Education Policy – Don's Desk

Soft Skills

Nothing sets my tiny public policy heart pitter patter faster than a new article by James Heckman in the American Economic Review. October’s issue brings an article by Heckman, Rodrigo Pinto and Peter Savelyev on “Understanding the Mechanisms Through Which an Influential Early Childhood Program Boosted Adult Outcomes.” In this latest paper, Heckman and his colleagues re-visit theContinue reading “Soft Skills”

Philosophical Careers

Early in my presidential career, a colleague intent on giving me a finer appreciation of higher education recommended I read some of John Dewey’s works. I dutifully purchased a couple of his books. They sat on my dresser, unread, reproaching me, until this weekend, when I picked up “Democracy and Education.” Written in 1916, Dewey’sContinue reading “Philosophical Careers”

Cognitive Dissonance

More than one friend has asked if I have heard This American Life’s broadcasts on Harper High. The show provides a summary: We spent five months at Harper High School in Chicago, where last year alone 29 current and recent students were shot. 29. We went to get a sense of what it means to live inContinue reading “Cognitive Dissonance”

Betting It All on College

This morning’s read of the Sunday New York Times started with Keith Bradsher’s “In China, Families Bet It All on College for Their Children.” Bradsher’s article highlights the sacrifices families make to send their children to college. Wu Yiebing and Cao Weiping have forgone vacations, trips to see family, and many material comforts to pay for theirContinue reading “Betting It All on College”

You Get What You Measure

“You get what you measure.” This trope guided discussions in many measurement plans in my corporate life. Once a company tracks a performance indicator, then employees start to change their behavior so that they look good in relation to the measure. Taken to extremes, poorly designed measures may have unintended consequences. The story outlined in Freakonomics aboutContinue reading “You Get What You Measure”

Skills and Jobs

Also worth a read in this Sunday’s The New York Times is Thomas Friedman’s article, “If You’ve Got the Skills, She’s Got the Job.” Two main takeaways for me are that first, jobs today require a higher level of analytical competency than in the past. Welding is the example of a job that in the past sufficedContinue reading “Skills and Jobs”

Mindset

I had the good fortune last Thursday to have a conversation with Paul Tough, author of How Children Succeed. I took the opportunity to ask him if my hypothesis in my post Tough Call is correct. That is, can we help our students develop the social-cognitive skills alongside the critical thinking, literacy, numeracy and other skills we expectContinue reading “Mindset”

Evaluating Teachers

We will soon distribute our “pulse” survey to staff and faculty. It is our attempt to capture a sense of how people are feeling about the College and to ask for ideas on what we can do better. We are also in the midst of classroom observations for faculty moving through the tenure process asContinue reading “Evaluating Teachers”

Is Algebra Necessary?

I finally caught up on my Sunday morning NYTimes reading and found this provocateur. Andrew Hacker, Professor Emeritus from Queens College, CUNY asks “Is Algebra Necessary?” He argues that we are spending inordinate resources (student time, financial aid, instructor time) trying to get students to pass algebra, a skill they will never use. Far betterContinue reading “Is Algebra Necessary?”

Graduation Bonus

A debate is raging right now about the correct approach to fix the struggling global economy. In Europe, the French and Greek electorate have just rejected German calls for more fiscal austerity and signaled their desire for more stimulus spending. We see a similar debate domestically as politicians advocate for more balanced budgets or more spendingContinue reading “Graduation Bonus”