Moscow Education (Idaho)

From the L.A. Times. Looks like the Moscow School District isn’t the only one trying to deal with declining enrollment.

Then again, I’m willing to be that the rate of declining enrollment at MSD is significantly higher than what the Calif. school districts are dealing with.

The difference between Calif. and Moscow: Moscow wants more money for fewer students.

Over the last seven years, nearly 400 students have left the public school rosters in Santa Barbara. Enrollment in this wealthy, Spanish-tiled coastal haven has dropped as steadily as home prices have risen.

It is a trend expected to continue as the median home price pushes past $1 million.

It is also a trend that increasingly appears to be occurring across California.

Public schools circling downtown Los Angeles are losing students as their neighborhoods gentrify. A similar shift is underway in the Bay Area, Sacramento and Los Angeles, and Orange and Ventura counties.

Statewide, public school enrollment was down slightly this year, for the first time in nearly a quarter of a century. And though officials aren't quite sure of all the reasons behind the drop, they are sure that the cost of housing is one of them.

In Santa Barbara, school administrators worry about lost revenue, because funding is tied to enrollment.

Already, administrators said, the decline has cost the district millions annually. Now, having made small, less-painful cuts, they are considering larger steps, such as selling off vacant property or building housing to sell to teachers at below-market value.

Building the houses, they say, would help recruit teachers, who otherwise might not be able to afford the area, and the school system would bring in some revenue from the sales.

Another option is to start closing schools, a move that is always unpopular, said Jan Zettel, the Santa Barbara School Districts' assistant superintendent of secondary education.

"We don't think we will have to close a school in the next year," he said, "but beyond that, yes, it's entirely possible."

HT: Dave G.

The following article ran in today's Lewiston Tribune (subscription required).

Given the state of government education in Idaho, you would think that more parents would support educational choice and options other than what the state provides.

As I’ve said many times: let parents have a tax break of $5,000 per kid and take their kids wherever they want to school them. Since the government schools cost $10k per kid, the state saves $5k per child per year for every child who goes elsewhere. And if the parents want to keep their kids in the government schools, fine.

An Idaho political action committee that promotes parental choice in education is surveying legislators and candidates about how they stand on school choice.

About 170 surveys were sent out in the past week, said Holland Johnson of Nampa, treasurer of Idahoans for Excellence in Education.

"We want to know where the legislators stand on those questions," Johnson said in a telephone interview. "We have our own major position, which is more choice for parents in education. And we feel like the education establishment really has a monopoly on education.

"We're not opposed to the (Idaho Education Association) or public schools. But we think it is pretty much a monopoly and it's so hard to get some other new ideas in, like parental choice, that we think is crucial in this day and age."
…
Johnson said his organization opposes the "stranglehold" the teachers unions have on public education, and pointed out that, while there are currently thousands of parents on waiting lists to enroll their children in charter schools, that doesn't happen in traditional public schools.

And Johnson said parents should also be able to choose whether to homeschool their children without public interference.

The following letter to the editor appeared in today’s Lewiston Tribune:

After reading Tom Henderson's July 24 editorial piece on public schools I'm not so sure that his tongue-in-cheek suggestion about plowing them to the ground is a bad idea.

I am a graduate of the Lewiston public school system, and I can confidently say that after my 13 years of attendance, I can probably count the teachers that deserve the privilege of teaching Lewiston's outstanding youth on one hand.

The attempt to indoctrinate America's youth starts very early. I remember specifically sitting in third-grade social studies class at Whitman Elementary School 14 years ago and reading the definitions of Republicans and Democrats (this was during the time of the 1992 presidential election).

The text defined Republicans as the party whose interests tend to favor the wealthy and are less tolerant of moral progressiveness. It went on to define Democrats as more caring toward the general population and more open-minded.

This is exactly what T.H. was talking about when he said, "Public schools brainwash children with liberal ideas such as tolerance, provide sex education and teach science without mixing in religion."

