastic support in response. When the school held a meeting to decide whether to proceed from the heats to the final, parents were hostile to any suggestion of changing the performance ... None of this protected Davidson High from a broadside from a morning talkback host, then several days of intense media coverage. The then federal education minister, Brendan Nelson, weighed in with a barrage linking bias in public schools to the NSW Teachers Federation, something that vastly amused staff who knew that the teacher involved was not a unionist. It apparently did not matter that many private schools submit equally challenging Rock Eisteddfod entries ... Political statements have a legitimate place in students' creative work. As any examiner - or parent - can tell you, pupils often make challenging statements about controversial issues in their art, drama, music, dance, essays, creative writing and projects. What teachers must ensure is that they are able to recognise bias, that they are given access to balancing opinions, and that opinions of any sort are backed by adequate information and the intellectual rigour of inquiry and research ... Schools are constantly urged to be relevant and engage their students in connected learning, which includes creative expression and critical thinking. They cannot be quarantined from the real world; students are poorly served by teachers who avoid intellectual challenge ... We constantly underestimate our young people. The sad thing about these moral panics is that they portray the teacher-student relationship as a one-way, passive flow of information. The image of teacher ideologues pouring bias down the throats of students devalues our young people, as my experience with students, including those at Davidson High, attests ... One of the lasting lessons for students, parents and teachers involved in the 2004 episode was the extent to which the tabloid media got it so wrong. Seeing their school dragged through the swamp of talkback radio taught students more about bias and media than a score of lessons. Good teachers brought articles and reports about the controversy into their classrooms. Equipping young people to unpack the messages they receive from others is critical to their growth and, ultimately, to a healthy democracy ... .What seems to be different this time is the better balance of reporting and commentary, in contrast to the full-blown panic created by the 2004 performance. Maybe we have learned that a bit of bias on stage in an extracurricular activity is not the end of Western civilisation as we know it." -- Read the Full Article

DesMoines Register -- August 15, 2007
by Megan Hawkins

 Members of Iowa's class of 2007 left high school better prepared for college than their predecessors, and their ACT scores boosted Iowa to second-highest in the country among states that test more than half their students, a new report shows ... Still, only 28 percent of Iowa high school students who took the college entrance exam met the benchmark scores that show they were prepared to pass all of their college classes. Nationwide, only 23 percent of students met the readiness threshold ... Testing officials say the numbers are a sign that U.S. high school students need to tackle more difficult coursework, a problem Iowa school leaders were told by lawmakers to fix with tougher graduation requirements ... 'These data make it clear that students are not, by and large, learning all of the essential skills they need to succeed in college simply by taking the minimum core curriculum in high school," said Richard Ferguson, chief executive officer of ACT in Iowa City ... Iowa students earned an average composite ACT score of 22.3, compared with 22.1 last year; the national average was 21.2. A perfect ACT score is 36 ... A new state law requires all students, starting with this fall's freshmen, to take four years of English and three years each of math, science and social studies ... Schools are working on other ways to better educate students, as well. Des Moines' Hoover High School Principal Doug Wheeler said that, this year, juniors will work more on test preparation and that teachers will try to develop lessons that spark the kind of critical thinking needed for college work." -- Read the Full Article

The Middle East Media Research Institute -- August 15, 2007
by  Al-Hamid Al-Ansari

Washington, DC — "The following are excerpts from an interview with former dean of Islamic law at QatarUniversity, Abd Al-Hamid Al-Ansari. The interview aired on Abu Dhabi TV on July 26, 2007:  "Unfortunately, the history of the Muslims has become confused with their religion. The Muslims are no different than other nations. Some actions of the Muslims are not in line with the teaching of their religion. Some traditions have dominated Islamic society for over a thousand years, although they run counter to the religion of Islam. The shura [consultation] is a lofty principle in Islam. Since the rule of the four Righteous Caliphs, which lasted 30 years, the shura has disappeared from the lands of the Muslims - even though we are in need of the shura, which nowadays is synonymous with democracy. The people of the nation have the right to elect their ruler, and to hold him accountable. All these values disappeared with the disappearance of the shura' ...  'In my opinion, the disappearance of critical thinking is what led to the disappearance of accountability. Why do we repeat mistakes? Despite the humiliating defeats we have suffered for half a century, we have not learned a thing. We have not learned any lesson from the nakba and from our defeats. We still repeat the same mistakes, to the point that the criteria of victory and defeat have been distorted. You are aware of what happened recently in Lebanon, for example - the Israeli war against Lebanon. A large part of the Arab people considered this to be a victory, but in my opinion, this was no victory. Why is that? Because of the absence of critical thinking and of accountability. " -- Read the Full Article

The New York Times -- August 15, 2007
by Somini Sengupta 

NEW DELHI — "Quietly, a great upheaval is taking place inside Indian high schools ...  For the first time, the messy brawl that is modern Indian politics, including some of its ugliest and most controversial episodes, is being taught in political science class. It is part of a broader revision of the school curriculum, with potentially long-lasting implications for how Indian children grasp the workings of their nation and its place in the world ... 'Sixty years after independence, it’s a statement of maturity of Indian democracy,' said Yogendra Yadav, one of the two chief advisers to the political science textbook committee. 'This couldn’t have been written 30 years after independence. This probably couldn’t have been written 15 years ago' ... Shikha Chhabra, 16, offered an example from her new 12th-grade textbook, 'Contemporary World Politics' ... She said she had always been taught that the nonaligned movement, in which India played a leading role during the cold war years and countries carved out at least a rhetorical policy of independence from both the Soviet Union and the United States, was 'a wonderful thing.' The new textbook, she noticed, treats it differently. 'Now they raise the question — does the nonaligned movement really apply in the world today? Was it just fence-sitting?' ... She decided that it no longer applied, joining a contemporary hue and cry among politicians and political observers in this country about the merits of India’s new friendship with the United States. The class had a rich debate about the pros and cons of aligning with the Americans. It came during a chapter called “U.S. Hegemony in World Politics ... 'You do question what India’s strategy should be,' Ms. Chhabra said ... Her teacher, Abha Malik, head of the political science department at the Sanskriti School here, pounded on the textbook, which the National Council of Educational Research and Training, a government agency, rolled out four months ago for both public and private schools. “You can’t have a regular, regular class with this,” she said, beaming. 'This book won’t let you sit still' ... In a country where rote learning has prevailed even at the most elite schools, the new emphasis on critical thinking signals a major shift in pedagogy. More striking is the substance of the new curriculum. Before, the emphasis in political science was on political theory. 'This is realpolitik,' Ms. Malik said."-- Read the Full Article

Burlington Free Press -- August 15, 2007
by Tim Johnson

Burlington, VT — "On the eve of a new academic year, 15 faculty members at the University of Vermont sat around a table Tuesday morning and grappled, bravely, with the age-old problems of getting undergraduate students to do two things: think critically and turn out decent research papers ... These are challenges that professors have pondered -- and groused about -- for years. What's new is the Internet -- both as a source of information and as a venue for new forms of writing, such as e-mails and instant messaging, that many students are likely to perfect before they get around to their term papers ... Still, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Yes, admissions policies might be somewhat more selective than years ago, but that doesn't mean students know how to think, write or even spell. And yes, as always, there are students who make it to senior year without ever setting foot in the library or going near an article in an academic journal ... So, perhaps it was appropriate that this session -- and five others, spread over three days as part of the annual faculty seminar sponsored by UVM's Honors College -- was organized by librarians. After all, librarians have plenty to say -- and plenty of references to give -- about thinking and research skills. " -- Read the Full Article

The Jakarta Post -- August 15, 2007
by Hanung Triyoko

Melbourne — "Indonesian students need to make some essential adaptations in order to succeed academically in Australian universities. These adaptations are not just about English proficiency but differences in academic culture ... There are more issues to address about our study in Australia universities beside our continuous effort to upgrade our English to a stage where we may be said to be competent users of English for academic purposes ... Australian universities, as part of the Anglo-Saxon university system, demand students, among other things, be able to exercise critical thinking, which is believed to be the most distinctive feature of the differences between the non-Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Saxon universities ... Universities in Australia have made critical thinking a focus in various bridging programs especially provided for international students. While it is expected that the explicit teaching of critical thinking and the acknowledging of our previous learning experiences may optimally upgrade Indonesian students' study skills, it may also make some of us feel inferior ... Many of us may feel reluctant to actively get involved in discussions and debates not because we are afraid of using English but because we are not accustomed to the culture of discussion and debate in Australian universities. The fact that we are more familiar with memorizing tasks than the analyzing ones in our past studies can hinder inquiry and advocacy tasks in good discussions and debates." -- Read the Full Article

IndeOnline.Com -- August 14, 2007
by Erin Pustay

"The progress may be slow, but the footing is solid ... This year, Massillon fell short of attaining an “effective” rating on the state report card issued by the Ohio Department of Education. Of the 30 indicators that the state set forth, Massillon met just 11 of them, garnering a “continuous improvement” rating as a district ... That news, however, is not stopping curriculum director Kathy Kalleker Nolan from believing in the district’s five-year plan – to become one of the nation’s best. Kalleker Nolan believes that, despite falling short of an “excellent” rating this year, the district’s goal is still within reach ... Massillon failed to meet more than eight standardized test score indicators on the report card for the 2006-2007 school year. There was progress made in many test areas this year, over last year, and that is significant according to Kalleker Nolan. Any increase in the number of students passing the tests is an indicator the district is moving forward, she said ...'We are not slipping back,' Kalleker Nolan said, 'we are moving forward. It is just not at the pace that we had hoped' ...  This year, the district improved it’s passage rate on 13 standardized test scores between grades 3-11. Two tests – 11th- and fifth-grade math – fell by less than one percentage point, while the fifth grade reading test passage rate stayed the same at 71.4 percent ...Areas of testing that dipped significantly this year from last year came at the middle school level. The percentage of students passing the sixth-grade reading test fell from 76 percent in 2005-2006 to 69.9 percent in 2006-2007. In addition, the number of students passing the seventh grade reading and math tests fell by approximately five percentage points each ... Those are the kinds of trends that the district is eager to reverse, according to Kalleker Nolan. This school year, the middle school has steps in place that are expected to improve test scores in all of those areas ... Students in all grade levels at the middle school will be attending reading classes daily. Each day, they will look at reading and how it relates to each core subject area – math, science, language and social studies. In learning to cross apply their literacy skills with their core curriculum, Kalleker Nolan is certain that the students will also sharpen their critical thinking skills – skills she said are vital for success on the standardized tests ...'It’s thinking curriculum, not memorization,' Kalleker Nolan said of the tests. 'We are teaching (students) to think, process information and be actively engaged. Thinking skills are embedded in what you teach with literacy. You have to think about what you are reading and respond to it using those higher level thinking skills.'" -- Read the Full Article

Transitions Online -- August 14, 2007
by Vasili Rukhadze

Czech Republic  — "As the last millennium drew to a close, Georgia’s once-excellent educational system, which nurtured mathematicians, doctors, philosophers, and historians in the early 20th century, was clearly on the decline. Even with a nearly 100 percent adult literacy rate, Georgia was not producing many professionals. It was instead suffering the effects of Soviet control and subsequent years of war and corruption ... Now, with various reforms under way, the future of Georgian education appears bright ... New institutions and enriched courses are helping Georgian students get their foot in the door of globalizing markets. “You can be sure that after graduation the business world is open to you, not only in the South Caucasus but elsewhere in the world,” said Koba Gogsadze, who plans to apply to the business school at Caucasus University in the capital city of Tbilisi ... Still, improvements haven’t arrived without problems. Ideological divides have grown between earlier generations of academics and their successors. Moreover, the fledgling democratic educational system is hobbled by financial constraints, curriculum debates, finding ways to assist students who cannot attend universities, and a dearth of qualified teachers ... Georgian students wishing to enter such colleges and universities are now required to take the United National Entrance Examination. The computerized exam tests applicants on logical and analytical thinking, as well as general academic knowledge. Each test is corrected by two trained, independent graders. A third grader looks at the exam if the two initial scores vary greatly, and students may appeal the results ... The new exam process stands in stark contrast to communist pen-and-paper testing, and the corruption that often accompanied it ... Rather than taking obligatory courses only, students may now choose courses in various subjects, so long as they fulfill graduation requirements. More academic hours in elementary and secondary schools are devoted to foreign languages and computer science. Classes are often taught on a semester basis, instead of a yearly one, and schools have started emphasizing students’ critical thinking skills." -- Read the Full Article

