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LEADER OF NATION’S BIGGEST CAMPUS TAKING ON TENURE
COLUMBUS, Ohio --The leader of the country's largest university thinks it's time to re-examine how professors are awarded tenure, a type of job-for-life protection virtually unknown outside academia. Ohio State University President Gordon Gee says the traditional formula that rewards publishing in scholarly journals over excellence in teaching and other contributions is outdated and too often favors the quantity of a professor's output over quality. "Someone should gain recognition at the university for writing the great American novel or for discovering the cure for cancer," he told The Associated Press. "In a very complex world, you can no longer expect everyone to be great at everything." Plenty of people have raised the issue over the years, but Gee is one of the few American college presidents with the reputation and political prowess -- not to mention the golden touch at fundraising -- who might be able to begin the transformation. Still, some professors are already skeptical. The AP article is in the Boston Globe.
STUDY FINDS WIDE ACHIEVEMENT GAPS
Achievement gaps between students of different genders and racial, economic, and linguistic groups are large and persistent for the nation’s top-performing students, even as they seem to be narrowing for K-12 students as a whole, according to a new report. For the analysis, released Feb. 4 by the Center for Evaluation and Education Policy at Indiana University in Bloomington, researchers analyzed data stretching back as far as 1996 from 4th and 8th grade reading and math tests administered by the National Assessment of Educational Progress and from state assessments in those subjects. The article is in Education Week.
COMPLEXITY NEEDED
Claus von Zastrow at the Public School Insights blog has several recommendations for what he deems the "shrinking rolodex" of public education journalism. His suggestions are in response to a CBS News segment on school reform that relied on commentary from only two people, Andy Rotherham and Michelle Rhee, both of whom have "had a real impact on the school reform debate," but who stand on the same side of many issues. Von Zastrow would have those who cover education take several steps to break this tendency. Foremost, "don't just go where you smell blood." Chancellor Rhee is often tapped because she is likely to display her "fighting spirit" and foreground her take-no-prisoners policies, which make for good theater and appeal to a general frustration with reform inertia. But what about a deeper story, once heads have rolled and reorganization is in place? The aftermath generally demands a collaborative culture if change is to "take," and these are the efforts von Zastrow would have the media showcase. He also pleads against pushing reductive solutions as an end-of-segment wrap-up. If reform were a question of a few simple steps, surely these would have been taken already. "Is it impossible -- or maybe even foolish -- to acquaint the general public with complexity?" von Zastrow muses. Stay tuned. This information is from the PEN NewsBlast.
THE EMERGING HISPANIC-SERVING INSTITUTION
WASHINGTON – The number of institutions officially recognized by the federal government as “Hispanic serving” is set to rise dramatically in the coming years, according to a comprehensive study of Latino enrollment in higher education. In the 1980s, the designation Hispanic-serving institution (HSI) was created by the federal government to direct funding to nonprofit colleges where at least 25 percent of the full-time-equivalent students are Latino. On Thursday, Excelencia in Education, an advocacy group for Latino students, released a report identifying the growing number of institutions that do not meet the HSI enrollment threshold of 25 percent but that fit its definition of “emerging HSIs” – meaning that they “are within the critical mass range of 15-24 percent and have the potential to become HSIs in the next few years.” The article is in Inside Higher Ed.
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