Today in SCHOOLED: the Classic Learning Test comes under fire, James Traub lauds Texas’s reading list, the discipline debate returns, and pushback on my proposal to scrap foreign language instruction in America's high schools. schooledbymikepetrilli.substack.com/p/scrap-worl...
Scrap world language requirements? Mon Dieu!
Plus, the Classic Learning Test comes under fire, James Traub lauds Texas’s reading list, and the discipline debate returns.
schooledbymikepetrilli.substack.com
Yeah I think more people are saying what you've said and I hope it picks up! These conservative projects are fascist, they're racist, they're not infrequently homophobic but liberal politicians seem really uncomfortable with the idea that education should include reading serious literature at all!
The Democrats abandoned the liberal arts in public education more than 40 years ago and there is absolutely no sign that they will be reversing course anytime soon: open.substack.com/pub/asheeshk...
Why the Democrats Probably Won't Save the Humanities
The Republicans are awful, but the other side isn't actually that much better - yet.
open.substack.com
Annie Abrams@annieabrams.bsky.social · 14h agoeasy to mock right wing humanities institutes, more difficult to get dems to answer for lapsed commitment to liberal education
am not usually super into the phrase “american dream” and yet
Tim “Positive Subway” Smith@positivesubway.bsky.social · 9mo agoUniversities are as important to our national defense, our economic well-being, and our cultural fabric as the military, places of worship, family farms, baseball, hot dogs, apple pie, mom, and Chevrolet—say it often and unapologetically
or even acknowledge that the attacks on universities more generally will require long term solutions which will involve them. Maybe it doesnt poll well in their focus groups of centrists and Republicans to appear to care about education? Who knows.
Annie Abrams@annieabrams.bsky.social · 14h agoeasy to mock right wing humanities institutes, more difficult to get dems to answer for lapsed commitment to liberal education
easy to mock right wing humanities institutes, more difficult to get dems to answer for lapsed commitment to liberal education
the news out of california is weird, i don’t see why restoring the sat would improve math readiness among undergrads
A smart colleague once said that a recourse to methodology with substance in an academic was the sure sign of a fraud
Annie Abrams@annieabrams.bsky.social · 17h agoit’s strange to me when people get obsessed with “instructional design” or “cultural literacy” and don‘t seem to care that much about the substance of any of it
it’s strange to me when people get obsessed with “instructional design” or “cultural literacy” and don‘t seem to care that much about the substance of any of it
What do I need to do for him and Jeremy to not be the thought leaders on this?
I'll have more to say about this quote from the article below, but for now just this: We are absolutely not solving the right problem if we end up with a system in which students are being policed by bots while writing papers that no one but a bot is going to read.
Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 2d ago“The first version of Khanmigo was completely optional. Now, it’s actually in the student’s incentive to work with the AI because if the AI deems that you know it, now you’ll get credit for it.”
I‘d offer very different criticisms—undermining academic freedom, privatization, data collection. And, yes, also lowering standards.
Annie Abrams@annieabrams.bsky.social · 2d ago
But in my view, the AP Lang and Comp test has always been ridiculous. Producing rough drafts of an analysis, an argument, and essentially a research paper in 40 minutes each is silly. There’s no true depth there — no time for that
IT IS A PROBLEM THAT THIS CONVERSATION IS PLAYING OUT SOLELY ON THE RIGHT nypost.com/2026/08/04/u...
AP test scores sky-rocketed after COVID pandemic — raising grade inflation criticism for college prep courses
The major markup on grades for the AP English Lit test is part of a dramatic rise in passing rates, prompting criticism that the tests are being watered down, and not actually preparing students fo…
nypost.com
"one of the surest strategies for amassing autocratic power is what I call deliberate deliteracy: the destruction, restriction, and monopolization of the infrastructures that make mass literacy possible." www.theamericanvandal.com/p/neuroplast...