The Huffington Post -- August 13,  2007
by Ed Whitfield

"The initial reaction in most liberal circles about the recent Supreme Court decision on so-called voluntary desegregation plans does not surprise me. The prevailing view is that it represents another setback to progress from a reactionary court. What you will not hear much of is the reaction from grassroots black communities, black youth or from older black folks who were educated in public schools before the period of forced busing and comprehensive court-ordered desegregation/ integration plans. You will not be reminded of the fact that there have been few, if any, community-based struggles by young blacks to get more white children into their classrooms. You will not be reminded that there was an outcry from many black communities when school integration closed most of their schools, laid off large numbers of black teachers and almost all black administrators, and decreased many of the opportunities for participation in school activities for black children, all in the name of progress ...  Don't get me wrong. I was one of those children who participated in the integration of public schools in the South. But a narrative about my family's experience might help set the stage for understanding my view now, particularly given the approaching celebrations around the 50th anniversary of the integration of Little Rock Central High School in my hometown in 1957 ...  My sister Winifred, next in age to my oldest brother, had seen the lynch mobs on TV and heard them chanting 'two, four, six, eight, we don't want to integrate.' She had seen the hate on the faces of the segregationists and their determination not to have their way of life challenged by 'uppity Negroes,' and she knew from this that she 'had to go to that school (Central)" when she was old enough a few years later. She told me recently that she had to prove to them that she was just as good as they were. I have said of her that she is the only person that I know who was recruited to a high school by a lynch mob ...  I am thoroughly convinced that what is wrong with education -- its tendency to coerce rather than facilitate learning, its tendency to push people toward accepting the status quo and fitting into the existing social order rather than thinking critically and questioning accepted notions -- is wrong for everyone. The implications of these faults of schooling differ depending on one's position in that social order. Real critical thinking skills are seldom effectively taught since they are hard to measure. We need to be looking at how education will help to prepare young people to be meaningful parts of their community's future, but to do this, we have to have some sense of what their community's future is. The "new economic order" just doesn't cut it for me. The gap between the haves and the have-nots cannot keep getting wider while we destroy the planet and anger and alienate most of the people in the world by trying to twist every human relationship into something from which a few powerful people can make ever growing profits. We have got to find -- no, we have got to create a better way. Schooling should play an important role in this, but not simply by virtue of giving diverse groups opportunities to study with and play with each other. The children of slaves and slave masters sometimes played together, but everyone came to know their place. The fact that they played together did not change the social order then, nor will it now, not unless we take up the task of social change consciously." -- Read the Full Article

American Society of Agronomy -- August 13, 2007
by Sara Uttech

Madison, WI — "In the Southwestern U.S., land managers face equally critical and difficult decisions when it comes to their ranges. The region is known for its climate variability which has strong influences and impacts on range conditions. Access to the latest climate and range science information is vital for managers to make effective short and long-term decisions. An experiential learning exercise was held at a meeting in January, 2006 to open communication between land managers and scientists about climate and range science concepts ... The main objective of the exercise was to challenge range managers to explore how long-term temperature changes and precipitation distribution may impact their management strategies. Adjustment of planning time was also stressed for adaptation to climatic conditions. Participants explored potential plans for rangelands under changing climates. Description and outcomes of this event were published in the 2007 volume 36 of Journal of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Education ...The exercise consisted of several rounds where management decisions had to be made in certain climate conditions. Groups of five to 10 individuals were given situational and financial restraints with a 1,000 acre parcel of land. Its condition was determined by chance for six decision periods that represented 60 years. Each round, groups discussed potential changes to and transitions of their land based on interactions between its initial state, any disturbances and the data of climate changes by each decade. The groups used management strategies to either keep their land in its original state or improve its condition. The purpose of this exercise was to give an opportunity to investigate the complexities in range management decisions based on climate change at the small group level ...The adapted exercise is equally appropriate for use by land managers or by undergraduate college classes studying land management issues. Experiential learning is a more effective teaching method than expository instruction, it allows critical thinking, improves communication skills among participants, and actively engages learners." -- Read the Full Article

Athiest Revolution (Blog) -- August 13, 2007
by VJack

"University-level education is supposed to be about more than just getting a job after graduation; it is supposed to be an opportunity to learn how to think effectively. Regardless of the academic discipline, students learn the history of their chosen field, recent developments in the area, and current controversies. And yet, most fields of study also extol the virtues of critical thinking. This is what makes university education such a potent friend to the reality-based community. Sadly, there are exceptions, as some universities have abandoned this noble goal in pursuit of ancient superstition ... I recall my college years with fondness as a time of intense self-reflection, wide ranging interpersonal experience, identity development, and discovery. In every subject, the professors who made an impression were those who challenged my preconceptions and encouraged critical thinking. Even in religion courses (yes, I took two courses in religion), nothing was accepted at face value. Students were pushed to consider how we know what we think we know. We learned that asking the right questions was often more valuable than finding an answer ... I credit these experiences as going a long way toward making me who I am today. I suppose this is why I found this article about Brigham Young University (BYU) by Jon Adams so distressing. I join Adams in feeling sorry for the students at BYU. "They are missing out on the marketplace of ideas other universities enjoy' ... Religiously-oriented universities do not have to make this mistake. I attended one, and I know that freethought and skepticism can flourish even in such environments. It must also be acknowledged that BYU is no Liberty University. In discussing the legacy of homophobia at BYU, Adams notes that change is possible and that there is some cause for optimism. Still, I think the real tragedy is that BYU often receives praise from the Mormon community precisely because of how it deprives its students of the full university experience." -- Read the Full Article

Taipei Times -- August 13, 2007
by Holiday Dmitri
 

"As US Democratic presidential candidates and senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton broach the topic of education reform in the US and rail about the ills plaguing the country's public education system, living in Asia has taught me what the US is doing right ... I did time in the taxpayer-funded classrooms of Palm Beach County as a first-generation Taiwanese-American growing up in south Florida before entering two of Chicago's top private universities ... I received my first pedagogical taste of the East last fall when I returned to my ancestral homeland to study at National Taiwan Normal University. There, from my fellow students and city chums, I discovered the high cost of too much schooling ... Academia is big business in Taiwan, as it is in the rest of East Asia -- the mystifying reverence for education, so they say, extending from Confucian legacy. In my case, it also runs in the family. My mother and father are university professors in Taiwan, and my aunts, uncles, and cousins all belong to the blackboard-instructing rank and file. There are more than 100 institutions of higher learning in this country. That's not including the number of bushibans, which have mushroomed over the years. In 1996, there were 2,625 cram schools in the country. A decade later, 14,231 schools exist -- more than five-times as many ... For almost every profession in the country, mind-numbing, multiple-choice exams have to be passed, and to prepare the young for the rote learning ahead, exist these glorified institutions. Aspiring dentists, future diplomats, budding chefs and prospective law enforcement officers all have their bushibans in addition to their specialized training ...  A fanatical emphasis is placed on uniformity in Asia. Educators want to appear objective, so creativity is choked in the pursuit of hard numbers and cold facts. Many students live in fear of the whip (more than half of Taiwanese students in a recent poll claim they've received some form of corporeal punishment -- though a recent bill has been drafted to ban it). By the end of grade school, children are drilled for examination hell like automatons, memorizing to the exclusion of all else -- in the classroom, in the evenings, at home, at cram school and in private tutoring sessions. Such a system once produced literate, obedient workers, reliable managers for predictable times -- but those somnambulistic days, thankfully, are over ... Competition has gone global. Asia may still be No. 1 in math and science, but in order to compete in the new international market, her children need to be more than just ace test-takers. Mere acquisition and retention of information won't make the grade today. One vital skill in which teachers in the Far East aren't imparting on their pupils: critical thinking. Today brains aren't enough. Asia's antiquated scholastic model needs to exercise brawn -- that certain ruggedness their counterparts in the US know so well." -- Read the Full Article

AEJMC (Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communications) -- August 12, 2007
by Tamara Tomlinson

"As early as the end of last year’s AEJMC conference, Roxanne O’Connell noticed a theme in conversations with other educators, a theme that was repeated as planning began for this year ...'The new technology was outstripping our ability to put together the syllabus together to teach it,' said O’Connell of Roger Williams University ... Those concerns led to Wednesday night’s panel discussion on teaching in an era of rapid media convergence, 'Finding Balance: Teaching Software vs. Critical Thinking,' a program that drew panelists from five different association divisions ...'Even a monkey knows how to push buttons,' said Edgar Huang, associate professor in the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis School of Informatics. 'I want to teach you how to be a thinker.'" -- Read the Full Article

Detroit Free Press -- August 12, 2007
by Kim North Shine

"The banquet room at the Hampton Inn in Sterling Heights seemed oddly quiet at first, considering some 60 kindergartners through high school seniors had taken over the place ... But then on second thought, it made sense: These kids were there to play chess. So, far more thought than talk was going on at the 2007 Universal Summer Scholastic Championship held July 29 at the hotel ... Offenders of the silent majority were promptly shushed ... Take 7-year-olds Victor Ip of Madison Heights and Jacob Pochmara of Waterford ... When they decided to break the silence by discussing their game and their previous tournaments, and argue who was the better player of the two, players around them were not shy about issuing their shushes ... Patricia Mandell, co-owner of All the King's Men, the business that sponsored this and other chess contests, said this daylong event of quiet concentration was actually not so quiet ... 'This is a lot noisier than most,' she said ... On July 19, the U.S. Department of Education announced an award of twenty-four $10,000 grants to the State of Maryland to start chess programs for school students ... Dr. Nancy S. Grasmick, state superintendent of Maryland Schools, said in a statement, 'Participation in an extended learning chess program can assist students with developing critical thinking, self-esteem, social skills, and other necessary skills to be successful in school and in other aspects of life.'"-- Read the Full Article

Commentary
Does Chess assist students with developing critical thinking, or does critical thinking assist students in learning Chess? The paradox, and message, is:  You can't understand anything well without thinking critically about it well; you improve critical thinking with practice in the skills you have a critical understanding in. You can't do one without the other.