The following are some examples of tolerance that are taught in public schools:

It's OK to have premarital sex as long as it's protected. If you don't want to use protection you can always have a government-funded abortion.

It's OK to be homosexual. If you catch an incurable disease, it's not your fault and the government will do its best to spend as much of Americans' hard-earned tax dollars on a cure (maybe they'll even get to kill some fetuses for use of their stem cells!) ...

Public schools should be done away with -- preferably before my son is of school age. ...

Dylan V. Profitt, Balad, Iraq

The following article ran in today's Lewiston Tribune (registration required):

MOSCOW -- Long-delayed legal actions against two attorneys involved in the University of Idaho's mismanaged attempt to expand its Boise operations are showing signs of life.

A status conference for Roy Eiguren's pending professional misconduct hearing has been scheduled for next month, and a similar conference will soon be set for L. Edward Miller, Idaho State Bar Executive Director Diane Minnich said Thursday.

The state bar initiated proceedings against Eiguren and Miller last year after a State Board of Education investigation revealed they worked simultaneously for three separate entities involved in the development of the UI's University Place satellite campus.

Those entities are the university, its independent fundraising foundation and California-based developer Civic Partners.

Eiguren and Miller are each charged in the state bar complaint with three counts of conflict of interest and for not providing diligent representation and exercising professional judgment. They face a public reprimand, censure or suspension for representing more than one client in the same transaction.

A letter to the editor from Donald J. Boudreaux, Chair of the Department of Economics, George Mason University:

14 October 2005
Editor, USA Today

To the Editor:

The tiresome struggle over whether or not intelligent design should be taught in K-12 schools (Letters, Oct. 14) reflects the incompatibility between government schooling and the First Amendment.

As long as Americans differ in their religious beliefs, choices of curricula will inevitably interfere with these beliefs. Choose any curriculum you like: it will offend either secularist parents who reject explanations based on faith or religious parents who regard secularism as offensive to their faith.

Only by separating school and state will all people be able to choose curricula that do not offend their faith or lack of faith. Only then will evangelical protestants and radical Darwinians become more tolerant of each other.

The following article ran in today's Lewiston Tribune (registration required):

Jack Morris, a University of Idaho business professor for 26 years and associate dean for five years, has been named dean of the College of Business and Economics.

Morris, 58, will replace Byron Dangerfield starting Monday at an annual salary of $157,000. Dangerfield will officially retire in February.

In a statement, Morris lauded Dangerfield's leadership and said he hopes to continue efforts to offer innovative experiences outside the classroom that help students think creatively about complex problems facing the next generation of businesspeople.

UI Provost Doug Baker said Morris' appointment had support both inside and outside the business college.

As associate dean, Morris was project manager for the construction of the technologically advanced J.A. Albertson Building in 2000-2001. A champion of technology, he also chaired the task force that helped implement a mandatory laptop computer program for business students.

He also managed the college's transition from a single business department to the departments of economics, finance and information systems alongside management, marketing and operations.

In his professorial duties, Morris teaches productions/operations management.

Morris' appointment leaves the UI with two open dean positions in the College of Letters, Art and Social Sciences and the College of Art and Architecture, out of nine total colleges.

Here are two more articles on the proposed Seattle school closings:

• http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/279043_schools27.html
• http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003155377_schools27m.html

In the Seattle PI article, notice the emotion. 

In the Seattle Times article, notice the ethical and fiscally responsible comments.

HT: Dave G.

From today's Idaho Statesman:

The new president of Idaho State University offered a chilly reception to a legislative proposal for new community colleges across the state.

In his first address to state lawmakers, Arthur Vailas said Tuesday that expanding Idaho's community college system could cost ISU up to $5 million a year. The committee met at Eastern Idaho Technical College — the latest stop on a summer tour of educational hubs throughout the state.

