Tag: education

CU Boulder class teaches ‘queering literacy’ methods for high school teachers

Aspiring high school English and social studies teachers can learn “queering literacy” methods at the University of Colorado at Boulder this upcoming fall semester.

“Queering Literacy in Secondary Classrooms” teaches students using “theories and practices of literacy teaching and learning that challenge multiple forms of oppression,” according to the course description.

“Using the tools of queer pedagogy,” this course will prepare education majors to “develop, and enact strategies for planning and implementing literacy instruction that moves beyond inclusion of differences in the English/language arts and social studies curriculum,” the course description states.

A professor who regularly teaches the course provided further insights on the content in a phone interview with The College Fix.

Professor Sara Staley described education as facing a “highly polarized political moment right now, especially around topics like DEI.” The current listed professor for the fall 2025 semester is Ashley Cartun.

Staley said she wants to support “teachers and students” who are “trying to create spaces of belonging in every classroom.” She said Colorado “laws and policies” require teachers to “create a safe, respectful, inclusive learning environment for a diverse population of students.”

She said, “a lot of research” shows teachers are not trained enough in “gender and sexual diversity.” Staley also co-runs the Queer Endeavor, a CU-Boulder program that works in “close collaboration with district and school leaders, K-12 teachers, and counselors” for LGBTQ education.

There is also “a lot of research that shows that school can be a pretty unwelcoming place for students who are different” especially for “queer and trans youths,” Staley said.

The class she teaches helps students learn about “diverse identities” and “what it looks like to read a book with a queer character in it” without reinforcing “negative stereotypes.”

Staley said, “queer pedagogy” is about “supporting students to think critically by asking questions of what they read.”

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California ordered to clean trans ideology out of classroom materials

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) sent a letter to California on June 20 ordering it to remove gender ideology references from educational curriculum and programs funded by a federal sexual education grant or face the loss of funding.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) reviewed materials created through California’s Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP), a federally-funded sexual education program, and uncovered “egregious content” teaching young students they can change their sex. HHS noted the PREP program has mission of providing minors with medically accurate education rather than ideological agendas.

“After requesting, receiving, and reviewing California’s PREP materials, ACF uncovered egregious content teaching young students that gender identity is distinct from biological sex and that boys can identify as girls,” states an HHS press release. “The educational materials promoting gender ideology have nothing to do with Personal Responsibility Education and are outside the scope of PREP’s authorizing statute.”

The California Department of Public Health didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Primary School Children Being “Sexualised” by Lessons on the “300 Flags of Pride”

Leaflets handed out at primary schools by the charity Swindon and Wiltshire Pride claim there are more flags representing sexuality and gender identity than there are for countries.

The material, signposted by the local council on social media, goes into detail about a “small selection” of 29 varieties.

It says: “While some might think [300] is too many, it’s all part of a drive to be more inclusive of the expansive breadth of identity within the community.”

Along with the rainbow LGBT Pride flag are a variety of offshoots, from the “intersex-inclusive Pride flag” to the “polyamory Pride flag” and even a black and white “heterosexual flag” for straight people, which it says can include transgender people.

The materials make up part of a free annual support guide produced by the charity, which also points to websites providing advice on controversial practices such as wearing a “binder to reduce apparent size of breasts”, the use of cross-sex hormones in under-18s, and information on “fetish spectrums”.

Parents of children at the primary schools told the Telegraph their concerns had been ignored by the local Labour council. …

One mother, a former teacher, said the guide being given out in primary schools was “really concerning”.

“Obviously the polyamory one, encouraging children to have multiple sex partners, they shouldn’t be sexualising children,” she said. “In the guide itself, under education, it states it is ‘for schools, teachers, and students’.

“A couple of sentences down, for example, it says ‘raise awareness of the lesser known identities across the fetish spectrum’,” she added, saying that was “inappropriate”.

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California Ordered to Cut ‘Gender Ideology’ From Sexual Education

The Trump administration has given California 60 days to remove all references to transgender or non-binary gender concepts from its federally funded sex education curriculum—or risk losing millions of dollars in federal funding.

In a letter sent on June 20, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said California’s Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) materials include “gender ideology” content not permitted under federal law.

Citing multiple lesson plans and teacher guides, the agency said the state’s curriculum teaches that gender identity is distinct from biological sex—something ACF says is outside the program’s statutory scope.