Whittier Daily News -- August 12, 2007
by Caroline An

"Science officials hope that billions in federal funds approved this week will quell concerns about the preparedness of U.S. students against their global counterparts ... President Bush approved nearly $34 billion Thursday to improve science, technology, engineering and math education (STEM) programs through better teacher recruitment and training through 2010 ... Bush said that the bill 'will help ensure that we do remain the most competitive and innovative nation in the world' ...Oversight of the funding will be by the U.S. Department of Education ... Science and math experts say that the funding is a major step but that other substantial changes are required to meet the challenges of the future ... 'We are at the point where we are not having the numbers of students going into science careers that can affect us down the road,' said Ron Rohovit, deputy director of education at the California Science Center ... Less textbook learning, more laboratory projects, and more important, providing teachers with long-term support is necessary, Rohovit said ... Students' attitude toward science and math begins to decline in the third grade, Rohovit said, partly because with less classroom time set aside for the sciences, some educators rely on the books instead of labs to illustrate a topic ... The situation is worse for districts with limited resources because they are unable to buy proper lab equipment, Rohovit said. Therefore, critical thinking and the ability to form ideas are diminished, he added ...  Students who major in STEM areas in college often find jobs in those fields or go into medicine compared to teaching, which pays less, said Anthony Avina, professor of education at Cal Poly Pomona ... 'You are going to be attracted by industry, not education,' Avina said. 'People are going to go where they get the biggest paycheck' ... A report released this week from the California Council on Science and Technology found that nearly 40 percent of high school science teachers - those in their first or second years - lacked the proper training and experience required to teach that subject. " -- Read the Full Article

The Denver Post -- August 12, 2007
by Larry K. Meredith

"The young Chinese students sat in rows within a dreary elementary school classroom deep in the interior of their vast country. With their books propped open before them, they read loudly in unison, showing off their skills for a few visiting Americans who could understand nothing of the Chinese phrases ... It was the early 1990s and I was part of a team of consultants from U.S. colleges and universities brought to China to provide advice on a variety of education issues. We were working with the education committee of Gansu Province, along the famed Silk Road at the far western end of the Great Wall ... About that same time, Americans were beginning to fear the potential emergence of a powerful, educated Chinese populace that would overwhelm us with a youthful army of men and women bearing world-leading skills and knowledge in math, science and engineering ... Something has happened in the intervening years, however, that has raised important questions about the education systems in both China and the United States. A recent report from the McKinsey consulting firm, "China's Looming Talent Shortage," says the country's so-called "stuffed duck" tradition of "dry and outdated knowledge transfer" is resulting in graduates who lack "the cultural fit," language skills and practical experience with "teamwork and projects that multinational employers in a global era are looking for' ... Today, as American educators seek to copy the Asian test-centered system that provides heavy emphasis on math and technology, the Chinese are beginning to blend an emphasis on critical thinking, versatility and leadership into their educational traditions." -- Read the Full Article

The News-Leader -- August 12, 2007
by Steve Koehler

Springfield, MO — "Maureen Miller will tote more than textbooks and notebooks when classes start next week at Missouri State University. She'll bring anxiety ... 'I won't be able to sleep. I'm going to be nervous,' said Miller, an incoming freshman at MSU. 'I'm worried about starting a whole new thing in my life' ... Area college and university officials are aware of such trepidations. The first six weeks of college life is a crucial period when newcomers either adjust to new surroundings, struggle to survive or fail altogether ... At least 7,000 new freshmen are expected to start college classes in the Ozarks this month. On average, about 25 percent won't return for a second year ... Students typically drop out because they can't make it academically, they fail to adjust to changes in their social life or they get homesick ... Local college officials vow to pull out all the stops to make sure those neophytes survive — and thrive — during the start of their collegiate lives ... 'We are in the business of helping students be successful and one word describes success: graduate,' said Earle Doman, dean of students at MSU. 'To do that, we focus on getting people off to a good start. Getting them started well academically makes them feel good about the decision to come to this place' ... The preparation freshmen get at MSU, OTC and Drury University often starts before the first day of class and continues throughout the school year ... MSU offers the SOAR program during the summer before a student's freshman year. It's designed to help them get registered and oriented to the university ...'SOAR buffers the transition and gives students a realistic sense of how it differs from high school life,' said Joe Morris, SOAR coordinator. 'We clue them in on it over the summer in order for them to adjust their expectations' ...  At Drury, freshmen take a yearlong alpha course to develop abilities to help them navigate the first year. The skills include critical thinking, reading, writing and oral communications skills." -- Read the Full Article

Port HuronTimes-Herald -- August 12, 2007
by Dennis Zembala

Port Huron, MI — "Through the years, the Port Huron Museum has meant different things to different people. It was simply "the Carnegie Building," to the many people who remember visiting with a parent or schoolmates to take out a book or work on a term paper ... It was built as the City's first library in 1904 and served as the public library until 1968. By then, Port Huron needed a new library to meet new demands of the "baby boom" generation and the "Carnegie" became its "Museum of Art and History' ... A trip to "The Carnegie" meant sharing the images of the early lumber industry on the Black River or the views of old Fort Gratiot and Port Huron-trained troops marching off to the Civil War. Visitors marveled at the jawbones of the Mammoth, Gen. Phil Sheridan's saddle and the medicine bag of Granny Rodd, a local Native-American medicine woman. These were things of significance to visitors from all classes and walks of life; not analyzed and interpreted but rather absorbed by osmosis as part of an important shared experience ... Today, our cultural institutions are going through another period of transformation. Schools and libraries are trying to become 'information centers and experiential laboratories' where the focus is on acquiring research skills and 'critical thinking' experiences to prepare students for advanced careers. Similarly, museums are becoming community places where history and culture can be 'experienced,' not merely absorbed ... The museum must focus on the exhibits and programs the public wants and is willing to support. We can use new exhibit technology to make them come alive. And we have to engage the public more directly in planning future cultural offerings, collaborating with schools and organizations whose members are a significant part of our audience." -- Read the Full Article

The Arizona Republic -- August 12, 2007
by Doug MacEachern

"Ed schools, by and large (but mostly large), fill up the education of future teachers with unnecessary, often highly politicized, excelsior ... But, overall, future teachers would do much better to get a well-rounded liberal-arts education, salted with student teaching and a few classes in practical classroom management. Courses in American history, Renaissance art and economics would be a lot more valuable in the long run than, say, a lot of education-psych courses that attempt to turn elementary-school teachers into amateur Freuds ... Although wasting class time is a shame, turning future teachers into political activists is a far higher order of shameful behavior. And ed schools are nothing if not committed to inculcating their students (and, with luck, the students of those students) with a burning sense of race, class and gender grievance ... One popular tool has been the use of 'dispositions assessments.' Before certifying their students as teachers, many ed schools require students to submit themselves to an evaluation of their 'critical thinking' skills - an assessment that many schools have used to judge their students' commitment to 'social justice,' among other leftie causes ... A few years ago, Washington State University's College of Education refused to graduate a student whose responses to questions regarding his commitment to social justice failed to meet the school's standards. They tried to flunk him ... The student sued. And what do you know? The WSU ed school administration suddenly had an epiphany regarding explicitly rejecting students with conservative political viewpoints ... The concept of 'social justice,' a phrase loaded in socialist value judgments, shows up in the mission statements of countless schools of education. But the obsession with turning teachers into activists isn't restricted to individual schools ... In 2006, a huge debate erupted during the reauthorization hearings for the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, a group that certifies college ed-school programs, over its recommendation that schools require a 'social justice' mind-set of their students ... You would think that the nation's schools of education might exhibit a smidgeon of humility about such a hyperpolitical agenda. Most of them, after all, like to think of themselves as being academically meaningful, not just as factories for foot soldiers of the revolution." -- Read the Full Article

Commentary
We all have biases. It is not easy or comfortable to be intellectually honest with ourselves or independent in our thinking separate and apart from our surroundings. The author profiles a familiar tendency of all people and institutions to politicize their integral beliefs that, in the case for educators, would logically include various aspects of academic curricula. It is too easy to seek associations with others who "think like we do," even when critical thought is the least of what we may have in common. Our "metaphysical" longing for acceptance compels us to seek out relationships with others on common grounds. We gravitate towards authoritative leadership on ideas and issues seeking our own acceptance in the notoriety of others. Acculturation within and across societies constantly pulls us into intellectual assumptions and positions of acceptance in our associations with others that need reconciliation continually. That said, critical thinking, in its specific definition, as opposed to its weaker use in the vernacular, is the antithesis of all arguments by authority, indoctrination, brainwashing, and social manipulation. While "fair-mindedness" is a trait of thinking critically, questions such as, "What constitutes social justice?" are left to independent thinking people and their institutions.

Kenya School -- August 11, 2007
by Tyla Fowler

Muhuru Bay, Kenya — "It’s hard to believe that the first week of campWISER is over! It has been so much fun and I think that all of the students are getting a lot from it. It is awesome to have a chance to teach the curriculum that all of us have worked so hard on perfecting and to see the students absorbing the information that we are trying to impart ...  As a child, you do not think about the deeper meaning of the games that counselors teach you. The obstacle course that someone leads you through while you are blindfolded that teaches you to trust and demonstrates the responsibility of leading someone, the game of telephone that teaches you the importance of effective communication, the blind square activity where you have to work as a team to make a square out of a piece of rope while everyone is blindfolded that teaches you about teamwork. Working here as a counselor, I have had an amazing opportunity to begin to understand the importance of these games. It has become more evident because we are working with kids who have never had teachers or counselors to develop these traits in them ...Their progress over the course of the last week has been amazing. Before our eyes, many of the students have learned to communicate with each other effectively. More importantly, almost all of the students are showing huge increases in self-confidence. They are speaking more loudly and confidently. Those that were usually silent are now starting to share ideas. They are doing critical thinking about the things we are teaching them ...  We can only hope that the skills we are teaching them will translate into their lives here in Muhuru and that they will be able to utilize them in a meaningful way when we have gone. I also hope that they will take initiative and that their motivation will inspire all the students who were not able to attend Camp WISER to have more confidence in themselves as well. I hope that their confidence is infectious and that when the Duke team returns to Muhuru next summer, they will find an entire group of confident and motivated youth who are emerging as strong leaders in the community." -- Read the Full Article

The Post Chronicle (News Information Insight) -- August 11, 2007
by Ivan Simic

"In our World, there are lots of countries, nations, languages, religions, cultures, costumes but also lots of disagreements. History has it that there was never peace and respect among nations since the formation of the first State. From the beginning of the first conflict till date, wars have been fought for the same cause: political differences, trade, religion, liberation, dynasty, seizure of territory, the annihilation of a rival State, the destruction of the enemy's ability to prosecute military action, revolution or genocide ... We can recall aggressive War of Alexander the Great, nine Crusade Wars, Spanish Succession, Hundred Years' War (France-England), American Civil War, or 20th century wars; World War I and II, Korean War, Vietnam War, Iran-Iraq War, Gulf War, Yugoslav War, among others ... There was not yet a single year without war in history known to mankind; and it seems mankind was yet to learn bitter lessons from centuries of fighting and conflicts; wars had never brought anything good to nations and countries. Currently, in contemporary days there are thirty two (32) ongoing wars which are being fought around the World. These include: Sri Lanka Civil War, Second Chechen War, War in Afghanistan, Civil War in Cote d'Ivoire, Central African War, Iraq War, War in Somalia, age-old Arab-Israel/Israel-Palestine (including al-Aqsa Intifada) conflict, among others ... Wars are now being fought in under-developed regions without any serious threat of spreading to neighboring countries, thought that may soon change. The World is altering, and countries are developing with the formation of new Unions, financial help and foreign investments. Very soon the World will be without the so-called Third World Countries, and without territories to start war. Would that signal the end of wars, or usher in new form of modern warfare into the World? ... According to these facts and enormous velocity and evolution of the World, in the future we can expect more wars; wars that will be fought between industrial countries. These wars may not take place in our lifetime, but it offers mankind some food for thought which calls for critical thinking and preventive actions. It looks as though some countries are not recognized and their voice is not heard, so they use all necessary means to be heard even if it means the use of force -- start war and take some lives along that path. Consequently, it behoves on the United Nations to get serious in its business and invite all countries to become members of the world body and make them discuss issues of concern in diversified arena in peaceful and understanding way, rather than sorting issues out in the battlefield ... The question which then arises is: which country will first start that war, and on which ground it will begin? It is very hard to predict, but as before, it will most probably begin in Europe and not in the Middle East as many would think." -- Read the Full Article

