Check out the link below:
Value Added Systems?
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Apparently, Going to an Elite University is Indeed Worth the Cost
From the NYT.
“Education is a long-run investment,” said Professor Eide, chairman of the economics department at Brigham Young, “It may be more painful to finance right now. People may be more hesitant to go into debt because of the recession. In my opinion, they should be looking over the long run of their child’s life.”
He added, “I don’t think the costs of college are going up faster than the returns on graduating from an elite private college.”
From the Atlantic:
Still, there's something to be said for the broader academic and social environment of the competitive admission schools. Even many celebrity dropouts, the same ones Peter Thiel cited in his criticisms of higher education, were able to leave precisely because of the accelerated advantages of privileged education. Bill Gates and Paul Allen could begin programming as teenagers thanks to donations to their private high school by a computer company and a parents group. A timesharing teletype was not a feature of most secondary schools at the time.Steve Jobs may have left the academic program at Reed College, but he was able to take advantage of its unique calligraphy program -- the kind of course derided by many critics of impractical arts programs, but later essential to the design of the Mac. Jobs' adoptive father and mother had expressly promised to provide a college education for the boy, and were willing to pay for an expensive, highly regarded school. Harvard's high density of students with both computer skills and family money for early expenses (the Winklevoss twins, Eduardo Saverin, and others) was crucial to Mark Zuckerberg in launching Facebook. Ivy lacrosse teams are renowned as investment-banking feeders.
“Education is a long-run investment,” said Professor Eide, chairman of the economics department at Brigham Young, “It may be more painful to finance right now. People may be more hesitant to go into debt because of the recession. In my opinion, they should be looking over the long run of their child’s life.”
He added, “I don’t think the costs of college are going up faster than the returns on graduating from an elite private college.”
From the Atlantic:
Still, there's something to be said for the broader academic and social environment of the competitive admission schools. Even many celebrity dropouts, the same ones Peter Thiel cited in his criticisms of higher education, were able to leave precisely because of the accelerated advantages of privileged education. Bill Gates and Paul Allen could begin programming as teenagers thanks to donations to their private high school by a computer company and a parents group. A timesharing teletype was not a feature of most secondary schools at the time.Steve Jobs may have left the academic program at Reed College, but he was able to take advantage of its unique calligraphy program -- the kind of course derided by many critics of impractical arts programs, but later essential to the design of the Mac. Jobs' adoptive father and mother had expressly promised to provide a college education for the boy, and were willing to pay for an expensive, highly regarded school. Harvard's high density of students with both computer skills and family money for early expenses (the Winklevoss twins, Eduardo Saverin, and others) was crucial to Mark Zuckerberg in launching Facebook. Ivy lacrosse teams are renowned as investment-banking feeders.
Civil rights groups seek review of Texas schools
Here's an item in yesterday's Washington Post:
HOUSTON -- Two civil rights organizations are seeking a federal review of public school education in Texas, accusing state school administrators of violating federal civil rights laws after curriculum changes approved earlier this year by the Texas Board of Education.
HOUSTON -- Two civil rights organizations are seeking a federal review of public school education in Texas, accusing state school administrators of violating federal civil rights laws after curriculum changes approved earlier this year by the Texas Board of Education.
The request to the U.S. Department of Education made by the Texas NAACP and Texas League of United Latin American Citizens on Monday contended that the curriculum changes passed in May "were made with the intention to discriminate" and would have a "stigmatizing impact" on African-American and Latino students.
"The State of Texas is failing to provide many of its minority students with equal educational opportunities," documents sent to the federal department said.
The request, signed by Gary Bledsoe, president of the state NAACP, and Joey D. Cardenas Jr., state director of Texas LULAC, asked that implementation of the curriculum changes and new standardized tests be stopped for being racially or ethnically offensive or historically inaccurate.
Is it possible that we systemically fail minority students by presenting a version of history that makes them feel marginalized?
"The State of Texas is failing to provide many of its minority students with equal educational opportunities," documents sent to the federal department said.
