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How Grade Inflation Erodes the Meaning of College 0
- Culture
- April 22, 2016
Every so often, the issue of grade inflation makes the headlines, and we are reminded that grades are being debased continuously. That happened in late March when the two academics who have most assiduously studied grade inflation—Stuart Rojstaczer and Christopher Healy—provided fresh evidence on their site GradeInflation.com that grade inflation continues. The authors state, “After 30 years of making
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Prof: Why the charter school debate has moved beyond ‘better’ or ‘worse’0
- Education
- April 22, 2016
The charter school debate is getting even more heated. Recently, charter opponents launched a campaign from the steps of the Massachusetts State House to warn that charter schools were “sapping resources from the traditional schools that serve most minority students, and creating a two-track system.” Similar opposition has been voiced by critics across the country as well. So when
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Our Grievances Fuel Political Demagogues 0
- Politics
- April 22, 2016
“I was grocery shopping and someone banged my foot with their shopping cart,” said a participant in a workshop I was conducting with a large organization. “They made me mad!” Defensive and indignant, the participant went on to tell how he didn’t receive a proper apology. “Everyone in this room knows what I’m talking about,”
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$How the ‘New Math’ is Ruining Education$
How the ‘New Math’ is Ruining Education 0
- Education
- April 22, 2016
By now, you’ve probably seen some of the complaints on the internet about the “new math” being promoted by the Common Core Standards. Many grade-school children—including, for instance, comedian Louis CK’s children—have come home with math homework that is virtually indecipherable to their parents. The goal behind the new math, it seems, is to encourage
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John Wayne is Dead, John Lennon is Dying 0
- History
- April 22, 2016
Many years ago, growing up in England, I witnessed the dying embers of loyalty to a dead British Empire. For my father’s generation the unthinkable had happened. Night had fallen on the Empire on which they were raised to believe the sun would never set. As a child, my father told me that there were
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Why French Parents Are Still the Boss of Their Kids 2
- Culture
- April 22, 2016
Several years ago, a friend of mine told me about a fascinating book called French Kids Eat Everything. I finally had a chance to pick it up recently, and so far, it’s an interesting read. In essence, the book describes how one North American family moved to France and soon discovered that picky eating and
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