zlacker

My 2 cents: 1- 'The Department of Education’s most recent survey, released in June, was sensational: it found that text comprehension skills of 13-year-olds had declined an average of four points since the Covid-affected school year of 2019-2020, and more alarmingly that the average drop was seven points compared with the 2012 figure. The results for the worst-performing students fell below the reading skill level recorded in 1971, when the first national study was conducted.' More here https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/why-printed-books-a...

2-Bloomberg has this one recently 'The Print Magazine Revival of 2024: Several factors are driving this revival but the focus is a niche and on high quality which translated into resources,aka money, it also cites the following:

Nostalgia and Tangibility: Many readers still appreciate the tactile experience of reading a physical magazine. -Niche Markets: Smaller, independent publications are thriving by catering to specific interests and communities. -Strategic Repositioning: Established brands like Bloomberg Businessweek and Sports Illustrated are adapting by reducing frequency and focusing on high-quality content.

I have been in print media since CMP Media Win Magazine and it will end next month. I can assure you that resources for high quality print journalism is no longer there, I am talking about capable editorial talents and other production means, photographers, graphic designers etc. From 20 photographers pre-COVID to one with a dozen freelancers for example that applies to the rest departments.

>>Sam6la+(OP)
Are demographics controlled for here? We know the proportion of foreign born has been increasing since the 70s, are these results attempting to remove the effect of non-native speakers?

>>typewi+X3
There's another, more global research: https://www.afterbabel.com/p/the-edtech-revolution-has-faile...

>>Sam6la+(OP)
>I have been in print media since CMP Media Win Magazine and it will end next month. I can assure you that resources for high quality print journalism is no longer there, I am talking about capable editorial talents and other production means, photographers, graphic designers etc. From 20 photographers pre-COVID to one with a dozen freelancers for example that applies to the rest departments.

What happened to the talent? Have they moved industries or is there just not enough cash to pay them? Something else?

>>oidar+Sa
The middle class is being liquidated

>>oidar+Sa
First lack of budget to keep them there full time, then they'll re-skill and change industries due to lack of job opportunities. Sooner or later they won't be able to easily go back, because tools, styles, and publisher and reader tastes change, as well

If you spend a decade or three learning and perfecting your trade, and spend a decade away from it without practicing, you'll be rusty (at best) regardless of what the job actually is

This fuels everything from shipbuilding to the military industrial complex - you practice and improve by constantly doing and refining, and your nation can end up a world-leader in designing microprocessors or building supersonic fighters

>>oidar+Sa
In "Slouching Towards Utopia" there's a lot of emphasis on "communities of practice". I think HN is a great example for software people. I wonder if the hollowing out of print media begins a vicious cycle where the community of practice also decays. People leave the industry, connections don't persist across jobs, fewer events, fewer new people coming in and getting excited, etc...

>>Sam6la+(OP)
The COVID school closures and remote learning years will prove to be the biggest negative educational/developmental impact on a generation that we've seen in a long time.

>>typewi+X3
>foreign born

Its probably more useful to distinguish between foreign educated vs born here.

Interestingly the last stats I remember seeing about ESL students is they tend to out-perform english students in a number of subjects depending on the age group, so factoring them out might lower the overall stats and show an even worse trend among native born english speaking American students.

>>SoftTa+Hq
At least it will lay to bed the sentiment that nothing is learned at school, and that we all could have just stayed home and taught ourselves to code.

It also challenges the belief that what education needs right now is disruption.

>>SoftTa+Hq
And it disproportionately hit the poorest in society the most. My kid had his own room to work in, his own computer to work on, and WFH parents to help him out. He was not, massively, negatively impacted.

In my work, I was in touch with families with multiple children at home, no computers, maybe one or two phones, and no broadband connection. The kids, for all intents and purposes, just lost two years of education.

>>analog+uH
I don’t think it will. See: https://amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/27/republican-b...

>>SoftTa+Hq
I mean it looks like it might have sped it up but it already declined more than that from 2012. So whatever the general reason for the trend is worse.

>>Sam6la+(OP)
Don't worry. When the next administration gets rid of the Department of Education, we won't have any idea how bad things are.

>>jaybre+4v1
The Department of Education was founded in 1980. Are you worried we'll lose all the massive improvements in education we've seen since then?

>>kbelde+qI6
That comment takes all facts and context out of the discussion and does not inform. Do you know what Title 1 is? 504? IDEA? I'm not going to defend garbage laws like No Child Left Behind, mind you, ask any teacher how terrible that law is. But both my kids, one autistic, one ADHD, have heavily depended on section 504 for their education. As for any decline in education, I would look instead at the anti-intellectual so-called 'family values' that have been on the rise since 1980.