The request, signed by Gary Bledsoe, president of the state NAACP, and Joey D. Cardenas Jr., state director of Texas LULAC, asked that implementation of the curriculum changes and new standardized tests be stopped for being racially or ethnically offensive or historically inaccurate.
Is it possible that we systemically fail minority students by presenting a version of history that makes them feel marginalized?
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Schools considering lawsuit in face of cuts ....
An item in the Houston Chronicle:
Texas school districts are ready to sue the state again over funding but likely will wait to see what the state Legislature does this spring.
Texas school districts are ready to sue the state again over funding but likely will wait to see what the state Legislature does this spring.
"School districts are so disgusted and fed up with this funding situation because it's the same thing year after year after year. We're ready to go," said John Folks, past president of the Texas Association of School Administrators. Folks is the superintendent of San Antonio's largest school district - Northside ISD - and former superintendent of Houston's Spring ISD.
School districts complain of funding disparities that create large differences - more than $20,000 per classroom - with neighboring school districts. They contend education funding is not keeping up with overhead costs and is insufficient to meet more rigorous academic standards.
At least 60 percent of school districts now are using reserve funds to help pay operating expenses, according to the Texas Association of School Boards.
Adding to educators' anxiety is the upcoming legislative session in which public school funding cuts are expected to be on the table
...
...
Education at a Glance
Here is a rich resource with international comparisons on education
http://www.oecd.org/document/30/0,3746,en_2649_39263294_39251550_1_1_1_1,00.html
It includes analysis of PISA data and a lot more detail to support what we learned about on Thursday. As you can see from the graph, the USA spending per student is high but our math scores are dismal. There numerous spreadsheets that I would be interested in discussing (student attitudes, immigration status, teacher demographics, etc)
thanks
Carolyn
Friday, December 17, 2010
Want to be an Education Lobbyist?
The Texas Association of Business is looking for one.
Here are details from their recently completed meetign on higher education in the state: “Reforming Higher Education: A Prerequisite for Prosperity.” I've yet to pour through it, but I'm interested in what "reform" in fact means.
Here are details from their recently completed meetign on higher education in the state: “Reforming Higher Education: A Prerequisite for Prosperity.” I've yet to pour through it, but I'm interested in what "reform" in fact means.
Summary of Education Bills Introduced in the Last Legislative Session
Here's a comprehensive summary compiled by the TSTA of what did and did not happen in the 2009 Texas Legislative Session. Here's a link to the page they have set up for the upcoming session. In yesterday's meeting, some of us were interested in developing a legislative agenda (I'll put up a link to it on the right hand column). We should follow this year's activities to determine what to develop for 2013.
Is there any interest in setting up a meeting with an education lobbyist or some other pro to go over the nitty gritty?
Is there any interest in setting up a meeting with an education lobbyist or some other pro to go over the nitty gritty?
Thanks Judy!
The Real Lessons of PISA
[NOTE: Bridging Differences -- Deborah Meier and Diane Ravitch
have found themselves at odds on policy over the years, but they
share a passion for improving schools. Bridging Differences offers
their insights on what matters most in education. Below is Diane
Ravitch's latest note to Deborah Meier in Education Week.]
By Diane Ravitch
Dear Deborah,
When the results of the latest international assessment-the Program
for International Student Assessment, or PISA-were released
our national leaders sounded an alarm about a national "crisis in
education." Our students scored in the middle of the pack! We are not
No. 1! Shanghai is No. 1! We are doomed unless we overtake Shanghai!
President Obama and Secretary Arne Duncan warned ominously that our
nation was having a "Sputnik moment." We have fallen behind the
global competition in education, they cried, evoking comparison with
the Soviet Union's launch of a space satellite in 1957. At that time,
the media and the politicians predicted that the Soviets would soon
rule the world, and we know how that turned out.
Now the politicians would like to use the latest test scores to
promote their "reform" agenda for the schools: more charter schools,
more reliance on competition and free-market strategies, more
testing, more use of test scores to evaluate teachers, more firing of
principals and teachers, more closing of low-scoring schools.
