Teaching Is Not a Business – NYTimes.com.
This is a good article by someone who also understands universities. But,
(my comment on the NY Times site)
Though I agree with Prof. Kirp, I would ask “from whence commeth these teachers?”. To get good teachers, we need good colleges. That second “good” means “not irresponsible or unethical”
When I was a professor, I saw so many shocking things that I thought I was in a film noir. I know how hard it is to wrap one’s mind around how totally unaccountable colleges have become – so much so that most future teachers don’t have a chance of learning what they need, especially for high school teaching.
(To help people actually see what has happend, I have a blog, inside-higher-ed .com. It contains examples.)
Here is a summary of how college dumbs down high school, with some examples from my blog.
Universities get big “national need” grants to produce US math professors. Some professors rush to give almost any American a doctorate. (See “No Jobs for Ph.D’s? Depends on what you mean by Ph.D” on my blog for an example from an “elite” school.”)
Many of these new doctorates get jobs teaching at schools that train teachers. Since they don’t deeply understand their subject, they make their courses easy. It’s the best way to avoid problems. How easy? Read “Prof. Teaches Stats But Doesn’t Seem to Have a Clue About the Most Fundamental Notion”, and other stories, on my blog.
But what about students who go to “elite” private schools? Read “Content Deflation III – Does Wash. U. Physics Prof. Adopt It With Zeal? And Does the University Boast About It?”
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