Citizenship study guide bungles US history

The publishers of "Twenty-Five Lessons in Citizenship" claim to have sold 1 million copies in the past 83 years to people preparing to take the United States citizenship test.

[The Insane are not cute]

"Jones, 32, a UCLA graduate who lives in Santa Monica," Gee, I now understand why there are "factual" errors in the book. The fellow is a victim of the teacher's union and the sub-standard University of California.

It's a wonder he can read and write at all.(Maybe he can't, I haven't read the book.)

[Arlene]

He needs to go back to school and seriously study U.S. History

[slug]

The Insane are not cute wrote:

"Jones, 32, a UCLA graduate who lives in Santa Monica," Gee, I now understand why there are "factual" errors in the book. The fellow is a victim of the teacher's union and the sub-standard University of California.
It's a wonder he can read and write at all.(Maybe he can't, I haven't read the book.)

It's all the budget cuts and bigger class sizes :-)

[dane thorsen]

It is wrong minded to criticize one of today's pathetic Californians for failing to understand or appreciate American History. Today's California majority are unworthy of America and offer nothing of value. What else could explain Villagairosa?

[The Insane are not cute]

slug wrote:

<quoted text>It's all the budget cuts and bigger class sizes :-)

Great Response, spoken like a true Union SLUG....

I appreciate your joke..

[slug]

The Insane are not cute wrote:

<quoted text>Great Response, spoken like a true Union SLUG....
I appreciate your joke..

Thank you for recognizing humor when you see it.

[BWF]

Budget cuts = increased class sizes = less time for each student = uneducated adults = the next generation not even understanding their own rights or their form of government = eventual tyranny.

Rip on those evil teachers and evil public schools all you want. The above equation is coming true right now and it's more than teachers unions that are to blame.

That said, that guy needs to rewrite his citizenship study guide.

[A Frequent Reader]

Let's be serious here. If this publisher is responsible for what's in the handbook, it's also his responsibility to provide correct data. This is especially important because the vast majority of residents of the United States haven't the foggiest notion of their own nation's history except for various cliches and inaccuracies they saw in some TV series or movie. Newly minted citizens often know more American history than the people whose ancestors forged that history..and yes, I mean "forged" in the sense of fraud. So little actual fact vs propaganda makes it way into text and history books, it's a wonder anyone knows anything that really happened.

[Roland Paul]

BWF wrote:

Budget cuts = increased class sizes = less time for each student = uneducated adults = the next generation not even understanding their own rights or their form of government = eventual tyranny.
Rip on those evil teachers and evil public schools all you want. The above equation is coming true right now and it's more than teachers unions that are to blame.
That said, that guy needs to rewrite his citizenship study guide.

I agree. That is why we are the ONLY State to have accepted the massive influx of illegal aliens. Some think us cruel and pitiful. Other think us stupid. One thing is certain......we are a disgrace to generations of proud American Californians.

[As citizen of the USA]

i SEE NOTHING WRONG WITH THE CONTENT NOTED HERE.
heck if not for the right sisters we would never have found jobs for petty females to serve drinks on cross country carriage rides; and that dreadful war between the states of sobriety and drunkenness would surely ended in much bloody Marys being split.

[Roland Paul]

As citizen of the USA wrote:

i SEE NOTHING WRONG WITH THE CONTENT NOTED HERE.
heck if not for the right sisters we would never have found jobs for petty females to serve drinks on cross country carriage rides; and that dreadful war between the states of sobriety and drunkenness would surely ended in much bloody Marys being split.

Well said. Any one who cared about educating their kids would have long since refugeed out of the pathetic remains of California. We may be pathetic and pitiful but, oh so Progressive.

[slug]

BWF wrote:

Budget cuts = increased class sizes = less time for each student = uneducated adults = the next generation not even understanding their own rights or their form of government = eventual tyranny.
Rip on those evil teachers and evil public schools all you want. The above equation is coming true right now and it's more than teachers unions that are to blame.
That said, that guy needs to rewrite his citizenship study guide.

