N.C. Campuses’ Long War
World wars have been fought in less time than the battle the UNC and N.C. Community College Systems have waged to create a user-friendly database that active-duty military personnel and…
Blueprint for Reform: Admissions Standards
Blueprint for Reform: Admissions Standards provides a roadmap for state legislators and university trustees to improve university admissions standards. It emphasizes the necessity of upholding rigorous standards in higher education…
AP Economics is a Model of Academic Rigor
As a college professor and former academic dean, I have long heard that Advanced Placement courses are generally not the equal of their college equivalents. Each of the 38 AP…
Why the Canon Wars Still Matter
Like an overlong proxy war, the “canon” skirmishes of the 1980s and ’90s no longer feature in the media, though the conflict persists. As in a battle over this or…
ECU Makes the Secret Hurt Visible
Is higher education the highest priority for East Carolina University, or is the institution just pushing a political narrative? On August 19th, ECU held its 2022-23 faculty convocation, and the…
Why Blacks Must Be Responsible for Closing the Racial Achievement Gap
It’s no secret that black students fare poorly on the academic achievement scale. Their scores on standardized achievement tests, their academic performance while in school, and their rates of enrollment…
Measuring the Spread of DEI
A constant concern in my academic sub-field of comparative politics is how to create concepts and measurements that stand up to scrutiny when applied to several cases. When we hear…
What SAT Scores Say About Teacher Effectiveness
The SAT has been in the news again, this time because of the claim that test-optional policies are a way for colleges to covertly impose affirmative action. It’s true that…
Did You Know? Both Parties Agree that College Needs to Change
When both Republicans and Democrats agree on an issue, the issue must be rather basic. Both parties agree that inflation is not ideal. Both parties agree that literacy is important.…
America Needs Better Teachers
It’s a sad fact that many of our teachers are weak. They’re weak on knowledge of their subjects and weak on teaching technique. Unfortunately, we know little about effective professional-development…