Brooklyn Daily Eagle -- August 11, 2007
by Mary Frost

"Unrelated Group’s ‘Intifada’ T-Shirts Final Straw ... Khalil Gibran International Academy’s principal Debbie Almontaser, criticized for comments to The New York Post earlier this week that appeared to condone "Intifada NYC" T-shirts, has resigned, according the New York City Department of Education ...The controversial shirts are sold by the youth organization Arab Women Active in Arts and Media (AWAAM) that operates out of the same office where Ms. Almontaser works on the board of SABA, the Association of Yemeni-Americans ... Khalil Gibran -- the first public school that will expose upper-school students to Middle Eastern language and culture – is slated to open in September at 345 Dean Street in Boerum Hill, sharing space with Brooklyn High School of the Arts and the Math and Science Exploratory School ...'This morning I tendered my resignation to Chancellor Klein, which he accepted,' Ms. Almontaser said in a statement Thursday. 'I became convinced yesterday that this week's headlines were endangering the viability of Khalil Gibran International Academy, even though I apologized. I have spent the last two years of my nearly 15 years with the Department working to create the unique educational opportunities that the school will offer. I will not allow the recent outcry to undermine these possibilities for the children of our city' ... The term 'intifada' is usually associated with the call to violence among some Palestinians against Israelis ... Rather than immediately denounce the shirts, Almontaser initially tried to explain that 'intifada' literally means 'shaking off' and the shirts represented women 'shaking off' oppression. As the political implications became clear, however, she condemned the T-shirt's apparent connection to Palestinian terrorism ... A release put out by the members of AWAAM tries to explain their particular usage of the word 'intifada':  'Intifada NYC’ is a call for empowerment, service, civic participation and critical thinking in our communities: a ‘shaking off’ of discrimination and prejudice and an embracing of our roles as producers rather than simply objects of the mass media and public discourse.'”-- Read the Full Article

El Defensor Chieftain -- August 11, 2007
by Argen Duncan

"Even as they react to their school's Adequate Yearly Progress scores from last year, Socorro Consolidated Schools administrators are looking ahead at ways to meet standards this year ...Socorro High School did not make Adequate Yearly Progress because of low reading scores for Hispanic and disabled students, and insufficient results in reading and math for low-income students. However, the school's graduation rate improved to meet standards ... Tom Trujillo, the new principal at Socorro High School, was pleased with the better graduation rate and all ninth-graders in the freshman academy last year who finished the year ... Several staff members have also received training in differentiated instruction, teaching students in the way they learn best ... Trujillo also plans to implement the 'Answer Cite Expand' program to prepare students for the proficiency tests and get them in the right mindset by teaching them to answer questions, cite the source and expand on the answer ...'So we are going to be working more with our reading and writing and critical thinking skills and try to get that implemented,' Trujillo said." -- Read the Full Article

Billings Gazette -- August 11, 2007
by Mary Pickett

Bozeman, MT — "'Three Cups of Tea' will introduce Montana State University-Bozeman freshmen to college later this summer ... Incoming freshmen have been encouraged to read the book by Bozeman humanitarian Greg Mortenson and writer David Oliver Relin about Mortenson's efforts to build schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan ... Rescued by villagers in a remote part of Pakistan after a failed attempt at climbing the mountain K2, Mortenson promised to build the village a school ... His book describes his persistence and difficulties raising money to make good on that promise. After the first was built, Mortenson went on to build nearly 60 more schools, particularly for girls ... Mortenson will speak to a convocation for freshmen the first day of classes - Aug. 27 - at 4:10 p.m. in the MSU Field House ... This is the first freshman convocation that MSU has had, said Greg Young, vice provost for undergraduate education ... Mortenson's book can inspire students to think about ways they can change the world, Young said ... Former Billings resident and jazz singer Jeni Fleming will sing the song 'Three Cups of Tea' with Mortenson's daughter, Amira, at the convocation. The song was composed by Fleming's husband, Jake Fleming, at Mortenson's request ... Young expects many of the 2,300 incoming freshmen to attend the convocation, which is in the same location from which the students will graduate in a few years ... MSU has a total enrollment of 12,300 students ... Mortenson's book also may be discussed in freshmen seminars that incoming students take their first semester ...The seminar is an introduction to college that takes students through exercises in critical thinking, reading and writing." -- Read the Full Article

The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) -- August 10, 2007
Press Release

Washington, DC —"A coalition of education and industry groups lauded last week’s introduction by Senators Bingaman (D-NM), Burr (R-NC), and Murray (D-WA) of the Achievement Through Technology and Innovation (ATTAIN) Act. Similar to its companion in the House (HR 2449), the legislation builds upon the Enhancing Education Through Technology Program (EETT) and data from several research studies to focus on the integral role of educational technology in systemic school redesign and professional development for core curricular areas ... The ATTAIN Act is based upon input from education stakeholders, including the Consortium for School Networking, the International Society for Technology in Education, the Software & Information Industry Association, and the State Educational Technology Directors Association ... The ATTAIN Act would leverage the success of EETT (Title II-D of NCLB) in order to improve student achievement in core curricular subjects by providing students with technology skills, access and support and ensuring that all teachers are properly equipped to use technology effectively. More specifically, ATTAIN would: focus funds on professional development and systemic redesign initiatives that leverage 21st century technologies; prioritize funding to schools in need of improvement; and require states to assess whether students have attained technological literacy by the eighth grade ...'This is great news for kids and for teachers,' said ISTE CEO, Don Knezek. 'They need modern skills and tools to flourish -- just like the rest of us and the nation as a whole. That's why we're so pleased to see the ATTAIN bill move forward in a bipartisan way through the House and now the Senate. It's a systematic and sensible approach to improving teaching and learning for this century ... America’s economic future increasingly rests upon our ability to help our children develop 21st century skills like critical thinking, collaboration and creativity. As with every other sector of the U.S. economy, technology can play a transformative role in helping to meet these objectives, particularly around enabling our educational systems to individualize learning,” said Keith Krueger, CEO of the Consortium for School Networking. 'Now is the time to pass the ATTAIN Act, legislation that will bolster our economic competitiveness by ensuring that 21st century learning takes place in our schools.'”-- Read the Full Article

The Conservative Voice -- August 10, 2007
by Lee Culpepper
 

"Today’s academic climate endorses a cheap imitation of self-esteem. Consequently, ill-advised teenagers feel good about not knowing anything – at least while they’re in school. But why should they study? Grade inflation, another academic problem, ensures average students receive above average grades. Fortunately, an old cure for these problems still exists – some call it 'telling it like it is' ... With Marine Corps experience, I was teaching high school English a few years ago when I celebrated and panicked all at once. I read a letter from a student who had written, 'Dear Mr. Culpepper, The first day I was in your class, I wanted to kill you' ... Naturally, the sentence compelled me to continue reading. It was clear and brief -- exactly how I encouraged students to write. I was fairly certain an apathetic student wasn’t the author. As I learned he no longer harbored his initial impulse to murder me, my adrenaline tapered some. But my pride in his opening sentence lingered on ... The boy’s name was Nick. He brought me back to our first day of school: 'You'd put me on the spot with a simple question; you could tell I wasn't plugged in, and you called me on it. You weren't going to settle for the 'stoner' image, for me to just take up space in the class. I was really mad' ... Yes, I mugged the politically correct idea of building self-esteem that day. The Marine inside me admonished Nick for not paying attention and for copping a bad attitude. I wasn’t friendly when I squinted and spat, 'I don’t know what you’re pissed about. I’m here to help you, and you’re mad at me because I want you to learn? I care more about you than you care about yourself, and you’re mad at me? That’s disgusting. You’re mad, but you should feel ashamed' ...Today, common sense and Marine Corps leadership principles run opposite to modern and asinine education theories. The Marine Corps builds morale through real challenges. Marine training immediately targets an individual’s deficiencies and then works to strengthen or eliminate those flaws. Working together to accomplish tough objectives, individuals develop a healthy respect for teamwork. In the Marine Corps, an individual acquires a meaningful understanding that 'life’s not all about me.' Marines learn how not handling individual responsibilities can hurt people they care about. I wanted all my students to understand this lesson, too ... Respecting Marine Corps values, I designed my class and teaching style with similar goals: present real challenges; identify and correct individual faults; teach self-discipline; demand hard work; achieve success; and build self-confidence. Feelings and sensitivity had their place in my style and classroom, but we focused on the students’ need to develop thinking skills ...   Students’ self-respect seemed to follow naturally as we worked hard together. Students learned that I expected a lot from them and that they should expect a lot from me. When I was tough on them, they understood I wanted what was best for them. My concept was simple -- stick with the skills I had learned as a Marine and apply them to teaching English. Executing the concept was the challenge, but it worked. Students’ attitudes and effort improved ... As with Nick, sometimes this process required breaking a student down before building him back up. Nick appreciated the tactic: 'It made me take a hard look at myself and motivated me to prove there was more to me; you motivated me to give you my best. You also reminded me of my love for literature. You were the first teacher to confront me, to make me care, and over time you gave me a lot of self-confidence with my writing' ...  My methods to develop students (often described as a unique blend of classroom boot camp and humor) may have approached career suicide occasionally, but an email from Nick’s mom captured my technique’s value: 'Male teachers are few and far between (at least in my son’s case) and in his case, it was somewhat of a stepping-stone. / Your everyday conversations regarding how valuable their free education was and the need to consider their future – there really is a life they need to plan for just around the corner – began to hit home. This was a kid who had sunk to the lowest of lows in academic achievement and was seemingly unable to find his way out. Yet, he began to care.' My method was simple – being politically incorrect supported students. Being the opposite did not ... Eventually, students must confront reality and swallow the facts concerning their self-inflicted or school-supported shortcomings. Meanwhile, our teenagers continue falling behind in core subjects they will need as adults. I’ve witnessed these students struggling unsuccessfully to convince themselves of some bogus self-esteem education quacks insist all students should have -- regardless of a teenager’s own bad attitude or foolish decisions. Today mushy feelings pollute the classrooms while social experiments sit critical thinking and indisputable facts in the corner." -- Read the Full Article

The Arizona Republic -- August 10, 2007
by Ray Parker

Hamilton Prep students started the school year in an unusual location: Chandler Christian Church ... The program, new this year, aims to provide students with small classes and rigorous courses geared toward university life ... Chandler Unified officials wanted to think in different ways about education, along with relieving crowding at Hamilton High, which was bulging at 3,250 students ... Hamilton Prep is an example of a popular education trend that continues to sweep the Southeast Valley - a college-prep approach stressing development of the whole student. Hamilton Prep joins Mesa Prep Academy and the Gilbert Classical Academy as new schools this year using this model ... 'It's all part of the college-prep movement with a smaller community, uniforms and a small learning environment,' said Rob Bickes, Hamilton Prep dean of students ... He and his team will oversee 91 seventh- and eighth-graders this year, adding a grade each year until the program accommodates about 300 in Grades 7-12 ... Daniel Scoggin, chief executive officer of Great Hearts Preparatory Academies, which operates similar schools in Chandler, Mesa and Tempe, started his first college-prep school five years ago as part of a charter school ... 'I think as we become an increasingly technological and complex society, people are understanding the fundamental of clear thinking,' Scoggin said, describing the college-prep popularity ... All the new schools compare their curriculum and philosophy to private, East Coast prep schools. Students are in smaller classes, study the classics, and teachers ask a lot of questions to spark debate and critical thinking." -- Read the Full Article

The Journal News (LoHud.Com) -- August 10, 2007
by Diana Costello

There are plenty of options when it comes to educating your child in the Lower Hudson Valley. Some will have you pulling out your checkbook more often than others ... From the traditional public schools that are supported by taxpayer dollars to an independent school where students run the show, the possibilities are just as diverse as the communities served ... Some are day schools. Some are boarding schools. Some are a mix of both ... Either way, preparatory schools tend to be highly selective and pride themselves on providing an academically stimulating experience. They also tend to place strong emphasis on sports and other nonacademic activities. But all of this comes with a price tag ... In some cases, the cost of tuition and fees can run families about as much as an Ivy League education ... Because preparatory schools are independent schools, they are not subject to the testing and accountability requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind education law ... As such, educators in preparatory schools say they shift the burden from testing to developing critical thinking skills. They also say they are able to more thoroughly engage students in what they are teaching." -- Read the Full Article

