Pisa-Schock: Schlechteste Chinesen in Mathe vor besten Deutschen

Deutschland, das Land der Dichter und Denker! Vorsicht Ironie!

"Die Leistungen der 15-Jährigen in Deutschland sind in den Bereichen Mathematik und Lesen erneut gesunken.

Rund jede und jeder Dritte verfehlt dort inzwischen das Mindestniveau. Das zeigt die am 8. September veröffentlichte PISA-Studie 2025. Auch langfristig fällt die Bilanz ernüchternd aus: 2025 erreichten die Jugendlichen in Deutschland in allen drei Kompetenzbereichen erneut die niedrigsten Werte, die bislang bei den PISA-Studien gemessen wurden. Der seit etwa einem Jahrzehnt zu beobachtende Abwärtstrend setzt sich damit fort. ..."

PISA-Schock: Warum deutsche Schüler immer weiter zurückfallen | FAZ (Abo erforderlich) "Deutsche Schülerinnen und Schüler haben bei der aktuellen PISA-Studie so schlecht abgeschnitten wie noch nie."

PISA-Studie 2025: Die zehn wichtigsten Ergebnisse

Smart Phones or Smart Kids: Pick One | National Review. Really!

What a nonsense! What a false dichotomy! It is definitely not either or!

The push should be to get more tech into the classroom! E.g. for individualized/personalized education.

In the 21st century reading will not be the same anymore!

"... Students of all ages increasingly struggle to read proficiently or perform basic mathematical tasks. ..."

Caveat I did not read the whole article.

Smart Phones or Smart Kids: Pick One | National Review "The push to get tech out [???] of the classroom"

At least 50% of 6-12 grade students are believed to use AI for homework and about 68% of teachers use AI to assist them in Canada

So what! The situation is probably similar in other countries too!

The claimed "decline in students’ critical thinking skills" is most like a myth or it may be an indication that teachers need to be retrained!

The revolution of primary education due to AI has only began! Finally, more personalized and self guided education for children will be possible!

"Survey of Canadian Grades 6-12 Teachers on AI Use

• Survey results show that a majority of Canadian teachers in grades 6–12 polled are using AI in their teaching, believe a large share of students are using AI for homework, perceive declines in students’ critical thinking skills, and report a lack of school AI policies and training.
• Nearly all teachers (95.6%) surveyed believe at least some of their students use AI for homework, and 42.2% believe more than half do. Of those students perceived to use AI, teachers believe that more than half (55.9%) use it to do their work for them.
• Compared to five years ago, 83.6% of teachers polled report a decline in students’ critical thinking skills, and 72.9% report that current students’ in-class writing and analytical skills are worse.
• More than three-quarters (78.6%) of teachers surveyed say that some of their students’ in-class work is lower quality than their take-home work, and 90.9% of those teachers said this difference has been increasing over time.
• A majority of teachers polled (67.7%) are using AI to assist in their teaching, and 68.4% of those teachers are using it frequently (at least weekly).
• Only 49.3% of teachers surveyed say their school or school board has provided AI training for in-class lessons and materials, while 63.6% report no training on instructing students to use AI reasonably, and 64.7% report no training to identify students using AI.
• Only 34.8% of teachers polled say their school has a policy regarding staff AI use, and 42.3% for student AI use.

..."

Survey of Canadian Grades 6-12 Teachers on AI Use | Fraser Institute

Kids Who Joined Social Media Earlier Had Lower Test Scores, Study Finds. Really!

Not so fast! As usual, this is a biased study as it does not ask what do young users of social media learn more compared to other students.

The study is limited to Northern Italy and focuses only on early childhood!

"Children who start using social media at a younger age may be putting their future academic performance at risk, according to a new study that tracked more than 5,000 students in Italy.

Researchers found that adolescents who opened their first personal social media account at ages 11 to 12 went on to score significantly lower in standardized tests than peers who waited until age 14 or 15. ..."

From the abstract:

"This study uses difference-in-differences models to evaluate the impact of early social media use on academic performance among children aged 7–16 years. A dataset comprising 5,227 students from northern Italy was constructed by merging data from a questionnaire on lifetime digital media habits with longitudinal standardized test scores in Italian, English and mathematics. Participants who created a personal social media account in 6th, 7th or 8th grade were separately matched with late adopters who initiated their first social media account in the 9th grade or later. The findings provide compelling evidence that early engagement with social media adversely affects learning outcomes. Additional findings on the effects of early social media use on other academic outcomes for which we do not have longitudinal data are in line with our main findings. We also find supporting evidence that a substantial part of this negative effect is mediated by students’ smartphone pervasiveness in key moments of the day."

