Downeast Schoolhouse » simplistic hopefulness

Math Bites Bill

admin — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 22:00:36 +0000

Sometimes clarity comes sloooowly!

From Marginal Revolution:

Did Bill Gates waste a billion dollars because he failed to understand the formula for the standard deviation of the mean? Howard Wainer makes the case in the entertaining Picturing the Uncertain World (first chapter with the Gates story free here). The Gates Foundation certainly spent a lot [...]

“Another Solution to a Previous Solution”

admin — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 11:00:27 +0000

Oh what fun they’re having over at Eduwonk! They’re running a contest to rename NCLB (No Child Left Behind). The New York Times pointed us to it in this article: Rename Law? No Wisecrack Is Left Behind, 2/23.

See this Eduwonk entry — 245 438 570 responses and counting! Add yours!

The responses range from [...]

Vital? Not so Fast!

admin — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 11:00:05 +0000

Here’s the lead editorial in Wednesday’s New York Times:

The stimulus measure being debated in Congress contains a vital $140 billion education package that would more than double the Education Department’s discretionary budget and give the federal government unprecedented leverage over a school-reform effort that has been controlled primarily by the states. Congress has to [...]