Diploma deflation
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In 1999, Pennsylvania decided that all high school students must meet certain academic standards in order to graduate. Nearly a decade later, however, tens of thousands of our students are receiving diplomas though they have not shown proficiency in core subjects.
Why are so many of our students graduating despite questionable academic proficiency?
Many Pennsylvanians might be [...]
Close sink schools to encourage social diversity admissions adjudicator urges
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Secondary schools that have been abandoned by middle class families should be closed to guard against social segregation, according to the admissions watchdog.School catchment areas should also be redrawn to force a more socially mixed education system, Philip Hunter, the chief schools adjudicator told the Guardian.He cited the Ridings school in Halifax, which is to [...]
A sector divided on the path ahead
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If you have ever wanted to share the collective fantasies of the country’s college principals, you’ll need to get to Birmingham smartish. All 400 or so of them have been invited to spend today trying to envisage the shape of further education in 2020. Their host, John Denham, secretary of state for innovation, universities and [...]
Get wise
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Journalists unclear about a story often fall back on a stock introduction: “Confusion surrounds …” Yet that is a fair enough summary of the conclusions from a series of reports on university bursary schemes in England.The latest report, from the Sutton Trust last week, argued that fear of debt is deterring students from low-income families [...]
A classic case of undersupply
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Back in 1965, Oxford and Cambridge decreed that applicants no longer required O-level Latin to gain admission to their hallowed halls and cloisters. The following year saw the founding of the Cambridge School Classics Project (CSCP) with the aim of keeping alive not only the flickering flame of classical culture, but also a language that [...]
Nowin situation
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There was a time when an advert for a college principal’s post would draw a flood of applicants. At the start of the decade, it was not unknown for 60 candidates to apply for a single job. But no longer.”These days it’s not unusual for colleges to struggle to get shortlists of four or five [...]
Mundelein district challenges state over bilingual education
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The State Board of Education initially lauded Diamond Lake for the academic gains made by its bilingual pupils, then discovered the change in how the district was teaching them and suspended funding, said Supt. Roger Prosise.
“I’m not saying bilingual education doesn’t work,” Prosise said. “What I’m saying is, if another program [...]
Man who killed 4 in his family gets death
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Hanson, the 14th man sent to Death Row since the blanket commutations of all Illinois death sentences in 2003 and a moratorium placed on state-sanctioned executions in 2000, remained stoic when the court clerk announced the verdict at 4 p.m. in a packed courtroom. About 20 feet over Hanson’s shoulder, his lone remaining sibling, Jennifer [...]
Funding council head moves to Keele
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Rama Thirunamachandran, the director for research, innovation and skills at the Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce), is to become deputy vice-chancellor of Keele University in June.Thirunamachandran, Hefce’s research director since 2002, has overseen the research assessment exercise and the current moves to a more statistics-based approach.His move to Keele comes as the university [...]
The heartbeat the pulse and the brains
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The UK’s new teaching assistant of the year would never dream of going on strike. Anne Hegarty has an almost fanatical devotion to her school and the pupils under her at St Brigid’s primary in the heart of the County Derry countryside. She doesn’t even belong to a union. But the modest, shy 38-year-old is [...]
