Miracles. That’s what the American public has been conditioned, this last decade, to ask from educators. No matter the level, not matter the economic background, no matter the differences in abilities, no matter the preparation of the students, teachers are expected to vastly improve them in a short period of time. In my last post,…
An “On the Issues” Post from the Campaign for the future of Higher Education [http://futureofhighered.org] _______________ A partnership between San Jose University and Udacity, a for-profit MOOC provider, to offer several MOOCs got off to a rousing start at a 45-minute news conference in January. People there included the governor of California, the president of…
President Obama’s new “plan” for higher education is, of course, largely a sparely detailed sketch of a proposal, especially when one considers what any legislation that might actually result from it will end up looking like. In fact, many commentators on both the Left and the Right have expressed serious doubts about whether the “plan’…
To start the fall semester on a light note . . . The first half of this post is a list of unusual book titles collected by Russell Ash and Brian Lake for Bizarre Books (1998). It is another item that I am re-posting from Futility Closet (www.futilitycloset.com). It is re-posted with the permission of Greg Ross,…
At the undergraduate level, colleges and universities have always relied upon first-time, first year students as the foundation of their freshman class. Historically, these students were drawn from four categories: legacies, student athletes, students seeking admission to a well-differentiated academic program, and qualified students who came in “over the transom” as part of a general…
A couple of days ago, The New York Times published a piece by Gina Bellafante entitled “A Chance at Learning.” It ends with a couple of paragraphs that seem emblematic of the state of education in America today, a state created by No Child Left Behind, Race to the Top and, now, the Common Core curriculum……
The Campaign for the Future of Higher Education [http://futureofhighered.org/ ] is a loose association of the major faculty unions and faculty associations in the United States. These groups have come together several times each year to share information on issues affecting high education and to shape responses to those issues that emphasize the paramount importance…
In an attempt to rein in rising tuition and skyrocketing debt President Obama has announced a plan for performance based funding for higher education. Under his plan colleges would be rated on affordability, graduation rates and earnings of graduates. While we applaud the President for raising concerns over rising tuition and student debt, concerns that…
This post has been written by Jeff Kolnick. a professor of history at Southwest Minnesota State University. _______________ The fall semester is an exciting time to be a college professor. The spring semester has its charms with the promise of summer and the thrill of graduation, but for me, the start of the school year is…