The Conservative Cave

Nearly as great a problem as left-wing violence is the left’s refusal to admit it has a problem.

You’ve likely encountered this brand of ideological intransigence over the past decade. You’ve probably heard some variation of it from a co-worker, a friend, or even a family member.

When a Republican or conservative is shot, stabbed, or beaten by a left-wing assailant, the activist left adopts one of three standard responses:

The first: The violence is deserved. He had it coming! The second: It didn’t happen. It’s a hoax! The third, and by far the most common, is: Right-wing violence is still worse.

Of the three, the third is the most annoying, not just because it’s raw whataboutism, but because the counterexamples offered are often mischaracterizations or outright falsehoods.

They will stake out any of these three positions rather than engage in introspection. Anything to deny legitimacy to the idea that conservatives deserve dignity, sympathy, or even empathy. To grant any of these would be to concede that conservatives are human. But in the universe of left-wing activism, the right is evil incarnate. It can never be victim, only culprit. That’s why, in the wake of any violence directed against Republicans or conservatives, even when it is explicitly left-wing, the hardcore left, including certain elected lawmakers, will do anything to avoid admitting their side has a violence problem. Though this is partially intellectual cowardice, it’s mostly just a refusal to humanize the victims. The hatred runs that deep.

Strong students learn less math in mixed classes, concludes a new Education Endowment Foundation study of English middle schools, reports Richard Adams in The Guardian.

Placing all students in the same class is supposed to help low achievers aim higher without hurting high achievers, in theory Teachers are told to "differentiate" instruction to meet the needs of students at very different levels.

But does it actually work that way?

Strong students learn less math in mixed classes, concludes a new Education Endowment Foundation study of English middle schools, reports Richard Adams in The Guardian. Weaker students, as judged by prior math achievement, do about the same whether they're in mixed classes or lower-track classes, University College London (UCL) researchers found. Furthermore, students placed in lower-track classes were more confident of their math abilities than those in mixed classes.
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Teaching mixed classrooms is increasingly difficult, write Scott J. Peters and Jonathan Plucker. "The typical American classroom includes students that span three to seven grade levels of achievement mastery."