If the state builds new two-year colleges or bolsters existing schools like the technical college into community colleges, Vailas said ISU would suffer because students enrolled in entry level and professional technical courses at ISU would look elsewhere. 

I’m sure this critique would apply to UI as well.

Via Tom Trail:

Representatives Shirley Ringo and Tom Trail and Sen. Gary Schroeder are organizing a community forum to seek citizen input concerning property tax issues that will be discussed at the August 25th Special Session of the Idaho Legislature.

The forum is set for August 8th at the Moscow Junior High Multi-Purpose Room at 7:00 pm.

The possible components of the special session are:

1. Replace the current 3 mils of M & O with general funds, with a cost of $250 million. This would generally result in a 20% decrease in property tax statewide;
2. Use a portion of the $200 million surplus to cover part of the $250 million;
3. Keep all school districts harmless.
4. Increase sales tax to insure a solid ongoing source of revenue to fund school M & O (probably a 1% sales tax increase);
5. Place an advisory vote on the November ballot to ratify the actions of the special session (will be interesting if the citizens don't ratify it);
6. Place a large percentage of the remaining surplus in a public school rainy day fund to insure stability in public schools (Gov. Risch is talking about $100 million for the fund).

We will be presenting economic information from economists and other experts concerning the possible impacts of the proposed legislation on all segments of Idaho Citizenry. We encourage all Latah County citizens who have interest in this very important issue to attend and present their viewpoints. This will be of great help to your Legislative Delegation as we go to Boise for the Special Session.

There was an opinion column in today's Idaho Statesman (“Don't make sales tax for schools decision without open debate”) that made me chuckle. It’s so chock-full of errors that I don’t even know where to begin.

But I’ll start with the big “E” on the eye chart: that Idaho is 50^th in spending per pupil. Here’s the quote:

"Eliminating the school property tax levy may not be the best place to find property tax relief since Idaho school districts collect less property tax than the national average. In fact, Idaho currently ranks 50^th in spending per pupil. Other government agencies, such as Idaho counties, collect more than the national average."

The idea that Idaho ranks 50^th is flat out wrong; Utah is 50^th.

Jack Wenders recently published an essay on this very issue. See:

• Idaho Public School Spending & Student Performance
• Tale of Two States
• Idaho School Productivity List

And isn’t interesting how liberals embrace low productivity? As Jack remarks:

What is going on when low productivity is worshiped and high productivity is condemned? What world are we living in?

Indeed, a very expensive one.

When president Bush proposed a federal school voucher program in his budget earlier this year, few people noticed.

Those who did notice didn’t take it seriously.

But now it’s a bill on Capitol Hill.

Many good people in the school choice movement think this is a wonderful thing. See: 

• http://www.allianceforschoolchoice.org/media_center.aspx?IITypeID=3&IIID=2778
• http://www.edspresso.com/2006/07/choice_hits_capitol_hill.htm
• http://www.heritage.org/Press/Commentary/ed031306a.cfm

However, Andrew J. Coulson with Cato disagrees. See his federal school vouchers are a bad idea.

HT: Cato

The following story of interest was in today's Spokesman Review (subscription required):

Gov. Jim Risch called a special session of the Legislature on Tuesday to consider his property tax relief plan and said his bill – to raise the sales tax 1 cent and cut property taxes – will be the only one considered at the one-day session next month.

"It needs to be simple and it needs to be basic," Risch said. "Without that, you're never going to get the votes."

In press conferences Tuesday in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho Falls and Boise, Risch was accompanied by House Speaker Bruce Newcomb and Senate President Pro-Tem Bob Geddes, both of whom predicted Risch's plan would easily pass both houses.

"A lot of things have changed since the session adjourned in April," Geddes said. "We didn't know that we'd have a $200 million surplus. We also have a governor that is willing to sign the plan into law."

That comment drew applause from an audience of supportive North Idaho legislators, many of whom have been pushing hard for various property tax relief proposals, including seven bills that passed earlier this year.