Our leaders in Washington would have us believe that they know how to
close the achievement gap and how to overtake the highest-performing
nations in the world. PISA proves that they don't.
Consider the two top contenders on PISA: Shanghai and Finland. These
two places-one a very large city of nearly 21 million, the other a
small nation of less than six million-represent two very different
approaches to education. The one thing they have in common is that
neither of the world leaders in education is doing what American
reformers propose.
According to the OECD, the international group that sponsors PISA,
the schools of Shanghai - like those in all of China - are dominated
by pressure to get higher scores on examinations. OECD writes:
"Teaching and learning, in secondary schools in particular [download
at the website], are predominantly determined by the examination
syllabi, and school activities at that level are very much oriented
towards exam preparation. Subjects such as music and art, and in some
cases even physical education, are removed from the timetable because
they are not covered in the public examinations. Schools work their
students for long hours every day, and the work weeks extend into the
weekends, mainly for additional exam preparation classes...private
tutorials, most of them profit-making, are widespread and have become
almost a household necessity."
OECD points out that more than 80 percent of students in Shanghai
attend after-school tutoring. It remarked on the academic intensity
of Chinese students. Non-attention is not tolerated. As I read about
the "intense concentration" of these students, I was reminded of the
astonishing opening event of the Beijing Olympics, when 15,000
participants performed tightly scripted routines. It is hard to
imagine a similar event performed by American youth, who are
accustomed not to intense discipline, but to a culture of free
expression and individualism.
Interestingly, the authorities in Shanghai boast not about their
testing routines, but about their consistent and effective support
for struggling teachers and schools. When a school is in trouble in
[NOTE: Bridging Differences -- Deborah Meier and Diane Ravitch
have found themselves at odds on policy over the years, but they
share a passion for improving schools. Bridging Differences offers
their insights on what matters most in education. Below is Diane
Ravitch's latest note to Deborah Meier in Education Week.]
By Diane Ravitch
Dear Deborah,
When the results of the latest international assessment-the Program
for International Student Assessment, or PISA-were released
our national leaders sounded an alarm about a national "crisis in
education." Our students scored in the middle of the pack! We are not
No. 1! Shanghai is No. 1! We are doomed unless we overtake Shanghai!
President Obama and Secretary Arne Duncan warned ominously that our
nation was having a "Sputnik moment." We have fallen behind the
global competition in education, they cried, evoking comparison with
the Soviet Union's launch of a space satellite in 1957. At that time,
the media and the politicians predicted that the Soviets would soon
rule the world, and we know how that turned out.
Now the politicians would like to use the latest test scores to
promote their "reform" agenda for the schools: more charter schools,
more reliance on competition and free-market strategies, more
testing, more use of test scores to evaluate teachers, more firing of
principals and teachers, more closing of low-scoring schools.
Our leaders in Washington would have us believe that they know how to
close the achievement gap and how to overtake the highest-performing
nations in the world. PISA proves that they don't.
Consider the two top contenders on PISA: Shanghai and Finland. These
two places-one a very large city of nearly 21 million, the other a
small nation of less than six million-represent two very different
approaches to education. The one thing they have in common is that
neither of the world leaders in education is doing what American
reformers propose.
According to the OECD, the international group that sponsors PISA,
the schools of Shanghai - like those in all of China - are dominated
by pressure to get higher scores on examinations. OECD writes:
"Teaching and learning, in secondary schools in particular [download
at the website], are predominantly determined by the examination
syllabi, and school activities at that level are very much oriented
towards exam preparation. Subjects such as music and art, and in some
cases even physical education, are removed from the timetable because
they are not covered in the public examinations. Schools work their
students for long hours every day, and the work weeks extend into the
weekends, mainly for additional exam preparation classes...private
tutorials, most of them profit-making, are widespread and have become
almost a household necessity."
OECD points out that more than 80 percent of students in Shanghai
attend after-school tutoring. It remarked on the academic intensity
of Chinese students. Non-attention is not tolerated. As I read about
the "intense concentration" of these students, I was reminded of the
astonishing opening event of the Beijing Olympics, when 15,000
participants performed tightly scripted routines. It is hard to
imagine a similar event performed by American youth, who are
accustomed not to intense discipline, but to a culture of free
expression and individualism.
