Is the U.S.’s World Education Ranking “Average” Because There’s No Writing?

March 5, 2012 Education

high school students

According to the Huffington Post article U.S. Falls in World Education Ranking, Rated ‘Average’

The three-yearly OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) report, which compares the knowledge and skills of 15-year-olds in 70 countries around the world, ranked the United States 14th out of 34 OECD countries for reading skills, 17th for science and a below-average 25th for mathematics.

The figures in Chicago are much lower. Could this be because writing is missing from the equation?

Let’s think this about this. The scholars from back in the day emphasized the 3 Rs of reading, writing and ‘rithmetic (math). Today, the people in charge of education are concerned about Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). While I don’t discount these disciplines, I do wonder if  America’s rankings are low because there is little emphasis on writing.

Writing is thinking on paper. It helps with critical thinking, reading skills and verbal communications skills. Yes, it is obvious that young people today  need help in all these areas. If they don’t have the the 3 Rs, do you really think they’d get STEM??

I don’t think so. But, hey, that’s my opinion. Do you think writing would help boost American students rankings in reading, science and math?

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Happy 175th Birthday Chicago!

March 4, 2012 Chicago History

Chicago became an official part of Illinois on March 4, 1837. It is by far the greatest city in the United States today. Take time to celebrate today!

Happy Birthday Chicago

 

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Black Men of Honor College Fair – March 24, 2012

March 2, 2012 Education

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Have You Been Unemployed for Longer Than a Month?

February 29, 2012 General

Unemployed

If you have, International TV station, Swiss TV, from Switzerland, wants to speak with you. They will be coming to Chicago the second week of March working on a story about the economy. Specifically, they want to interview a person who is trying to find a job and has been unemployed for a while. If this is you, contact Vicky Baftiri at vbaftiri@hotmail.com.

 

 

Please call me so I can give you more details. 312-505-7770

 

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Interview: Matthew Williams, Young Chicago Entrepreneur

February 27, 2012 Young People

Matthew Williams is a 19-year-old Chicago entrepreneur working on launching his Rich And Winning Clothing Line really soon. I met Matt through a friend of his, Perren Delaney, who is another young entrepreneur. Honestly, I was impressed with them from the introduction through the interview.

I met Perren at an event in January, and I asked him if he would be interested in interviewing with me about his business on Skype. He kept in touch and a couple weeks later, he e-mailed me stating that he and his partner are starting a clothing line. When it got closer to the interview, I was speaking more with Matthew than Perren, which was cool because they were both consistent in keeping in touch. On the day of the interview, while I was checking my Skype connections, Matthew sent me a message five minutes before our interview asking me if I was ready. Impressive! And then we had our interview and it went very well.

During our interview, this young man was on point about his business, the step he’s taking to bring it to market, and the connections he’s making. Many adult business owners, myself included, do not take the steps this young man has taken to bring his dream to fruition.And he was a good speaker. He didn’t say “uh” a lot and he didn’t say, “you know what I’m saying?” at all.  I’m going to stop singing the praises of Matt now. Watch our interview and you’ll be impressed, too.

 

So, were you as impressed with this young man as I was? Do you know other young entrepreneurs who would like to share their business ventures with me?

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