To read the 29-page property tax reform bill proposed by Gov. Jim Risch, download it here.

Listen Here (382 KB) to the KQQQ audio report on this story.

Looks like the shift is coming.

I have major concerns with moving funding up the food chain. It loses local control of spending (which increases spending), etc.

Standby for updates.

I stumbled across this data from the National Center for Education Statistics this evening.

• Download the Excel Spreadsheet.
• Download the PDF converted file (15 KB).
• Click image below to enlarge.

Bottom line: Real per pupil spending has more than tripled in since 1960. But student test scores have been abysmal.

About the failure of spending and smaller class size to improve test scores, see:

• The Failure of Input-based Schooling Policies
• Class Size
• Public Schools by John Chubb, in the Concise Encyclopedia of Economics

The liberals' answer: throw more money at the problem. When you’re a liberal, there’s nothing that a few billion more dollars cannot solve — regardless of the negative correlation.

I’m attaching some national data concerning public school funding sources.

You can download the Raw Excel File here (44 KB).

You can download the Adobe PDF converted file here (26 KB).

Or you can click on the image below to enlarge.

Jack Wenders is working up an essay on this even as we speak. He notes:

Idaho is already among the top in the US is shifting school funding to the state level--10th in US. I'm against the shift because it sucks power upward and the evidence is that increases total spending, increases union power, worsens student performance, increases top-down mandates, etc. That's what the broad research shows over the past half century.

From the 16 July edition of the Dallas Morning News:

Beginning with the freshmen class in 2007-08, the state of Texas will require four years of math and science, making the state’s graduation requirements some of the toughest in the country. Prior to the change, Texas required three years for both math and science to graduate. Teachers, counselors, and parents agree the plan makes sense for aspiring engineers and doctors, and for students shooting for selective colleges. However, there is a fear that future artists, electricians, and students bound for less selective schools or no college at all will have difficulty. One high school counselor noted that the plan eliminates electives, which are important because they give students practical skills. For some students, electives are the only classes that keep them in school. The state joins Alabama as the only states requiring four years of math and science as a graduation requirement.

Makes perfect sense for college-bound students.

It will increase the drop-out rate for non-college-bound kids.

Over at Opinion Journal, Charles Murray discusses one problem with Bush’s No Child Left Behind strategy.

Concerning the statistics of supposed improvement, he writes:

The federal government is doling out rewards and penalties to school systems across the country based on changes in pass percentages. It is an uninformative measure for many reasons, but when it comes to measuring one of the central outcomes sought by No Child Left Behind, the closure of the achievement gap that separates poor students from rich, Latino from white, and black from white, the measure is beyond uninformative. It is deceptive.

KQQQ carried an audio report about a new Dean for UI College of Business and Economics.

Listen Here (197 KB)

The following story of interest was in today's Spokesman Review (subscription required):

Idaho Gov. Jim Risch has scheduled press conferences for today in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho Falls and Boise to call an August special session of the Legislature on property tax reform.

"You will see specific legislation," Risch said Monday, promising to release his proposal in bill form today.

Risch has been negotiating with legislators to eliminate the current $3 per $1,000 property tax levy that funds basic school operations and make up the school funding with an increased sales tax and some money from the state budget surplus. He's called for a one-day special session on Aug. 25, a Friday, to approve his plan.

Democrats {DMC: and RINOS!} have objected strongly, saying the Risch plan will simply shift taxes to low- and middle-income Idahoans who spend more of their money on necessities like groceries that are subject to the sales tax. They've proposed an alternative plan that would use surplus funds to eliminate the school operations levy only for homeowners.

They've also objected to a special session, saying it allows little public input. "The Republicans are trying to ram this issue through for their special-interest friends," said Jerry Brady, the Democratic candidate for governor.

Risch's plan would give property tax relief to all classes of property owners, including utilities, businesses and farms as well as landlords and homeowners. Lawmakers debated similar proposals repeatedly this year, but while several passed the House, they failed in the Senate.

