Skeptics Stack Exchange
Skeptics Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [school]

an institution for educating children.

34 questions
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Are American schools frequently short of essential textbooks?

Computer scientist and journalist Meredith Broussard recently wrote a skeptical perspective on the uses and benefits of computers called Artificial Unintelligence. One of the stories she tells where technology has failed to help is about parts of…
matt_black
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Did a Wisconsin school file sexual harassment complaints over pronoun usage?

The New York Post claims A Wisconsin school district has filed sexual harassment complaints against three middle schoolers for calling a classmate by a wrong pronoun. They cite fox17.com as source, which returns error-message 403 Forbidden. A…
pinegulf
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Does religious influence at young age affect later development of general critical faculties?

Does anybody know if there is any study of a link between being religiously influenced at a young age and later general ability for critical thinking? I mean ASIDE from the context of the specific religion to which the child was exposed. Many…
Tormod
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Does fluorescent lighting in schools correlate to increased illness and behavior problems?

A morning talk radio program was discussing Scotopic sensitivity syndrome and made the claim that in schools where fluorescent lighting had been replaced with indirect non-fluorescent lighting had more than 30% less absences due to illness and…
Chad
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Is Miss America Organization the world's largest provider of scholarship assistance for young women?

The official website for Miss America Organization claims: The Miss America Organization is one of the nation's leading achievement programs and the world's largest provider of scholarship assistance for young women. Last year, the Miss America…
Franck Dernoncourt
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Can one be naturally better at computers than English or Maths?

I think everybody heard this claim, and its opposite, a million times. Students or teachers commonly speak about having talents for a particular subject or another. The subject is debated, for example, here: Does one have to be a genius to do…
Sklivvz
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Will parents be arrested in Magnolia, Texas for walking with their children onto school grounds?

A friend shared a news story on Facebook that begins: Walking your child to and from school in Magnolia, Texas can now end in your extortion through fines and even jail time thanks to a new policy implemented by the school’s principal. Bear Branch…
Kate Gregory
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Is there a disparity between the number of US schools teaching creationism and the population's desire?

Concerning Evolution and Creation being taught in public schools, is there a disparity between the majority opinion and the extent that each is taught? This web site says: Fifty studies were reviewed that surveyed opinions on teaching origins in…
user11643
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1 answer

Do mechanical pencils cause problems on standardized tests?

AP Exams are standardized tests that are given at the end of a school year to high-school students that have studied material at a college level. The first part of an AP Exam is the multiple choice section, which is completed and sent to a place…
Arcturus
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Is this Singapore school letter about exams real?

This is doing the rounds on Facebook: A school principal in Singapore sent this letter to the parents before the exams Dear Parents The exams of your children are to start soon. I know you are all really anxious for your child to do well. But,…
user22865
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Is the gender gap in male dominated areas possible to overcome by a simple self-esteem exercise?

15-minute writing exercise closes the gender gap in university-level physics According to the article the gender gap in an otherwise very male dominated field, is easy to overcome, all that is needed is to do is a 15 minute writing exercise to help…
Wertilq
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Is "strawberry quik" and chocolate flavored meth going around schools?

I've been seeing this scary letter making the rounds on Facebook: Quite simply, is this a real thing? Is the letter authentic? Is there candy flavored meth floating around elementary schools? Is the phenomena real? Should parents really be…
Doug T.
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Did some US schools implement a 'COVID Shuffle' to move students every 12-14 minutes to avoid registering contacts?

In September/October 2020, there were news stories that claimed that school administrators were trying to "game" the contact-tracing rules (which required registering 15 minutes close contacts between students), by having students change seating…
user21820
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Were there armed guards at Columbine?

Ran across this editorial by Brandon Friedman in the NY Daily News: Arming teachers in the classroom will cost kids' lives ... There were armed guards at Columbine, the Pulse nightclub and in Las Vegas at the time of the massacre. At Parkland…
Daniel R Hicks
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Do members of Skull and Bones at Yale University wrestle naked in mud?

Skull and Bones is a secret society at Yale University. The New York Times claimed that: Initiates wrestle naked in a mud pile. Is that part of a longstanding ritual of Skull and Bones members?
User001
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