Inside Higher Ed -- August 10, 2007
by Elia Powers

"Students at Polytechnic of Namibia, an institution with several degree programs similar to those at American community colleges, tend to lack an entrepreneurial mindset. So determined Albin Jacobs, a college official, as he tracked graduates’ performance in the workplace ... The problem, as Jacobs explains it, is that for large swaths of the population, independent inquiry wasn’t emphasized — in the classroom and in society at large — during apartheid. Namibia gained independence from South Africa in 1990, and now even in a much different environment, Jacobs said there’s ground to make up ...'The culture of opening your own business, of taking a risk and taking initiative, was suppressed for such a long time that we have to build that mindset in students,' he said. 'It’s all about critical thinking.'"-- Read the Full Article

North Shore Times -- August 10, 2007
by Hayden Donnell

Aukland, NZ — "Lucy and Georgia Halcrow could be New Zealand's smartest sisters ... The Torbay pair's IQ test results rank in the top 0.4 percent in the world ... At six, Lucy is the country's youngest member of the high IQ society Mensa ... She can draw at a level about five years above her age, thanks to highly advanced visual spatial awareness ... Her 10-year-old sister Georgia, also a Mensa member, has written a 20,000 word, 25 chapter, novel called Long Live the Dolphins ... The book has garnered praise from authors including award-winning Kiwi writer Margaret Mahy ... In fact, her reading and writing is so voracious she has had to have treatment to deal with short sightedness ... Her advanced critical thinking and language comprehension allowed her to enter Murrays Bay Intermediate at nine." -- Read the Full Article

AsiaMedia (UCLA Asia Institute) -- August 9, 2007
by Natasha Garyali

"'Everybody Loves a Good Drought,' the best-selling 1997 book by Palagummi Sainath, had a profound effect on me. It made me appreciate what quality journalism can do for a society and motivated me to take up a career as a journalist ... In its almost 400 pages, the book investigates rural life in India's ten poorest districts, giving accounts of the forgotten faces of rural poverty. As a student at the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai, I was fortunate to have Sainath as an adjunct faculty member who taught a course about covering deprivation. He encouraged us to ask the right questions and inculcated critical thinking. The class was held spellbound as he spoke with passion about the continued deteriorating condition of farmers and the abysmal work of the media in covering their issues ... Sainath was recently awarded the 2007 Ramon Magsaysay Award in journalism, literature, and the creative communication arts. The Ramon Magsaysay awards are presented every year to commemorate the third president of the Philippines, and to promote integrity, idealism and courage. Mother Teresa, the Director General of India's Bureau of Police Research and Development, Kiran Bedi, filmmaker Satyajit Ray, editor Arun Shourie, and cartoonist R.K. Laxman are among the award's previous honorees ... Sainath, who serves as the rural affairs editor of The Hindu newspaper, spoke with AsiaMedia in a telephone interview from Mumbai about the agrarian crisis, lack of government intervention and his future projects ...The following is an edited transcript." -- Read the Full Article

The San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center -- August 9, 2007

"In late June, Antioch College’s Board of Trustees announced their decision to close the college in 2008. Antioch is well known — and, in the halls of power, hated — for a progressive, open-minded approach to education. Its academic program combines classroom learning with work experience and community involvement. Founded by progressive Christians as a secular college in 1852 in Yellow Springs, Ohio, Antioch from the beginning sought to include Black people and women among students and faculty. A saying by founder Horace Mann became the school’s watchword: 'Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity' ... I was outraged to hear about the attempt to shut down Antioch. The move to close Antioch is part of the assault on the rebellious legacy of the 1960s—and part of attempts to shut down critical thinking and dissent on campuses today." -- Read the Full Article

The Huffington Post -- August 9, 2007
by Gerald Bracey

"An August 7 Washington Post editorial called a speech by California Rep. George Miller as 'refreshing:' 'So it was refreshing to hear a leading liberal Democrat speak passionately about his commitment to this landmark law.' The law is the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, known in its current incarnation as 'No Child Left Behind.' It is up for re-authorization this year ... Mr. Miller, realizing he couldn't get the reauthorization before everyone skedaddled home for summer recess, spoke July 30 at the National Press Club, outlining what he wants to see in the bill he will bring forth in September ... I'm not sure the Post understood what Mr. Miller said and I'm not sure Mr. Miller understood what Mr. Miller said. Mr. Miller said that the law 'is not fair. It is not flexible and it is not funded. I can tell you that there are no votes in the U. S. House of Representatives for continuing the No Child Left Behind Act without making serious changes to it.' That's clear. So far, so good ... But then he dropped a pair of doozies: 'I have always said that I am proud to be one of the original coauthors of the No Child Left Behind Act. But what I really want is to be the proud coauthor of a law that works.' Well I reckon that gives the game away ... Miller proposed that under the new law 'states will be allowed to develop better tests that more accurately measure what all students have learned.' Read: not all kids will take the same tests. Read: states will be permitted to use performance tests and other alternatives to multiple-choice tests. Tacked onto this, Miller acknowledged the criticism that NCLB's emphasis only on math and science has inappropriately narrowed the curriculum (and, if he gets completely honest about this, he'll acknowledge that the narrowing has afflicted kids who can least afford to let it happen to them). Read: We'll test in more curriculum areas ... More tests! Underlying this rhetoric is a complexity of both psychometrics and information technology that I don't think Mr. Miller grasps. As Tom Toch of the Education Sector recently pointed out, the testing industry infrastructure has imploded already under weight of the existing law. States added 11 million tests in 2005-2006 and will add another 11 million next year when the NCLB science requirement kicks in. The errors made by the testing companies have soared and even when they get it right they often don't get it right in time for schools to use the results properly under the law ... And yet, in a follow-up that came across the wire services August 8, Miller added even more tests: the tests must test '21st century skills:' 'These measures (tests) can no longer reflect just basic skills and memorization. Rather, they must reflect critical-thinking skills and the ability to apply knowledge to new and challenging contexts. These are the skills that today's students need to meet the complex demands of the American economy and society in a globalized world.' This last, of course, is rather dubious but it is today's mantra ...Finally, 'The legislation I will introduce will contain a growth model that gives credit to states and schools for the progress that their students make over time.' Everybody loves growth models these days. Me included. Schools whose students make good progress ought not to be punished if they started from such a low level that they didn't make the magical 'proficient' level. Right now, 'growth' is measured by looking at how this year's third graders compare to last year's. Of course, these are two different groups of children and they could differ for reasons other than those having to do with the quality of instruction they are receiving. But I don't think most states are in a position to use growth models ... Predicting what will happen to NCLB in the next few months is iffy, very iffy, but here goes: Nothing will happen. Congress will pass a one-year automatic extension. And that means that it will be 2009 before we get a full-fledged revision because ain't nobody gonna touch it during a presidential election year ... So we'll be stuck with a law that's all stick and no carrot for another two years." -- Read the Full Article

Bristol Herald Courier -- August 9, 2007
by Khristopher J Brooks

Bristol, VA – "State Superintendent of Public Instruction Billy Cannady stood before dozens of Bristol Virginia teachers on Wednesday and praised their work of the past and what they’ll continue to do in the future ...Cannady was the speaker Wednesday, during Bristol Virginia Public Schools’ first day for teachers. One by one, educators eased their way into Virginia High School’s auditorium to listen and watch the state education official’s presentation about high school graduates ... 'Many of them say if their high school had demanded more of them, they would have worked harder,' he said of the graduates ... Cannady, who was appointed by Gov. Tim Kaine in April 2006, showed a PowerPoint presentation about how high school graduates reflected on their last four years of public education ... Cannady’s presentation also showed teachers some key skills that employers are seeking in recent graduates – including critical thinking, work ethic, communication and information technology ... 'If you expect more of them, they will rise to the occasion,' he said." -- Read the Full Article

MaineToday.Com (Kennebec Journal/Morning Sentinel) -- August 9, 2007
by Marilyn Canavan

Watervile, ME — "In the July 31 issue of your paper, columnist David Offer unfairly and inaccurately criticized a good law and a very public process. His attack on L.D. 216, An Act To Establish a Financial Literacy Program, completely misrepresents the bill's funding source and demonstrates a surprising indifference and closed-mindedness to a growing need in our changing times: financial literacy ... A quick look back in time shows how different banking and money management practices were in the not-so-distant past. To open a charge account or obtain a credit card required a modicum of creditworthiness; financing a home required a respectable down payment and good credit history; and if you were a teenager wanting quick cash, you relied not on plastic, but dear old mom or dad ... But that was then and this is now. An article in the May issue of the magazine "State Legislatures" cites the following statistics: ... American consumers owe about $1.7 billion in credit card and other debt ... One-third of high school students use a credit card ... Children's spending has roughly doubled every 10 years for the past three decades and tripled in the 1990s ... 83 percent of undergraduate students have at least one credit card and their average monthly credit card balance is $2,237... In 2000, 53 percent of Americans said they lived from paycheck to paycheck ... The good news in this brave new world of easy credit is that we can buy what we want when we want it. But that's also the bad news. Home mortgage defaults, bankruptcies and bad debt are increasing. And savings, once the yardstick of solvency for many Americans, are at their lowest level in decades ... Meanwhile, predatory lending is up ...Teaching money management isn't just a 'feel good' exercise that helps folks distinguish bad loans from good. Joseph Peri, Executive Vice President of the National Council on Economic Education says, 'There is a direct correlation between economic growth and economic literacy in states' ... We live in a world that will change exponentially in decades to come. Our children must be prepared to meet the challenges of the future. That means teaching them critical thinking skills they can use to maneuver the new world of finance and which, by the way, they can use to distinguish fact from hype in Offer's future opinion pieces." -- Read the Full Article

St Cloud Times -- August 9, 2007
by Linda Larson

"The University of Iowa's College of Public Health has been the center of controversy recently. The question is whether to accept a $15 million gift ... The catch? The requirement is to rename the college to The Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield College of Public Health ... Commercialization at college doesn't seem like a good idea at first glance. After all, will a professor criticize the company that named the college?...Freedom of expression, which is prized at the university level, may be compromised ...Perhaps people might fear that students will be unduly influenced by the name on the transcript ... Will students choose one brand just for the name and not for the quality?... When a high-powered Senate committee member has a choice to make, will she be lenient because of the gift to her college?...Yet the freedom of expression is already limited. Corporations sponsor research projects ... If Company X chooses a university, Company X will receive the red carpet treatment in the hopes of continued sponsorship ... And I'd like to think that after a four-year degree, most graduates will have the critical thinking skills necessary to look beyond a brand name in making a decision ... Buildings' names are chosen by the donors. Take a look at St. Cloud State University's Ritsche Auditorium and the College of St. Benedict's Petters Auditorium ... These essential buildings would not have been possible without the help of the donors ... Donors and their names have been a long part of American history. For example, the Carnegie Library in Little Falls." -- Read the Full Article

The Alternative Information Center -- August 9, 2007

"On Wednesday, 7 August, a few dozen Jewish and Arab students at Haifa University, held a quiet protest on campus, in response to racist remarks made by the Haifa University Students Union (HUSU) spokesperson, Saar Ziv, when interviewed by a local newspaper. In the protest, organized by the local student club of the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality (Hadash), the protesting students held hands to form a human chain across campus. Their mouths were covered in duct tape and they held signs that read, in Hebrew and Arabic: 'Let the Students Union Know—It is Better to SHUT UP than SPEAK RACISM' ... The University officials, who are generally hostile towards any student political activity, and especially the activities of Arab students, has charged seven of the protesting students, both Jewish and Arab, with 'Provoking a commotion' and 'Wild behavior.' The Haifa Seven, who are to be put in front of a disciplinary committee are: Rami Hod, Reem Hazzan, Arik Zolfin, Osama Amer, Uri Weltmann, Remon Maalouf and Elad Bardes ... 'During our peaceful protest, we shut our mouth with duct tape to show our objection to the racist talk, the kind of which came out of the mouth of the HUSU spokesperson,' said Reem Hazan, one of the Haifa Seven. 'Now it seems the university officials are keen to shut our mouths by force, for enacting our right to freedom of speech and expression. Had the university been sincere in claiming to uphold pluralism and critical thinking, it would have given us its support, rather than threatening to expel us ...'What's most absurd is that the university chose to charge with disciplinary actions those Jewish and Arab students who participated together in a nonviolent and peaceful protest,' said Rami Hod, one of the Haifa Seven.” -- Read the Full Article