Risch said current legislators – who face an election before they convene again in January – have held extensive public hearings on the issue, and are ready to vote on it. "It is a process that started over a year and a half ago," he said.

From Rep. Tom Trail:

I received a call from Governor Risch's Office late today. He will make a major announcement in Coeur d" Alene tomorrow. I suspect it will be to announce that we will have special session on August 25th with the major issue being discussed to be that of property taxes.

The following article by Tom Henderson ran in today's Lewiston Tribune (registration required):

 Why not just bulldoze the public schools and be done with it?

Congressional Republicans want to go about it the hard way. They want to spend $100 million on vouchers so selected poor parents can send their children to private schools.

First dibs would go to students from schools failing to meet federal progress goals for at least five straight years. Fewer students means fewer dollars, so the school would go from struggling to catatonic.

Bring on the bulldozers.

A better approach might be to look at why schools are struggling and help them recover. That, of course, requires a fundamental faith in the public school system.

Remember the philosophy behind that system? Citizens of a free society have an obligation to provide universal public education so all children grow up to be informed participants in the life of the republic.

Let’s think thru Henderson’s points here.

First, Henderson doesn’t want to hurt the schools by allowing parents to send their kids to private schools. He’d rather keep them on the plantation than liberate them.

Second, there’s this whole issue about universal public education. Just because a good is universally provided doesn’t mean that the government has to be the provider. We provide food stamps to the poor without having government grocery stores. We provide health care to the poor without having government hospitals and government doctors.

Why, all of a sudden, when we get to the most important thing that we can do (educate the next generations), does Henderson think that only the government can provide this service?

The following article ran in today's Lewiston Tribune (registration required):

One of the major goals for the new superintendent of Joint School District 171 is to try to attract homeschooled students into the district.

On July 1, Dale Durkee, 53, took over the district that includes schools at Orofino, Weippe, Pierce, Peck and Cavendish in Clearwater County. He succeeds Al A. Arnzen, who was a part-time superintendent for five years.

Durkee estimates that between 200 and 400 school-age students living within the district are homeschooled. There is no way of knowing the number for certain, he said, because Idaho does not require homeschooled students to register with the state department of education.

There are about 1,400 students now in the district. That's down about 400 from 10 years ago.

"Since about 60 percent of the (state) funding is based on attendance, we're hoping to make school attractive to them," Durkee said. "We're focusing on the school climate -- the way the school feels to students and teachers. It's a whole area of mutual response, mutual goals, is it a fun place to be, a place that's safe, and where learning takes place."

The dollars that new students could bring to the district are critical in an area where the school week has been cut back to four days to save money and every penny counts.

Even so, patrons have been loyal to the school district and in May approved a supplemental levy of $1.3 million, up more than $100,000 from a year ago.

Much could be said about this article. But I’m not sure how attractive Durkee can make government schools appear to those who have opted out. They opted out for a reason. Putting a new coat of paint over what’s already there isn’t going to change anyone’s mind.

Congratulations to the Logos Class of 2006 on their college scholarship awards.

Well done!

And what does this have to do with teaching? Oh, I forgot: they are union members first and foremost.

From EIA:

Resolution 40 called for AFT to "urge members to patronize union stores and to protest Wal-Mart's presence across the country," as well as to seek legislation "which requires that all covered employers spend a minimum level of funding on healthcare for employees based on the number of hours worked in the year." The union's Organizing and Collective Bargaining Committee had recommended the resolution be referred to the Executive Council, but the vote to adopt the resolution was overwhelmingly in favor.

From The Education Intelligence Agency.

And what does this have to do with school teachers?

From EIA:

AFT delegates approved Resolution 31, which states, "that the American Federation of Teachers oppose the war in Iraq and call upon our country's leaders to withdraw all troops, bases and military operations in a rapid and timely manner and to put a stop to the unending military presence that will waste lives and resources, undermine our nation's security and weaken our military." It also provides AFT support for AFL-CIO Resolution 53 on Iraq. 

