Tuesday, July 6, 2010

8 Theories on Why College Kids Are Studying Less | The Atlantic Wire

8 Theories on Why College Kids Are Studying Less

By MAX FISHER on July 06, 2010 4:05pm

College students today are spending less time studying than they did in the past, according to a recent report. The University of California study finds that the average student at a four-year college in 1961 studied about 24 hours a week. Today’s average student hits the books for just 14 hours. That downward trend has been consistent across all kinds of schools, majors, and students. But why is this happening? Here are a few thoughts and theories, many of them courtesy of the very thoughtful commenters at Mother Jones, where blogger Kevin Drum asked "professors and current students" to suggest explanations.

Study Leaders Cite Professor Apathy The Boston Globe's Keith O'Brien writes, "when it comes to 'why,' the answers are less clear. ... What might be causing it, they suggest, is the growing power of students and professors’ unwillingness to challenge them."

Modern Technology Not to Blame The Boston Globe's Keith O'Brien says the study leaders don't think so. "The easy culprits — the allure of the Internet (Facebook!), the advent of new technologies (dude, what’s a card catalog?), and the changing demographics of college campuses — don’t appear to be driving the change, Babcock and Marks found." Why so sure? "According to their research, the greatest decline in student studying took place before computers swept through colleges: Between 1961 and 1981, study times fell from 24.4 to 16.8 hours per week (and then, ultimately, to 14)."

Grades Becoming Less Important Than Activities An anonymous Mother Jonescommenter writes, "I graduated recently, and Prospective employers and graduate school admission committees are very interested in your extracurricular and leadership positions, or your research work. Grades matter, but they are not the only thing. Perhaps in the seventies, grades were the main signal of success, so students studied more?"

Increase in 'Temporary, Adjunct' Faculty Mother Jones commenter Lisa argues, "Rise in numbers of temporary, adjunct faculty, who teach many, many courses, and are terribly vulnerable to course evaluations (that's me, by the way). One can only assign so much work

The Stimulus Wars Get Friendly | The Atlantic Wire

The Stimulus Wars Get Friendly

By JOHN HUDSON on July 06, 2010 3:19pm

To stimulate or not to stimulate: that's the question business and economic writers can't seem to agree on. One way to divide the opposing sides is into the Paul Krugman camp and the Niall Ferguson camp. Krugman, a Princeton economist and Nobel Prize-winner wants an additional stimulus to boost job growth and fend off another recession. Ferguson, a Harvard economic historian, says this kind of debt-fueled government spending will lead to high inflation or, even worse, default.

It seems unlikely that Krugman and Ferguson loyalists will ever concede to one other. But is there a middle way? The following pundits spent some time this week trying to find consensus between the two extremes.

Let's Be Pragmatic, writes David Brooks at The New York Times: "So you have your doubts, but you are practical. You want to do something. Too much debt could lead to national catastrophe. Too much austerity could lead to stagnation. Well, there's a few short-term things you can do. First, extend unemployment insurance; that's a foolish place to begin budget-balancing. Second, you need to mitigate the pain caused by the state governments that are slashing spending. You need a program modeled on Race to the Top. You will provide federal money now to states that pass responsible long-term budget plans that will reduce spending and pension commitments."

Both Sides Have Something to Offer, writes Henry Blodget at Business Insider: "Where are we on this fight between Krugman (Keynesians) and Niall Ferguson, et al (who argue that our ballooning debts and deficits will kill us in the end)? In the middle. We think Krugman is right about the short-term impact 'austerity' will have on the global economy, and we never hear the Tea Party and other austerity pundits acknowledge that. At the same time, we don't think

Sacramento Digital Media Economy — The Rancho Cordova Post

Is Sacramento a Digital Media Hot Spot or Dead Zone

by GEOFFREY SAKALA on JULY 6, 2010 · 0 COMMENTS

in BUSINESS

The Sacramento media scene has a long and colorful history which dates back to before I was born. I’m one of the thirty-something’s who grew up using computers from an early age, but only moved to Sacramento in 1995. Innovative publications like Alive & Kicking by legendary music promoter Jerry Perry and Prosper Magazine supported by Michael Teel, CEO of local supermarket giant Raley’s, have had a tough go staying viable in the Sacramento market. While others like Sactown Magazine by Rob Turner and Elyssa Lee and Sacramento Press by Ben Ilfeld and Geoff Samek have found a business model and loyal audience for their local content. Still others have been publishing for decades and continue to survive despite the downturn in the economy, but for how long.

You might notice that theses publications have all taken varying approaches to producing content with a mix of distribution channels. The comparison/contrast was intentional. While print is not the same as digital, good content is the common factor among all publications. The differentiator of success between the publications mentioned has been the business model for supporting content production and distribution. The goal of this commentary is not to argue the merits of one business model or the other, rather to make a larger point.

Is Sacramento poised to become a Digital Media Hot Spot or Dead Zone?

Before diving into what we “The Media” should be doing I’d like to highlight a couple reasons I think there is a growing opportunity for a Digital Media Hot Spot here in Sacramento.

1. The McClatchy Company, owner of the Sacramento Bee is the third-largest newspaper company in the United States and is based right here in Sacramento, Ca. They recently developed a content sharing network called Sacramento Connect to work with local blogs and news providers and have received national attention for it.

2. Innovative digital media startup Sacramento Press is making waves nationally with an online-only news model with over 1,000 community contributors and recently launched a

NorthJersey.com: N.J. Assembly leader says she won't block property tax deal

N.J. Assembly leader says she won't block property tax deal

Tuesday, July 6, 2010
LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY JULY 6, 2010, 2:23 PM

BY MATT FRIEDMAN

STATE HOUSE BUREAU

Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver, the wild card in a compromise between the governor and state Senate to lower the property tax cap from 4 percent to 2 percent, said Tuesday she does not plan to “stand in the way” of the agreement.

FILE PHOTO/ CHRIS PEDOTA / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Still, Speaker Oliver said Assembly Democrats have concerns they want to address with Christie before he takes any further action.

Oliver (D-Essex), who left the State House Saturday without signing on to the deal reached between Republican Governor Christie and Senate President Stephen Sweeney, was conspicuously absent from a press conference touting the compromise that afternoon.
“I think that the political reality in New Jersey is that taxpayers want to see some effort made by the Legislature to control property taxes,” Oliver said. “So I don’t think that the General Assembly would stand in the way of that.”
Still, Oliver said Assembly Democrats have concerns they want to address with Christie before he takes any further action, and she is hoping to speak with him today.
“He had his schedule already established for today as did I, but we’re seeking to maybe get together as the day closes out,” she said.
Under Christie’s compromise with Sweeney, the governor plans to conditionally veto a bill the Legislature passed last week that would have lowered the property tax cap but include a number of exceptions.
The conditional veto would lower the cap further and only allow municipalities to exceed it for costs from health insurance, pensions, debt service payments and

Hechinger Report | Results are mixed on small schools in Philly

Results are mixed on small schools in Philly

by No Byline

By Kristen A. Graham
New York City went for small high schools in a big way, and the country’s largest school system is still high on that education reform strategy.

Small schools in Philadelphia

Read the first part of the series that explores how the small schools movement has worked out of Philly high school students.

Oakland, Calif., opened 49 small schools in the last decade, but is closing six.
And in Philadelphia, the superintendent’s message is clear – small schools are fine, but don’t expect any new ones until inequities at big neighborhood high schools are fixed.
For a time in the mid-2000s, small schools were booming. They were supposed to transform the large, failing American high school, to engage students and boost their achievement to ready them for college.
But the results have been mixed, national and local research shows. Students at small high schools were more

Teachers' jobs vs. Race to the Top? | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Teachers' jobs vs. Race to the Top?

by Rajiv Venkataramanan on Jul 06 2010

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"When a ship is sinking, you don't worry about redesigning a room; you worry about keeping it afloat."

This is what Rep. David Obey (D-Wis.), the powerful chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said of "Race to the Top (RttT)" money he wants to reroute to save teachers' jobs across the country.

As a war funding bill winds its way through Capitol Hill, $23 billion of domestic spending has been tacked onto it. Ten billion of that domestic spending would go towards rescuing between 100,000 and 300,000 education jobs in debt-ridden states that will have to make painful cuts this year.

How would Congress pay for that $10 billion of emergency education aid? Obey and other House Democrats have decided to cut nearly $800 million from three of President Obama's flagship education reform initiatives:

$500 million from RttT,
$100 million from charter school expansions, and
$200 million from the teacher incentive fund.

In what amounts to a direct affront to President Obama's ambitious education

On Teacher Buy-In and IMPACT � The Quick and the Ed

On Teacher Buy-In and IMPACT

by Forrest Hinton

Education Sector recently hosted the event “Finding the Link: Teacher Evaluation and Professional Development.” We invited four teachers—all bloggers—to give their reactions to the discussion and ask questions of the panelists. In the days ahead, each blogger will guestblog and provide commentary about the event here on The Quick and the Ed.
The following blog post has been re-posted from ABCDE, written by DCPS high school English teacher Wookie Kim.
As a teacher, I see Post-It notes as my personal guardians. Filled with reminders, notes, slogans, messages, and posted—literally—all around me, they guide me and protect my life from the uncertainties of not knowing. They are beautiful (and, if you go to Costco, not too expensive in bulk!). One Post-It note that has been up on my bedroom wall—placed conspicuously by the door above the lightswitch to serve as a constant reminder—contains a quote that I firmly believe in:

Texas Education Agency Firing Over Creationism E-Mail Upheld - The School Law Blog - Education Week

Texas Education Agency Firing Over Creationism E-Mail Upheld

By Mark Walsh on July 6, 2010 9:36 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

A federal appeals court has upheld the dismissal of the Texas Education Agency's science-curriculum director for violating the agency's policy requiring "neutrality" on curriculum deliberations by sending e-mail critical of creationism.

Christina Castillo Comer, the science director for TEA's curriculum division from 1998 until her 2007 termination, violated the policy by forwarding an e-mail about an event in Austin, Texas, called "Inside Creationism's Trojan Horse."

The e-mail noted that a speaker would make a presentation critical of teaching creationism in public schools. Comer responded to the e-mail by promising to "help get the word out," and she forwarded the e-mail from her TEA account to 36 science teachers in the Austin area and leaders of science teacher groups.

Comer's supervisor determined that the science director had violated the neutrality policy, which bars TEA employees from expressing opinions about policy positions being weighed by the Texas State Board of Education. In recent years, the state board has been debating the role of evolution and creationism in the state science curriculum.

Comer had been disciplined once before for disclosing internal information, and after the creationism e-mail, she was forced to resign. Comer sued the TEA,

This Week In Education: Media: Sentimental Treatment For A Chicago Violence Prevention Program

Media: Sentimental Treatment For A Chicago Violence Prevention Program

by Alexander Russo

There was a long and (to me, at least) extremely naive and sentimental article in the New York Times last week (Graduation Is the Goal, Staying Alive the Prize). But maybe I'm just in a bad mood or something. The article (complete with slide show) emphasizes how dangerous it is to be a teen in Chicago (big surprise) and touts the newish Board of Education program to give particularly at risk kids individualized counseling and support in and out of school. Good enough. But it doesn't question the delays, costs, and rollout of the Huberman program, the questionable statistical analysis behind identifying the kids, and it seems to consider it something of a miracle that

Democurmudgeon: Wealth Care Sycophants: Sean Duffy, Scott Walker, Ron Johnson, Paul Ryan, Tea Party Movement...

