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Showing posts from December, 2019

Florida Career College to Close

Florida Career College to Close Doug Lederman Fri, 01/26/2024 - 03:00 AM Byline(s) Doug Lederman from Inside Higher Ed https://ift.tt/avZRfLi

Social Mobility

Some of our best stories on how colleges and universities are helping — or failing to help — students move up the socioeconomic ladder.  from The Chronicle of Higher Education https://ift.tt/39r2hx5

How One School Program in New York Helps Students With Autism

Editor’s Note: In the next five years, most of America’s most experienced teachers will retire. The Baby Boomers are leaving behind a nation of more novice educators. In 1988, a teacher most commonly had 15 years of experience. Less than three decades later, that number had fallen to just three years leading a classroom . The Atlantic’ s “On Teaching” project is crisscrossing the country to talk to veteran educators. This story is the seventh in our series . A charming, bright 5-year-old stands out in his classroom at Maurice Wollin elementary school, on Staten Island, as an extremely social, kind, and curious child. He remembers more about his peers—names, significant events, likes and dislikes—than almost any other kindergartener at his school does. But despite his genuine interest in his classmates and their well-being, he often struggles with interpreting their feelings and intentions—he has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). (This 5-year-old and the other stude

10 of the most popular stories about education research in 2019

For my year-end post, I’m highlighting 10 of the most well-read Proof Points stories of 2019. They are listed in the order of popularity — by the number of times readers viewed them on our website, The Hechinger Report. What stands out for me is how popular education trends, from social-emotional learning to school discipline, aren’t standing up to scientific scrutiny. The research evidence for education technology continues to be weak. Thank you to everyone who has read and commented on my weekly stories about education data and research. I look forward to continuing this conversation with you next year. If you would like to receive an email newsletter and notification when the column comes out each week, please click here  and fill out the form. Happy New Year  and I’ll be back again on Jan. 6, 2020. 1. Scientific research on how to teach critical thinking contradicts education trends Daniel Willingham, a professor of psychology at the University of Virginia, makes the case that o

OPINION: “Having a parent who excels at local public-school politics shouldn’t be a precondition for a child to get a good teacher”

At the recent public education forum, the leading Democratic presidential candidates all called for more equitable access to high-quality public education. For example, Elizabeth Warren reiterated her education plan’s focus on equity issues : “every kid in America should have the same access to a high-quality public education — no matter where they live, the color of their skin, or how much money their parents make.” What didn’t come up at “ Public Education Forum 2020: Equity and Opportunity for All ” is that a part of any educational equity platform should be eliminating the politics that give K-12 public-school parents who know how to work the system preferred access to good teachers. We can liken this practice to clientelism . In clientelistic politics, a patron (e.g., a school principal) exchanges resources in return for a client’s (e.g., a parent’s) political support. Given its undemocratic nature, clientelism is hidden and denied. Like any other form of political corruption,

San Diego State Changes Plan for Anti-Semitic Speaker

San Diego State University has confirmed that Ava Muhammad, a minister, author and spokesperson for the Nation of Islam's leadership, will not be invited to speak on campus. Muhammad was on a list of five suggested speakers for a summit on reparations for slavery.  SDSU had previously announced that four graduate students were awarded funding to develop programming to improve the lives of black students at SDSU. Their proposal for the reparations summit, which suggested speakers including Muhammad, was awarded $68,000.  Muhammad speaks to students on behalf of Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam, an African American political and religious organization. Farrakhan  and the Nation of Islam  have both been highlighted by the Southern Poverty Law Center for anti-Semitic and anti-LGBTQ vitriol. Muhammad, in 2017, also referred to Jews as “ bloodsucking parasites .”  After an outcry, SDSU announced  Monday on Twitter that the student-led event would have a revised list o

New Information Site for Federal Aid

The U.S. Department of Education has rolled out a new website for information on federal student aid. The StudentAid.gov site pulls together student-facing pieces of other federal sites hosted by the department. It also includes one phone number for all loan servicer contact centers: 1-800-4-FED-AID. “Federal Student Aid’s customers visit our websites more than 120 million times each year,” Betsy DeVos, the education secretary, said in a written statement . “By centralizing the information they need on one website, providing one singular phone number to call and continually improving our mobile app, we can better serve students and cut down on the confusion of navigating the federal student aid process.” Ad keywords:  administrators studentaid Is this diversity newsletter?:  Hide by line?:  Disable left side advertisement?:  Is this Career Advice newsletter?:  Trending:  from Inside Higher Ed https://ift.tt/2EMaXjt

Jury Rejects Professors' Discrimination Claims Against Michigan

The University of Michigan at Ann Arbor did not discriminate or retaliate against a pair of married professors who raised complaints about disparate treatment of their colleagues of color, a jury found following a trial in a local county court. Scott Kurashige, a former director of Asian-American and Pacific Islander studies at Michigan, and Emily Lawsin, a current lecturer there, sued the university  several years ago, alleging that they were treated in a hostile manner after trying to expose what they called race- and gender-based discrimination and inequity within their department and throughout the campus.  Kurashige, who is now a professor at the University of Washington at Bothell, says he was terminated from his leadership position at Michigan and eventually forced out of his faculty role after asking his dean for equitable retention packages for three faculty members. Lawsin said that classes she’d long taught were taken away from her and that the university once tried to