From The Education Intelligence Agency.

From EIA:

• Resolution 62 was approved. It calls for expansion of the Family and Medical Leave Act to include smaller businesses. The act currently applies to businesses with 50 or more employees.
• Resolution 71 was approved. Though a lot of attention has been paid to NEA's resolution that supports "reproductive freedom" and NEA's insistence that it has no position on abortion, AFT has explicitly supported abortion rights for 25 years, without much outcry. This resolution directs AFT to help preserve reproductive rights, to use the issue to screen U.S. Supreme Court nominees, to include both abstinence and birth control information in school sex education programs, and to lobby the Food and Drug Administration to approve over-the-counter emergency contraceptives.
  
  A pair of delegates spoke in opposition to the resolution, amid hisses from the crowd. I wouldn't characterize the subsequent debate as high-minded, but the resolution passed overwhelmingly.
• Resolution 66 was approved. It calls on AFT to urge the AFL-CIO to create a "Wall of Shame" to highlight "notorious anti-union corporations and governments." You can place this one in the same file as the Wall of Flame, Wall of Lame, Wall of Maim, Wall of Names, Wall of Plame, and the Wall of Same.
• Resolution 21 was approved. It reaffirms AFT support for a single-payer national health care system.
• Resolution 18 was approved. It places AFT support behind the idea of creating a U.S. Office of the National Nurse.
• Resolution 50 was approved. It is titled, "Restoring Respect and Appreciation for the Role of Government in Our Democracy."
• Resolution 44 was approved. It calls for Election Day to be established as a national holiday. Does anyone really think this will increase turnout?
• Resolution 47 was the only one defeated, unless I missed one. It would have affiliated AFT with the U.S. Labor Against the War coalition.

From The Education Intelligence Agency.

From EIA:

"AFT Calls Higher Education Teaching the Wal-Mart of the Professions."

 

That was the headline one delegate wanted to avoid when he offered an amendment to Resolution 29 – Addressing the Academic Staffing Crisis. The resolution asserted that more than 70 percent of all college and university instructors are part-time or temporary. The resolution then stated that "this trend makes higher education one of the most extreme examples nationwide of the trend toward decreasing job security and benefits – the Wal-Mart of the professions."

 

A delegate moved to strike that last phrase because he was worried that headlines would compare academe to Wal-Mart. Since I was the only reporter on the floor at the time, I decided to fulfill his prediction.

 

The deletion was defeated and the original wording was approved by the delegates. 

From The Education Intelligence Agency.

From the Idaho Falls Post Register on 21 July. This is regarding the Bonneville Board's decision on Wednesday to approve a resolution supporting a performance pay federal grant application and intent to participate if awarded).

CHEERS to the Bonneville School District 93 board for going after a federal grant to help institute a merit-based pay system for its teachers.

JEERS to the Idaho Education Association for opposing the move.

Teachers like to argue that their profession is unique, not subject to traditional methods of evaluating performance.

"To impose this will create a sense of competitiveness with the teachers and parents," IEA Regional Director Peggy Park told the school board.

To which we ask, what's the problem with that?

Most taxpayers gladly pay teacher salaries, but nearly all of those taxpayers earn that money in a real world where merit is rewarded and incompetence or sloth punished. Why is it too much to ask that teachers operate under the same system?

Surely the IEA isn't suggesting that all teachers are equally skilled, hardworking and effective. Ask any student, and he or she will be able to name good teachers and bad ones. It's no mystery. Administrators can do the same.

Yet we have a system in which good teachers, average teachers and lousy teachers all get the same pay and job protection, separated only by years of experience and education. It's one of the reasons why American secondary education lags behind much of the industrialized world.

