More traditional lessons include creative writing, physics, chemistry, mathematics and, of course, computer science.
With a link to an article about an all-girls secondary school in New York that, to the administrators extreme consternation, can’t get enough girls to voluntarily take the CSci AP prep course. LOL.
It does not teach sports or music at all, and languages fall by the wayside because Musk believes we will all soon have immediate, real-time computer-aided translation, according to Dahn.
Umm…, yeah. Can’t see anything that could go awry there /sarc.
Seeing how Ad Astra students fare with more established and standardized curriculums or tests could help answer just how effective the school’s unorthodox approach really is. However, onlookers may never get the chance to find out.
Elon might just keep adding grades (as he has for the last 3 years) so the only way to objectively rate the approach would be looking at college performance. Again, nothing possibly askew there either.
Some experts hope that he soldiers on. “I wish that public schools had the resources to use some of [Musk’s] ideas, especially abandoning idiotic standardized testing and lockstep instruction and allowing students to pursue their passions,” says Diane Ravitch, research professor of education at New York University.
In elementary school? Let me guess Ms. Ravitch, those exams
are just too exclusionary, some kids who don’t score well might feel bad, and we absolutely can’t have any of that.
A structured, wide-scoped, test-oriented primary education is one of western civ’s greatest achievements. Granted the industry is becoming more converged every year, but sometimes working fast and breaking shit is just that; you end up with less than you started with.
A structured, wide-scoped, test-oriented primary education is one of western civ’s greatest achievements.
Yes, this was framed as the disruption of new ideas but is really just a return to a feudal education system. It isn’t necessarily bad for the students but also might not scale very well. For example, they only take certain types of kids, kids who are socially connected or who share similar interests. So this school doesn’t provide answers for the education system as a whole.
This is heresy to some people but I think that most kids can perform at high levels given the right education, motivation, and individual attention. From that pov, Ad Astra could do well but is also something hard to reproduce at a society level not just because of schools but because of families and how individuals develop.
the only way to objectively rate the approach would be looking at college performance.
Why assume they will go to college? Musk has said college doesn’t mean much (paraphrasing here) and that the focus should be on skills. I think the metric for evaluation is how successful the kids are in adulthood. Since most of them come from wealthy families, there needs to be a control group of normal people for a good analysis. And the control would have to be free of the networking effect.
Why assume they will go to college?
I’m not, hence my skepticism. Or they could go to college… at someplace like Middlebury. Again, leaving little to look at objectively to determine success of the enterprise. As you say, life outcome assessment would be nearly ideal, but that might take quite a while to get enough data.
Maybe that girl’s school should make Computer Science a required subject like they do with “Social Justice.”
In an atmosphere closer to a venture capital incubator than a traditional school, today’s Ad Astra students undertake challenging technical projects, trade using their own currency, and can opt out of subjects they don’t enjoy.
Virtual currencies are always fun. Technical projects are great. We should be demanding more of school kids, they will rise to the occasion even if they fail. Opt out of subjects they don’t enjoy?
As someone who discovered this path decades ago, this is such a bad idea. Sometimes you have to do things you consider unpleasent or don’t comprehend the importance of. You never know what the future holds or what your interests will be. You might find subjects you used to dislike as something enjoyable or find that something you thought was useless as something that is incredibly useful.
Also, we learn best when we are younger s that is the time to be learning, even things that aren’t that interesting at the time.
A kid isn’t going to know all this but a wise adult would be able to open them to the possibilities.
This is partially related to the post, as merging the Department of Education with the Department of Labor is kind of a big deal.
Also a big deal, something I’ve suggested years ago: NASA centers as FFRDCs. p83
At the rally the other night, Trump said that NASA has all of this infrastructure that goes unused and they should be more open to businesses using it. At first, I thought of various launch facilities and how they are already doing this but it looks like Trump was taking a broader look at NASA’s infrastructure.
The past two Presidents took some big steps toward commercialization and while Trump is continuing with those, his statements signal a big expansion. Only time will tell and it is foolish of them not to speed things up a bit.
Like somehow individualized, customized, project-based learning is somehow something new under the Sun and disrupting. Mr. Harris should break out a copy of Buckmister Fuller’s “On Education” and recognize that it predates TED, Khan Academy, Makers, and even his holiness Elon.
The rocket billionaire in Michael Flynn’s Firestar started a new school system, too. That was science fiction.
More traditional lessons include creative writing, physics, chemistry, mathematics and, of course, computer science.