Neuroplasticity As A Praxis
We Can Read Our Way Out Of Autocracy
theamericanvandal.com
Over the last couple years reading, and especially collective modes of reading, have come to mean ever more to me. @tressiemcphd.bsky.social’s challenge from earlier this week helped me see why. I’m going to double down on building community around books. I hope you will too.
Neuroplasticity As A Praxis
We Can Read Our Way Out Of Autocracy
theamericanvandal.com
.. playing field because even the most advanced student in the class struggles with it at times and it kind of leads to a classroom culture of 'oh man, this is hilarious, let me try.' but then we pause every now and then to discuss what is happening, review the language being used, and generally..
For students who have a very intensely negative response to reading, I try a lot of tactics. 'If you practice at it, it will get easier, and you will like it more.' 'If you find the right things to read, it's like a conversation with a friend.'
it’s very weird to watch the political right co-opt reading itself while democrats talk about project based learning as preparation for manufacturing jobs and managerial roles
Asheesh Kapur Siddique@asheeshks.org · 3d agoDemocrats, unfortunately, do not care: asheeshksi.substack.com/p/why-the-de...
ok and what is everyone reading
Randi Weingarten 🖇️📚✊🇺🇸@rweingarten.bsky.social · 5d agoGiving students hands-on experience connects learning to opportunity. I'm proud of the Advanced Technology Framework, bringing together @aft.org, @uft.org, Micron, & New York schools to give students hands-on pathways into advanced manufacturing careers. youtube.com/watch?v=iXMt...
Bob said, “This project has never not been precarious.” Universities were on fire when it began. They are again as he enters retirement. They survived in large part by trusting that what they were doing was important & by doing it better than anybody, judged only by their own high standards. 14/
Definitive Ranking of Twain Novels 1. Captain Stormfield’s Visit To Heaven 2. Puddn’head Wilson 3. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 4. Private Lives of Adam & Eve 5. No. 44, The Mysterious Stranger 6. Roughing It 7. Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur’s Court 8. Secret History of Eddypus, World-Empire
I think Traub's correct to say that most of the attention focused on the Bible selections and that was a mistake.
Annie Abrams@annieabrams.bsky.social · 7d agoHe spent one year visiting schools. I’ve been teaching high school and writing about this issue for years and I don’t think this is a good idea.
Assessment + accountability advocates: "We need good test data to help us clearly understand how well kids read..." Same assessment + accountability advocates: "Well, we see the data, but they're noisy and so we have to guess at interpretations..." Every. Single. Time.
Annie Abrams@annieabrams.bsky.social · 4d agoWhat do the test scores tell us, really? www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2026...
What do the test scores tell us, really? www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2026...
New York reading scores fell sharply on state tests. The dramatic swing is unusual, experts said.
Reading proficiency dropped 5 percentage points statewide while math inched up. The unusual drop in reading scores raised eyebrows among testing experts.
chalkbeat.org
"Standardized tests or other transparent objective measures should be used wherever possible to ensure fairness and academic excellence."
John Warner@biblioracle.bsky.social · 4d agoAfter earlier flirtations, Vanderbilt goes full mask-off on the authoritarian/Trumpist version of higher education. A university without academic freedom. www.insidehighered.com/opinion/colu...
the first question in McMahon's list, "How will your institution ensure that admissions criteria are transparent and wholly described to prospective applicants?" has everything to do with the testing industry
Teaching Literature after Nolan’s Odyssey: A Conversation-- The University of Virginia Department of Classics and The Center for the Liberal Arts (cla.virginia.edu) For Middle and High School Teachers Via Zoom, August 14, 3-4:30 PM (EST) How can ELA and other teachers engage students who have 1/4
Teaching Literature after Nolan’s Odyssey: A Conversation
Free virtual program with UVA faculty on how teachers can engage students who have seen Christopher Nolan’s film of The Odyssey.
theodysseyconversation.eventbrite.com
Any conservatism worthy of Burke would understand that authority is won over time and by winning arguments. Competitive ideas survive; others fail and lose favor. Authority is to be won (earned) not simply asserted.