EDUCATION
Why Are Conservatives Rare on College Faculties? 2/9/10
Seven professors comment on a controversial theory: "...the key reason why few conservatives go into the teaching profession is that the stereotype of the job of a professor just doesn’t fit the image they have of themselves..." Do you agree with the responses?
Black Education
"...Only 3 percent of Detroit's fourth-graders scored proficient... the same story for Detroit's eighth-graders. Four percent scored proficient, 18 percent basic and 77 percent below basic ... The academic performance of black students in other large cities such as Philadelphia, Chicago, New York and Los Angeles is not much better than Detroit and Washington..." Sowell points out that these abysmal results are not due to teacher salaries or a lack of "role models" for black children. In addition, "Schools of education, either graduate or undergraduate, represent the academic slums of most any university. They are home to the least able students and professors. Schools of education should be shut down..."
Ideological Re-education in Campus Dorms
Where's the education happening? In residential dorms on campus. This story is from 2007 about U of Delaware, but don't think for a moment it doesn't happen there and elsewhere today--at least ask when you do a college visit or want to make a donation. Freshmen make great candidates. Only private prep high schools and off-the-books college sessions get away with actively teaching “[a] racist is one who is both privileged and socialized on the basis of race by a white supremacist (racist) system. The term applies to all white people (i.e., people of European descent) living in the United States, regardless of class, gender, religion, culture or sexuality.” Ahhh, there's so much more, so read the article, but you get the idea. HT VMcKenna
Back to Basics -- Stick with the classics; they work.
After billions of dollars over the years following fads, private money in NY back a program in 10 schools that 9 found very effective. "The pilot curriculum is heavily focused on content knowledge, phonics and non-fiction books...It is based on the belief that when students struggle with reading comprehension in elementary school, middle school and beyond, a large part of the problem is that they lack basic knowledge in subjects like history, science and literature." And a common knowledge base allows for common understanding.
How about Socialism Workshops on Campus?
The emailed invite states, "...Republicans fret that the US is fast becoming a "socialist country" -- with government spending on bank bailouts and Barack Obama's proposed health care reform. But the genuine tradition of socialism is "socialism from below," which means something more than state intervention in the economy. Socialism is really about the struggle to oppose discrimination in all its forms and to put the needs of working people before corporate profits. Come to this meeting to discuss the idea of socialism -- and socialist strategies for changing the world." Who needs a history lesson on Socialism?!
Campus Report | Shar'iah Studies by Stealth
Campus Report exposes the continuation of a problematic and systemic teaching of Islam in disproportion to the teachings of other religions.
Political Math | College Students: Learn things you can't learn on your own.
Great advice. "... Students should take the opportunity to broaden in a way that will be unavailable when they get out of school. Dostoevsky will always be there for them to read as long as they remember how to read. But it will be much harder to figure out differential equations on their own time." There's more about making the most of your educational dollars.
Josh Dean | How Much Can You Really Learn with a Free Online Education?
"...a few Free Online School Rules I'd learned by the end of my experiment:
1. You get what you pay for. "Free" means no asking questions in the middle of class, which can be a dealbreaker with a subject as potentially confusing as physics.
2. That said, it might help if you actually buy the textbook.
3. Free online learning is not going to teach you anything substantial overnight, or in a week (unless you are Rain Man, in which case you're just memorizing anyway). Plan to do a whole course.
4. There are few things better than hot bread made with your own two hands, especially when you understand the science of why it's so delicious.
5. We are at the beginning of this experiment, not the end..."
Here are his links to openware courses (OCW). An MIT student commentator makes good points. HT JoanneJacobs
1. You get what you pay for. "Free" means no asking questions in the middle of class, which can be a dealbreaker with a subject as potentially confusing as physics.
2. That said, it might help if you actually buy the textbook.
3. Free online learning is not going to teach you anything substantial overnight, or in a week (unless you are Rain Man, in which case you're just memorizing anyway). Plan to do a whole course.
4. There are few things better than hot bread made with your own two hands, especially when you understand the science of why it's so delicious.
5. We are at the beginning of this experiment, not the end..."
Here are his links to openware courses (OCW). An MIT student commentator makes good points. HT JoanneJacobs
Labor Day and the American Dream, College Isn't for Everyone
"...Today, Keegan Abendschoen is just 25 years old—but now has two people working full-time for him. He's also taken courses in landscaping management and design from the County College of Morris, with the result that Keegan's Landscaping has expanded its offerings to include laying out driveways and walkways and such. In other words, young Mr. Abendschoen is not just a worker: He's the proprietor of a successful enterprise who continues to invest in himself so he can expand his business...Of course, working in the trades or starting up a small business is not for everyone. Then again, neither is college." William McGurn
John Zmirak | America's Red Light District
"...The top National Universities choices are pretty predictable: Every year, the three or four top Ivies shuffle places with a few massive state schools—not surprising, since nearly half each college's score is based on a) What administrators at other schools say about a college and b) how much the college spends per student. What is worse, the U.S. News guide pretty much pretends that campus politics, classroom bias, and threats to free expression aren't problems—which is rather like ranking restaurants without worrying about their hygiene." Lamest curricula in academia? Learn about Brown, Amherst, and Hamilton.
Who Needs Harvard? [An Online Future Starts Now]
This Fast Company article (click title) is about the future of online courses and programs with many more in the works. Check out these links.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) puts all its courses online for free.
Youtube offers free video lectures, etc. in cooperation with academic partners.
CosmoLearning gives us online courses and documentaries on a variety of subjects.
The CampusCenter will offer online courses soon. Keep checking back.
Wilkes University offers online graduate and post-graduate education.