Westwood Press -- August 9, 2007
by Dan Sullivan and Greg Duggan

Westwood, MA — "When Police Chief William Chase began his 30-year career in law enforcement, concepts such as terrorism and forensic science were ones that were rarely touched upon in the day-to-day routine of local police ... But as times change, so do the duties and responsibilities of law enforcement officials at all levels, Chase said ... For that reason, Chase plans to attend a 10-week session of the FBI's National Academy in Quantico, Va., - a prestigious training program - from Sept. 30 to Dec. 14 ... Chase was nominated to attend the academy by several of his fellow police chiefs who have attended it. The director of the FBI's Boston field office formally invited Chase to the program last month ... Selectmen last month approved Chase's request to attend the academy ... 'I'm not sure there is anything that compares to the experience of the national academy,' Chase said. 'I've been a police chief for about 12 years now. So I feel that I'm experienced, but there are always opportunities to learn and to grow' ... Trainees consist of law enforcement officers from all over the world, who are required to pass a rigorous background and physical fitness examination prior to being nominated, according to the FBI. Participants attend a series of undergraduate and graduate-level classes taught by FBI officials and other professional educators, which focus on leadership development and critical thinking." -- Read the Full Article

The Boston Globe -- August 9, 2007
by Sally Lehrman

"Residents of Massachusetts might feel safe from the clashes over teaching evolution in school districts across the country. In this state, home to so many great universities, one wouldn't expect anything less than a top-notch science curriculum. In fact, Massachusetts students are supposed to begin learning about evolution and have access to impressive materials before they even reach second grade ... But that doesn't let parents or anyone else off the hook. A well-thought-out curriculum in science does not guarantee that evolution will be taught in all its glory -- or even coherently ... Darwin's brilliant theory, a powerful and central concept in biology, offers a path toward understanding everything else: the history of our universe, the world we inhabit, and ourselves. The theory turns on the idea of random variation -- mutations in our genome -- that can enable a population to adjust collectively to the environment in which it finds itself. The best-suited creatures for that situation breed successfully and so pass on these useful characteristics to offspring ... Evolution, however, has never been a static idea and perhaps never less so than today. Its power can't be expressed based solely on lessons from an education long past. It's hard to explain the nature of scientific inquiry -- questioning, testing, and gathering evidence, refining -- without sounding uncertain. Teachers know this. Last year, the American Association for the Advancement of Science asked teachers about their top concerns in teaching evolution. Most confessed that they didn't feel confident about their knowledge ... Worry they should. Even Massachusetts teachers licensed for biology don't have to take a course in evolution, although they must pass a test that includes questions on the topic. Furthermore, waivers from the state enable them to go outside of their licensed subjects. According to 2007 state figures, 11 percent of schools had assigned at least one-fifth of teachers outside of their expertise. Meanwhile, fueled in large part by molecular biology, the science itself has been powering ahead ... Data pouring out of genetic research has challenged some of scientists' assumptions about the multibranched tree of life and offered new insight on the basic tools for living that all species share. While geneticists until recently thought that random mutations in the genes drove adaptation, they are now cracking windows onto processes outside of the DNA that can change gene function for generations. A grandmother's diet, even a parent's nurturing, may influence evolution's course ... As evolutionary science accelerates, however, antievolutionists are pushing back -- and exploiting the questions that recent discoveries have raised. A new high-school textbook from the Discovery Institute, 'Explore Evolution,' claims to teach students critical thinking but instead uses pseudoscience to attack Darwin's theories. The National Center for Science Education, which tracks trends in schools, has compiled a frightening list of bills and local proposals intended to open the door for creationist teaching in science education. In a survey published in Science magazine last year, 39 percent of American adults flat-out rejected the concept of evolution." -- Read the Full Article

USA Today -- August 9, 2007
by Greg Toppo

Record (Washington University in St Louis) -- August 9, 2007
by Shula Neuman

St Louis, MO — "The Olin School of Business has overhauled its MBA program to better reflect the school's core principles of creating knowledge, inspiring individuals and transforming business. The MBA program's required core courses are designed to reflect those values by building a stronger foundation of critical thinking and leadership skills ... Some of the changes include: extending the orientation program an extra four days; adding a course called "Critical Thinking for Leaders" to the required curriculum; and creating a series of new courses on team leadership, effective leadership and leadership development. In addition, the fall semester of the first year (the core semester) has been extended by several weeks to accommodate the added material and to allow for greater integration and assimilation ...These changes were approved by the faculty and are effective for the 2007-08 academic year. Joe Fox, associate dean and director of the MBA program, indicated that there were several driving forces prompting the changes." -- Read the Full Article

New Media Alliance -- August 8, 2007
by Thomas E Brewton

"Today's audiences accept the assertion that capitalist businessmen are evil in whatever they do, even when alleged actions make no sense ... The motivation for the lawsuit in the new TV series Damages is nonsensical ... The opening episodes have revolved around a clash of two titans: Glen Close as Patty Hewes, a ruthless and hard-boiled plaintiff lawyer, and Ted Danson as Arthur Frobisher, an apparently equally ruthless and highly successful entrepreneur. The implausible plot brings them into a head-to-head clash ... The audience sees brief scenes suggesting that Frobisher talked his employees into investing much of their life savings in his company's stock, shortly before he sold his own stock in the company to an outside buyer. Somehow or other, this bankrupted his employees ... Think about it for a moment, however. Clearly Frobisher had a very successful company, successful enough for an outside investor to buy Frobisher's presumably controlling interest in the company. How did change of stock ownership bankrupt the employees? In most takeover situations, the stock price is pushed up, at least initially ... What could Frobisher possibly have gained by advising his employees to invest in the company stock, whether he was planning to sell his stock, or not? In a company large and profitable enough to support Frobisher in the lifestyle we see, the investment of employees in the company stock would have been a drop in the bucket compared to the holdings of institutional investors. If all employees had bought stock, their purchases would likely have had no impact at all on the stock price, and it wouldn't have put a dime into Frobisher's pocket ... Charitably, we can say that the scriptwriters simply don't understand the real business world. They appear to have concocted a stew of unrelated ideas from Enron to the Martha Stewart case, and from the 1980s leveraged buyouts that led to dismemberment of companies to pay off acquisition debt. Then they sprinkled the broth with Karl Marx's view that capitalist profit is really stolen from the workers ... But today's audiences, schooled since the early 1960s to believe that all the world's ills result from capitalism, accept the script premise without a second glance. Our colleges and universities have inculcated the mindless assumption that, if an entrepreneur is successful, it can only be because he has oppressed the workers ... As Derek Bok, former president of Harvard, lamented: ....'Many seniors graduate without being able to write well enough to satisfy their employers. Many cannot reason clearly or perform competently in analyzing complex, non-technical problems, even though faculties rank critical thinking as the primary goal of a college education. Few undergraduates receiving a degree are able to speak or read a foreign language. Most have never taken a course in quantitative reasoning or acquired the knowledge needed to be a reasonably informed citizen in a democracy. And those are only some of the problems' ... We can be sure, however, that all seniors will have been repeatedly exposed to liberal-Progressive-socialist ideology." -- Read the Full Article

WLOX (ABC13- Biloxi, Gulfport, Pasagoula) -- August 8, 2007
by Don Culpepper
 

Trinidad & Tobago's Newsday (The People's Newspaper) -- August 8, 2007
by Verdel Bishop

"Ronnie Nelson is known as the Caribbean “Chess Tiger.” However, the eight-year-old can easily be called the next Grand Master of Chess. The two- time National under eight and ten champion, represented Trinidad and Tobago at the Central American and Caribbean Games, taking gold with a clear six wins to attain the title of Candidate Master, according to World Chess Federation Regulations (FIDE) ... When asked about his successes Ronnie responded, 'I am a gifted child. I remember my first game. I was four years old and I was very happy to learn the game. I won that game and since then I started to practise and I got better and better' ... Some may question whether chess makes kids smart or whether smart kids like chess, but the answer is simple and Ronnie clears it all up. He is a smart kid who likes chess. The little “Chess Tiger” started his basic lesson in chess at just four years old, learning the concept of the game in the short space of two hours. A month later he entered the competitive arena, taking an early win at the YMCA junior competition, hosted by Trinidad and Tobago Chess Association (TTCA). He continued to set a trail of wins at many local competitions, always placing among the top three ... Learning to play chess helps children visualise, analyse and concentrate. Unlike so many games played by younger children, chess is not a game of luck, but one that requires players to make purposeful, well-thought-out decisions ... Ronnie’s father and chess coach Ronnie Nelson Sr, agrees that the relationship between chess and acquiring math, reading and critical-thinking skills is fairly strong ... 'If Ronnie was not playing chess, academics would have been harder for him,' said Nelson. Nelson makes it quite clear that he is a father first before he’s a coach, however, and there is no conflict of interest in coaching his son. 'Ronnie practises three times a week and he juggles academics and chess quite well. It is very expensive to have a coach for Ronnie. It would cost at least $300 an hour or more for coaching. I use a computer software to teach him, which is quite simple to use,' he said. " -- Read the Full Article

St John's News (St John's University) -- August 8, 2007

"Recently, news agencies reported that the number of West Nile virus cases in the United States is nearly four times what it was a year ago, portending a possible epidemic ... Among the few who were not surprised by the report was Eric Strobel, a St. John’s University biological sciences major who this year was accepted into Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s selective Summer Research Program in Biology, where he is studying molecular virology ... 'The prevalence of infectious diseases throughout the world is a serious problem,' says Strobel, 19, from Lynbrook, NY. 'We [Americans] don’t really see the most terrible viruses that you really have to worry about' ... Strobel should know. While many teenagers his age are working this summer as lifeguards and coffee-shop waiters, Strobel spends his days in a science lab, maintaining sterile cell cultures and testing whether the Caribbean-based Dengue virus mediates an immune response from a protein called TRIP 25 ... Like West Nile virus, which originated in Africa, the Dengue virus has the potential to spread from its country of origin by infecting a mobile host, such as a mosquito, and people should be aware of it, says Strobel ... According to his supervisor Lee Gehrke, Ph.D., Hermann von Helmholtz Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at MIT and Harvard Medical School, Strobel’s research is helping explain how cells 'detect danger signals' in viral RNA sequences, which can help them mount protective immune responses ... 'His understanding of science is quite sophisticated for his stage of training,' says Gehrke. 'Independence, critical thinking and technical skill are all important for experimental science, and Eric is working at quite a high level already.'” -- Read the Full Article