“The Trump Administration will not tolerate the use of federal funds for programs that indoctrinate our children,” ACF acting assistant secretary Andrew Gradison said in a statement. “The disturbing gender ideology content in California’s PREP materials is both unacceptable and well outside the program’s core purpose.”

Among the flagged material are lessons describing transgender, non-binary, gender-fluid identities, as well as references to social and medical gender transitions, including hormone therapy and “gender-affirming” surgeries.

ACF stated that these subjects fall outside the statutory framework of the PREP program, which is designed to educate youth on abstinence, contraception, and select adulthood preparation topics such as healthy relationships, financial literacy, and job readiness. Teaching about gender identity does not qualify, the agency says.

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Teachers Must Avert an AI-Facilitated Intellectual Dark Age

Iremember watching a YouTube interview with a highly intelligent and observant entrepreneur, who cheerfully predicted that the time would come when AI programmes would replace teachers, rendering their jobs obsolete. The commentator in question was an enthusiastic advocate of personal and economic freedom and a vocal critic of the excessive incursions of State agencies in our personal lives. Yet for some reason, he seemed relatively unconcerned at the prospect of machines teaching our children.

Of course, there are tasks that most would happily relegate to AI programmes to the benefit of humanity, such as certain forms of tedious clerical work, a large chunk of manual labour, and the synthesis of unwieldy amounts of data. However, there are other tasks that cannot be delegated to a machine without endangering invaluable dimensions of our lives as human beings.

One of those tasks is teaching and learning, through which people learn to think, interpret the world, make rational arguments, assess evidence, make rational and holistic choices, and reflect on the meaning of their lives. For better or for worse, teachers, from kindergarten right up to university level, form the minds of the next generation. The formation of the mind relies on apprenticeship, imitation of a worthy model, and intellectual practice and training. 

Much as an athlete fine-tunes his motor skills and muscle memory playing sport, and finds inspiration in an exemplary athlete, the student fine-tunes his mental skills thinking, reflecting, studying, analysing, and generating ideas and arguments, in dialogue with an inspiring teacher. There is both an interpersonal and “hands-on” dimension to human learning, both of which are indispensable. 

Yet Artificial Intelligence is reaching the point where it has the capacity to automate and mechanise certain aspects of teaching and learning, marginalising crucial aspects of the learning process, most notably the way a teacher can model intellectual activity for the student, and the intellectual tasks a teacher assigns to students in order to fine-tune their mental skills and imagination. Many tasks which, just a few years ago, had to be undertaken “manually,” by which I mean, through the laborious activity, imagination, and effort of a human being, can now be performed automatically by AI.

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How ‘Equity’ debases education

In the current backlash against DEI, most criticism is focused on the “D” — diversity — which replaces the principle of meritocracy with racial criteria in hiring, admissions, and promotions. Notorious examples of implementation include police and fire departments lowering requirements for education and physical fitness, or aviation authorities adopting  biographical assessment in place of traditional skill-based hiring evaluations.

The “E” — equity — is more complex. Equity has replaced the concept of equality, which progressive ideology in the U.S. deems discriminatory because of its emphasis on individual effort that may result in unequal outcomes. A symbolic definition is that the educational equity must provide every child with what he needs to achieve his full academic and social potential. This vision resembles Karl Marx’s idealistic communism that provides resources “to each according to his needs.” Although formulated in the Marxist sense, equity is more restrictive because it is supposed to benefit children from only “underprivileged” backgrounds. But, beyond empty reasoning, equity’s actual goal is absolute equality in the educational outcomes regardless of individual ability or effort. To accomplish this, curricula and teaching methodology are being drastically rewritten in many parts of the country.

The STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields have come under increased scrutiny. Critics argue that these disciplines have historically been tools of nationalism, colonialism, and systemic inequity. As a result, some school districts across the country are scaling back advanced curricular offerings. Mathematics has especially faced pressure due to its perceived role in perpetuating discrimination and cultural dominance. Many equity-focused proposals aim to reduce the emphasis on mathematics in school programs.  Common suggestions include eliminating accelerated mathematical tracks in middle school, removing early-entry algebra for gifted students, and consolidating high school algebra and geometry into an “integrated math” course.