India gives us online video courses and supplemental experiences to enhance engineering/science and humanities education.
Stay tuned; there will be more to come!
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) puts all its courses online for free.
Youtube offers free video lectures, etc. in cooperation with academic partners.
CosmoLearning gives us online courses and documentaries on a variety of subjects.
The CampusCenter will offer online courses soon. Keep checking back.
Wilkes University offers online graduate and post-graduate education.
India gives us online video courses and supplemental experiences to enhance engineering/science and humanities education.
Stay tuned; there will be more to come!
James Tooley | The Beautiful Tree (scroll to page 16 to read the article)
"School choice advocates in America can gain inspiration from the education revolution that is sweeping the developing world...[one father in the largest slum in Africa who pays to send his daughter to a private school] would have warmed the heart of Milton Friedman: he told me 'if you go to the market and are offered free fruit and vegetables, they'll be rotten. If you want fresh produce, you have to pay for it.'"
Wall Street Journal | Weighing Price and Value When Picking Colleges
"...parents and students are doing a tougher cost-benefit analysis of the true value of a pricey undergraduate degree...Chelsea returned to the family’s home in Boulder, Colo., last year and became a partner in the real-estate-investment business that her mother and aunt own jointly. Now 20 years old, Chelsea co-owns two rental houses and is working on a bachelor’s degree at a nearby public university. Chelsea says she misses her Amherst friends and the stimulating campus environment. Still, she adds, a degree from a top school 'is worth a lot, but it’s not worth that much.'”
Wall Street Journal | One College Sidesteps the Crisis
No tuition. No Federal money. Conservative investment of endowment. Interesting background: "Cooper has a rich, 150-year history. Founder Peter Cooper, a 19th-century inventor and industrialist with less than a year of formal schooling, aimed to provide working-class students a "first rank" education "as free as air or water." ... Cooper's most valuable asset is a gift from Peter Cooper's family -- the land under the Chrysler Building [in NY, NY]." Cooper Union sounds interesting---especially for budding architects.
MailOnline (UK) | 9 of 10 Can't Make this Haberdasher's Cut HT JoanneJacobs
"When the Bamberger family opened a haberdashery 65 years ago, they insisted their staff use mental arithmetic to price up customers' purchases...Colin Bamberger, 82, whose parents founded the Remnant Shop in 1944, said that less than one in ten applicants are now able to solve basic maths problems without turning to a calculator or till...In the past, around eight in ten made the grade." Everyday Math, indeed.
Ashley Herzog | Ignorance Is No Excuse
"... As ISI put it, 'Though a university education can cost upwards of $200,000, and college students on average leave campus $19,300 in debt, they are no better off than when they arrived in terms of acquiring the knowledge necessary for informed engagement'..."
Abraham H. Miller | Realities of a College-Based Education
"...Better high schools frequently use the same textbooks for the mandatory requirements that are used in the first two years of college. If a high school draws from the upper end of the socioeconomic scale, the courses will be more demanding than the first two years of most colleges..." The commentary is great as well.
Paul Kengor | Why Not Manage Universities, Mr. President?
Government officials give away loads of our money to expensive, high-paying, whiny colleges. Why doesn't the "government" intervene there? FYI: "A 2003 survey by the Center for the Study of Popular Culture found these ratios of Democrats to Republicans: Swarthmore: 21-1. Bowdoin College: 23-1. Wellesley College: 23-1. Brown University: 30-1. Amazingly, the study couldn't identify a single Republican at the faculties of Williams, Oberlin, MIT, and Haverford, nor a single Republican administrator at Penn, Carnegie Mellon, or Cornell." Just in case you are wondering, the gap is due to discrimination, not intelligence.
Young America's Foundation | Top 10 Conservative Colleges
Good group to get recommendations from... Click here for another list. Boycottliberalism suggests these. Human Events weighs in.
Joanne Jacobs' blog | Making Connections, Part 1: The Road Not Taken
Interesting and clear explanation comparing lessons in what is essentially a pc-world versus an academic world. At least scroll down and find the two lessons. Her questions are relevant. Lesson 1 is definitely pushed in today's colleges of education. Classical education is sorely lacking.
American Council of Trustees and Alumni | The Intelligent Donor's Guide to College Giving
This pamphlet "encourages donors to decide what college activities they value most and direct their funds to those activities...Philanthropy magazine said the Guide 'represents a significant breakthrough for donors who want to make their giving to colleges and universities more meaningful.'" Are you donating to private schools/colleges that undermine American and your values? Avoid it with this info.
Phyllis Schlafly | 'Social Justice' Education is Already Shaping America's Future
Does the name William Ayers ring a bell? The Weathermen? See how a radical socialist agenda is inserted into our children's classrooms. Click here to read this article.
How about a Revisionist History Text? You've heard the complaints. Take a look at what your children/grandchildren are assigned.
Various | Is College Worth It?
Cato Unbound offers an incredible exchange of ideas on whether college is worth it. Perhaps you're asking yourself Can schools be fixed? Many other subjects in the Archives section. EagleForum's Education Reporter provides a great summary Questioning College. Bennington College is led by someone FAR left (her "betrayal" of US is breathtaking, esp. vis-a-vis our founders...start 7 min. in if you lack time). She defines education as a "framework for action; "...achieving economics of equity"..."action-oriented curriculum"... learning to organize "the world of words to maximum design." Filmed Feb. 2009.
Kansas Teacher | 8th Grade Final Exam, Salina KS 1895
I'm sure most of the founding fathers would have done well on this test that covers grammar, arithmetic, U.S. history, orthography and geography. Once you've chewed on it for a while and passed it around, you can click here if you are curious about the answers.