Kids Who Joined Social Media Earlier Had Lower Test Scores, Study Finds - Newsweek (behind paywall)

Longitudinal effect of early social media use on standardized learning outcomes during school career (open access)

Fig. 1: Exposure to technology during primary, lower- and upper-secondary school, box plot.

Fig. 2: Effect of early use of social media on competences in grades 8 (Italian, mathematics and English) and 10 (Italian and mathematics).

Studie: Social Media kostet Schüler ein halbes Jahr Lernleistung. Wirklich!

Was fuer ein Unsinn! Wieviele Jahre Lernleistung sind in den 1980ern durch Videospiele verloren gegangen?

Verbote sind dumm! Altersgrenzen sind hart zu definieren und schwer durchsetzbar. Die Verantwortung liegt bei den Eltern!

Die Studie ist auch auf frühkindlichen Gebrauch von sozialen Medien und auf Nord Italien beschränkt! Sie enthält nur zwei Grafiken.

Könnte ein halbes Jahr sogar grössten Teils ein Messfehler sein? Jede Wette!

Warum wird eigentlich nicht gefragt wieviel Kinder lernen durch soziale Medien?

"Eine der drängenden Fragen unserer Zeit lautet: Ab welchem Alter sollten Kinder und Jugendliche soziale Medien verwenden dürfen? Im Kleinen stellt sie sich irgendwann wohl jeder Familie. Im Großen ist sie eine zentrale Frage bei der aktuellen Debatte um Social-Media-Verbote, nicht zuletzt auch in Deutschland.

Eine neue Studie von Forschern um den Soziologen Marco Gui von der Universität Mailand-Bicocca könnte bei der Antwort helfen. Das Team hat untersucht, welchen Einfluss das Alter beim ersten Kontakt mit Tiktok, Snapchat und dergleichen auf die schulischen Leistungen hat. Die Antwort ist in „Nature Human Behaviour“ nachzulesen: Je früher Kinder Zugang zu sozialen Medien bekommen, desto schlechter fallen in den darauffolgenden Jahren ihre Schulnoten aus. ..."

From the abstract:

"This study uses difference-in-differences models to evaluate the impact of early social media use on academic performance among children aged 7–16 years. A dataset comprising 5,227 students from northern Italy was constructed by merging data from a questionnaire on lifetime digital media habits with longitudinal standardized test scores in Italian, English and mathematics. Participants who created a personal social media account in 6th, 7th or 8th grade were separately matched with late adopters who initiated their first social media account in the 9th grade or later. The findings provide compelling evidence that early engagement with social media adversely affects learning outcomes. Additional findings on the effects of early social media use on other academic outcomes for which we do not have longitudinal data are in line with our main findings. We also find supporting evidence that a substantial part of this negative effect is mediated by students’ smartphone pervasiveness in key moments of the day."

Studie: Social Media kostet Schüler ein halbes Jahr Lernleistung | FAZ (behind paywall) "Eine Studie enthüllt, welchen Einfluss das Alter beim ersten Kontakt mit sozialen Medien auf die Noten hat. Sie dürfte die Debatte um Altersgrenzen weiter befeuern."

Longitudinal effect of early social media use on standardized learning outcomes during school career (open access)

Fig. 1: Exposure to technology during primary, lower- and upper-secondary school, box plot.

Fig. 2: Effect of early use of social media on competences in grades 8 (Italian, mathematics and English) and 10 (Italian and mathematics).

Nine schools in Florida, Georgia, and Colorado are installing pepper spraying, ramming attack drones designed to confront active shooters. Really!

How rare are active shooter events at schools in the US given the 2nd Amendment and high gun ownership? 

Is this a case of alarmism and hysteria? Government paternalism?

Were any bribes paid? Is this an act of hysteria?

"... The aircraft are designed to distract their targets by flashing strobes, blaring sirens, spraying them with pepper gel, or ramming into them at 60 mph…

Teachers will have an app or classroom panic buttons to summon the drones. ..."

Doomslayer: Progress Roundup - by Malcolm Cochran

Schools Are Adding Pepper-Spray Drones to Combat Shooters

Schools are adding pepper-spraying drones to help combat active shooters (behind paywall)

Artificial intelligence (AI) forces a fundamental reform of primary and secondary pedagogy

Does anyone seriously doubt it?

The centuries lasting traditional setup of classrooms with teacher in front and fixed school hours is doomed!

Best of all it may allow personalized/individualized learning! Thus, each student can e.g. learn at their own pace and curiosity.

How about brain computer interfaces?

How will AI extend the human brain?

