Will We, at Last, Do Something About Accreditation?
Accreditation is supposed to act as a quality guarantee for colleges and universities, but it works very poorly. Students can and regularly do graduate from accredited schools without having learned…
Educating for the Workplace: A Dilemma
Recently I attended a meeting of a committee of the University of North Carolina system’s Board of Governors that has a mission of “setting goals for economic impact.” Higher education’s…
Poll: What Should Trump’s Education Department Do to Reform Higher Ed?
Now that the election has ended, Donald Trump faces new challenges. He must assemble a team, choose a direction, and begin to govern. During his long campaign, he gave a…
The SAT and ACT Fall Short, But Now There’s a Better Alternative
Parents, test prep experts, and college counselors give careful thought in working with students as they approach the crucial “college entrance exam.” Which of the two exams should they prep…
A Grassroots Effort Is Changing College Instruction for the Better
Here is a dirty little secret: I am a teacher at a community college, but I have never taken an education course. The same is true for most of my…
Online Course Exchanges: Models of Efficiency
Small classes and programs are often praised for offering students more personal attention and one-on-one time with professors. But when programs are too small, students and universities suffer. Students find…
Skills Without Frills: The Rise of Coding Academies
The basement of a once–abandoned tobacco factory may seem to be an odd place to teach the most cutting edge computer technology, but that’s where The Iron Yard, a computer…
How Would Trump Change Higher Education Policy?
Last month I looked at Hillary Clinton’s higher education proposals in this Clarion Call, and found nothing to praise in them. They merely deepen the already ruinous federal involvement in…
Pokémon Go Is Booming on Campus, and That’s a Good Thing
On the surface, Pokémon Go players appear to be zombified millennials walking aimlessly, eyes fixed on their cellphones. But in reality they are engaging with a new community of young…
A Visiting Professor of Conservative Thought Takes on Boulder, Colorado
Several years ago, the University of Colorado Boulder did something pioneering in American higher education. It committed to bringing onto its faculty, on a rotating basis, a notable academic conservative…