Remembering Title IX Abuses
"Recently, Title IX has been in the news because of the Biden administration’s promised (and, as of yesterday, delivered) rejection of much-needed Trump-era reforms. As we are approaching the 50th anniversary of the statute, introduced as part of the Education Amendments of 1972, it is worth revisiting the history of Title IX and reviewing its often tragic legacy. Title IX was borne of a desire for equal rights in education. ... However, as with plenty of legislative history, the dubious story that followed is both frustrating and tragic." - The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal, 6/24/22
Stop the Radical Civics Bill
"This racist indoctrination is being done at our oldest military academy to young people who have signed up to defend America. Given the Big Government Socialist values of the teachers’ unions, the schools of education, the educational bureaucracy, and the activists in the Biden administration, how could any Republican want to give them $6.1 billion to further indoctrinate young Americans? Call your House and Senate members and demand that they oppose and stop this unbelievably destructive civics bill – before it is too late." - The Tennessee Star, 6/24/22
Delaware moves forward with ‘ban the box’ legislation for college admissions
"The Delaware Senate pushed through a bill this month that would forbid the state’s public and private colleges from inquiring about applicants’ criminal histories. This is what’s known as 'ban the box' legislation. Often, such measures limit employers from asking about a criminal record on job applications, but they have gained ground with colleges in the last several years. Delaware’s proposal would permit colleges to ask about students’ criminal backgrounds once they were admitted so they can offer counseling or restrict participation in campus life. It also makes an exception for such offenses as stalking and sexual assault." - Higher Ed Dive, 6/24/22
What the Biden administration gets right on student debt
"The common thread across these efforts is the Department of Education’s use of existing authority to provide legally sound debt forgiveness. Unlike universal or income-tested cancellation, which would pose new and significant implementation barriers, these are forms of relief that the Department of Education knows how to realize and can work to improve for borrowers. It’s reckless to talk about broad cancellation without acknowledging what it would mean for President Biden’s executive action, if he does so, to be challenged in court. But that hasn’t stopped heavy pressure from mounting from some policymakers and advocates for the administration to do just that — blanket debt forgiveness." - The Hill, 6/24/22
President’s Departure Marks ‘Start of a New Day’
"On Monday, after a special meeting of the Board of Trustees, Piedmont University president James Mellichamp announced that he would retire once a successor is named. A few days later, his husband, Daniel Smith, resigned from his position as senior projects manager at the university. It was the culmination of a tough semester for Piedmont. Two rounds of unexpected budget cuts, faculty layoffs, a vote of no confidence, professors’ contracts hanging in limbo and high-profile resignations from Provost Daniel Silber and endowed professor Carson Webb left the private college in Demorest, Ga., reeling with uncertainty and frustration." - Inside Higher Ed, 6/24/22
Sweeping Title IX changes would shield trans students, abuse survivors
"On the 50th anniversary of Title IX, the Biden administration proposed sweeping changes to the landmark law that would bar schools, colleges and universities from discriminating against transgender students, as the battle over transgender rights moves to the front lines of the culture war. The proposal would also amend the rules that govern how educational institutions investigate and resolve claims of sexual assault and sexual harassment." - Washington Post, 6/23/22
San Francisco School Board Votes to Return Elite High School to Merit-Based Admissions
"The San Francisco school board voted 4-3 Wednesday night to return Lowell High School to a merit-based admissions system, two years after it first switched to a lottery-based system. Beginning with freshman entering in fall 2023, test scores and grades will be used to admit students to Lowell, barring any other changes by the board, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. The board first voted in favor of a switch to the lottery system in October 2020 because they said remote learning created a lack of academic data on which to base admissions decisions." - National Review, 6/23/22
Maryland university system won’t require SAT, ACT for admissions
"The University System of Maryland’s board of regents voted recently to pave the way for its 12 universities to remove the requirement for prospective students to provide their SAT or ACT scores for admission. Although the schools still have the autonomy to set their own admissions standards, Friday’s vote removes the language requiring them to consider test scores within their admissions practices." - Washington Post, 6/23/22
Ed Department strikes $6B settlement with students who attended for-profits
"The U.S. Department of Education agreed Wednesday to automatically forgive the federal student loans of roughly 200,000 borrowers to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging that the agency delayed granting relief to students who were defrauded by their colleges. Under the terms of the Sweet v. Cardona settlement, the Ed Department will automatically forgive about $6 billion in student loans under the borrower defense to repayment regulation, which allows students to have their loans forgiven if their colleges misled them. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California will review the proposed settlement in July, according to the Project on Predatory Student Lending, one of the organizations providing legal representation for the students." - Higher Ed Dive, 6/23/22
After the Pandemic’s Dark Days, the Outlook for International Enrollments May Be Brightening
"American colleges are anticipating a pickup in international enrollments this fall, with two-thirds reporting an increase in overseas applicants, according to a new survey from the Institute of International Education. Sixty-five percent of colleges saw growth in applications from abroad for the 2022-23 academic year, while just 12 percent reported declines, the institute’s Spring 2022 Snapshot on International Educational Exchange found. In a snapshot survey conducted a year ago, 43 percent of institutions said international applications were up — and nearly as many, 38 percent, saw decreases." - Chronicle of Higher Education, 6/23/22
The primary reason for going to schools such as Harvard is to buy a credential. Why not buy an A? Harvard has already used tests to admit the smartest and most determined students. Why should half of them get C’s because they are competing within an elite group?
Grades given by a school to its students are at best a crude way for the school to say how the student is doing, how well (s)he is learning. These grades can’t be of much use to other schools or to businesses because they don’t know what was taught and what was learned.
Let the next institution or business give whatever tests or make whatever evaluations it needs to make its decision. Maybe everyone at Harvard is already A level. Maybe everyone at Podunk is C level. Let the next employer or school decide.
College is an expensive IQ test
( http://easyopinions.blogspot.com/2008/07/college-is-expensive-iq-test.html )
The law says that a company cannot give an employment test unless it has been shown to be non-discriminatory in effect, that it doesn’t screen out people of color at a different rate than people of pallor.
So, employers don’t create their own tests or use standardized tests. Companies rely heavily on college degrees to give them some little information about the quality of candidates. Interviewers talk randomly about whatever they want, using personal judgment to decide if the candidate is “a good match”. This is supposed to be less discriminatory!
Schools are conveniently exempt from testing restrictions because they are supposedly altruistic and not connected to the filthy pursuit of money. So, they administer tests to determine who gets in and what grades they receive. I think that most of the excellence claimed by the top schools is actually selected up front by taking the students who test best out of high school. They have no magic “excellence” which can accept a poorly testing student and produce a great testing one.
EasyOpinions.blogspot.com
The solution here is pretty obvious, and I think more employers (especially in the legal area) go this way. Don’t rely on GPAs. Rely on class rank. The class rank is a statistic that really can’t be inflated.
Yes, therefore put the mean class grade on each transcript. That will even the playing field as not other device can. I recommend this at my university at all appropriate and inappropriate occasions.
Grade inflation also impedes social mobility by erasing the impecunious genius’s advantage over his wealthier but dimmer peers. When you give the same “A” to the amiable John Aldrich IV and to the brilliant Kim Joon-Hee, you have robbed Mr Kim of his only asset: intellectual superiority.
The solution to this problem is simple. The students grade should be given as A- (B+) where the parenthetical figure is the class median. In that way, interested observers will have a touchstone against which to measure the student’s relative performance. It will then become clear at a grade of A- (A) is sub par.