Virginia high school suspended more than 300 hundred students over anti-ICE walkout during school hours

Good news! Bravo! Maybe these students should learn to protest after school or on weekends!

"A high school in Virginia suspended over 300 students for walking out of class for an anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement protest ...

A letter from principal Heather Abney to parents of students said that the district did not endorse the walkout and that students who left campus without permission would be punished according to their regular code of behavior. A total of 303 students were suspended for three days. ..."

Praise rolls in for high school suspending hundreds of students over anti-ICE walkout: 'Adults are taking charge' | Blaze Media

Texas makes MAJOR move in favor of school choice

Good news! Up to a 40,000 children have immediately signed up!

(194) Texas makes MAJOR move in favor of school choice - YouTube

India launches nationwide AI-skilling program for one million youths

Good news! India, a rising superpower!

India launches nationwide AI-skilling program for one million youths - Nikkei Asia "Top official says artificial intelligence unlikely to threaten jobs in Global South"

Rajasthan Hosts Regional AI Impact Conference, Advancing India’s Vision for Inclusive and Responsible AI "Programme launched to train 1 Million young people in AI Skills"

Why more parents in China are turning to home-schooling

Good news!

India’s School Dropout Rate Halved: Small Policy Moves Bring Big Changes with Palki Sharma

Good news! Very recommendable! Feed children and they come to school!

Kids in the UK are hacking their own schools for dares and notoriety

Signs of our times! What pranks did we do as teenagers? 😊

"Kids are making a mark in the U.K.’s cybersecurity arena, and not in the way their parents want them to. According to the country’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), students were behind more than half of personal data breaches in schools.

In a warning to teachers and educational institutions, the ICO outlined its analysis of 215 data breach reports resulting from security incidents originating from inside schools, finding that 57% of the hacks were pulled off by students. ..."

Kids in the UK are hacking their own schools for dares and notoriety | TechCrunch

There’s Only One True Bipartisan Issue Left: Banning smartphones in school

This is a good one! A sad state of affairs! What is the definition of the lowest common denominator?

Banning smartphones and other smart devices from classrooms is a stupid and medieval idea! These devices and AI need to be integrated into the K-12 education.

The hyperbole that smartphones etc. cause mental illness in children is a false trope!

"... The Anxious Generation debuted as the top-selling, non-fiction book on the New York Times best-sellers list in March of 2024 and has remained on the list for the last 74 weeks — a Harry Potter-like longevity that, to put it mildly, is rarely accorded with works from PhD social scientists. This week, it’s back at number one.

39 states now have some sort of phone restrictions in schools, and 18 states and Washington, D.C. have bell-to-bell bans — which ban phones for the entire school day — according to Haidt. After the next legislative sessions, which in many state capitols begin after the new year, more states are sure to enact full bans. The issue has rallied conservatives and liberals, and its potency with parents has largely steamrolled libertarian objections and big tech lobbying. ..."

There’s Only One True Bipartisan Issue Left - POLITICO "Jonathan Haidt’s “The Anxious Generation” has prompted an unlikely bipartisan revolution to ban phones in classrooms."

"How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness?

Arizona School Districts’ Growing Problem with Empty Buildings and Empty school Buses

This issue has been mentioned a few times in recently! And it applies to other states as well.

"Arizona’s district schools are sitting on 78 million square feet of excess space.

That’s enough for more than 630,000 students.

That unused real estate is worth $12.2 billion and costs taxpayers $1 billion every year to maintain."

"Arizona’s district public school system has deep roots, stretching back to its territorial days. For most of its history, this system grew alongside Arizona’s population, fueled by the fact that 80% or more of Arizona’s 6-year-olds went to their local district public school. Arizona school districts built schools, hired teachers, and expanded bus routes, anticipating perpetual growth. By the 2010s, Arizona’s public K–12 system was a sprawling network of thousands of school buildings, vehicles, and people - designed to educate a swelling student body in a state that assumed this would go on forever.

But the tide has turned. Since 2008, district school enrollment has steadily declined, and the decline is accelerating. Enrollment dropped another 5% since 2019 alone – in contrast to the growth mindset that once defined the system. Meanwhile, educational choice has reshaped the landscape: 40% of incoming kindergarteners now opt for charter or private schools, despite smaller facilities, leaner staffs, and a lack of formal transportation options. Despite this shift, district schools have doubled down on expansion, adding 499 new buildings and boosting gross square footage by 3% in just the last five years. Today, Arizona’s public district schools have 78 million square feet of ‘excess’ space.