Interestingly, the authorities in Shanghai boast not about their
testing routines, but about their consistent and effective support
for struggling teachers and schools. When a school is in trouble in
Shanghai, authorities say they pair it with a high-performing school.
The teachers and leaders of the strong school help those in the weak
school until it improves. The authorities send whatever support is
needed to help those who are struggling. In the OECD video about
Shanghai [https://webmail.alvincollege.edu/owa/redir.aspx?C=7f06d177ee1c447a9d2aeb56b9f7e3f4&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.pearsonfoundation.org%2foecd%2fchina.html], the
lowest-performing school in the city is described as one where "only"
89 percent of students passed the state exams! With the help sent by
the leaders of the school system, it eventually reached the target of
100 percent.
Finland is at the other end of the educational spectrum. Its
education system is modeled on American progressive ideas. It is
student-centered. It has a broad (and non-directive) national
curriculum. Its teachers are drawn from the top 10 percent of
university graduates. They are highly educated and well prepared.
Students never take a high-stakes test; their teachers make their own
tests. The only test they take that counts is the one required to
enter university.
Last week, I went to a luncheon with Pasi Sahlberg, the Finnish
education expert. I asked him the question that every politician asks
today: "If students don't take tests, how do you hold teachers and
schools accountable?" He said that there is no word in the Finnish
language for "accountability." He said, "We put well-prepared
teachers in the classroom, give them maximum autonomy, and we trust
them to be responsible."
I asked him if teachers are paid more for experience. He said, "Of
course." And what about graduate degrees? He said, "Every teacher in
Finland has a master's degree." He added: "We don't believe in
competition among students, teachers, or schools. We believe in
collaboration, trust, responsibility, and autonomy."
Since I have not visited schools in either Shanghai or Finland, I am
certainly no expert. It was interesting to watch the short videos
about their schools, found here. It is also interesting to consider
what these two very different systems have in common: They place
their bets on expert, experienced teachers and on careful training of
their new teachers. They rely on well-planned, consistent support of
teachers to improve their schools continuously.
These two systems are diametrically opposed in one sense: Shanghai
relies heavily on testing to meet its goals; Finland emphasizes
child-centered methods. Yet they have these important things in
common: Neither of them does what the United States is now promoting:
They do not hand students over to privately managed schools; they do
not accept teachers who do not intend to make teaching their
profession; they do not have principals who are non-educators; they
do not have superintendents who are non-educators; they do not "turn
around" schools by closing them or privatizing them; they do not
"improve" schools by firing the principal or the teachers. They
respect their teachers. They focus relentlessly on improving teaching
and learning, as it is defined in their culture and society.
The lesson of PISA is this: Neither of the world's highest-performing
nations do what our "reformers" want to do. How long will it take
before our political leaders begin to listen to educators? How long
will it take before they realize that their strategies have not
worked anywhere? How long will it be before they stop inflicting
their bad ideas on our schools, our students, our teachers, and
American education?
The teachers and leaders of the strong school help those in the weak
school until it improves. The authorities send whatever support is
needed to help those who are struggling. In the OECD video about
Shanghai [https://webmail.alvincollege.edu/owa/redir.aspx?C=7f06d177ee1c447a9d2aeb56b9f7e3f4&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.pearsonfoundation.org%2foecd%2fchina.html], the
lowest-performing school in the city is described as one where "only"
89 percent of students passed the state exams! With the help sent by
the leaders of the school system, it eventually reached the target of
100 percent.
Finland is at the other end of the educational spectrum. Its
education system is modeled on American progressive ideas. It is
student-centered. It has a broad (and non-directive) national
curriculum. Its teachers are drawn from the top 10 percent of
university graduates. They are highly educated and well prepared.
Students never take a high-stakes test; their teachers make their own
tests. The only test they take that counts is the one required to
enter university.
