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Jane Can't Read? Let's Teach Her |
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| Topic: Education |
11:56 am EDT, Apr 4, 2004 |
It is clear from federal statistics, published in the Nation's Report Card, that by the end of the fourth grade, more than half of African-American, Hispanic and American Indian students are performing below basic level on national exams. More than half of the students entering urban high schools read at or below the sixth-grade level. It is almost impossible for these ninth graders to deal with high school content. It isn't that they can't read -- they can. But they cannot read and understand. Okay, so you can read the words. But do you understand the implications? Jane Can't Read? Let's Teach Her |
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Reflections on the Life of the Mind in an Era of Abundance |
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| Topic: Education |
4:29 pm EST, Mar 14, 2004 |
Increasingly, the focus of attention in higher education on accessibility, affordability, and accountability has blunted attention to a fourth "A": abundance. The history of human learning can perhaps best be described in terms of a lack of abundance, or scarcity. The current and prospective era of abundance will challenge many basic assumptions and practices about safeguarding, protecting, filtering, cataloguing, and vetting information ... The next half-century is likely to be characterized by ... the shift of attention, invention, and investment to systems designed to foster learning productivity and outcomes. One underlying principle of the knowledge-driven era is that education is a lifelong endeavor. The capacity to create a comprehensive digital record of work and life experiences ... will immensely influence institutional and individual behaviors, expectations, and experiences. In the race to leave no child behind, do we risk leaving everyone behind? ... a MemeStream on every desktop ... Reflections on the Life of the Mind in an Era of Abundance |
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| Topic: Education |
1:27 pm EST, Jan 24, 2004 |
Despite some reawakening of student activism via Howard Dean's Internet-based campaign, in my experience, attempts to introduce contemporary politics into classroom discussions meet with blank stares. Even this past year, as our country began a war, I encountered mostly silence when I broached the topic of Iraq, a mix of paralysis and anxiety, plus some disgruntlement over my deviating from the syllabus. But each year, frankly, I feel increasingly compelled to look beyond my syllabuses and to devote myself more to teaching "wakeful" political literacy: the skills needed to interrogate all cultural messages. Students need to be able to mine the implications, for example, of a "Family Time Flexibility Act" which, while claiming to help women balance home and family, might have actually decreased overtime pay. They need to look critically at a presidential address that divides the world into opposing halves labeled "with us" and "with the terrorists." Career Girls |
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The Columbia Guide to Standard American English |
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| Topic: Education |
4:58 pm EST, Dec 13, 2003 |
A vigorous assessment of how our language is best written and spoken and how we can use it most effectively, this guide is the ideal handbook of language etiquette: friendly, sensible, reliable, and fun to read. In case you need a refresher ... The Columbia Guide to Standard American English |
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MIT's President Is Expected to Announce His Retirement |
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| Topic: Education |
9:40 am EST, Dec 5, 2003 |
The president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Charles M. Vest, is expected to announce his retirement at a meeting with trustees on Friday morning, people close to him and the board have said. His presidency has reflected the challenges of leading a university in the modern era ... MIT's President Is Expected to Announce His Retirement |
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Exposing the Cheat Sheet, With the Students' Aid |
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| Topic: Education |
7:38 pm EST, Nov 26, 2003 |
One researcher, a developmental psychologist at Teachers College at Columbia University, has made a specialty of affluent teenagers, whom she describes sympathetically as "a truly miserable group of kids." She has spent the last several years surveying students in Westport, Connecticut, where the median family income is $152,894 and the town's one high school, with 1,400 students, is among the top-ranked in the country. Her recent papers report higher rates of depression, anxiety, binge drinking and cheating in the children of the rich, which she attributes to two causes: pressure to achieve and a lack of meaningful contact with adults. I'd be interested in this data about children and teenagers: hours spent watching television each week, according to family income; and hours spent playing video/computer games, according to family income. Would you anticipate any trends? Think about escapism. Exposing the Cheat Sheet, With the Students' Aid |
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Giving Art of Cursive a New Slant |
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| Topic: Education |
9:17 am EST, Nov 25, 2003 |
In recent years, teachers and handwriting textbook companies have worked hard to find ways to make old-fashioned script seem relevant to students. The approach called "Handwriting Without Tears" encourages students to visualize -- and almost become -- cursive letters before committing them to paper. Some teachers and master penmen worry that the art of cursive as an expression of personal character is dying. "Now, people don't have the time to put that kind of time into penmanship. They want it to be legible, and we want it to be fast." Character is irrelevant. Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated. The clash of civilizations is really just a run-up to the final battle between the Arials and the Times New Romans. For some reason, the notion of "be the letter" reminds me of an SNL skit with Adam Sandler called the Herlihy boy, in which the viewer is implored to "let the boy be your dog." You might add "master penman" to the list of potential occupations for those (un)lucky enough to be "born rich." It sounds exciting, doesn't it? Much more compelling than the plebeian "master pencilman", to be sure. Giving Art of Cursive a New Slant |
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