This report exposes the inefficiencies that have taken root. It’s a story of misaligned priorities and outdated systems, where resources pile up unused while student outcomes falter. Capital spending has increased by 67% to $8.9 billion since 2019. Transportation costs have increased by 11.3% to $561.2 million, despite a 45% drop in eligible bus riders. Urban districts have seen a 63% increase in bus miles per rider, while rural and choice students often struggle to access reliable transportation services.  ..."

Arizona School Districts’ Empty Buildings and Empty Buses

Oklahoma Tests New Teachers for Indoctrination. Really!

Maybe it makes firing new teachers easier if it later turns out they do actually indoctrinate.

Maybe it scares some ideologue teachers from applying in Oklahoma.

"Oklahoma is now requiring new teachers from New York and California to pass a 50-question test screening for woke indoctrination, according to state superintendent Ryan Walters. 

Developed with the conservative group PragerU, the quiz covers topics such as biology, American history, and Christianity’s influence on the U.S. ..."

Wednesday, August 20, 2025 - Join The Flyover

Chronic student Absenteeism Is Still a Struggle in many US cities

Bad news! What are these absent students doing? 

Are many of these absent students learning by alternative ways (e.g. home schooling, online learning)?

"New RAND surveys of school district leaders and American youths reveal several key insights about this persistent challenge:

• Chronic absenteeism in the 2024–2025 school year remained above pre-pandemic levels.
• In roughly half of urban school districts, more than 30 percent of students were chronically absent. That’s a far higher share of students than in rural or suburban districts.
• One-quarter of youths do not think being chronically absent is a problem.

..."

Policy Currents Newsletter: August 14, 2025 | RAND

Does it make sense to ban smartphones or their use by children from schools?

Not really! Prohibition rarely if ever works! Banning is a sign of cluelessness!

It is one thing to ban drugs, alcohol, and guns from schools, but smartphones?

There should be smarter ways to integrate smartphones, or other smart devices or even AI into curriculum of schools to benefit the students and their learning!

"A fast-growing network of American parents is seeking to curb the influence of smartphones and social media on their children’s health—and they are starting with schools.  

Bans and “bell-to-bell” policies: Much parent-led advocacy so far has focused on making schools smartphone-free environments. Once highly unpopular, such bans are quickly gaining traction:

74% of U.S. adults now support preventing students from using their phones during class, while 44% support all-day bans, per a Pew Research Center study from July.

37 states and D.C. have passed laws limiting classroom phone use, with about half passing all-day bans. ..."

Global Health NOW: U.S. FDA’s Slipshod Protection for Generics; Sierra Leone’s ‘Red Zone’; and The Push for Phone-Free Schools

Arizona School Districts’ Empty public school Buildings and Empty Buses due to declining school age population and private schools

Demography is destiny! What a dramatic change in school age population attending public schools!

"... But the tide has turned. Since 2008, district school enrollment has steadily declined, and the decline is accelerating.

Enrollment dropped another 5% since 2019 alone – in contrast to the growth mindset that once defined the system. Meanwhile, educational choice has reshaped the landscape: 40% of incoming kindergarteners now opt for charter or private schools, despite smaller facilities, leaner staffs, and a lack of formal transportation options. Despite this shift, district schools have doubled down on expansion, adding 499 new buildings and boosting gross square footage by 3% in just the last five years. Today, Arizona’s public district schools have 78 million square feet of ‘excess’ space. ..."

There are similar trends in other US states too. What about other Western countries?

Arizona School Districts’ Empty Buildings and Empty Buses

Pro abortion advocates find videos of fetuses growing in the womb shown to highschool students as part of sex ed offensive. Really!

Is there something wrong with that? Should these kind of videos not be shown in biology classes anyway?

How a fetus develops in the womb of a woman or in other mammals is a wonder of nature!

Why not show some videos on how brutal some abortions are especially late term abortions!

Abortion is no panacea. It should be avoided as much as possible! It is a terrible form of ending a human life!

"A growing number of American students taking sex education classes this fall will be required to watch videos of fetuses growing in the womb—a result of new “fetal development” laws passed in state legislatures nationwide. 

Six states now require such videos to be shown in sex ed; nearly 4 million students will see them this fall. 

20+ states have proposed similar bills since 2023.

Background: Showing such videos in schools is a key part of anti-abortion group Live Action’s strategy to influence young people. 

Its main tool: “Meet Baby Olivia,” a 3-minute video depicting the development of a fetus in utero, which has been frequently recommended in state legislation.

But medical experts say the video is misleading about development and is emotionally manipulative rather than educational [???]. ..."

Global Health NOW: HIV Patients ‘in Darkness’ as Aid Cuts Take Hold; Schools as Abortion Rights Battlegrounds; and The Brawl of the Wild