Last week, I went to a luncheon with Pasi Sahlberg, the Finnish
education expert. I asked him the question that every politician asks
today: "If students don't take tests, how do you hold teachers and
schools accountable?" He said that there is no word in the Finnish
language for "accountability." He said, "We put well-prepared
teachers in the classroom, give them maximum autonomy, and we trust
them to be responsible."
I asked him if teachers are paid more for experience. He said, "Of
course." And what about graduate degrees? He said, "Every teacher in
Finland has a master's degree." He added: "We don't believe in
competition among students, teachers, or schools. We believe in
collaboration, trust, responsibility, and autonomy."
Since I have not visited schools in either Shanghai or Finland, I am
certainly no expert. It was interesting to watch the short videos
about their schools, found here. It is also interesting to consider
what these two very different systems have in common: They place
their bets on expert, experienced teachers and on careful training of
their new teachers. They rely on well-planned, consistent support of
teachers to improve their schools continuously.
These two systems are diametrically opposed in one sense: Shanghai
relies heavily on testing to meet its goals; Finland emphasizes
child-centered methods. Yet they have these important things in
common: Neither of them does what the United States is now promoting:
They do not hand students over to privately managed schools; they do
not accept teachers who do not intend to make teaching their
profession; they do not have principals who are non-educators; they
do not have superintendents who are non-educators; they do not "turn
around" schools by closing them or privatizing them; they do not
"improve" schools by firing the principal or the teachers. They
respect their teachers. They focus relentlessly on improving teaching
and learning, as it is defined in their culture and society.
The lesson of PISA is this: Neither of the world's highest-performing
nations do what our "reformers" want to do. How long will it take
before our political leaders begin to listen to educators? How long
will it take before they realize that their strategies have not
worked anywhere? How long will it be before they stop inflicting
their bad ideas on our schools, our students, our teachers, and
American education?
Diane
******_____________________________________________________________
Lessons from Finland
Pull-out quote: "In Finland, unions aren't an obstacle. Ninety-eight percent of teachers are unionized. And this is very important to the success of our system. I wouldn't buy the argument that unions are a problem."
What I'd Like to Accomplish -- KJ
I've asked my fellow alf-ers to write up a paragraph or so about what type of project they'd like to develop so we can have something to continue working on after our time together is officially over. Here's my idea, and it's guiding what I'm trying to do on this blog.
I'm very concerned about inequity in society and particularly the structural factors that, I believe, cause inequities to persist. Uneven educational opportunities are among the most important of these factors, but there's much, much more, though I have a hunch that they all tie into education at some point. While we trumpted America as the land of equal opportunity, I believe this is still an aspiration not a reality.
The key word in that paragraph though is "hunch." I have no real way of knowing if what I believe is the case is actually the case because I lack the data and analytical tools to determine (1) if inequities actually exist and to what degree and (2) if inequity does exist, what factors determine it. I'm not even sure, in the greater Houston area what specific consequences of inequity are. I'd really like to know. I think we need to know these things before specific, effective, policy proposals can be made and implemented.
Do we really know what factors truly drive inequity in educational opportunities in our area (the local picture, not the global) and what those consequences are? I don't think we do. I'm not even sure we have a full idea of what those factors are. Is it the decentralized political environment? Is it poverty and crime rates? Infrastructure? Individual initiative? Perhaps we -- the majority anyway -- don't really care about equal educational opportunities.
What I would like to do with this blog is collect thought abouts these matters and develop it into a resource for gathering information that allows for the exploration of these questions.
That's my two cents anyway. I don't know if this is helpful at all.
I'm very concerned about inequity in society and particularly the structural factors that, I believe, cause inequities to persist. Uneven educational opportunities are among the most important of these factors, but there's much, much more, though I have a hunch that they all tie into education at some point. While we trumpted America as the land of equal opportunity, I believe this is still an aspiration not a reality.
