Interesting article in NYTimes today (4-9-2013) http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/09/technology/coursesmart-e-textbooks-track-students-progress-for-teachers.html?hp Here is what I posted. (I think it could be a lot clearer, since there are certainly students who don’t need to study much to perform well. On the other hand, even Einstein failed his French exam when he didn’t study. So, I guess what I mean is that if […]
Teacher competency exams for holding UNIVERSITIES accountable
April 8, 2013 by
If we gave teachers – starting with high school teachers – competency exams in their subject field, where we compiled performance data only for the schools they attended, we could start to hold universities accountable. It seems to me that this would be easy to do. I’m sure the teachers would agree if their individual scores were […]
Why many Americans aren’t getting jobs. WSJ Article…Visa Demand Jumps
April 2, 2013 by
(This post is closely related to my previous post WSJ Article: …Grads May Be Stuck in Low-Skill Jobs) This is from my comment on the article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324883604578396680112980530.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTTopStories While it may be true that in some cases the employer is seeking lower costs, the evidence clearly points to the fact that in too many instances, companies […]
WSJ Article: …Grads May Be Stuck in Low-Skill Jobs
March 26, 2013 by
My comment is below. Here is a link to the article and summary of the issue in the article that I commented on: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323466204578382753004333838.html#articleTabs%3Darticle%26commentId%3D5606582 Summary: 1. College graduates hired into low skilled jobs during the recession may be stuck there. 2. A study seems to indicate that the high tech jobs aren’t there.3. David Autor, […]
Comment on another of Jordan Weissmann’s posts in the Atlantic
March 22, 2013 by
I commented on http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/03/the-miserable-odds-of-a-poor-student-graduating-from-college-in-2-graphs/274250/#comments I wanted to note differences between schools. Here is a copy of my comment, but there are also some resonses on the site. Anyway, here is the copy. “Unfortunately, gross statistics can be misleading in the case of higher education. This can be especially true for low-income students who are most […]
If even Harvard faculty are afraid of speaking out on issues of higher education, who will?
March 12, 2013 by
The following revealing quote is from an article in today’s New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/12/education/harvard-search-e-mail-accounts.html?_r=0): “…Most professors who agreed to discuss the matter … insisted on anonymity, not wanting to run afoul of the administration…” This is both revealing and worrisome. That’s because “the matter” that these (probably mostly tenured, highly compensated) professors don’t want to be on the record as […]
Article on Jobs and Degrees in Chronicle of Higher Education
March 5, 2013 by
The Chronicle of Higher Education (www.chronicle.com) does an excellent job of reporting. There is a recent article that describes employers views of the product colleges are, in general, producing. That “product” is, of course, college graduates. (I know that people aren’t products, but that just makes it sadder.) Here is a link to the article: […]
Why Ph.D’s don’t get jobs as professors
I just posted an explanatory comment to: http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/02/how-many-phds-actually-get-to-become-college-professors/273434/ The article was by Jordan Weismann Here is my comment. (The data I refer to shows that not many Ph.D’s get jobs as professors.) This data only substantiates what we in the business of higher education have known for years, “…universities give Ph.D.’s for reasons other than that […]