Aligned with these equity principles are significant changes in teaching methodology. Traditional grading practices are increasingly viewed as inequitable and are being reconsidered or eliminated in some districts. Proposals often include removing homework deadlines and allowing late work without penalty. In subjects such as reading and mathematics, achievement levels are being abolished, with all students placed in honors classes regardless of academic performance.

In terms of student discipline, many schools have adopted “restorative justice” approaches as an alternative to traditional punitive measures. This model focuses on mediation and rehabilitation rather than suspension, emphasizing support not only for the victim, but the offender too. More than 20 states have already enacted policies introducing restorative justice in schools. These practices involve allowing misbehaving students to avoid traditional consequences and even receive incentives such as snacks or breaks in quiet spaces. The restorative justice programs let misbehavers blame factors outside their control, that is, typically societal injustice.

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Grading for Equity coming to San Francisco high schools this fall

Without seeking approval of the San Francisco Board of Education, Superintendent of Schools Maria Su plans to unveil a new Grading for Equity plan on Tuesday that will go into effect this fall at 14 high schools and cover over 10,000 students. The school district is already negotiating with an outside consultant to train teachers in August in a system that awards a passing C grade to as low as a score of 41 on a 100-point exam. 

Were it not for an intrepid school board member, the drastic change in grading with implications for college admissions and career readiness would have gone unnoticed and unexplained. It is buried in a three-word phrase on the last page of a PowerPoint presentation embedded in the school board meeting’s 25-page agenda. The plan comes during the last week of the spring semester while parents are assessing the impact of over $100 million in budget reductions and deciding whether to remain in the public schools this fall. While the school district acknowledges that parent aversion to this grading approach is typically high and understands the need for “vigilant communication,” outreach to parents has been minimal and may be nonexistent. The school district’s Office of Equity homepage does not mention it and a page containing the SFUSD definition of equity has not been updated in almost three years.  

Grading for Equity eliminates homework or weekly tests from being counted in a student’s final semester grade. All that matters is how the student scores on a final examination, which can be taken multiple times. Students can be late turning in an assignment or showing up to class or not showing up at all without it affecting their academic grade. Currently, a student needs a 90 for an A and at least 61 for a D. Under the San Leandro Unified School District’s grading for equity system touted by the San Francisco Unified School District and its consultant, a student with a score as low as 80 can attain an A and as low as 21 can pass with a D.  

Joe Feldman, the consultant the school district plans to contract with to implement Grading for Equity, wrote in 2019 that in Placer County, another jurisdiction with the grading system, “students who did not qualify for free or reduced-price lunch had a sharper decrease in A’s, reflecting how traditional grading practices disproportionately benefit students with resources because of the inequitable inclusion of extra credit and other resource-dependent grading criteria.”   

Grading for Equity may reduce A and D/F grades and, according to Feldman, enable a school district to cut costs for remedial classes but what about student academic outcomes? The most recent data from both middle schools in San Leandro where grading reform started in 2016 document significant continued disparities among student populations when it comes to performance on statewide assessment tests. In both English and mathematics, the gaps ranged from twice to triple to even four times as many students meeting or exceeding the statewide standard in some subgroups compared to others. The children needing the most help and improvement are not getting it.

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The AI Epidemic On College Campuses Exposes How Broken Our Higher Education System Is

It’s no secret that higher education has been a mess for some time now. From DEI initiatives to seemingly never-ending protests to the skyrocketing college debt crisis to the ridiculous ideological imbalance amongst professors, our once hallowed institutions of higher learning are ripe for root-and-stem reform.

But just when it seemed that the American college experience couldn’t become any worse, artificial intelligence came roaring onto the scene. Now, instead of popping Adderall and Ritalin to power through finals like the good old days, college kids are now pawning their assignments off on AI.

This all comes as college professors (many at supposedly prestigious institutions) bemoan that their students either can’t be bothered to read normal college-level assignments or simply can’t because of their limited vocabulary and critical thinking skills. Even professors at notoriously leftist schools have had enough, venting their frustration at any left-of-center outlet that will listen.

These students are supposedly going to college for a particular area of study, meaning they theoretically want to learn about it. Yet they just pass on their assignments on to ChatGPT. How are they supposed to have jobs in STEM, or even subjects like literature, if they can’t even comprehend the material without AI?

