Carol J. Carter

CAROL’S SUMMARY
Yesterday at the Global Education Competitiveness Summit, American officials explored what they could learn from the best-practices of the highest performing countries from around the world. Two examples, from Singapore and Finland, top the list. While these nations achieve their high performing status in different ways, as the article below indicates, both have very high standards for teachers. In both cases, teachers need master’s degree, are part of a professional and societal “elite”, and receive many hours of professional development and career track challenge.

What if we start to look closely at why so many new teachers drop out in the first five years of teaching? What if we had much more of a rigorous filter for students who want to become teachers in the U.S? What if we emphasized overall critical thinking and problem-solving strategies and cultivated a culture of future teachers who embrace rigor and challenge? What if we rebuilt the curriculum emphasized in most schools of education, which is arguably not meeting the needs of today’s students or young teachers? What if we imported some of the teachers from the world’s highest performing nations to help us make these kinds of changes on the ground level?

In addition to the educational performance success of countries like Finland and the city-state of Singapore, it is important to also ask:

1) what is the unemployment rate in these countries?

2) How many citizens have health care?

3) What is the crime rate?

4) How many citizens are in prison?

5) What are the taxes?

6) What emphasis does the society as a whole place on education?

Surely, for the United States to radically change educational outcomes and compete for the 21st century, some of these other societal areas will need to be dealt with and improved simultaneously. A healthy, vital nation has a far greater chance of having strong teachers with world-class graduates than a nation that is tapped out, unhealthy, uninsured and in many areas, impoverished. We can and should work on each of these fronts for long term gain.

ARTICLE
Education Week
By Sean Cavanagh
American education officials trying to learn from the policies and practices of top-performing nations seem to have two exemplary models in Singapore and Finland.

Yet in some respects, those two nations have risen to the top in very different ways.

That was one of the lessons that emerged yesterday at what was billed as the Global Education Competitiveness Summit, which brought state officials and business leaders together here to discuss lessons from high-achieving countries that could be applied to U.S. school systems—an omnipresent theme in American education circles these days.

To view the entire article visit
http://bit.ly/FVxc1

CAROL’S SUMMARY
Many students are considering whether or not to get a master’s degree because the economy is so weak. In fields like finance, engineering and science a master’s might be essential. If you are a liberal arts or business grad who wants to go into business, go through a thorough thought process on the pros and cons, the timing and the experience you may need before you go.

While data shows that students with master’s earn roughly 15% more than students without master’s, it is not a “safe haven.” In fact, employers often take a dim view of students who have only been in school. So, if you are thinking about getting a master’s and you just graduated from college, consider working part-time even if that work is volunteer work. Future employers will want to know that you can work through and with others, that you have strong thinking and problem-solving skills and that you know how to shepherd a process to completion. Many of these skills can only be learned from a job or volunteer responsibilities. If you “hide” in school and miss these experiences, you might be a twenty-five year old with very slim job options instead of increased job options.

So, figure out how you can build your leadership skills, your influence skills by working through and with others and your ability to deliver projects and plans on a deadline. Look for problems within the organization that you can solve. Find ways to save the company money or improve the corporate culture. Figure out how you can make real contributions through your work so that you can leave the position better than when you started. That is job security—master’s or not.

ARTICLE
New York Times
by the Editors

Room for Debate recently published two forums on the burdens of student loans, and heard from a lot of former students, parents, professors and others who shared personal horror stories, blunt advice and critical observations about higher education.

A number of economists and education researchers say that the student debt problem, while real, has been overblown by the press and loan-forgiveness advocates, and that most students do not graduate with too much debt.

To view entire article visit
http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/30/what-is-a-masters-degree-worth/

CAROL’S SUMMARY
“I don’t like work, no one does. But I like what is in work—the chance to find yourself.”
Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness

Students at MetEast High School in Camden, New Jersey are beating the inner-city success odds by studying their passions, giving and receiving peer feedback and making presentations to students and adults four times a year. MetEast is one of sixty schools nationwide designed to help students figure out their interests and abilities, linking those to careers, colleges and fields of interest. This initiative is made possible by Big Picture Learning, which is a non-profit which works with “advisors” instead of “teachers” who coach, motivate and hold accountable their students whom they work with closely for four years.

