Lawn Mower
Using sheep to cut costs. Due to major education funding cuts in Pennsylvania, the Carlisle School District brought in seven sheep to tend the fields. The sheep were loaned for free by the owner, the middle school principal. The superintendent estimates the sheep will save the district $15,000 this year in mowing costs. (Think Progress)
Lumina National Productivity Conference. Lumina is webcasting its conference today through Friday, with sessions including “What Does Quality Look Like in a Productive Higher Education System?” and “Institutional Pioneers: Tackling the Productivity Challenge on Campus.” See the webcast here.
A retrospective of US education. Education Week has created an interactive timeline of the state of US education using its archives since its founding in 1981.
Mike Petrilli says “corporate reform” is an oxymoron. Why it’s silly season. (Flypaper)
From the Twitter town hall with Arne Duncan: “Washington can never run public education. What we’re trying to do is be a partner.” Check out the questions on Twitter.
Written by intern Marley Zeno.
Tagged as:
Arne Duncan,
Budget Cuts,
Corporate Reform,
Education Week,
Flypaper,
Lumina Foundation
Cutting costs, cutting time. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, over 120 school districts in 21 states have reduced the school week to four days. Most of these districts are small and rural. (Education Week)
A look at Rick Perry’s impact on education. Joy Resmovits responds to shots made by Arne Duncan and Robert Gibbs, pointing out that Texas’s education record, though problematic, is more complicated than their comments indicate. (Huffington Post)
At this girls’ camp, arts-and-crafts goes industrial. Gadget Camp in the Chicago-area focuses on preparing girls for manufacturing jobs—a sector in which just over a quarter of the 11.7 million workers are women. (New York Times)
There’s an app for that. While a senior at Pioneer High in San Jose, Daniel Brooks invented an iPhone app for students to view their grades. The free app now has 2,300 users across the country. (Digital Directions)
Written by intern Marley Zeno.
Tagged as:
Budget Cuts,
Career and Technical Education,
National Conference of State Legislatures,
Quick Hits,
Technology,
Texas
The experience of moving my son into his dorm at the University of Colorado, Boulder last week was emotionally intense. I was proud and happy for him to get this great opportunity to study in a beautiful place at a good school, even as I was distracted now and then by melancholy. I also felt anxious and concerned, as any parent would. But I need not have feared. There was an antidote for my anxiety close at hand! Among the samples of tea, energy bars, drink powders, hand desanitizer and other marketing items in the “goodie bags” being handed out on the steps of the student union were coupons for three competing medical marijuana dispensaries. One center provided a little plastic canister for storing said product and a book mark advertising “$50 worth of the best MMJ in Boulder for $25.” Anyone bringing the canister and book mark into the center would get $200 off a yearly membership. Turns out there are four dispensaries within a few minutes of campus. So the competition to remedy the pain of maladies apparently common to college students–glaucoma, side effects of cancer treatments, generalized anxiety etcetera–must be tough.
"Get $50 worth of the best MMJ in Boulder for $25"
I wasn’t too shocked. (My colleague Kevin Carey made similar observations after a visit to the University of Washington.) I knew Colorado was a medical marijuana state and I expect weed to be rife on college campuses anyway. I also know that alcohol is a bigger problem among students and that UC had cracked down on drinking to fight its reputation as a top party school. But is it smart for the centers to have their come-ons for cheap dope distributed to parents outside their orientation meetings? This was not a college-sponsored marketing effort and it could well be that the First Amendment protects such activities on public property. But I’d think that a university trying to reduce, not increase, parents’ anxiety might find a way to at least direct those activities elsewhere.
Tagged as:
Boulder,
medical marijuana,
parent orientation,
University of Colorado
Bucking the trend. Washington State University increases the size of its freshman class while maintaining a focus on in-state students. The incoming freshman class has 1,200 more students than last year and WSU expects 1,100 more in-state freshman than the previous year. WSU has been recruiting minority and high-achieving students from across the state. (The Seattle Times)
A high school girl douses herself with perfume. And ends up in court instead of detention. Only in Texas, you say? No-it’s part of a far-reaching movement to criminalize student discipline. (Washington Post)
Charter-traditional public partnership in Connecticut. Principal Skaught of Sedgwick Middle School in West Hartford sent a team of teachers to visit Achievement First’s Amistad Academy. The teachers were so impressed by the REACH model that some implemented the model in their classrooms. Principal Skaught: “We have, however, gone from borrowing the ideas from the Amistad Academy to sharing our ideas with one another to further improve our performance. […]Our job as educators is to look for answers wherever they can be found. At Sedgwick we have found some answers by looking at the work being done by Achievement First.” (Cranston Herald via Eduwonk)
The School Reform Deniers. Steven Brill describes how he moved from “The Rubber Room” to the broader ed reform battle. (Reuters)
Written by intern Marley Zeno.
Tagged as:
Achievement First,
Charter Schools,
College Admissions,
Discipline,
REACH,
School Reform
My, how time flies. Does it seem like a year ago when we were talking about Wisconsin? But the last recall elections were held last Tuesday. As expected, the two incumbent Democrats held onto their seats. This leaves the Wisconsin state senate in Republican hands.
Barely.
With a 17-16 margin, there’s no room for error. And there are some senators who represent moderate districts who will likely be able to be peeled off on an issue-by-issue basis. Gov. Walker seems to recognize that his tone is going to have to change. After the election results were in, he issued this conciliatory statement: ”In the days ahead I look forward to working with legislators of all parties to grow jobs for Wisconsin and move our state forward.”
These were pretty Republican districts. Given the intricacies of the Wisconsin recall law, only officials who had been in office for at least a year could be on the ballot. That meant that all the Republican senators who were up for recall had managed to win in 2008, when the President was winning the state with 56 percent of the vote. Pollster Neil Newhouse , who does survey research for Republicans, says this election presages something more significant, however. Speaking to the delegates at the National Conference of State Legislatures, he said the results in his polls were “the most polarized” he had ever seen in his career.
In his polling, he found that 100 percent of the Republican voters said they were voting for the Republican candidate. The result was practically the same for the Democratic candidate.
Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post says this election provides “a preview of the campaign to come in 2012.” With the electorate even more divided, it will be a turnout election – the party that gets its voters to the polls will win.
Oh, and don’t expect to have the results by 11 Eastern. Election night in 2012 is gonna be a long one.
Tagged as:
polarization,
Wisconsin elections
Parents are reading to their kids more. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, parents, especially low income parents, are spending more time with their children—reading, having dinner together, playing—than a decade ago. (Education Week)
Back at work. After six months of negotiating and two rounds of votes, public employee unions in Connecticut have approved contract concessions of more than $1.6 billion. That agreement will rescind pink slips for about 3,000 state workers. (Wall Street Journal)
Out-of-state advantage. State universities are admitting an increasing number of out-of-state students due to tight budgets. Last year University of Illinois and University of Washington both welcomed freshman classes with 27% out-of-state students. University of Michigan’s out-of-state population is up to 40%. (The Daily Beast)
One Laptop Per Child. Uruguay is giving a free computer to every student. But is that enough to improve student learning? (Getting Smart blog)
Written by intern Marley Zeno.
Tagged as:
College Admissions,
Quick Hits,
Technology,
U.S. Census Bureau,
Unions
8/21/11 | Kevin Carey discusses "Debt to Degree" with The Arizona Republic. 
8/20/11 | The Salt Lake Tribune reports on "Debt to Degree." 
8/04/11 | Kevin Carey tells Inside Higher Ed a high ratio of debt to degrees indicates the college has a problem with graduation rates, or it has a problem with affordability.