The key word in that paragraph though is "hunch." I have no real way of knowing if what I believe is the case is actually the case because I lack the data and analytical tools to determine (1) if inequities actually exist and to what degree and (2) if inequity does exist, what factors determine it. I'm not even sure, in the greater Houston area what specific consequences of inequity are. I'd really like to know. I think we need to know these things before specific, effective, policy proposals can be made and implemented.
Do we really know what factors truly drive inequity in educational opportunities in our area (the local picture, not the global) and what those consequences are? I don't think we do. I'm not even sure we have a full idea of what those factors are. Is it the decentralized political environment? Is it poverty and crime rates? Infrastructure? Individual initiative? Perhaps we -- the majority anyway -- don't really care about equal educational opportunities.
What I would like to do with this blog is collect thought abouts these matters and develop it into a resource for gathering information that allows for the exploration of these questions.
That's my two cents anyway. I don't know if this is helpful at all.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
The PISA Results
From AOLnews:
China has dropped an educational bomb on the United States, according to the results of an international test of 15-year-olds from more than 65 countries and educational systems.
The exam, called the Program for International Student Assessment, or PISA, tracks student performance in reading, mathematics and science. Students in Shanghai outperformed all other students in all three subjects on the 2009 test. Students in Hong Kong scored third highest in mathematics and science, and fourth highest in reading. China was participating in the test for the first time.
Meanwhile, test scores for American students were about average for all participating countries. The scores showed some improvement in science from earlier tests and small comfort in math, where the U.S. caught up to nine countries that previously outperformed it.
China has dropped an educational bomb on the United States, according to the results of an international test of 15-year-olds from more than 65 countries and educational systems.
The exam, called the Program for International Student Assessment, or PISA, tracks student performance in reading, mathematics and science. Students in Shanghai outperformed all other students in all three subjects on the 2009 test. Students in Hong Kong scored third highest in mathematics and science, and fourth highest in reading. China was participating in the test for the first time.
Meanwhile, test scores for American students were about average for all participating countries. The scores showed some improvement in science from earlier tests and small comfort in math, where the U.S. caught up to nine countries that previously outperformed it.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
The Shadow Scholar
I caused some buzz on my campus by circulating this story about one of those guys students can hire to write their papers. I thought two parts of the story stood out and might be worth discussing:
From my experience, three demographic groups seek out my services: the English-as-second-language student; the hopelessly deficient student; and the lazy rich kid.
For the last, colleges are a perfect launching ground—they are built to reward the rich and to forgive them their laziness. Let's be honest: The successful among us are not always the best and the brightest, and certainly not the most ethical. My favorite customers are those with an unlimited supply of money and no shortage of instructions on how they would like to see their work executed. While the deficient student will generally not know how to ask for what he wants until he doesn't get it, the lazy rich student will know exactly what he wants. He is poised for a life of paying others and telling them what to do. Indeed, he is acquiring all the skills he needs to stay on top.
As for the first two types of students—the ESL and the hopelessly deficient—colleges are utterly failing them. Students who come to American universities from other countries find that their efforts to learn a new language are confounded not only by cultural difficulties but also by the pressures of grading. The focus on evaluation rather than education means that those who haven't mastered English must do so quickly or suffer the consequences. My service provides a particularly quick way to "master" English. And those who are hopelessly deficient—a euphemism, I admit—struggle with communication in general.
And the there's this:
I do a lot of work for seminary students. I like seminary students. They seem so blissfully unaware of the inherent contradiction in paying somebody to help them cheat in courses that are largely about walking in the light of God and providing an ethical model for others to follow. I have been commissioned to write many a passionate condemnation of America's moral decay as exemplified by abortion, gay marriage, or the teaching of evolution. All in all, we may presume that clerical authorities see these as a greater threat than the plagiarism committed by the future frocked.
With respect to America's nurses, fear not. Our lives are in capable hands—just hands that can't write a lick. Nursing students account for one of my company's biggest customer bases. I've written case-management plans, reports on nursing ethics, and essays on why nurse practitioners are lighting the way to the future of medicine. I've even written pharmaceutical-treatment courses, for patients who I hope were hypothetical.