Guardian Unlimited -- August 8, 2007
by Chris Mooney

"The presidency of George W Bush is waning and laming. The time has come to think about the future and when it comes to policies for US science and to the use of science in US policy, let's put it bluntly, pretty much anything will be an improvement ... Over the past seven years, Mr Bush has shown a disturbing unwillingness to change his mind or admit to errors of fact or judgment. So we are probably safe in assuming he will not significantly alter course on the leading science policy topics of the day - embryonic stem cell research and global warming ... In each case, Mr Bush made a policy decision back in 2001 based upon false, incomplete, or misleading information and has since fought a rearguard action to prevent either acknowledging these deceptions or their obvious implication - that the 2001 policies should be reversed ...Take embryonic stem cell research. Mr Bush claimed in 2001 that he would allow significant federally funded research to go forward on 'more than 60' genetically diverse available lines. Only a third as many actually existed and there were various problems with them, including a marked lack of said genetic diversity. This meant that Mr Bush's policy didn't even make sense on its own terms. Supposedly a 'compromise,' it proved little more than a sham and were it not for 9/11 and the dramatic shift in US priorities that understandably followed, this fact would have been widely exposed far sooner ... It has come out in recent years, however, and even the Bush-appointed director of the National Institutes of Health, America's chief biomedical research agency, now admits that the stem cell policy needs to be broadened to encourage more science ... Hordes of Republicans support a similar expansion, giving stem cell reformers a majority in both houses of the US Congress. Mr Bush has already vetoed two bills they have sent him that would relax the current restrictions on funding for embryonic stem cell research ... On both stem cells and climate change, Mr Bush simply remains stuck in the past - inflexible and unchanging. The world is passing him by. Barring the unlikely election of a Christian conservative Republican in the next US election - someone like Kansas Senator Sam Brownback who doesn't accept the theory of evolution - we can expect either a middle-of-the-road Republican or a Democratic president to take a very different line than Mr Bush on both of these subjects ... All of the Bush administration's science actions, taken together, have led to a depressing morale deficit among scientists employed by the US government, who have repeatedly seen their work trashed, suppressed or ignored ...The broadest way of stating the problem is that throughout his presidency, Mr Bush has let politics rule everything and left virtually nothing to dispassionate analysis. Preconceptions, rather than critical thinking, have driven policy. Indeed, the US federal government is staffed with legions of political appointees who think in raw political terms, often with a disregard for the long-standing professionalism of the agencies they find themselves lording it over. As a consequence, the US government has become a place where loyalty and the rewarding of prior supporters wins out again and again over careful analysis and expert judgment." -- Read the Full Article

eSchool News -- August 8, 2007
by Meris Stansbury

"Looking for support in revising your curriculum to reflect the needs of 21st-century learners? A new online resource could help: On Aug. 2, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21), a national coalition of business and education leaders, issued a revised plan to help students and educators achieve 21st-century learning goals ... According to P21, the group's revised framework 'addresses key [concerns] by developing a clear vision for 21st-century student outcomes in the new global economy.' For the first time, the plan also 'defines how school systems can best support these outcomes,' P21 says ... This latest offering builds on the organization's previous efforts to guide the integration of so-called '21st-century skills' into the curriculum. It's essential, say coalition members, that students have a strong grasp of these skills for the United States to remain competitive in the 21st-century economy ... To help promote what P21 calls 'real-world applications of content,' the coalition has added a new skills category, called 'Learning and Innovation Skills,' to its framework ... These skills distinguish 'those students who can thrive in the complex life and work environments of the 21st century,' and they focus on creativity, critical thinking, communication, and collaboration, as well as mastery of information, media, and technology skills--all of which are 'essential for preparing students for the future,' according to Charles Fadel, a P21 board member and global education leader for Cisco Systems Inc." -- Read the Full Article

AME Info (The Ultimate Middle East Business Resource) -- August 7, 2007
Press Release

United Arab Emerates — "Greenfield Community School, Beacon Education's latest educational venture, announced that it recently received candidate status from the International Baccalaureate Organization for its Primary Years Programme (PYP) ... The IBO's Regional Director, Nélida Antuña Baragaño, is thrilled with the recent surge of interest in the IB porgrammes across the Emirates. 'We are delighted to see the growth in interest in IB programmes in the United Arab Emirates since the first school we authorised as an IB World School in 1992. These IB World Schools share the mission and commitment of the IB to international education and play an active and supporting role in the worldwide community of IB schools. We wish the Greenfield Community School the best of luck in their trial implementation of the IB Primary Years Programme as a candidate school,' she commented ... The PYP was developed from an international wealth of knowledge and expertise to create a curriculum based upon the success of teaching children 'how to think, opposed to what to think.' The programme encourages open-mindedness and compassion, teaching children how to communicate and problem-solve while promoting intellectual curiosity and critical thinking." -- Read the Full Article

The Chronicle for Higher Education -- August 7, 2007

"Does being president mean never having to admit mistakes? The New York Times columnist David Brooks emerged from a recent meeting with President Bush marveling at how, 'far from being worn down by the past few years, Bush seems empowered. His self-confidence is the most remarkable feature of his presidency.' But where Brooks sees self-confidence, others see self-delusion. In Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me) (Harcourt), Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson anoint Bush the poster boy for 'tenacious clinging to a discredited belief' because of his Iraq policy ... The president may be exceptional, but he is hardly alone. As Tavris and Aronson point out, none of us is immune to the need to justify our actions. Even when confronted with evidence that they are wrong, most people do not change their point of view or course of action. In recent interviews, both authors explained the psychological mechanics behind our reluctance to admit mistakes and reflected on how that has nurtured a 'mistake-phobic' culture."-- Read the Full Article

One Cosmos -- August 7, 2007
by Gagbad Bob

"One of the enduring defects of leftist thought is that it habitually tries to change the world before it has understood the world, which is why it is ironically referred to as the 'reality based community.' For the left, politics comes down to one after another failed experiment against reality -- economic reality, historical reality, psychosexual reality, geopolitical reality, and spiritual reality, to name a few ...This characterization has been true ever since Marx, who believed that philosophy had theretofore regarded its task as interpreting the world, whereas its real mission and duty was to transform it. Allied with this cavalier attitude toward understanding reality is an equally ironic 'progressivism' that has no stable ground and no transcendent purpose, and therefore easily becomes an arbitrary, anti-human tyranny whose elites march us forward directly into the past ... I was reminded of this in reading the laughable Report From Yearly Kos: The Intersection of Science and Progressive Values. In it, the author caricatures science, as if it could possibly arbitrate moral and political issues that fundamentally lay outside its limited purview: ... '[I]t has fallen to those of us who oppose the direction the country has been heading to simultaneously champion a way of thinking that would have averted so many blunders and disasters: empirical thinking. Scientific thinking. Critical thinking ... Science, properly understood, is an inherently conservative (i.e., classically liberal, not leftist) endeavor. It operates under the metaphysical assumption that there is a hidden order in the cosmos that may be uniquely disclosed to the human intellect, but it proceeds cautiously, builds on its past, respects its own traditions, and is slow to accept radical innovation in the absence of extraordinary proof. But progressives are never truly scientific, let alone humble. Rather, they nearly always adhere to the pseudo-philosophy of scientism, which conflates what may be known by the scientific method with the totality of what may be known. And as Schuon points out, its scientism redounds to 'a totalitarian rationalism that eliminates both Revelation and Intellect, and at the same time a totalitarian materialism that ignores the metaphysical relativity -- and therewith also the impermanence -- of matter and of the world. It does not know that the supra-sensible, situated as it is beyond space and time, is the concrete principle of the world, and that it is consequently also at the origin of that contingent and changeable coagulation we call 'matter.' A science that is called 'exact' is in fact an 'intelligence without wisdom,' just as post-scholastic philosophy is inversely a 'wisdom without intelligence.'” -- Read the Full Article

Pacific Daily News -- August 7, 2007
by  A Gaffar Peang-Meth

Hagåtña, GU — "Comparative analysis, my field of specialization in graduate school and in life experiences, is a study of the lifeways of other peoples around the globe. Learning about others' ways of thinking and doing things help us to understand those beyond our borders. The comparisons lead to greater self-awareness and to an appreciation of unfamiliar methods and processes ... Whether the world is getting smaller as the technology revolution and transportation improvements bring peoples closer to one another, or the distances between us are increasing as interaction and familiarity cause some to hold tight to their ways and keep others' different ways at an arm's length, we cannot reject the truth that, in our globalized world, there exists an interconnectedness between and among peoples, cultures, societies and economies. This interdependence means that what happens somewhere, near or far, will -- sooner or later, directly or indirectly -- reach our doorstep ... Knowledge and understanding of what occurs elsewhere and how others think, behave and act prepare us for the effects of change and for change itself. Gaining this knowledge and understanding is part of being a responsible world citizen ... An interesting fact has no value, in and of itself, but the act of relating or comparing this knowledge with other information allows us to evaluate similarities and differences, analyze them, and look for causes and effects ...  In 2003, the Pacific Daily News published my column in this space, 'African author's lessons hold true for plight of education on Guam,' a column that remains valid today. In it, I dealt with 'Does Africa Need a Cultural Adjustment Program?' by Cameroonian Daniel Etounga-Manguelle, founder of an African study society that was involved in more than 50 development projects in west, central and southern Africa, and a former member of the World Bank's Council of African Advisors. He sees African diversity as a 'vast number of subcultures' (Arabophone, Anglophone, Francophone, Lusophone, Hispanophone, and scores of languages in 'Fifty Africa, a Single Culture?') and asks, 'Does generalizing about African culture as a whole make any sense at all?' ...  'I believe that it does," says Etounga-Manguelle, who sees underneath African diversity, 'shared values, attitudes, and institutions that binds together' the nations of Africa. He provides a 'typology' of 'African cultural reality'... In comparative analysis and in world politics, the interest is in discerning patterns of behavior and action. Patterns allow for generalizations, which in turn allow us to develop theories to predict what lies ahead. From these theories, solutions can be devised to meet challenges and avoid conflict and chaos ... Etounga-Manguelle calls for modifications to certain aspects of the 'powerful, immovable culture' because 'we are condemned either to change or to perish' ... He proposes peaceful cultural revolution in education, politics, economic and social life, and calls for critical thinking and qualities that engender progress that include imagination, dissent, creativity, professionalism, competence, a sense of responsibility and duty, as well as love for a job well done." -- Read the Full Article

IT Compliance Institutues -- August 7, 2007
by Phil Rosenzweig

"Companies cannot achieve superior and lasting business performance simply by following a given formula or a specific set of steps. Rather than fall under the spell of hyperbole found in so much management writing, business strategists would do far better to improve their powers of critical thinking ... The quest of every high-quality corporate executive is to find the keys to superior performance. Achieving market leadership is hard enough, but staying at the top—given intense competition, rapidly changing technology, and shifting global forces—is even more difficult. At the same time, executives are under enormous pressure to deliver profitable growth and high returns for their shareholders. No wonder they constantly search for ways to achieve competitive advantage ... But many executives, despite their good intentions, look in the wrong places for the insights that will deliver an edge. Too often they reach for books and articles that promise a reliable path to high performance. Over the past decade, some of the most popular business books have claimed to reveal the blueprint for lasting success, the way to go from good to great, or how to craft a fail-safe strategy or to make the competition irrelevant ...  Rather than succumb to the hyperbole and false promises found in so much management writing, business strategists would do far better to improve their powers of critical thinking. Wise executives should be able to think clearly about the quality of research claims and to detect some of the egregious errors that pervade the business world. Indeed, the capacity for critical thinking is an important asset for any business strategist—one that allows the executive to cut through the clutter and to discard the delusions, embracing instead a more realistic understanding of business success and failure ... Many studies of company performance are undermined by a problem known as the halo effect. First identified by US psychologist Edward Thorndike in 1920, it describes the tendency to make specific inferences on the basis of a general impression ... How does the halo effect manifest itself in the business world? Imagine a company that is doing well, with rising sales, high profits, and a sharply increasing stock price. The tendency is to infer that the company has a sound strategy, a visionary leader, motivated employees, an excellent customer orientation, a vibrant culture, and so on. But when that same company suffers a decline—if sales fall and profits shrink—many people are quick to conclude that the company’s strategy went wrong, its people became complacent, it neglected its customers, its culture became stodgy, and more. In fact, these things may not have changed much, if at all. Rather, company performance, good or bad, creates an overall impression—a halo—that shapes how we perceive its strategy, leaders, employees, culture, and other elements." -- Read the Full Article

The Washington Post -- August 7, 2007
by Jay Matthews

Scottsdale, AZ — "The first thing I noticed about the KIPP School Summit, the annual meeting of the country's most intriguing public school network, was the food. It was cheap, simple and abundant -- potato chips, popcorn, corn chips, juice bars, hamburgers and fajitas available outside the many meeting rooms last week. This was fuel for teachers half my age, about 1,200 of them, nearly all in their 20s and early 30s ... The second thing I noticed were the principals. Each time I met a school leader, as they are called at KIPP, my generational surprise alarm sounded. Forgive me, but my 62-year-old brain still thinks of principals as men in the middle to later years of their lives. About half of the KIPP school leaders were women. Nearly all of them were, like the teachers, also in their 20s or early 30s, and much more representative of inner-city ethnicities than any other school organization I have seen ... KIPP is short for Knowledge Is Power Program. Each school is an independent public school, typically a charter or contract school that does not have to follow the usual rules in its district. Most are fifth-through-eighth grade middle schools, but some KIPP high schools and elementary schools have been established. The schools are small, usually about 300 students. The school leaders are carefully selected from the best available teachers and given a year of special training. They have power to hire and fire their staffs and use any curriculum they like as long as it produces significant gains in the achievement of their students, more than 80 percent of whom are from low-income families ... So far no KIPP school leader has changed the basic approach established by founders Dave Levin and Mike Feinberg when they were in their mid-20s. KIPP schools have nine-hour days, daily homework that cannot be avoided, Saturday morning school every other week, required summer school, and lots of physical activity and fun, including music, sports and field trips as far away as the other side of the country, or beyond. (Some KIPP students this year visited Puerto Rico and Ghana) ...This led me to consider the implications of the third and most important thing I noticed in the enthusiastic crowd of young educators -- the built-in tension between the national organization's cohesion and the individual schools' creative independence. Those two contrary elements are the greatest hope for, and the greatest threat to, KIPP's becoming more than just another of the many educational fads that have faded into obscurity ... They asked the assembled KIPP teachers if the KIPP student was really just two years away from reaching the level of the private school student. 'If I am going to teach him, yes!' said one teacher, full of KIPP can-do spirit. But most of the audience agreed that if that was going to happen, they had to do a much better job teaching critical thinking, sophisticated syntax and vocabulary and all the other tools their student would need." -- Read the Full Article

The Press Enterprise -- August 7, 2007
by Matt Bamberg

Brian Patrick Healey grew up in Connecticut, which offered the plentiful beauty, charm and history that are New England ... 'I can remember as a kid always wanting to create an atmosphere of something better -- where there was potential, fun and stimulation,' Healey says ... As a young student in Connecticut, Healey thought that his teachers underestimated the ability of his class ...'I didn't think the teachers let students imagine and create new ideas of their own,' he says. 'I was the kid who was always lobbying the teachers to allow the class more leeway in choosing how to spend its time and to try to get away from the regimented schedules and assignments' ... Healey has long sought new ways of doing things in an effort to light a spark in others to be just as creative. Now a psychotherapist, spiritual adviser and actor, Healey has found important connections in his pursuits to help people ... Healey attended Enrico Fermi High School, a school named after a nuclear physicist and one that he says set a high standard for achievement among the school community ...'Critical thinking was emphasized,' he explains. 'I learned to think for myself and to question prevailing assumptions' ...  As Healey grew up, he found that 'the hallmark of mental and emotional health is the ability to think for yourself,' he says ... 'Getting there involves identifying limitations and assumptions that you have adopted along the way' ... Healey says that everybody has a piece of the truth and that applying it to everyday life is essential for successful living." -- Read the Full Article

Human Resource Executive Online -- August 7, 2007
by Scott Flander

"If you're a boss, have you ever talked politics around the people who work for you? Ever made it crystal clear to them which political candidates you support?... Well, you're not alone ... About one-fourth of all employees say their top managers make it clear to subordinates the political candidates they prefer, according to a recent survey by Harris Interactive ...'They don't realize the damage they're doing to themselves,' says Frank Kenna, president of the North Haven, Conn.-based Marlin Co., which commissioned the nationwide telephone survey of 752 full- and part-time employees ... Here's what the worker is thinking, he says: 'My boss supports Joe Blow, I hate the guy, I hate my boss' ... Kenna, whose publishing and consulting firm helps managers communicate with their employees, notes that although one-fourth of the employees said their bosses make their candidate choices clear, the percentage of bosses who casually talk about politics in general at work is probably much higher ...When you start imposing your personal, individual beliefs on other people, you are starting to limit people's ability to express themselves,' he says. 'You're limiting critical thinking.'" -- Read the Full Article

U.S. Satellite Laboratory, Inc -- August 6, 2007
Press Release

"This school year, thousands of teachers will be implementing NASA classroom activities, engaging students in the excitement of Shuttle Mission STS-118. U.S. Satellite Laboratory, Inc., a business specializing in live, interactive technology training for K-12 educators, supports STS-118 by providing 1-hour, online, interactive sessions from the comfort of teachers' homes -- the sessions invite beginner users of the simple technology. NASA's Shuttle Mission, scheduled to launch August 8th, is the initial flight of the first educator trained as a Mission Specialist, Barbara Morgan ... In collaboration with NASA's Teaching from Space Office and the NASA Sports and Exploration Project at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, U.S. Satellite provides training for NASA's new 'Engineering Design Challenge' and 'Fit Explorer' activities. Students create Lunar Plant Growth Chambers in preparation for their own space seeds in the 'Engineering Design Challenge' which invites elementary, middle and high school teachers to participate. Along with their plant growth chambers, students will design watering and energy systems for plants. Such chambers will grow plants as part of the food source necessary for future manned missions to the Moon and Mars planned for 2020 and beyond. Teachers sign-up at no cost from NASA, to receive basil "seeds from space," that were on the STS-118 Mission. NASA's 'Fit Explorer' activities allow students to 'train-like-an-astronaut' for good health and fitness and to learn about good nutrition to counter bone loss in space. 'Fit Explorer' is a scientific and physical approach to human health and fitness on Earth and in space. Students perform physical activities, including Base-Station Walk-Back, Do a Spacewalk, Jump for the Moon, Crew Strength Training and Mission: Control ... In addition, the training covers simple content with free microgravity, gyroscopes and robotics activities, with the themes of energy, recycling and weightlessness. All classroom lessons promote the skills needed for today's workforce providing for living and working in space in the future ...To sign up at a nominal fee of $25, which includes a toll-free phone number and an interactive internet link to be utilized at the same time, teachers across the U.S. can register at: http://www.us-satellite.net/sts118 to select one of the many live sessionsavailable at convenient times. Teachers also receive a special exclusive weblink to free NASA curriculum, videos and other resources tied the education themes of 'living and working in space' ... 'Today's middle schoolers will be tomorrow's astronauts, at the helm of human space flight in the coming years. These training sessions provide teachers from around the country with exciting, cutting-edge science NASA curricula and other resources that teachers can learn about from their homes and bring into their classrooms," says Glen Schuster, Founder and Director of U.S. Satellite. "Teachers can earn credit for sharing the activities from this exciting mission with their students. This is one of the best opportunities we have offered in nearly 20 years ... Located in Rye, NY, U.S. Satellite seeks to improve student opportunities in K-12 classrooms by designing, developing, and implementing professional development for educators and curriculum-based classroom materials. Products seamlessly integrate simple-to-use technology tools with real-time science and mathematics content, while improving critical thinking skills in order for young people to become informed citizens about science and Earth system science issues. Current federally sponsored no cost programs that teach in various contexts include: 3D, oceans, weather, animal migration and climate change or global warming." -- Read the Full Article

The Mississippi Press -- August 6, 2007
by Sara Frye

Gautier — "The doors to Pascagoula, Gautier, Ocean Springs and George County schools open today ... Moss Point schools will open Tuesday, and St. Alphonsus Elementary and Resurrection schools will open Thursday ... Each school has prepared for the new year differently, but state changes in nutrition and testing take effect at all public schools ...The Mississippi Curriculum Test will release a new version this year. The test is designed to measure the knowledge and skill level of students in Mississippi ...The test compares Mississippi students to each other in language arts, math and reading skills ...'In looking at our curriculum, we decided we were not challenging our students,' said Edna Waller, assistant superintendent of the Ocean Springs School District. 'We were not assessing their ability to think, problem solve' ... The MCT tested knowledge levels, but the MCT2 will test students' ability to problem-solve, Waller said. The test is given in the spring semester. Results from last year's test will be available Aug. 17 ... 'It will test less of what do they know, and more of what can they do,' Waller said. 'It's about teaching critical thinking skills, problem-solving' ...These skills are best taught through project, problem-based learning and inquiry-based instruction, Waller said." -- Read the Full Article

The Huffington Post -- August 6, 2007
by Chris Mooney

"I've been quite fortunate in the past year or so to have appeared not once, but twice, on the central science related panel at the progressive mega-conference Yearly Kos. As a result, I've been able to observe closely the ongoing integration of science into the broader agenda of progressive political advocates and the candidates they support ... In 2006 in Las Vegas, none other than General Wesley Clark headed up the Kos science panel and provided a powerful speech about the centrality of scientific research to our quest for national advancement and social progress. Clark's talk -- paralleled by recent efforts on the part of the Democratic Congress to draw attention to abuses against science by the Bush administration and to ramp up our national competitiveness in science -- showed just how much this sleeper issue has, in the past several years, gone mainstream and merged with core concerns of progressive voters and those who represent them ... The reason for this development is simple: our reality-challenged president. George W. Bush and others in his administration have repeatedly ignored fact and expert analysis on anything from global warming to the war in Iraq to the cost of Medicare prescription-drug reform. So it has fallen to those of us who oppose the direction the country has been heading to simultaneously champion a way of thinking that would have averted so many blunders and disasters: empirical thinking. Scientific thinking. Critical thinking ... In other words, you might say that now more than ever before, we're finally waking up to the fact that the practices of science themselves encode a set of values -- a way of approaching the world, understanding it, and acting within it. At its core, it's a world view that is humble about what we know and don't know, flexible about what we do and don't decide to do, and open about admitting past mistakes and listening to contrary opinion. In short, it's the utter opposite of Bush's stubborn, inflexible, unwavering certainty about everything." -- Read the Full Article

Critical Thinking Snippets -- August 6, 2007
by Michael Ignatieff, in the NY Times

“'The unfolding catastrophe in Iraq… has condemned the judgment of many others, myself included, who as commentators supported the invasion…I keep revisiting the Iraq debacle, trying to understand exactly how the judgments I now have to make in the political arena need to improve on the ones I used to offer from the sidelines ... The attribute that underpins good judgment in politicians is a sense of reality…Politicians cannot afford to cocoon themselves in the inner world of their own imaginings. They must not confuse the world as it is with the world as they wish it to be ... The only way any of us can improve our grasp of reality is to confront the world every day and learn, mostly from our mistakes, what works and what doesn’t. Yet even lengthy experience can fail us in life and in politics. Experience can imprison decision-makers in worn-out solutions while blinding them to the untried remedy that does the trick ... In practical politics, there is no science of decision-making ... A sense of reality is not just a sense of the world as it is, but as it might be. Like great artists, great politicians see possibilities others cannot and then seek to turn them into realities. To bring the new into being, a politician needs a sense of timing, of when to leap and when to remain still. Bismarck famously remarked that political judgment was the ability to hear, before anyone else, the distant hoofbeats of the horse of history ... Fixed principle matters. There are some goods that cannot be traded, some lines that cannot be crossed, some people who must never be betrayed. But fixed ideas of a dogmatic kind are usually the enemy of good judgment. It is an obstacle to clear thinking to believe that America’s foreign policy serves God’s plan to expand human freedom. Ideological thinking of this sort bends what Kant called 'the crooked timber of humanity' to fit an abstract illusion ... The people who truly showed good judgment on Iraq predicted the consequences that actually ensued but also rightly evaluated the motives that led to the action. They did not necessarily possess more knowledge than the rest of us. They labored, as everyone did, with the same faulty intelligence and lack of knowledge of Iraq’s fissured sectarian history. What they didn’t do was take wishes for reality ... emotions in politics, as in life, tend to be self-justifying and in matters of ultimate political judgment, nothing, not even your own feelings, should be held immune from the burden of justification through cross-examination and argument.' ” -- Read the Full Article

eSchool News Online -- August 6, 2007<