District 93 is right to look for ways to reward good teachers, and it's right to do it over the objections of IEA. Teachers deserve better pay, but they need to be willing to be subject to the same scrutiny and evaluation as most of the private sector.

From today's Idaho Statesman:

Idaho place-kicker and punter Mike Barrow will miss the 2006 season with a knee injury, and the All-WAC kicker's college career could be finished because he already used a redshirt year.

Barrow, a senior who made 16-of-19 field-goal attempts last season, tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee while playing basketball at his home in Ventura, Calif., earlier this week.

Barrow could apply for a medical redshirt, but he would need the NCAA to grant him a sixth year of eligibility.

Barrow and Idaho coach Dennis Erickson, who was attending a booster function Friday, were not available for comment.

The loss of Barrow is the second high-profile blow to the Vandals. Earlier this summer, strong safety D.J. Dykes left the team and school for unspecified reasons. He was a two-year starter and on some preseason All-WAC teams.

Barrow's injury means Idaho likely will need to rely on a walk-on to handle the place- kicking chores this season.

HT: Jack V.

The University of Idaho Argonaut has a great article on the cost of textbooks.

Here’s an extract:

The U.S. Government Accountability Office released a 51-page study in July 2005 detailing the trends in textbook prices since the 1987-88 academic school year. The report said college textbooks prices for the same books are higher in the United States than they are in other countries.

In the 2003-04 academic year, the average costs of books for U.S. college students at four year institutions was $898. That figure averaged to about 26 percent of the average student budget required for tuition and fees nationwide. The report said college textbook prices have been increasing at an average rate of 6 percent per year since 1987. Tuition has increased at an average rate of 7 percent per year.

In response to students’ growing concerns, last school year the ASUI Senate started an investigation into the expenses textbooks add to students’ budgets. Former ASUI Senator Ryan McNamee led the effort to try to find a solution to the expensive books. He had this to say about the schemes publishers use to increase sales:

“Textbook publishers want to come out with the new edition that looks better with glossier pages. The content rarely ever changes. When the publisher comes out with a new edition of the textbook, they will no longer offer the old edition to be sold; thus forcing the respective college and UI to buy the new edition.”

My personal experience is that there is generally little change between editions of textbooks. Sure, the second edition almost always is a result of many editorial errors in the first. But the way for professors to deal with that problem is to never go with a first edition of a textbook.

Unless you have a topic that is changing drastically over short periods of time (such as “Introduction to Information Technology” which has a half-life of ~18 months), there’s no reason to upgrade textbooks to the newest edition. In fact, there are many reasons (for the students’ sake) not to.

From today’s Wall Street Journal:

What will higher education look like in 50 years? If you weren't in Honolulu a couple of weeks ago, you might not know. Alas, I wasn't there either. But a glance at the panels of a conference convened there -- called "The Campus of the Future" -- offers a clue: College in the coming decades will have even less to do with learning than it does now.

Of the conference's almost 200 offerings -- e.g., "Responding to Climate Change," "Branding Your Identity" and "Takin' It to the Streets" -- none seemed to have even a tangential relation to the idea that, in college, teachers are supposed to impart knowledge to students.

The organizers, in their defense, are not academics and probably don't consider it their jobs to think about what goes on inside classrooms. (The sponsoring groups included the Association of Higher Education Facilities Officers and the National Association of College and University Business Officers.) But they were interested enough in classroom life to ask Thomas Friedman to lecture on the topic. The New York Times columnist obliged, offering his thoughts on what colleges can do to keep America competitive in a global economy.

According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, Mr. Friedman "urged educators to focus less on concrete outcomes like grades and test scores and more on teaching students how to learn, instilling passion and curiosity in them and developing their intuitive skills." To anyone who has followed the rhetoric of educationists in recent years, these bromides will sound familiar. Suffice it to say that if colleges take up Mr. Friedman's suggestions, they will move further away from their academic mission, and the kind of student who thrives in a university environment will change.

HT: Jack Wenders