The Higgs Boson:
Why You Should
Care About the God
Particle. And, Sadly,
Why You Don't
Ainissa Ramirez, a Yale University materials scientist, likes to call herself a
science evangelist, and her passion and expertise at science education is
unparalleled. So this week, with the announcement about the discovery of
the Higgs Boson, was both exciting–because of an amazing opportunity–
and frustrating–because she thought the science world largely blew it.
Homework overload gets an 'F' from experts
By Corey Binns
TODAY.com
7/27/2012
It seems the smoke has barely cleared from those Fourth of July
celebrations, but in many parts of the U.S., parents are trying to light fires
under their kids in an effort to get them studying for the new school year.
Unfortunately, new research shows the amount of time kids clock in out of
school may not pay off.
Kids who do more homework actually perform worse on standardized tests,
according to research by Sydney University educational psychologist
Richard Walker, author of the forthcoming book, Reforming Homework:
Practices, Learning and Policies.
Homework only boosts student scores in the final three years of high school,
says Walker, and only these older high school students should be doing a
couple of hours of homework a night. Younger students only benefit from
small assignments, if they’re getting help at home.
But that's not the end of the homework hurdles.
High-achieving students who are swamped with homework can suffer from
poor mental and physical health,says Stanford University professor Denise
Pope.
In fact, findings consistently show that homework has very limited value in the
elementary grades...
San Diego Education Report
|
San Diego
Education Report
Aug. 2013
The $4 Million Teacher
...The South Korean education
market is so profitable that it
attracts investments from
firms like Goldman Sachs,
the Carlyle Group and A.I.G.
It was thrilling to meet Mr. Kim—a teacher who earns the kind of
money that professional athletes make in the U.S.
An American with his ambition and abilities might have to
become a banker or a lawyer, but in South Korea, he had become
a teacher, and he was rich anyway...
Evaluating teachers and doctors
The system isn't working in either case.
The problem begins--and usually ends--at the local workplace.
Office politics and group culture allows incompetent teachers and
doctors to rely on their pals for protection. And it allows highly
competent teachers and doctors to be targeted by those who play
politics.
From SDER Blog:
"Hospitals' peer review committees — the internal panels of medical staff
that oversee and review complaints against clinical personnel — often do a
poor job.
"'Much of the bottleneck in the physician discipline system is in the peer
review committees,' says Philip Levitt, a retired Florida neurosurgeon who
served as chief of the medical staff at two hospitals. 'Virtually everything of
serious consequence gets balled up or blocked in the peer review process.'
T"he peer review system is rife with bias, Levitt says, noting that doctors on
the committees often are inclined to protect their colleagues — or go after
those who cross or compete with them. That dynamic invites lawsuits from
doctors who say they've been treated unfairly, so hospitals generally are
wary of suspending even those doctors who commit egregious misconduct,
Levitt adds. Instead, they tend to look for a deal to persuade the doctor to
leave quietly with no misconduct finding."--USA Today
NEWS---August 5, 2011
Stutz v. Larkins update:
I'm appealing the default Judge
Judith Hayes granted to Stutz
in defamation case
The judge refused to allow jury trial
See all posts regarding Stutz v. Larkins
defamation lawsuit.
This defamation case, filed against me by
Stutz Artiano Shinoff & Holtz on October 5,
2007, is still clawing its way through the
justice system. Four years ago San Diego
Superior Court Judge Judith Hayes threw
out my opposition and all my evidence and granted Stutz Artiano
Shinoff & Holtz' a win in its defamation case against me...
I repeatedly asked for the jury trial that I am entitled to regarding
damages for defamation. But Stutz law firm and its supporter Judge
Hayes didn't want me to have the opportunity to explain to a jury the
evidence I have proving the truth of the statements Stutz has
complained about.
The funny thing is that there never was any finding of fact
regarding defamation...So why wasn't Stutz law firm jumping up and
down for joy? ...
Carlsbad Unifed cancels FFF contract
Is it time for the school attorneys at Fagen
Friedman Fulfrost to change the name of their
firm again?
What did Fagen Friedman Fulfrost law firm do
to cause the Carlsbad Unified school board to
cancel its contract? The explanation can be
found here...
The question now becomes, who will end up doing the $100,000 worth
of legal work that was going to go to FFF, and will the new firm behave
any differently than FFF?...
Howard Fulfrost
Judge Judith Hayes
Update on school lawyers suing me
Stutz Artiano Shinoff & Holtz
v. Maura Larkins defamation
lawsuit post #108
(This case will be six years old next week, with no jury trial and no end in
sight. Judge Judith Hayes seems to have made a mess of it.)
I liked the article published in the San Diego Reader about my case. The
one error can pretty much be blamed on Stutz law firm and Judge Judith
Hayes, who each claimed that I published the comment, “…Shinoff makes
Vito Corleone look like an altar boy. Shinoff has destroyed the lives of
many individuals and families; only God knows what his body count is.”
I did not write the comment. It's not my style. I'm not quite as dramatic as
the anonymous person who posted it. After all the trouble that Dan Shinoff
has caused me, Vito Corleone still looks bad to me. But I've got to admit
that the commenter has mastered the art of hyperbole...