With a link to an article about an all-girls secondary school in New York that, to the administrators extreme consternation, can’t get enough girls to voluntarily take the CSci AP prep course. LOL.
It does not teach sports or music at all, and languages fall by the wayside because Musk believes we will all soon have immediate, real-time computer-aided translation, according to Dahn.
Umm…, yeah. Can’t see anything that could go awry there /sarc.
Seeing how Ad Astra students fare with more established and standardized curriculums or tests could help answer just how effective the school’s unorthodox approach really is. However, onlookers may never get the chance to find out.
Elon might just keep adding grades (as he has for the last 3 years) so the only way to objectively rate the approach would be looking at college performance. Again, nothing possibly askew there either.
Some experts hope that he soldiers on. “I wish that public schools had the resources to use some of [Musk’s] ideas, especially abandoning idiotic standardized testing and lockstep instruction and allowing students to pursue their passions,” says Diane Ravitch, research professor of education at New York University.
In elementary school? Let me guess Ms. Ravitch, those exams
are just too exclusionary, some kids who don’t score well might feel bad, and we absolutely can’t have any of that.
A structured, wide-scoped, test-oriented primary education is one of western civ’s greatest achievements. Granted the industry is becoming more converged every year, but sometimes working fast and breaking shit is just that; you end up with less than you started with.
A structured, wide-scoped, test-oriented primary education is one of western civ’s greatest achievements.
Yes, this was framed as the disruption of new ideas but is really just a return to a feudal education system. It isn’t necessarily bad for the students but also might not scale very well. For example, they only take certain types of kids, kids who are socially connected or who share similar interests. So this school doesn’t provide answers for the education system as a whole.
This is heresy to some people but I think that most kids can perform at high levels given the right education, motivation, and individual attention. From that pov, Ad Astra could do well but is also something hard to reproduce at a society level not just because of schools but because of families and how individuals develop.
the only way to objectively rate the approach would be looking at college performance.
Why assume they will go to college? Musk has said college doesn’t mean much (paraphrasing here) and that the focus should be on skills. I think the metric for evaluation is how successful the kids are in adulthood. Since most of them come from wealthy families, there needs to be a control group of normal people for a good analysis. And the control would have to be free of the networking effect.
Why assume they will go to college?
I’m not, hence my skepticism. Or they could go to college… at someplace like Middlebury. Again, leaving little to look at objectively to determine success of the enterprise. As you say, life outcome assessment would be nearly ideal, but that might take quite a while to get enough data.
Maybe that girl’s school should make Computer Science a required subject like they do with “Social Justice.”
In an atmosphere closer to a venture capital incubator than a traditional school, today’s Ad Astra students undertake challenging technical projects, trade using their own currency, and can opt out of subjects they don’t enjoy.
Virtual currencies are always fun. Technical projects are great. We should be demanding more of school kids, they will rise to the occasion even if they fail. Opt out of subjects they don’t enjoy?
As someone who discovered this path decades ago, this is such a bad idea. Sometimes you have to do things you consider unpleasent or don’t comprehend the importance of. You never know what the future holds or what your interests will be. You might find subjects you used to dislike as something enjoyable or find that something you thought was useless as something that is incredibly useful.
Also, we learn best when we are younger s that is the time to be learning, even things that aren’t that interesting at the time.
A kid isn’t going to know all this but a wise adult would be able to open them to the possibilities.
I wish I had Drudge’s red light for this one:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Government-Reform-and-Reorg-Plan.pdf
This is partially related to the post, as merging the Department of Education with the Department of Labor is kind of a big deal.
Also a big deal, something I’ve suggested years ago: NASA centers as FFRDCs. p83
At the rally the other night, Trump said that NASA has all of this infrastructure that goes unused and they should be more open to businesses using it. At first, I thought of various launch facilities and how they are already doing this but it looks like Trump was taking a broader look at NASA’s infrastructure.
The past two Presidents took some big steps toward commercialization and while Trump is continuing with those, his statements signal a big expansion. Only time will tell and it is foolish of them not to speed things up a bit.
Like somehow individualized, customized, project-based learning is somehow something new under the Sun and disrupting. Mr. Harris should break out a copy of Buckmister Fuller’s “On Education” and recognize that it predates TED, Khan Academy, Makers, and even his holiness Elon.
The rocket billionaire in Michael Flynn’s Firestar started a new school system, too. That was science fiction.