Nine Shift

The Value of College

It's time to put an end to the discussion about the value of college.

I was at a meeting of highly educated professionals yesterday, and half of them were arguing that we don't need more 4 year college graduates.  Of course, they were not telling their own children and grandchildren not to go to college - - they were suggesting your children and my children should not go to college.

And this misinformation, this hypocrisy, this last century attitude is actually dissuading many young people who could be leading our economy in this century to get lesser jobs with lesser prosperity for them and the rest of society.

David Leonardt and The New York Times does a great service to the country (US) by trying to put an end to the discussion so our nation can move ahead economically.

And it's time for community college administrators and faculty to stop being defensive and get on board with producing more four year graduates.  Do you see middle school principals defending an eighth grade education (the ultimate standard 100 years ago) today? 

In his latest of several articles, Leonardt cites the data, but his graph says it all.

The Multinational Threat

The Multinational Corporation is now a threat to our continuing education system.
   And the emergence of the Multinational Corporation in providing continuing education has serious consequences for all of education in the United States.
   Multinational Corporations are not the same as mom-and-pop for-profit providers. Multinational Corporations are much larger players, beholden to investors, need to generate big profits, and have no allegiance to a community. They also have the ability to become a monopoly.
   One multinational, Pearson, took over the GED and immediately raised prices on those who are least able to pay.  Large corporations tried to run K-12 schools in Philadelphia, and failed.  Corporations are still running for-profit universities, and have huge drop out rates and students with enormous debt. Now they are trying to get into continuing education. 
   Nonprofit education institutions will need to respond to this threat to our educational system.

First School District to Stop Penalizing for Late Work!

Thanks to NineShifter Djuna Forrester for telling us about the first school district to stop penalizing students for late work.

The new guidelines for Denton, Texas, Independent School District, clearly outline there is to be no penalty for late work.  Vicky Christianson of Denton ISD confirmed the new policy to NineShift last week.

Congratulations Denton ISD !  And Thank You!

LERN Board Supports Gender Equity in Education

The Board of the largest continuing education association in the world has passed a resolution supporting gender equity in education.

The United States is one of the countries with a more gender unequal education system, according to the OECD.  Males are now just 38% of college graduates. 

First 'Productive Time' Chart

Here's the first chart that distinguishes Productive Time from unproductive, what I would call wasted, time.

It's a comparison of travel time via car, plane and train from St. Paul to Chicago.