Students learn follow-through, a crucial life skill. Angelo Drummond, a MetEast student, has come to know and value himself better by committing himself to improving his SAT scores for college. He is proud that for the first time in his life he has learned to be a finisher. That follow through will help succeed wherever his gifts and talents may take him.

Every student can be exposed to this important personal perspective through a LifeBound book called, Gifts and Talents for Teenagers. This book helps students figure out what they are good at so that they can develop follow-through, discipline and self-mastery. No matter what field they decide to pursue, they will need a quality mindset, an attitude of respect and the ability to be accountable to the highest authority who impacts their lives—themselves.

ARTICLE
Chronicle of Higher Education
By GOLDIE BLUMENSTYK

The best piece of college marketing this year is a television ad that could easily be taken as a fingers-flapping, thumb at the nose to centuries of higher-education tradition.

It’s the Kaplan University spot that starts off showing a pensive-looking “professor” in the well of a wood-paneled lecture hall intoning to his students: “The system has failed you. I have failed you.”

To view the entire article
http://chronicle.com/weekly/v55/i40/40financialaffairs.htm

CAROL’S SUMMARY
More than 40 states made mid-year cuts totaling nearly $60 billion according to the Center on Budget and Policy. July 1st begins a new fiscal year and, while fiscal year-end numbers are only one measure of overall stability, it is one people scrutinize and often value the most. If the value dips too low relative to debt load, bondholders could declare the institution in default and demand payment. The high unemployment rate and low personal revenues from income taxes make this situation even worse. All but two states increased their unemployment rates in May. State personal income tax in May was 20% lower than the same period last year.

This may mean that incoming freshmen this year might face a reduction in many services they need to succeed. If these patterns continue, it will be even more important for high schools to prepare students well for college and the world of work. Students themselves will need to have a lot more initiative and personal responsibility to find the help they need at college or within the community. They need to realize that the current economic climate makes getting a college degree more important than ever and that the costs of dropping out may be higher than ever. High schools can start early to communicate that message in ways that are positive, proactive and empowering.

ARTICLE
Chronicle of Higher Education
By GOLDIE BLUMENSTYK

Will the stock market close on a high note tomorrow, the last day of the fiscal year for most colleges? Will that last big gift come in before the books close?

As always, the answers could help determine whether some colleges will face demands to pay off their debt faster than planned or be subjected to extra monitoring by the U.S. Department of Education. Others might encounter more scrutiny from their accreditors, or pay higher rates of interest when they borrow cash to cover day-to-day expenses.

To view entire article visit
http://chronicle.com/weekly/v55/i40/40june.htm

CAROL’S SUMMARY
Robert M. Berdahl, former President of Berkeley and current President of the Association of American Universities, is making a case for fewer research universities which could be much more focused in their efforts to product world-class scientists and brain-leaders. Mr. Berdahl’s association represents 60 American Universities which award the majority of all doctoral degrees, including 55% in science and engineering. These very institutions have been hard hit by the recession and their endowments have been decimated. Berdahl argues that if we don’t focus our efforts and make some pointed choices, we can lose our competitive edge.

While there are opponents to this proposal, the nation should also ask itself:

If there were more focused research institutions, could we have more effective state colleges and non-research colleges? In other words, could we have more colleges which, like University of Phoenix, are student-centered, teaching-based and focused on helping students from a wide range of academic, emotional and social levels succeed?

Imagine a freshmen experience at a state university where professors who aren’t under so much pressure to “publish or perish” actually taught introductory classes instead of teaching assistants. Imagine a way for class size to be smaller and for undergrads to have more access to professors who might otherwise be too busy in pursuit of the university’s research goals. Imagine a scenario where 40% of the freshmen who typically drop out freshmen year actually staying in college and went on to get summer internships, graduate and secure gainful employment. What impact would that have on our economy of the future? How many more people would have health care with a college degree? How many more people might contribute to their communities in addition to their home and workplace? How many more grads with a degree might feel the need to give back, financially and with their time?

It seems like there are many possible benefits to targeting and focusing on the best research institutions in America. If we do that, it opens up the possibilities for asking what is possible for a better education for the masses—especially turning around the tidal wave of those who start college as one of the 1.5 million developmental English students or the 2.5 developmental math students. Let’s consider both options as that debate continues.