If AI is producing all their work in college, isn’t it reasonable to assume that it will continue to be a crutch for them when they become chemists, lawyers, or even teachers themselves? Then the question becomes whether or not the student, given the (non)education he’s received, is worth hiring at all. AI can do it better.

Crib sheets, CliffsNotes, and stimulants are one thing, but relying on a machine to complete even simple assignments, and therefore forgoing any attempt to engage with the material, presents a looming competency crisis. Not only does it pose an existential danger to how our society and economy functions, it poses a threat to the broken diploma pipeline model embodied by today’s higher education system.

The solution to this epidemic seems rather obvious. Students may use AI as a research assistant, no different from Google Scholar, but submission of any assignment or essay that has a single sentence crafted by anything other than the student’s own mind should receive an immediate failing grade as well as a referral for expulsion. Some smaller schools, like my alma mater Washington and Lee University, already have an honor system in place that has the same expectations and penalties.

An even stricter move would be to heavily weight course grades toward in-class tests and essays done with pencil and paper with no devices allowed (besides maybe calculators for STEM classes).

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Oklahoma Schools to Teach Issue of Democratic Voter Fraud — Students Will Analyze 2020 Election Anomalies

Students in Oklahoma will soon be educated about the issue of Democratic voter fraud.

Under the direction of state School Supernintendent Ryan Walters, schools in Oklahoma must analyze the results of the 2020 presidential and the statistical anomalies that it presented.

According to one textbook, students will be asked to “identify discrepancies in 2020 elections results by looking at graphs and other information, including the sudden halting of ballot-counting in select cities in key battleground states, the security risks of mail-in balloting, sudden batch dumps, an unforeseen record number of voters, and the unprecedented contradiction of ‘bellwether county’ trends.”

The Gateway Pundit has led the way on exposing the 2020 election fraud, with countless analyses of the statistical impossibilities that took place on election night and (temporarily) allowed the Biden regime to deny President Trump a second term in office.

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Now woke schools teach pupils that Stonehenge was built by black people… while Waterloo and Trafalgar go untaught

Children are being taught that Stonehenge was built by black people and the Roman Emperor Nero married a trans woman as woke narratives increasingly infiltrate schools, according to an education think-tank.

They are also being told – in pro-transgender resources – that genital mutilation of slaves was a form of ‘gender transition’.

But landmark British victories such as those at Waterloo and Trafalgar go largely untaught – with as few as one in ten pupils learning about them.

A Policy Exchange investigation has warned that schools have ‘taken it too far’ as they adapt history curriculums in the wake of Black Lives Matter protests.

The prestigious centre-Right unit found that George Floyd’s death in 2020 led to schools hastily including material about ethnic minorities to appear ‘anti-racist’.

Former history teacher and chairman of Campaign for Real Education Chris McGovern said it was ‘clear that the subject has been captured by the Left’.

The report added that some resources, such as the book Brilliant Black British History, push ‘contested narratives’ – such as black people building Stonehenge.

The book is marketed as ‘a must-have in any school library’ but its claim that early black Britons built the world-famous Neolithic stone circle is ‘hotly contested and outside mainstream historical thinking’ yet ‘presented as fact’, according to the think-tank.

While in some cases these initiatives have a ‘positive effect’, such as exposing pupils to ‘wider world history’, the report flagged serious concerns about replacing facts with biased narratives.

It warned: ‘In too many cases this process has gone too far, leading to the teaching of radical and contested interpretations of the past as fact, or with anecdotes of interesting lives replacing a deeper understanding of the core drivers of history.’

One resource, from the Classical Association’s ‘Queering the Past’ project, claims the Roman Emperor Nero married a trans woman called Sporus but omits the fact that they probably underwent a forced castration rather than consensual gender reassignment. 

It comes as the Government conducts its curriculum review to ‘reflect the issues and diversities of our society’ – which the report says may be unnecessary as schools already do it.

Backed by former education secretaries Lord Blunkett and Nadhim Zahawi, it also calls for pupils to be impartially given a better overview of British history.

A Classical Association spokesman said its teaching resources were ‘complicated and nuanced’ where ‘more than one interpretation is possible’.

A Department for Education spokesman said: ‘The curriculum and assessment review is considering how to ensure young people have access to a broad and balanced curriculum.’

Meanwhile, Mr McGovern warned history is ‘seen as a vehicle for undermining and destroying British national identity’.

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