I’m sitting in a Starbucks in NorthCarolina next to three young community college students who are studying calculus on a Saturday morning. They were nice enough to answer my two questions. The fist was “What is the definition of the derivative?” Two said they don’t know, then one said it is a rate. I pressed him […]
Wonderful Essay on Education and Society in WSJ
September 17, 2013 by
Here is the link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324577304579055511904387286.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEFTTopOpinion#articleTabs%3Darticle It was hard to comment on this article since it was so good. I agree with it wholeheartedly. I did add information that readers of this blog already know. Here is what I wrote. “Thank you for this wonderful essay. From my perspective as a former professor, I think it […]
Important Paper on Value of Good Teacher May Be a Game Changer
August 30, 2013 by
If the news in this WSJ article is true, I think it could be very important. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324324404579043311787197976.html?mod=WSJ_article_comments#articleTabs%3Dcomments “If it is really true that “…colleges of education will be required…to track graduates’ performance in K-12 classrooms and ensure they are contributing to student growth, as measured by test scores or other factors.”, then this is great […]
New York’s Mayor Boomberg Is Focusing Responsibility Where It Mostly Belongs
August 14, 2013 by
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 […]
UPenn Vice-Provost Encourages More Tests But There is a Rub.
Prof Emanuel, Vice Provost and Professor at the Univ. of Penn., has a nice article on testing in The New Republic http://www.newrepublic.com/article/114793/american-schools-need-more-testing-not-less He has a good idea. But will it really be testing when put into practice? I directed his readers to my article. Here is what I wrote. “As someone who taught mathematics for […]