Sadly, your post makes your case if the logic in your post you claim to come from attending big classes when you were in school. Personally, I think it just comes from partisan positions you have on certain issues that annoy you.

[illegalsrillegal]

lol figures.

[Obbop]

I hope the latest version mentions the ongoing class war between the masses and the USA elite class, corporate America and wealthy/powerful special-interest groups as confirmed by Warren Buffet:

"There's class warfare, all right," Mr.(Warren) Buffett said, "but it's my class, the rich class, that's making war, and we're winning."

http://obbop.wordpress.com/

[bu11durm]

I looked at all these cases and the conclusion I came to was there was one common source... our current reliance on spell-check to replace good old-fashioned editing.

[BWF]

slug wrote:

<quoted text>Sadly, your post makes your case if the logic in your post you claim to come from attending big classes when you were in school. Personally, I think it just comes from partisan positions you have on certain issues that annoy you.

One U.S. History class has 25 students in it.

Another U.S. History class has 41 students in it.

Which class would you rather attend? Which class would you rather TEACH? Which set of students is likely to KNOW MORE U.S. History by the end of the year?

If you have to pay taxes, why not put it into really vital societal infrastructure -- like public education?

Increasing class size IS the death of the American Republic.

[slug]

BWF wrote:

<quoted text>
One U.S. History class has 25 students in it.
Another U.S. History class has 41 students in it.
Which class would you rather attend? Which class would you rather TEACH? Which set of students is likely to KNOW MORE U.S. History by the end of the year?
If you have to pay taxes, why not put it into really vital societal infrastructure -- like public education?
Increasing class size IS the death of the American Republic.

You have to show me tangible evidence that the two different sized classrooms have different outcomes that track classroom size. The shift upward in California class size in the upper grades has only been a few students in most cases. Is there a "tipping point" that causes catastrophic failure, as you suggest? Where is it and how do you identify it?

One comparison that may have a great deal of truth, on the surface at least, is classroom size in the under 3rd grade levels. The shift to larger class size because of budget issues might easily be argued to be a detriment if the standardized test scores take a corresponding drop, in general. However, it would surprise me because the authors point out in a book called The Teaching Gap that differences in classroom success seem to bear more on the teaching methods than on class size.(pp.2-3)

[BWF]

I'd say the "great class size barrier" is 30. Each student beyond 30 creates exponentially increasing problems. When you nudge closer to 40, actual PHYSICAL SPACE inside the classroom begins to be a problem.

All of you sour grapes critics of public education and teachers unions have NO IDEA what teachers -- and more importantly -- STUDENTS have to deal with these days. Public education is dying as we witness the American Republic dying at the same time. But most of you will just continue your partisan bickering.

[slug]

BWF wrote:

I'd say the "great class size barrier" is 30. Each student beyond 30 creates exponentially increasing problems. When you nudge closer to 40, actual PHYSICAL SPACE inside the classroom begins to be a problem.
All of you sour grapes critics of public education and teachers unions have NO IDEA what teachers -- and more importantly -- STUDENTS have to deal with these days. Public education is dying as we witness the American Republic dying at the same time. But most of you will just continue your partisan bickering.

I know doom and gloom is your forte, but where do you validate you 30 as the tipping point to disaster? When most LAUSD schools were acknowledged as successful educational institutions, the average classroom size exceeded 30.

[LOL]

BWF wrote:

I'd say the "great class size barrier" is 30. Each student beyond 30 creates exponentially increasing problems. When you nudge closer to 40, actual PHYSICAL SPACE inside the classroom begins to be a problem.
All of you sour grapes critics of public education and teachers unions have NO IDEA what teachers -- and more importantly -- STUDENTS have to deal with these days. Public education is dying as we witness the American Republic dying at the same time. But most of you will just continue your partisan bickering.

Ain't buying what you're selling.

In the 70's the HS classroom sizes in LAUSD were greater than 30, sometimes much greater...and overall, the test scores from that era were much better.

It's not just classroom size, it's teacher attitude, qualifications and ability to teach successfully....AND....parenta l caring and involvment.