Big Ed

Christian Exoo and Calvin Exoo propose that the crisis in higher education is not access, but rather retention. And, while schemes like Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) seem to make college level classes available to thousands of students who couldn't otherwise attend well-known colleges, the completion rates of MOOCs are spectacularly bad.  In addition, the sorts of at-risk students MOOCs might wish to serve are exactly the sorts of students most ill prepared to benefit from online classes.  The kinds of support found in physical schools just isn't available in MOOCs. Privatization is not the answer to everything.

Update (November 15):  A study by Toby J. Park at Florida State University of 38,000 community college students shows that 94 percent leave school at least once and, of that group, 57 percent do re-enroll.  But leaving more than once makes it very unlikely to finish a bachelor's degree.  76 percent of degree holders only left school once.  Only 16 percent in this study finished a bachelor's degree within six years, although some were still enrolled and others only seek two year degrees.

Update (November 19):  The profit motive means sliding back toward "separate and unequal".

Update (December 3):  A survey of MOOC users show that most are already privileged and well educated.

Update (December 5):  There's money to be made in charter schools.

Update (January 11, 2014):  Susan Douglas argues that the Right has an interest in devaluing higher education.  Rising tuition in response to budget cuts can restrict access and causes some people to question whether a college education is worthwhile.

Update (June 25, 2014):  The Detroit Free Press has a special report on charter schools.

Update (July 14, 2014):  David Dayen reports on the formation of Democrats for Public Education to combat "market-driven" educational reform.

Update (July 16, 2014):  Tenure for teachers is under attack.  Gabriel Arana explains that tenure is about due process (just like physicians have a process before losing their license or lawyers have a process before being disbarred).  Teaching quality matters, but only accounts for about 10 to 20 percent of student achievement.

Update (July 25, 2014):  Andrew Leonard takes a critical look at technology and classrooms pointing out that "there's a crucial difference between 'access to information' and 'education'".

Update (September 21, 2014):  Around three-fourths of college instructors are part-time, but they are being taken advantage of with pay that scarcely amounts to minimum wage.

Update (October 13, 2014):  Cabell Gathman examines online diploma mills.  Also, Noam Chomsky's views on how corporate models are hurting education.

Update (May 2, 2015):  The fight for living wages includes adjunct college instructors.

Update (September 28, 2017):  Part-time instructors continue to struggle to make a living.

Update (March 26, 2018):  In a book excerpt, Allen Marshall argues that schools have lost their purpose and college isn't for everyone.

Whether at the secondary or postsecondary levels, the true purpose of the American education system seems to be to make sure children are unprepared for the adult world—and to charge them huge sums for the privilege.

Update (June 2, 2018):  Debra Leigh Scott offers the five steps used to destroy higher education. And I like this quote from H.G. Wells:

History is becoming more and more a race between education and catastrophe.