Higher Ed Inflation Lands at 2.5 Percent for 2019

Colleges and universities in the United States experienced cost increases of 2.5 percent in the fiscal year that ended in June 2019, according to the Higher Education Price Index, a long-running measure of higher education inflation. The 2019 inflation figure is down slightly from 2.9 percent in 2018 and 3.4 percent in 2017 . It is nearly identical to the index’s five-year average, which is 2.4 percent. Commonfund Institute, a branch of the investment manager Commonfund, released the latest Higher Education Price Index data Monday. The index, also called HEPI, is intended to be a more accurate way to measure cost changes felt by colleges and universities than are indices aimed at other economic segments, like the Consumer Price Index. HEPI, which dates back to 1961, is mostly used to project budget increases colleges and universities will need in order to preserve their purchasing power. HEPI is made up of eight weighted components. Faculty salaries receive the most weight, mak

Lehigh Emails Congratulations to Applicants Not Admitted

Lehigh University accidentally emailed congratulations to 137 applicants who were not admitted, The Morning Call reported. Within a few hours, Lehigh realized the mistake and apologized to the students. “Receiving the erroneous email after the disappointment of our decision must have brought confusion, frustration and perhaps anger, for which I again apologize,” said Bruce Bunnick, director of admissions, in the email. “You deserve better and we will work harder to eliminate the human error that led to this mistake.” Ad keywords:  admissions Is this diversity newsletter?:  Hide by line?:  Disable left side advertisement?:  Is this Career Advice newsletter?:  Trending:  from Inside Higher Ed https://ift.tt/2PPtiCt

OPINION: If it’s bad for child care, it’s bad for the U.S. economy

Americans are going to work. Since the summer of 2011, nearly eight million more Americans in their “prime” working years, between the ages 25 and 54, have gained employment. If Americans wish to further foster this progress, it is important to understand the critical role that child care plays in boosting our nation’s economy. One sign of how important child care is for employers and employees alike is that, by one estimate, businesses nationwide lose more than  $4.4 billion a year due to employee absences resulting from breakdowns in child care arrangements. Parents who struggle to find reliable child care may be limited in the hours they can work or the jobs they can perform. And  research from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found that lowering the costs of child care paid by parents significantly increases the likelihood that a mother will work. Related: Wealthy cities can afford to expand pre-K: What about everyone else? Mothers, who typically bear the brun

School network takes turbocharged approach to education for refugee students

Sharon George has taught English for 19 years. At Fugees, she uses phonics to help English language learners grasp the basics in order to catch up to their peers. Photo: Aaricka Washington/The Hechinger Report COLUMBUS, Ohio — Mariam was on a roll. A bubbly sixth grader in a bright pink hijab, she sat in a semi-circle with her four classmates, trying to identify as many words with a long “a” vowel sound as she could. “Rake,” she said. “Rake — perfect,” Sharon George, her teacher, said encouragingly. “So, take your yellow marker and highlight the ‘a’ in rake.” The English language, George told her students, is hard. The rules of pronunciation and grammar are complicated and full of exceptions. It can be difficult for students who’ve grown up in the United States — let alone those who’ve only just arrived after having their learning disrupted by war and conflict. The students in George’s class are all refugees. Mariam came to the United States from Sudan. Her classmates are fro

Most English lessons on Teachers Pay Teachers and other sites are ‘mediocre’ or ‘not worth using,’ study finds

A Thomas B. Fordham Institute study reviewed popular English lessons on Teachers Pay Teachers and two other sites and found that most weren’t good. One of the most popular English lessons in the instructional marketplace Teachers Pay Teachers is a unit on how to teach William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.”  It costs only $14.99 and claims to explain how to teach the tragedy of the star-crossed lovers in a fun-filled way while hitting almost 50 Common Core standards in five weeks. More than 1,200 Yelp-style reviews from teachers are posted. Many gush like this one:  “Everything is clearly laid out and takes the guesswork out of trying to feel like I have to do it all. Such a lifesaver!” There’s just one problem. A curriculum expert who reviewed the pedagogy explained to me that the unit was “weak” and does not meet Common Core standards as the creator claimed. The one exception was the essay prompts, which the reviewer rated as good. But otherwise, instruction in this Shakespe

Was It Wrong for a Professor to Show a Student Video Parodying a Hitler Film — or for UMass to Remove Her for It?

The flagship university called it “objectively offensive” for a lecturer of accounting to screen an extra-credit parody project. Several students left the class to protest the administration’s decision. from The Chronicle of Higher Education https://ift.tt/34GSKyn

Inside Higher Ed's top 10 stories of the year

Here are the 10 stories that attracted the most readers in 2019. 10. Error in math scoring on May SAT. 9. Racist comments directed at a scholar at a disciplinary meeting floor classicists in the room. 8. Steven Pinker's aid in Jeffrey Epstein's legal defense renews criticism of an increasingly divisive public intellectual. 7. Star scholar of minority-serving institutions Marybeth Gasman was accused of fostering a hypersexualized and racially insensitive climate in her research center. 6. Clark University dismisses a graduate student who complained about possible gender discrimination and research misconduct, saying she couldn't find a new adviser within 30 days. 5. College Board says new Adversity tool will provide more context for admissions officers. Many are skeptical. 4. Society for American Archaeology faces major backlash over how it handled a known harasser's attendance at its annual meeting. 3. At accrediting conference, panelists acknowledge that eff

Access to higher education tilts heavily toward urban areas

Access to higher education is unequal in America, according to new research that shows education deserts across institution sectors, particularly in rural areas. The new report and interactive map created by the Jain Family Institute depicts how institutions of higher education are more concentrated in urban hubs and the eastern part of the country. The research looks at the accessibility of higher education by enrollment figures and the concentration of colleges. It maps access to postsecondary institutions at the ZIP code level in all U.S. states and territories. The report, which was released Wednesday, found that 30.7 million Americans have access to only one public institution, while 10.1 million Americans live in public education deserts. The report also found that the richest ZIP codes have less of a concentration of institutions than poorer ZIP codes (meaning colleges are more spread throughout wealthier areas). The research team was led by Laura Beamer, the institute&#