ARTICLE
Chronicle of Higher Education
By PAUL BASKEN

Amid tighter budgets and stronger international competition, the nation may need “fewer but better” when it comes to research universities, the head of those institutions’ chief lobby group said Thursday. The United States, at a time of tighter budgets and stronger international competition, may not be able to afford its current crop of research universities, the head of their chief lobby group said Thursday.

To view entire article visit
http://chronicle.com/daily/2009/06/20810n.htm

CAROL’S SUMMARY
South Korea is making a bold claim to be the Mecca for college learning for students from Asia and around the world in the next few decades. They are devoting $600 million dollars over the next five years to a “World Class University Project” which features 9 Nobel prize winners who are moving to South Korea as faculty. Their “Brain Korea 21” project is designed to define “centers for excellence in information, technology, bioengineering and other knowledge-based fields.”

For this model to succeed, policy makers will need to work closely with educators at the high school and college level to learn first-hand about both opportunities and challenges. Opponents of this movement say that the current college structures are “hierarchical” systems which block creativity and innovation. Sounds like some of the same concerns about big, failing companies in America Jim Collins featured in his new book, WHY THE MIGHTY FALL.

One thing is for sure: for higher education to succeed and flourish in any country by setting a new standard for quality work, strong critical thinking skills, workplace know-how and lifelong success, many will have to rethink the staid and inflexible methods of old. Students today need to be challenged and so do faculty. That means learning new skills, understanding the value of social networking and and the new options which technology affords through project-based learning and collaboration.

ARTICLE
Chronicle of Higer Education
By DAVID MCNEILL
Seoul, South Korea

For government officials here, it’s a vision worth savoring: Within the next decade, South Korea becomes Southeast Asia’s top higher-education destination, poaching thousands of Chinese, Indian, and Japanese students from American universities and overtaking rivals Singapore, Malaysia, and Hong Kong.

The higher-education system’s historical insularity fades away. A handful of South Korean universities climb into the premier global academic league. Local students elect to stay at home to attend a branch campus of an American college.

To view entire article visit
http://chronicle.com/weekly/v55/i40/40a00104.htm

CAROL’S SUMMARY
The Obama administration is announcing legislation today to simplify the FAFSA form, link it to the IRS to verify family earnings easily and delete 20% of the questions most find redundant and others find intimidating. This form helps 16 million students and families apply for financial aid each year, while an estimated 1.5 million students don’t even bother because of the complexities of the form in its current state.

The FAFSA helps low and middle income students apply for financial aid through Pell Grants, Stafford loans, Perkins loans and college-sponsored work-study programs. Every high school student should be exposed to this form as early as their sophomore and junior years. High schools should provide information to parents of students entering the sophomore year—well before the parents need to complete this form. With a great deal of lead time, parents can get their questions answered, get their financial affairs organized and meet the required deadlines.

Getting ready for college is all about planning, with ample lead time on expectations for both students and parents. Many of the parents and students who stand to benefit most from FAFSA have the least experience or exposure and are often not college graduates. For that reason, they may have little or no frame of reference on preparing for college financially, academically, emotionally or socially. High schools can help these families with early planning programs so that all students can be college eligible and college ready—whether they go straight to college or work a few years first and then go to college.

ARTICLE
New York Times
by Tamar Lewin
The Obama administration is moving to simplify the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or Fafsa, a notoriously complicated form that asks students seeking financial aid for college as many as 153 questions.

To view the entire article visit
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/24/education/24fafsa.html?_r=1&ref=education

CAROL’S SUMMARY:
AP teachers are dealing with a high influx of students across the country taking college level courses in their junior and senior years. Some teachers complain that AP students are in “over their heads,” while others go for special training in collaborative and project-based learning skills in an effort to reach students with different learning styles. In the days of old, AP courses were geared for the verbal/linguistic, logical/mathematical child. Today, bright students learn differently. Whether their abilities will all show up in AP classes remains to be seen. Whether students are taking AP classes or not, there are a few basics they need to be college-ready:

1) Understand the value of effort in success. Many students who test well and are considered “bright” don’t learn to challenge themselves and struggle in the post-school environment—career and life. Those bright students and average students who really apply themselves do better over the arc of their careers than those who don’t.

2) Embrace challenge. Many “bright” students get addicted to the 4.0. It is far better to take difficult teachers who challenge you than those teachers who “give” A’s. Students who learn to challenge themselves look for opportunity, create interesting experiences and provide high value in the world of work.