I, who have no name, no opinions, and no style, have written so many papers at this point, including legal briefs, military-strategy assessments, poems, lab reports, and, yes, even papers on academic integrity, that it's hard to determine which course of study is most infested with cheating. But I'd say education is the worst. I've written papers for students in elementary-education programs, special-education majors, and ESL-training courses. I've written lesson plans for aspiring high-school teachers, and I've synthesized reports from notes that customers have taken during classroom observations. I've written essays for those studying to become school administrators, and I've completed theses for those on course to become principals. In the enormous conspiracy that is student cheating, the frontline intelligence community is infiltrated by double agents. (Future educators of America, I know who you are.)
Enjoy....
From my experience, three demographic groups seek out my services: the English-as-second-language student; the hopelessly deficient student; and the lazy rich kid.
For the last, colleges are a perfect launching ground—they are built to reward the rich and to forgive them their laziness. Let's be honest: The successful among us are not always the best and the brightest, and certainly not the most ethical. My favorite customers are those with an unlimited supply of money and no shortage of instructions on how they would like to see their work executed. While the deficient student will generally not know how to ask for what he wants until he doesn't get it, the lazy rich student will know exactly what he wants. He is poised for a life of paying others and telling them what to do. Indeed, he is acquiring all the skills he needs to stay on top.
As for the first two types of students—the ESL and the hopelessly deficient—colleges are utterly failing them. Students who come to American universities from other countries find that their efforts to learn a new language are confounded not only by cultural difficulties but also by the pressures of grading. The focus on evaluation rather than education means that those who haven't mastered English must do so quickly or suffer the consequences. My service provides a particularly quick way to "master" English. And those who are hopelessly deficient—a euphemism, I admit—struggle with communication in general.
And the there's this:
I do a lot of work for seminary students. I like seminary students. They seem so blissfully unaware of the inherent contradiction in paying somebody to help them cheat in courses that are largely about walking in the light of God and providing an ethical model for others to follow. I have been commissioned to write many a passionate condemnation of America's moral decay as exemplified by abortion, gay marriage, or the teaching of evolution. All in all, we may presume that clerical authorities see these as a greater threat than the plagiarism committed by the future frocked.
With respect to America's nurses, fear not. Our lives are in capable hands—just hands that can't write a lick. Nursing students account for one of my company's biggest customer bases. I've written case-management plans, reports on nursing ethics, and essays on why nurse practitioners are lighting the way to the future of medicine. I've even written pharmaceutical-treatment courses, for patients who I hope were hypothetical.
I, who have no name, no opinions, and no style, have written so many papers at this point, including legal briefs, military-strategy assessments, poems, lab reports, and, yes, even papers on academic integrity, that it's hard to determine which course of study is most infested with cheating. But I'd say education is the worst. I've written papers for students in elementary-education programs, special-education majors, and ESL-training courses. I've written lesson plans for aspiring high-school teachers, and I've synthesized reports from notes that customers have taken during classroom observations. I've written essays for those studying to become school administrators, and I've completed theses for those on course to become principals. In the enormous conspiracy that is student cheating, the frontline intelligence community is infiltrated by double agents. (Future educators of America, I know who you are.)
Enjoy....
Friday, November 19, 2010
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Feedback From Yesterday's Meeting?
For those of us who were not at the morning session of yesterday's (apparently highly productive) meeting, can the participants fill us in on what was covered and how it impacts the work we should begin to do together?
Thanks
Thanks
Opening Question: Who are the most important voices on education in Houston?
I'd like to kick this thing off by asking everyone to contribute answers to the question above. Who are the most important people -- the ones we should pay most attention to (which may not be the same thing of course) -- in education in the greater Houston area? These are the people we can look to to ask the right questions and help formulate implementable answers to them.
I'd also like to start by proposing Bob Wimpelberg. I'll start a column to the right of the blog with his name. Let's add more so we can get an idea of what the lay of the land looks like.
I'd also like to start by proposing Bob Wimpelberg. I'll start a column to the right of the blog with his name. Let's add more so we can get an idea of what the lay of the land looks like.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
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