Education

A toy school bus

Something’s puzzling about Rhode Island’s SAT scores.

By Justin Katz | October 31, 2022 |

Why are Rhode Island parents so lackadaisical about the poor value they’re getting from the state’s government schools?  As Dan McGowan reports, SAT scores are down from where they were before the pandemic, and they were already low compared with those of neighboring states: Math (minimum score of 530 out of 800): 25.3 percent English…

Whistling past the graveyard

Please, Rhode Islanders, start paying attention to the evidence.

By Justin Katz | October 26, 2022 |

If you’re thigh deep in the muck of Rhode Island politics, as I am, you may find something about the local society inexplicable.  The game is so locked up, in Rhode Island, that it isn’t clear whether anything can shake the stranglehold of insiders and special interests.  Consider two recent stories. On the National Education…

Cooling towers at Brayton Point

Parents in School and the Nuclear Option

By John Loughlin | October 22, 2022 |

Heritage Action Director of Communications Noah Weinrich on parents’ role in schools, and Flibe Energy’s Kirk Sorensen on the possible role for nuclear in power supply.

Boy in a library

Rhode Island is doing especially badly with boys’ education.

By Justin Katz | October 21, 2022 |

From time to time, I get in a little spat with some well-meaning progressive on social media that reminds me of something I figured out decades ago but periodically forget:  In the belief system of many (most?) progressives, no machinery is required between intent and achievement.  Wanting to help people means making it a law…

A junk car in a yard

Politics this Week with John DePetro: McKee’s Redneck Rhode Island

By Justin Katz | October 17, 2022 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz keep up with the accelerating political season.

A confused girl

We’re watching our children be messed up in real time.

By Justin Katz | October 14, 2022 |

The Rhode Island Department of Health’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey is beginning to capture the ways in which we’re sowing confusion and discord among our children.

A scale

COVID propaganda could be a great communications lesson (but probably won’t be at URI).

By Justin Katz | October 13, 2022 |

Professor Renee Hobbs specializes in media literacy education for the University of Rhode Island Harrington School of Communication and Media.  This tweet of hers therefore struck me as indicative of misplaced focus: An important note of specificity is needed:  Paxlovid skepticism is only a communication failure for those who wish to promote it (for profit,…

A businessman stands on a broken bridge

Politics this Week with John DePetro: Disconnects as a Sign of Dysfunction

By Justin Katz | October 12, 2022 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz discuss the dysfunction of Rhode Island politics.

Abuse during the Chinese Cultural Revolution

Look for the signs of misdirection in Providence schools’ denunciation rallies.

By Justin Katz | October 5, 2022 |

The student protest against Providence teacher Ramona Bessinger ought to be a teachable moment.  Thus far, not a single credible accusation against her relates to anything she’s done in the classroom or involving particular students.  The students are incensed by her personal social media activities. Linda Borg’s article on the matter is telling. The tone…

A Christian mug with colored pencils and an apple

The administration is raiding the homes of political opponents as well as Catholic schools (in a sense).

By Justin Katz | August 12, 2022 |

Maybe my brain is excessively wired to see connections and patterns, but the raid on President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home and the Biden administration’s efforts to bully Catholic schools into promoting radical sexual ideology seem very much connected. Rod Dreher gets us most of the way there, in an essay titled “Trump & Our Late Roman…