{"id":2671765,"date":"2026-09-28T09:02:56","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T13:02:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignwoke-grad-school-teacher-programs-help-explain-why-the-kids-cant-read\/"},"modified":"2026-09-28T09:10:33","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T13:10:33","slug":"utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignwoke-grad-school-teacher-programs-help-explain-why-the-kids-cant-read","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignwoke-grad-school-teacher-programs-help-explain-why-the-kids-cant-read\/","title":{"rendered":"Woke Grad School Ed Programs Explain Why Kids Can&#8217;t Read"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Futm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignwoke-grad-school-teacher-programs-help-explain-why-the-kids-cant-read%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2671765&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/illegal-immigrant-detained-as-person-of-interest-in-rape-of-13-year-old-girl-at-park\/\" title=\"Undocumented Immigrant Held as Suspect in Assault of Teen at Park\">article highlights concerns<\/a> about the declining quality of American education. It discusses an in-depth New York Times essay by Nikole Hannah-Jones criticizing the state of elementary and secondary schools in the U.S., pointing to broader issues such as wokeness and racial politics influencing education standards. Recent international assessments (PISA) reveal that U.S. students are falling behind peers globally,with meaningful drops in reading and math scores as 2018,possibly due to factors like social media shortening attention spans.<\/p>\n<p>The piece also examines the ideological biases present in teacher training programs, citing a study that found graduate education courses increasingly focus on critical race theory and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/todays-kids-despise-authority-thanks-to-a-disastrous-duo-lockdowns-and-crt\/\" title=\"Today\u2019s Kids Despise Authority Thanks To A Disastrous Duo: Lockdowns And CRT\">anti-racist curricula<\/a>, which may undermine traditional teaching methods like phonics and evidence-based practices. some course titles suggest a focus on leftist theories that could hinder effective education.<\/p>\n<p>The author advocates for school choice and parental control over education funding as a solution to these issues, arguing that it would better serve students and prevent further decline in educational outcomes. the <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >article urges reevaluating current educational policies<\/a> to ensure American students receive a high-quality education suited for success in the modern economy.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The New York Times featured an <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.ph\/LmoOj\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">in-depth essay<\/a> from writer Nikole Hannah-Jones last week about the lamentable state of elementary and secondary education in the United States. The essay\u2019s contents deserve (and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/opinion\/the-education-of-nikole-hannah-jones-094ee262?mod=opinion_lead_pos5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">are receiving<\/a>) much <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/09\/22\/nikole-hannah-jones-racism-is-why-her-daughter-cant-do-math\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">criticism<\/a>, thanks in part to Hannah-Jones sacrificing her daughter\u2019s educational outcomes on the altar of wokeness and racism. But moral failings aside, the \u201c1619 Project\u201d author shines a spotlight on the failures plaguing American students not just in inner cities but across the map.<\/p>\n<p>The recent release of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oecd.org\/en\/publications\/pisa-2025-results-volume-i_73451bc5-en\/full-report\/executive-summary_3701b0ef.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">results<\/a> from last year\u2019s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) tests confirms on a macro level what Hannah-Jones described at length from a micro perspective. The international test of 15-year-olds showed that American youths continue to lag behind those in many other peer nations \u2014 which might have something to do with the woke ideology pervading the schools that educate the next generation of teachers.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Plummeting Reading Scores<\/strong> <\/h2>\n<p>The PISA results brought discouraging news regarding the global competitiveness of American students. The Wall Street Journal <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/opinion\/pisa-scores-china-u-s-math-44a3604b?mod=editorials_article_pos27\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">noted<\/a> that since 2018, \u201cmath scores in China have improved by an impressive 21 points (equivalent to roughly one year of learning) while those in the U.S. have fallen by 15 (three quarters of a year of learning).\u201d And whereas more than half (54 percent) of students in the four Chinese cities tested qualified as \u201ctop performers,\u201d fewer than 1 in 10 (only 8 percent) American students did. This is not a positive development given the importance of engineering and computer science in the global economy.<\/p>\n<p>If anything, the PISA reading test results proved even more worrisome. Americans\u2019 reading scores plunged by 14 points since the last round of tests in 2022, and they now sit near their <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.ph\/pLP8u\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">lowest point this century<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which organizes the PISA tests, noted that reading scores have declined generally since 2012. Perhaps unsurprisingly, some of the blame may point in the direction of smartphones and social media shortening attention spans. The OECD <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oecd.org\/en\/publications\/pisa-2025-results-volume-i_73451bc5-en\/full-report\/executive-summary_3701b0ef.