All of the Above Podcast

This Week: The UC system mulls joining a number of elite universities around the country that have brought back the SAT/ACT testing requirements that went by the wayside during the pandemic. Citing examples of professors having to reteach middle school level math to undergrads, regardless of where you stand on testing, this feels like a canary in the mine shaft kind of moment. At the same time, AI use in higher ed is totally out of control, with some professors resorting to invasive surveillance strategies to curtail its use. AI detection programs can be helpful, but also yield false positives that erode trust, including disproportionately for non native English speakers. This is quite the pickle we find ourselves in. Manuel and Jeff discuss. All of the Above was named #30 on the Best 100 Education Podcasts in the US by MillionPodcasts.com. Check us out, like, subscribe, and drop a rating :) MAXIMUM WOKENESS ALERT -- get your All of the Above swag, including your own “Teach the Truth” shirt! In this moment of relentless attacks on teaching truth in the classroom, we got you covered. https://all-of-the-above-store.creator-spring.com Watch, listen and subscribe to make sure you don't miss our latest content!Listen on Apple Podcast and Spotify Website: https://AOTAshow.com

Please Join us in supporting one of Manuel's students whose world was turned upside down this week when her father was detained by ICE. Click here for the GoFundMe. This Week: While the harm has, to a significant extent, already been done, there was an important legal victory in the fight against the white supremacist, fascist effort to destroy public education. A lawsuit brought by the AFT and others last summer resulted in a federal judge declaring the administration’s attempt to outlaw “illegal discrimination” against white people, and requiring that districts and universities certify they don’t practice DEI was enacted without following proper procedures. Just this month the administration declared they are dropping their appeal. This is one of numerous legal defeats the administration has suffered, however their fascist overreach continues, raising continued constitutional crises, and reinforcing the chilling effect of their racist agenda. Also, new research from scholars in New York state shows the lasting harm that ICE and DHS terrorism causes children who experience it themselves, or with a family member. Anxiety, depression, absenteeism, and chronic stress are likely just the tip of the iceberg. Thankfully a growing number of ed advocacy groups are speaking out against ICE terrorism and declaring it an existential threat to the safety of America’s children and school communities. Manuel and Jeff discuss. MAXIMUM WOKENESS ALERT -- get your All of the Above swag, including your own “Teach the Truth” shirt! In this moment of relentless attacks on teaching truth in the classroom, we got you covered. https://all-of-the-above-store.creator-spring.com Watch, listen and subscribe to make sure you don't miss our latest content!Listen on Apple Podcast and Spotify Website: https://AOTAshow.comFollow us: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter

Today on AOTA Shorts: In what can only be described as silicon valley’s educational wet dream, the Alpha School expands its footprint across the nation. The private school, which packs a $75K/year price tag, touts its ability to have kids learn twice as much in just 2 hours of AI based “instruction” per day. And contrary to what you might expect, the school claims its guides (the adults who work there rather than teachers) offer a more humane environment than traditional schools. And, as the Alpha School eyes expansion to Palo Alto, just down the road, computer science graduates of Stanford University are finding a dearth of jobs, as the industry shifts entry level jobs to AI. What are the implications of this AI mess we find ourselves in? Manuel and Jeff discuss! Woah, new format! AOTA Shorts give a brief, quick-hitting breakdown of a single story in this increasingly wild world of education that you can enjoy in the car, at work, or in those precious minutes of down time you (maybe) get during your busy day. Let us know what you think in the comments!MAXIMUM WOKENESS ALERT -- get your All of the Above swag, including your own “Teach the Truth” shirt! In this moment of relentless attacks on teaching truth in the classroom, we got you covered. https://all-of-the-above-store.creator-spring.com Watch, listen and subscribe to make sure you don't miss our latest content!Listen on Apple Podcast and Spotify Website: https://AOTAshow.com

This Week: One one hand, it is shocking to think about, and on the other hand it’s just a continuation of America's long-standing tradition of white folks in power hurting themselves in the never ending effort to oppress others even more. The latest casualty of the anti DEI hysteria is stacking up to be men, and in particular white men. Women now occupy around 60% of all seats in college, and for many years now - in particular at the nation’s most selective colleges - affirmative action efforts have been underway to ensure gender balance in the freshman class, even though vastly more women apply than men. So now, experts project that the anti DEI policies in place could result in fewer seats going to male applicants, as they are out competed by their female peers. Plus, we dig into a fascinating story out of Log Angeles, where parents are organizing to push back against screen time. Starting in Kindergarten, students are spending hours a day on devices, leading to all kinds of concern. Distraction, cheating, mental health concerns, self esteem challenges, are just some of the problems pushing parents to resist. What will districts do now as silicon valley further intrudes into the classroom? Manuel and Jeff discuss!MAXIMUM WOKENESS ALERT -- get your All of the Above swag, including your own “Teach the Truth” shirt! In this moment of relentless attacks on teaching truth in the classroom, we got you covered. https://all-of-the-above-store.creator-spring.com Watch, listen and subscribe to make sure you don't miss our latest content!Listen on Apple Podcast and Spotify Website: https://AOTAshow.comFollow us: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter

This Week: Not sure we were ever in style, to be honest. But, some new data from SUNY Albany shows that the common assumption that the lack of male teachers -- nearly 90% of elementary teachers are female -- hurts boys in their earliest years of academic development, may in fact be wrong. Turns out that in this study, there is no difference in academic achievement between kids who had all female teachers and those who had both male and female teachers. Does this mean male educators are obsolete, or is there more to the story? Plus, districts facing escalated ICE terrorism are seeing significant declines in enrollment, not just challenges with attendance. LAUSD has seen a drop in EL enrollment of 13,000 students in one year, with a particularly steep decline in Spanish speaking students. What does this mean for the nation’s schools and children? Manuel and Jeff discuss! Free Masterclass Monday Nov 24th from our good friends at Multicultural Classroom! "Teaching in Truth: How to Stay Centered and Culturally Sustaining in a Climate of Censorship" Info HereMAXIMUM WOKENESS ALERT -- get your All of the Above swag, including your own “Teach the Truth” shirt! In this moment of relentless attacks on teaching truth in the classroom, we got you covered. https://all-of-the-above-store.creator-spring.com Watch, listen and subscribe to make sure you don't miss our latest content!Listen on Apple Podcast and Spotify Website: https://AOTAshow.comFollow us: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter