Bill Clinton hopes to raise profile of universities, whose students are tech-addicted, English-fluent, and have already been put on the path to college.
- WaPo’s Jay Mathews gives points to dissenting views on the value of foreign language requirements in high school—mostly on grounds that the skills are insufficient and never used. To this editor, it sounds like all the more reason to start them early and then let students choose if they want to continue with the language. Also, read about France’s “success” in limiting the number of students who leave school without any sort of academic qualification.
- University of Maryland’s College of the Obvious released a report concluding that college students are unwilling to disconnect from popular media (laptops, television, iPods, cell phones, etc.). Framing a study group’s emotional responses as akin to those suffering from drug addiction, these students viewed giving up media as the equivalent of giving up their social lives and connectedness to information.
- Laureate Education, Inc., a for-profit education company that spun off from Sylvan Learning Systems has anointed former president Bill Clinton as its honorary chancellor, for an undisclosed price tag. The company expects the former president to raise the company’s profile, which serves primarily an international clientele.
- It must be “Follow Jay Mathews Week” (we promise to get a better name if it becomes a regular feature of EE), as he provides some context to an “exhausting” read: Doug Lemov’s new book, Teach Like a Champion: 49 Techniques That Put Students on the Path to College. For more on how Lemov’s book marries policy and practice, check out the Education Gadfly’s recent review of the book.