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Several months ago I described the problems in a stud y that seemed to have great policy relevance, but little empirical support for its contentions.  Sadly, examples of studies like these abound in education, and another is currently making headlines.  " Vouchers Boost Blacks' College Enrollment Rates ," claim the stories-- and boy do the effects seem large! A "24 percent increase" in college attendance among black recipients of those vouchers-- what a dream. And it must be an accurate statement, right, since this was an experiment? Well, not necessarily. Too many practitioners, policymakers, and even researchers are far too inclined when they hear the words "randomized trial" to ignore the usual concerns about the reliability and validity of estimated program effects.  After all, it's "gold standard," and touted by the Institute of Education Sciences as being the most valid to get a sense of how well programs work. Unfortunately, its us...

Don't you just love last-minute breaking news when you're trying to head out the door on vacation? Come on.....!  THIS JUST IN. Tim Sullivan, businessman, has issued a blueprint prepared for Governor Scott Walker that includes some significant plans for higher education. Among its highlights: The skills gap demonstrated by highly-esteemed economists , as well as leading Wisconsin organizations with sizable expertise in business and higher education is apparently a "myth. "  Writes Sullivan, "there are opportunities available if people know where to look and can see the value." (p.101) Sure, he admits his is no scientific study-- after all, he is doing policy analysis by anecdote, drawing on his experiences at his own company-- but gee, he's sure confident there's a myth out there to be busted! The costs of Wisconsin Technical Colleges are too high because they are doing too much--namely, wasting time on liberal arts college transfer, "spending...

In a new policy brief just released by the Scholars Strategy Network at Harvard University, I make the case that the emotional meanings of financial aid can and should be enhanced to promote student success.  Sociologists and psychologists have long known that money has social value and that this can be increased through social connections.  The creators of the GI Bill understood this and took advantage of it by ensuring all recipients understood where funding for that program came from and what it meant. The same must now be done for the federal Pell Grant.  In fact, it could be done for all grant programs.  Governors, mayors, legislators, and yes, presidents, should get involved in conveying a strong, supportive message to the millions of needy yet promising students struggling every day to make it through college. PS. Just got the following response on Twitter. @ saragoldrickrab TRUTH. as # Pell Recipient, I had no idea why I received 3K for my education.. jus...

One Way To Motivate Motivation is a rather intriguing topic in the world of education, particularly these days, given all the expert opinions the corporate world is offering to or more often blatantly imposing upon public schools, districts, administrators, parents, and children. Of course, teachers themselves are always seeking guidance from more experienced and/or successful educators on how to get kids to behave and do what is demanded and expected of them in and out of class. On July 31, 2012, writing on her About.com Secondary Education page, Melissa Kelly tried to address the question of how to motivate students when she  wrote : One way to motivate students both behaviorally and academically is to reward them in various ways. I've created a list of ten ways that you can reward middle and high school students. Enjoy! Here is the list of motivators Ms. Kelly recommended (I will only reproduce their names, not the details, here; click on the link for the whole thing: 1) Sit wh...

Yet another policy brief highlights what realists know:   Wisconsin policymakers are presiding over poor policy decisions that threaten to undermine taxpayers' decades-long investment in the state's human capital. Far from saving our children from lifetimes of debt, those on the neoliberal Left and the conservative Right advocating for either "freeing" state universities from the limitations of state funding in pursuit of market models, or diminishing state spending in a time of austerity, are accomplishing the same goal:  driving up the costs of college attendance and reducing the overall educational attainment of our state's workers. Forty years ago our grandparents elected officials who invested $14 per $1000 of personal income in higher education.  Today, we elect jokers who put in just $5.  What happened? Figure courtesy of Tom Mortenson, Postsecondary Education Opportunity Let's admit it: we aren't leaders anymore, we're laggards. Yes, Wisconsin ...

Dear Mr. President: I write this on your birthday to wish you the very happiest of days. But I also write to speak to you as a parent, educator, and someone who deeply believes in our democratic heritage and values. When you spoke to the nation after the recent tragedy in Colorado, you appealed to people first as a father, shocked by something he knew could have happened all too easily to his own children. I, too, am a parent. My son is a fine young man of 17 who has attended public schools all his school life. And as someone who has worked in public education for 42 years, I know intimately the strengths and flaws of our education system, about which I comment in these pages and elsewhere on a regular basis. Almost all my professional work over the past 20 years has been in high-needs, inner-city schools of poverty, in Detroit, Flint, Pontiac, and New York City (including the South Bronx). And there I have seen poverty and squalor that most Americans can't even begin to imagine, i...