3) Risk: Grow beyond your comfort zone. We all learn by growing and doing things that make us feel uncomfortable, but few students get the value of life experience in addition to book learning. Do the things that you resist with people whom you are not necessarily drawn to—you will grow and at the same time prepare yourself for the working world. Students around the world are doing this in spades.

4) Ask: What else? If we spent half of our energy in this country on solving some of the world’s greatest problems and thinking about what, over the course of two or four years in college can really make you unique, more students would be world-ready than simply college ready.

It is time for all of us to get the 20,000 foot perspective on college-readiness. It is not about getting ready for college, it is about getting ready for college, career and life. Those abilities and skills are inextricably linked. If we continue to prepare for academics alone, we are preparing students for the world of the past. If we focus on project-based learning, connections which students can make in school and out, and people who can actually stretch and broaden their world, they will be ready for the interconnected, global world they are about to enter. AP classes or not, we owe them that readiness.

ARTICLE
St. Petersburg Times
by Ron Matus

Twenty-six high school teachers stood with straws in mouths and spoons at the ready. Bowls of M&Ms rainbowed before them.

Pretend the M&Ms are fish, the instructor said, and pretend the straws are fishing poles.

The teachers sucked up the M&Ms with the straws. They scrapped for them with the spoons. As the candy disappeared, a lesson about regulation and natural resources took its place.

This is what Advanced Placement teachers do when they step away from the front lines of an education revolution.

To view the entire article visit
http://www.tampabay.com/news/education/k12/article1012101.ece

CAROL’S SUMMARY
The Gates Foundation is funding fifteen community colleges across five states in an effort to ramp up remedial education and improve graduation rates for at-risk students. This sorely needed funding should be used for student success courses, coaches who can work personally with these students who often have “developmental” life issues, and teacher training to help all those who interact with these students to be more effective. In addition, these students need community areas where they can study, meet other students, and learn about jobs and careers.

Students who enter college with high needs for remediation also have high life and personal needs. In addition to learning the habits of success, they also need to learn to manage their money, who they spend their time with and the life and family demands which many students face.

To prevent the large number of students who need remediation for the first full year of college, The Gates Foundation should also develop funding for surrounding districts in these areas for high school and middle school programs which promote academic, emotional and social intelligence. Without those programs, we will continue to do triage at the college level with at-risk students, some of who will succeed and others who may fall needlessly through the cracks. It is time for both a short-term plan, which the article below addresses, and a long-term plan, which we all need for a bright economic future that sustains us for years to come.

ARTICLE
Chronicle of Higher Education
Charles Huckabee

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has chosen 15 community colleges and five states as grant recipients under a new program intended to improve remedial education at the college level and raise graduation rates, the Associated Press reported on Sunday.

The grants, to be announced today, total nearly $16.5-million and are being awarded to college programs in Connecticut, Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, and Virginia, the news agency reported. Of those states, all but North Carolina are also getting money for state programs in support of remedial education.

To view the entire article visit
http://chronicle.com/daily/2009/06/20411n.htm

CAROL’S SUMMARY:
Colleges, like individuals, families, business and non-profits have been hit hard by the recession. In addition to layoffs, hiring freezes and delays in construction projects, colleges are going green and being creative in how they save money. As the article below states, University of Washington eliminated all telephones for their communication faculty and saved $1,100 a month. Other schools have turned down the thermostats in a movement called, “Chill out.” Many colleges are eliminating their high-gloss admissions brochures for a completely on-line presence. Some schools are hiring students instead of staff while others are rebuilding old computers instead of buying new.

Let’s enlist students in solving these ways to keep their tuition constant while conserving overall budgets. If we do, they will learn something about personal choice, short-term sacrifice for long term gain and the value of being creative when it comes to saving money personally and professionally. These are valuable lifeskills which will serve them well long after they graduate from college.

ARTICLE:
New York Times
By TAMAR LEWIN

College life may look different in the not-so-distant future: Students squinting out dirtier windows, faculty offices with full wastebaskets and no phones, sporting events in which opponents never meet, and paper course catalogs existing only as artifacts of the wasteful old days.

To view entire article visit
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/19/education/19college.html?_r=1&ref=education