New York Times: Concern for the Humanities

Tamar Lewin wrote this front page article in the Times today: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/31/education/as-interest-fades-in-the-humanities-colleges-worry.html?hp I expressed my concerns which I pasted below. “There several reasons to be concerned. There is what Jonathan Jacobs at John Jay College points out is the inability of many graduates to even recognize a rational argument.  A subgroup of these graduates teaches […]

How Can Frank Bruni Be Excited About Change in K-12 Without Change in Higher Ed?

Change in K-12 does matter but I don’t see how it can help a lot without the change in higher ed that I advocate here.  Here is a link to his op-ed, followed by my comment. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/29/opinion/bruni-a-bold-bid-for-better-schools.html?ref=opinion&comments&_r=0 ” From whence cometh these teachers?  They cometh from the universities, many of whom seek fame and fortune […]

Manil Suri (Mathematician and Author) Publishes Op-Ed Describing Interesting Ideas From Mathematics

This post is just to bring reader’s attention to Prof. Suri’s nice piece in the NY Times.  Here is the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/16/opinion/how-to-fall-in-love-with-math.html?ref=opinion&_r=0

Obama Administration Proposes to Make Colleges More Affordable and Accountable

The Obama Administration will “…announce a set of ambitious proposals…” today, according to an article in today’s New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/22/education/obamas-plan-aims-to-lower-cost-of-college.html?pagewanted=1&ref=tamarlewin  Here is my view, which I put in a comment to the article. “No one could have addressed the need for government regulation than did David Riesman, our deepest thinker ever on higher education.  […]

New York’s Mayor Boomberg Is Focusing Responsibility Where It Mostly Belongs

According to today’s NY Times http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/15/nyregion/new-york-issuing-scorecards-on-teacher-colleges.html?pagewanted=1&tntemail0=y&_r=1&emc=edit_tnt_20130814 Mayor Bloomberg is holding universities responsible for poorly (or well) trained teachers – something I have stressed here.  (See the category University Education Dumbs Down High School , particularly the post, A Suggestion for Holding Colleges Accountable for Teacher Performance .)  I hope his administration goes on to look at graduate schools.  For my […]

New Comment On NY Times

This NY Times blog does have some new thoughts, in that it addresses the value of college as a public good.  My only complaint is that, yes, in spite of wasting a lot of money and futures, you can still add up to an overall public good; but, you shouldn’t be so wasteful if you don’t […]