For-profit colleges on edge awaiting new rules, guidance
The fast-growing sector of for-profit colleges is nervously awaiting the outcome of new rules President Barack Obama is considering for how they operate. A story today on InsideHigherEd helped shed light on why the publicly traded sector is on edge, at a time when Obama is pushing degree completion for all Americans. Some 3,000 for-profit […]
Where’s Your Teacher?
In just its third day of producing a “Greater New York” section — meant to give The New York Times a run for its money — The Wall Street Journal saw it fit to feature an education story on the first page. The article, entitled “Teacher Absences Plague City Schools,” begins thus: “One-fifth of New […]
MinnPost, Hechinger Report collaborate on new blog
The world of nonprofit journalism is a brave new one, with all kinds of possibilities and collaborations. The mission of providing high-quality journalism at a time when traditional newspapers are retrenching is gaining traction in Minnesota, and it’s one reason the newly launched Hechinger Report has partnered with the MinnPost on a new higher education blog: […]
How to solve senior slump? Eliminate senior year
The weather turns warmer, seniors are already accepted into college, the pressure is off — and the slacking begins. All of this comes in a warning from an admissions consultant in a guest post in The Answer Sheet, providing a cautionary tale about the dangers of so-called senior slump. “It becomes increasingly difficult for many […]
Ed School & Med School: Training Teachers Like We Train Doctors?
NPR’s Claudio Sanchez had an interesting story on Thursday about the Boston Teacher Residency (BTR) program, which seeks to provide would-be teachers with the kind of intensive field preparation that would-be doctors receive during medical school rounds. The former superintendent of the Boston Public Schools, Tom Payzant, founded the program in 2003. Seventy-five “residents” go […]
Imagine a charter school company that wants it all
Charter schools are not all that hard to understand. Instead of being managed by a district bureaucracy, charter schools apply to an “authorizer” for permission to operate with public money. The authorizer may be the local school district, a university, the state itself or some other body. Just as a school district is governed by […]
Did J.D. Salinger believe in unschooling?
Or was the legendarily reclusive writer just spoofing us? The last story in J.D. Salinger’s Nine Stories is called “Teddy” and it’s about a 10-year-old genius who fascinates scholars and religious figures. He’s asked about his views on education and he either endorses a radical form of progressive education or he makes fun of it. […]
Teaching gun safety in schools creates quandary, raises questions
An interesting debate has emerged in Virginia, now that the Virginia General Assembly has directed the state’s Board of Education to develop materials for teaching gun safety to elementary school children. The catch, according to an article in The Washington Post, is just what to incorporate into those lessons. The Assembly wants to include the […]
Fewer profits, more scrutiny at for-profit colleges?
For-profit colleges have undergone a great deal of scrutiny lately, in part because they are getting a second look from students at overburdened community colleges and in part because they promise to prepare students for paying jobs in the midst of a recession. They’ve also been in the headlines a lot, most recently for exaggerating […]
Just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse…
A new report from the Manhattan Institute and the Foundation for Educational Choice, “Underfunded Teacher Pension Plans: It’s Worse Than You Think,” is receiving a lot of media attention. Stories about the report have appeared in many outlets, including Education Week, USA Today, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Business Week. Co-authored by Josh Barro and Stuart Buck, the report […]
