Teachers earn less for a reason?

Interesting argument. The average ACT of Education students at JBU is a bit lower than average, the GPA averages are a bit higher than average, and the average "difficulty" rating on student evaluations is a bit lower. We do seem to follow some of this pattern, in other words.

http://blog.american.com/2011/08/teachers-earn-less-for-a-reason/

How innovation "really" occurs?

Hat tip to Brent Swearingen, who forwarded this link to me. The basic argument is that innovation occurs not because of one person with a grand idea but by way of lots of "small bets" made over time. Drucker talks about the "pilot project" approach to innovation. Probably similar concepts.

http://keithsawyer.wordpress.com/2011/05/18/the-emerging-consensus-view-of-innovation/

A "nearly free" university?

Another example of a low-cost on-line provider, this one specializing in providing higher education to third-world countries. Interesting possibilities and another example of the "Wave of the Future"?

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/25/education/25future_people.html

Games in the Classroom

This used to be my "thing," using games in the classroom, so I felt compelled to note this article.

http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/games-in-the-classroom-part-1/35596?sid=pm&utm_source=pm&utm_medium=en

Whither the Humanities

Another of these perennial articles and another call for Humanities to work more closely with professional programs. "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em"?

http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2011/08/30/essay_on_how_humanities_can_be_strengthened_by_embracing_ties_to_professional_education

Higher education "premium"

The supposed "premium" for in lifetime earnings from attending college has clearly been declining, most likely because we're now producing many more college graduates (at least in certain fields) than our economy can really handle. The "supply" of college graduates is oustripping the "demand" for them, hence the decline in the average "premium" and the search on the part of many for more financially feasible means to get that degree. On-line, as a result, continues to increase. Peter Wood's answer is that we should all try to be elite, academically-rigorous institutions because, he believes, everything else is going to get gobbled up by the on-line behemoths. Hmm. . . Call me skeptical, both that on-line will take over the way Wood seems to believe and that the rest of us can create (or be seen to be creating) an "academically rigorous" college climate. What would that really take? How would people really know? I can't get the faculty at my own institution to understand the nuances of such issues and agree on what we should do. Now multiply my problems by, say, a million. Creating that "brand" and having it really stick is really, really hard.

http://chronicle.com/blogs/innovations/too-much-for-too-little/30220?sid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

Mergers on the horizon?

The medical field certainly moved in this direction, but higher education, so far, has not. We'll see if this is a precursor of things to come. My conclusion, however, is that we're more likely to see the big getting bigger and the small going out of business instead of mergers.

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/08/18/assemblies_of_god_looks_to_merge_three_institutions_to_manage_costs

Student surveys about Straighterline

"Straighterline" and "Western Governor's" are creating new models that may be the future of higher education, but many argue that "you get what you pay for" in these low cost models. Here's a survey of what students at Straighterline have had to say about the program.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/college-inc/post/straighterline-survey-shows-student-satisfaction/2011/08/17/gIQArW9CLJ_blog.html?wprss=college-inc

Outsourcing grading?

Once again, Western Governor's appears to be leading the way with some innovative thinking. I tried to outsource as much of my grading to TAs as I could reasonably do, but I always felt that that was a less effective approach. These ideas, however, seem more in keeping with what I really had in mind.

http://chronicle.com/article/To-Justify-Every-A-Some/128528/?sid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

Here's another article on grading from the vantage point of a professor. Similar issues and concerns come up.

http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2011/08/09/essay_on_why_faculty_members_participate_in_grade_inflation

More education does not mean less faith, at least not in the U.S.

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/08/08/study_says_more_education_doesn_t_mean_a_loss_of_faith

The belief that more education yields less faith is also a result of a limited definition of religion, Schwadel said. "Are more highly educated people less likely to hold certain beliefs, such as the Bible being the literal word of God? Yes. Does this mean more highly educated Americans are less religious? Well, if you define religion as literal belief in the Bible, then yes. If you define religion as attending services, however, then the highly educated appear to be more religious. The main point is, it all depends on how you define 'religious,' " he said.

Interestingly, this pattern may not hold true in other cultures that are less overtly religious to begin with, say in Europe.

The Trajectory of the new Christian Colleges

Unfortunately, I have to agree with Riley about what appears to be the overly politicized trajectory of the new Christian colleges that have formed in the last decade (Patrick Henry, Ave Maria, and Kings).

http://www.philanthropydaily.com/?p=6050

AG Schools Merge

There's been a lot of talk about the need for consolidation in higher education, but little move to do so. Well, it's happening in at least one instance.

http://ag.org/colleges/articles.cfm?targetBay=0439b34f-3625-444a-bb49-6d459da7d256&ModID=2&Process=DisplayArticle&RSS_RSSContentID=19872&RSS_OriginatingChannelID=1056&RSS_OriginatingRSSFeedID=1016&RSS_Sourc

At a conference I was just at, there was also a lot of talk about coordination in large systems when it comes to curricular, IT, and other issues. So maybe it's just our small liberal arts schools who think that we're so unique that we can't ever consolidate with other organizations?

Length of school year?

I've long heard that we have shorter school years, and that that's a problem. This piece begs to differ.

http://chronicle.com/blogs/percolator/malcolm-gladwell-and-president-obama-are-wrong/27841?sid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en