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">notes<\/a> that \u201cthe share of \u2018hasty readers\u2019 \u2014 students who rush through texts and give quick but incorrect answers \u2014 almost doubled between 2018 and 2025.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Education Schools\u2019 Woke Obsession<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>But in the United States at least, another factor may help to explain students\u2019 poor academic performance. A separate paper by researchers at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) illustrated the ideological obsessions within graduate schools of education, which train the next generation of teachers going into American classrooms.<\/p>\n<p>The AEI <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aei.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Pedagogy-of-the-Progressives.pdf?x98200\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">study<\/a> examined course reading materials and syllabi for master\u2019s programs at 10 public graduate schools of education. As the paper notes, because many school districts pay higher wages to teachers with master\u2019s degrees, these graduate schools have a ready-built pipeline of potential students.<\/p>\n<p>Consider the titles of just some of the course readings in one school\u2019s curriculum:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201cIs an Antiracist and Decolonizing Applied Linguistics Possible?\u201d <\/li>\n<li>\u201cTheorizing Linguistic Racisms from a Language Ideological Perspective\u201d <\/li>\n<li>\u201cWriting, Rioting, and Righting Como Negra: A Testimonio of Black Latinx Erasure in Bilingual Education\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201cBlack Languaging[[<em>sic<\/em>]as Anti-Racist Pedagogy in the World Language Classroom\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201cWorld Languages for Black Linguistic Reparations\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201cToward an Anti-Racist Linguistic Anthropology: An Indigenous Response to White Supremacy.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Note that these are all titles from syllabi at the University of <em>Texas<\/em>, a publicly funded institution in a purportedly conservative state.<\/p>\n<p>Other readings highlighted in the AEI paper focus less on critical race theory than on leftist theories of education \u2014 that is, allowing students to \u201clearn at their own pace\u201d and in the way they prefer. These readings and philosophies could prove just as damaging to students as explicitly Marxist ideology because they ignore and undermine proven concepts such as phonics that can help children learn.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, as the AEI paper notes, it\u2019s difficult to know precisely how these texts are being taught without sitting through lectures. But it\u2019s fair to question whether Cal-State Northridge, which requires readings such as \u201cQueering Elementary Education: A Queer Curriculum for 4th Grade,\u201d is focused on giving potential teachers the tools that will best help them succeed in elementary school classrooms.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>A Better Future?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>American students deserve the best education possible so they can succeed in the 21st-century economy. The AEI paper and PISA results raise serious questions about the quality of the education they are receiving and the outcomes from it. <\/p>\n<p>There is an obviously better option. Rather than wasting government funds \u2014 state and local spending, not to mention federal student loan dollars for teachers\u2019 graduate degrees \u2014 to promote topics such as \u201cqueering elementary education,\u201d give parents the education dollars and let them select the schooling option that meets their children\u2019s needs. It\u2019s the best, and perhaps the only, way to prevent a lost generation of uneducated American youth.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<div>\n<p>      Chris Jacobs is founder and CEO of Juniper Research Group and author of the book &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/1645720020\">The Case Against Single Payer<\/a>.&#8221; He is on Twitter: <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/chrisjacobsHC\">@chrisjacobsHC<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NYT essay by Hannah-Jones critiques US education, amid controversy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":521,"featured_media":2671766,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Teacher-Girl-High-Five.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[5152,86345,50757],"class_list":["post-2671765","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-education","tag-graduate-programs","tag-literacy-2"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Teacher-Girl-High-Five.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2671765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/521"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2671765"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2671765\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2671769,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2671765\/revisions\/2671769"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2671766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2671765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2671765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2671765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}