Tag: James Sherlock
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A Far Better Option for Public Education of Poor Urban Minority Students in Virginia
by James C. Sherlock We are going to discuss here — it will be a series — Virginia’s urban majority-minority school divisions. School boards, superintendents and teachers in those divisions want their students to learn. They are especially frustrated that far too many of their minority students fail to do so. For those divisions, an…
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Standards of Learning, Educational Reform and the Blob
by James C. Sherlock Readers opine that I am throwing ideas into institutional quicksand when advocating for education reforms. But I hope not. For example, in my most recent series I have suggested that Virginia’s Standards of Learning (SOL) process needs fundamental reform with the integration of learning and teaching standards. Critics have written with…
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A Proposal for a Broad Trial of Single Sex and Co-ed Virginia Classrooms on the Woodbridge Middle School Model
by James C. Sherlock This is an expanded version of an article originally published on Dec. 16 of this year. To avoid confusion, the original has been removed. This update contains important information about the multi-year experience of Woodbridge Middle School in Prince William County with the approaches recommended here for broader testing in Virginia.…
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Boys Left Behind Academically – Yet Another Crisis in Virginia Schools
by James C. Sherlock Girls significantly outperform boys in English Language Arts (ELA) (reading and writing) in public schools and perform about as well in math and science, both across the nation and in Virginia. Virginia statewide SOL performance statistics give the details here. Across the state, girl students are better readers and far better…
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Insufferable and Dangerous Nonsense in Academia – Antisemitism Sector
by James C. Sherlock I read this morning in the latest issue of Chronicle of Higher Education a particularly smarmy article by a Keith E. Whittington. He is, among other things, “professor of politics at Princeton University and founding chair of the Academic Committee of the Academic Freedom Alliance”. Good to know. He addressed in…
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The Governor’s Chronic Absenteeism Task Force – Part One – Failed Advice
by James C. Sherlock Governor Youngkin, in response to the real crisis in our schools, has established a Chronic Absenteeism Task Force led by the Virginia Superintendent of Public Instruction. The Task Force is supported by the non-profit Attendance Works. Attendance Works so dominates VDOE’s Attendance & School Engagement page that it can be deemed…
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Charlottesville, Its Public Schools and UVa – Part Three – CCS Abandons Truancy Filings, Absenteeism Soars
by James C. Sherlock The effects of public policies can be murky. Not this one. The subject in this Part 3 is alarming chronic absenteeism of Charlottesville City Schools (CCS). At issue is the virtual abandonment by that division of the use truancy filings with the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court, removing parental consequences. …
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Charlottesville, Its Public Schools and UVa – Part Two – Black Students
by James C. Sherlock What drew me to this story is the fact that Black students in Charlottesville City Schools (CCS) have suffered to a degree unequaled elsewhere in the Commonwealth. Keeping in mind the domination of Charlottesville and its schools by the University of Virginia and its School of Education and Human Development discussed…
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Charlottesville, Its Public Schools and UVa – Part One – Bad things Happen
by James C. Sherlock In the relationship between Charlottesville and the University of Virginia, very bad things have happened to Charlottesville and continue to do so. I have developed a working thesis on that relationship. The city is at the mercy of the University by virtue of the latter’s wealth, influence, and power in Charlottesville…
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A VSU Officer was Shot and Left Paralyzed. At Thanksgiving, Readers Can Help Him and His Family
by James C. Sherlock Virginia State University (VSU) Police Officer Bruce Foster, 38, was shot on November 12. He had chased down a suspect who was causing an early Sunday morning disturbance on campus. Officer Foster was shot from behind while making the arrest. He remains hospitalized and paralyzed from the waist down. The five-year…
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UVa Picks Baltimore City Schools CEO to Feature in “Exploring New Frontiers for K-12 Systems Transformation.” Seriously.
by James C. Sherlock I try to keep up in the field of education. That led me to read “Exploring New Frontiers for K-12 Systems Transformation” produced by the UVa Partnership for Leaders in Education (UVA-PLE), a long-existing joint project of the Darden School of Business and the School of Education and Human Development. I…
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The Suppressed Report on the UVa Murders
by James C. Sherlock President James Ryan of the University of Virginia has decided to suppress the results of a written request that he and the Rector made to the Attorney General …to conduct an independent review of the University’s response to the shooting, as well as the efforts the University undertook in the period…
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Bari Weiss: “You are the Last Line of Defense”
by James C. Sherlock Video courtesy of the Free Press. See that link for a full transcript. I recommend it to everyone. Bari Weiss recently delivered a speech that will be long remembered. She offered eloquence in the service of experience, sorrow and determination. And defined the internal, and existential, threat to America. I will…
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UVa’s “Community Crisis Resources” for Israel/Hamas War Tensions on Campus Has Strange Players
by James C. Sherlock The University of Virginia has not lost all sense of perspective. They know exactly what they have been doing. For this they had to try to thread a needle. They missed. From the University of Virginia Division of Student Affairs: “Our Division’s focus remains on supporting and caring for our students…
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Yes, Virginia, There is a TikTok, and It’s Chinese
by James C. Sherlock From the NY Post: “TikTok shredded as influencers promote Osama bin Laden’s ‘terrorist propaganda’ tirade dubbed ‘Letter to America’ after 9/11 attacks” Virginia bans porno sites. How did we miss our kids’ favorite (Chinese) app TikTok?