Dress codes are so evil. Mindblowing that we're still debating this in 2021.

I haven't really followed the discussion in this thread, but I find the studies about how IQ influences educational success fascinating, and thought some of you might be interested to read this: https://russellwarne.com/2020/05/31/tea ... elligence/

Crazy, but not unpredictable. It would be tough to be a teacher admitting that for many students nothing you will do will make things better.

Interesting article in NYT.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/22/opinion/economy-education-women-men.html

A major 2015 study, “The Emergence of Sex Differences in Personality Traits in Early Adolescence: A Cross-Sectional, Cross-Cultural Study,” on which Marleen De Bolle, then of Ghent University, was the lead author — with contributions from 48 additional scholars — described some of the consequences of differing rates of maturity and development:

Our findings demonstrate that adolescent girls consistently score higher than boys on personality traits that are found to facilitate academic achievement, at least within the current school climate. Stated differently, the current school environment or climate might be in general more attuned to feminine-typed personalities, which make it — in general — easier for girls to achieve better grades at school.

Mediocrity reigns

To be fair, those programs were packed with mediocre kids with aggressive parents anyhow.

"Racially segregated program"

GATE alumnus here. First year, I didn't have fun at all, because I was the only one from my school and didn't know anyone. It got much better the next year when my best friend also got in the program, and soon after other classmates from my school joined. Learned some cool stuff, not sure if it was a game changer, though. My mom would have lost her shit if they did away with it, though, she was always frustrated with how she felt regular school was holding me back. As far as racial diversity goes, to the extent that it existed in Boise when I was a kid, GATE was likely slightly more diverse than my school.

California Tries to Close the Gap in Math, but Sets Off a Backlash
Proposed guidelines in the state would de-emphasize calculus, reject the idea that some children are naturally gifted and build a connection to social justice. Critics say math shouldn’t be political.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/04/us/california-math-curriculum-guidelines.html

Are there really educators out there who do not think some kids are gifted in math (or languages, or art)?

I can see doing away with calculus as a high school requirement. Replace it with a course on understanding stats and how to use and dissect them. Maybe make math more applicable by using word problems/real life examples on budgeting, calculating easy percentages, mortgage financing, credit card interest rates, the return on higher education, and income tax examples. Just leave the the 'social justice; shit out of it, that's completely arbitrary and math is anything but arbitrary.

If we start teaching kids how interest works, western civilization will collapse.

Calculus as a high school requirement? Do you have that in Canada? In California, the highest math needed to apply to college is Algebra II/ Trig.

They are talking about dropping Calculus as a high school optional class, I presume. Kinda like they've been pushing to drop Algebra or Geometry being available to 8th graders.

Equity and inclusion looks a lot like my freshman science class, a terribly useless course where I was pestered by kids that ended up at the alternative high school. Tracking works, embrace it.

No one saw this coming:

Faced with soaring Ds and Fs, schools are ditching the old way of grading

And as public schools do that more parents who are able to will send their children to private schools and I predict wider achievement gaps.

Without reading any of that, Proficiency Based grading has been a push for a while now. It's stupid and infuriating, but it's not new.

Educational fads seem to trend towards the worse over all.

Can't imagine why college costs have become so outrageous that students are taking on six-figure debt.

This country is full of offices stuffed with people doing busy work. It's insane how many people sit behind desks churning out reports nobody ever reads and attending meetings where nothing is accomplished.

I read most of it and it's definitely just the (at least) 10-year old proficiency based grading conversation that now includes economic and racial equity as drivers of the need for change.

It’s a standard in surgical and anesthesia curricula.

Really, most internship/residencies in medical specialties education can be described as proficiency-based.

Maybe this is your point, but isn't that type of evaluation too subjective for assessment at secondary school level?