Wealth Care Sycophants: Sean Duffy, Scott Walker, Ron Johnson, Paul Ryan, Tea Party Movement...

by Democurmudgeon

Congressional candidate Sean Duffy cares more about the increased taxes on large companies and wealthy people than he does about the average Wisconsin taxpayer. The same goes for Republicans Scott Walker and Ron Johnson. And who's about to back these Wealth Care candidates; the GOP and tea party "constitutionalists." The founding fathers aren't just rolling over in their graves, their sailing back to England on the first ghost ship out.

Remember when corporate tax cuts and lower taxes on wealth were supposed to spur economic growth, trickle down "voodoo economics" they called it, after the mild 2001 recession. Now after the Great Bush Recession, how'd that work out for you? It didn't, in spades.

So why is congressional candidate, Democratic State Sen. Julie Lassa, "defending" herself against a conservative candidate fighting for "Wealth Care" in the name of "freedom and liberty?" Like the Wisconsin State Journal pointed out:

Free Technology for Teachers: Seven Videos All Educators Should Watch

Seven Videos All Teachers & Principals Should Watch

by noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Byrne)

Summer is a time when many of us are thinking about and planning professional development workshops for our schools and for other schools. I've always found that a short 3-5 minute video can be a good introduction to a PD sessions and or make for a nice thought-provoking break during a PD session. Here are seven videos that I think serve those purposes well.

The "classic" of course is the various incarnations of Karl Fisch's and Scott McLeod's Did You Know? Version 4.0 is embedded below, but I still prefer this version.

For Georgian Choice, Slips Twixt the Cup and Lip :: Frederick M. Hess

For Georgian Choice, Slips Twixt the Cup and Lip

by Frederick M. Hess • Jun 30, 2010 at 9:10 am
Cross-posted from Education Week

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The Republic of Georgia's attempt to embrace expansive school choice has encountered some substantial roadblocks, all of which are more than a little familiar and may provide some useful guidance and cautions for those promoting choice-based reform in the U.S. and elsewhere.

Georgia offers a terrific illustration of the difference between choice in theory and in practice. The theory of choice requires that schools compete for students, with rewards flowing to schools that attract students (and therefore revenues) and adverse consequences to those that do not. However, in Georgia, there is no shame in being director (e.g. principal) of a school whose revenues do not cover its outlays. Indeed, half or more of the nation's 2,300 schools are now "deficit" schools. The rationales and excuses are many. "High mountain" schools cannot attract new students (though, of course, they also don't lose students, and they receive a voucher weighted at 1.7 times the basic voucher), utility bills are unexpectedly high, especially in areas affected by the 2008 Russian invasion, and so on.

As the reform-friendly Transparency International Georgia concluded in a 2010 analysis, the reforms have "not been as successful in achieving many of [their] objectives as had been hoped. A lack of funding for the voucher system has meant that schools have not been able to assert their financial autonomy. School boards of

Morning Vid: Jon Stewart Grills Puppet Michael Steele | The Atlantic Wire

Morning Vid: Jon Stewart Grills Puppet Michael Steele

By JARED KELLER on July 06, 2010 11:10am

While Jon Stewart thrives on playing hardball with inept politicians, the host of The Daily Show takes particular pleasure in tearing into the embattled RNC Chairman Michael Steele following hiscontroversial claim that conflict in Afghanistan was "a war of Obama's choosing." Beginning with an brief (and damning) overview of Steele's gaffes during his tenure, Stewart circles in for the final blow. "OK, forget about the fact that we've been in Afghanistan since before Obama was a gleam in the Senate's eye," seethes Stewart. "Forget about the fact that this non-act of war has cost the United States thousands of casualties, and just focus on this. This is the head of the Republican Party, going against one of his parties core principles: blowing up shit in other countries. It's like Jews for Jesus."

Stewart turned to a puppet Michael Steele for a thorough (and vaguely offensive) statement:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

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Steele Crazy After All These Years

www.thedailyshow.com

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Tuesday, July 6, 2010