Mixed messages abound in the education world these days.\u00c2\u00a0 We want to graduate more students, but we want to make it harder to graduate; we want to add math, science, and foreign language requirements (read: add teachers), but we don’t want to increase funding for education.\u00c2\u00a0 And those are just a couple of examples from high school.<\/p>\n
Higher Ed is in a similar predicament.\u00c2\u00a0 The goals are noble and good, but the means to achieve them are dwindling.\u00c2\u00a0 To wit:<\/p>\n
Anyone who has recently been a college student, or any parent of a college student, knows that one of the biggest challenges to graduating on time is to get into the classes one needs, when one needs them.\u00c2\u00a0 Offering more sections, more frequently, would undoubtedly improve the college graduation rate.\u00c2\u00a0 Offering fewer sections (with more students in each) less frequently cannot possibly yield improvement in the graduation rate — it will have the opposite effect.<\/p>\n
But to keep it simple, the analogy is thus:\u00c2\u00a0 jump as high as you can.\u00c2\u00a0 Next, you must jump 50% higher… so dig a hole, stand in it, and try again.<\/p>\n
Let me know if this works for you.\u00c2\u00a0 Like my physics major and rugby player daughter tells me, “gravity sucks.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mixed messages abound in the education world these days.\u00c2\u00a0 We want to graduate more students, but we want to make it harder to graduate; we want to add math, science, and foreign language requirements (read: add teachers), but we don’t … Continue reading