The STEM Pipeline: The Role of Small Liberal Arts Colleges

Making news this past May was the release of employee diversity information at large tech firms, including Google, LinkedIn and Yahoo, which indicated, not that surprisingly, that these Silicon Valley companies employed primarily men (60-70%). The news was more discouraging when the data was disaggregated into tech-related and leadership positions, with the percentage of women…

“At-Risk” Students and the College Scorecard

It’s been interesting to watch the great debate unfold as the federal government intervenes to provide students and their families with a more rational sense of the “fit” between college applicants and colleges and universities.  Enter the “College Scorecard” whose principal data points include average net price, loan default rate, six-year graduation rate, median borrowing…

How Not to Fire a Higher Ed CEO

One of the most frustrating things about higher education (and the business world, too) is how failed CEOs get golden parachutes. At my institution, Illinois State University, everybody is still fuming that former president Tim Flanagan received a $480,000 golden parachute for being fired after a few months on the job. Although the trustees could…

The “Redskins” Controversy May Not Now Seem to Be a Life and Death Issue, but, from a Cultural and Historical Perspective, It Is Fundamentally Just That Sort of Issue

Even if the name “Redskins” is offensive, one can at least argue that the image featured in the team logo is rather dignified. The same cannot be said for the Cleveland Indians mascot’s appearance or name– Chief Wahoo: Interestingly, Chief Wahoo’s skin color less resembles that of a Native American than that of a very…

The Dirty Secret in the Education Wars: Money Matters

This post was written by Jeff Bryant for the blog of the Campaign for America’s Future [http://ourfuture.org/] which has become a driving force behind the New Populist Movement. The group’s report, Organizing to Take Back America: The New Populist Movement, is available at: http://y.ourfuture.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/New-Populist-Movement-Organizing.pdf. Prepared by Riger Hickey, the co-director of the Campaign for America’s…

"We Know What Works"

Writing in The New Yorker last month, Dale Russakoff had this to say about today’s education “reformers,” personified (in this case) by New Jersey governor Chris Christie and then-mayor of Newark Cory Booker (who is now, of course, one of the state’s U.S. senators): Decades of research have shown that experiences at home and in neighborhoods…