A different view on the BCS National Championships
Alabama may have beaten UT a week ago on national television, but The Washington Post’s Answer Sheet blog took a different stance.
The blog looked at standards at both schools in several entries last week. Here are some hi-lights:
Sheepskin vs. Pigskin
“… if graduation rates mattered on the football field, the University of Texas Longhorns would win tomorrow night’s national championship contest in Pasadena over the University of Alabama’s Crimson Tide.
The graduation rate for minority students at Texas is 70 percent, 13 points higher than that of its opponent, Alabama—but still 8 percentage points lower than the university’s graduation rate among its white students.”
(Although, the Dallas Morning News reports this week that although UT has increased its minority and low-income enrollment, the flagship institution still does not reflect state-wide demographics.)
U-Alabama by the numbers
For the 2008-2009 school year: “No bachelor’s degrees were given [at the University of Alabama] in: mathematics, engineering technologies, law/legal studies, physical sciences, philosophy and religious studies, social sciences”
The link between sports titles and college applications
“What will a championship do for the winning school?
Among other things, it will mean that more students will send in applications–almost 10 percent more than the previous year.
It doesn’t sound like rocket science, but two brothers researched the link and found a substantial connection between college applications and success of that college’s major sports teams.
The researchers were Jaren Pope, assistant professor of agricultural and applied economics at Virginia Tech, and Devin Pope, an assistant professor at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
They co-authored a 2008 paper in the Southern Economic Journal that said the school with the team that wins the national basketball or football title will probably see an 8 percent rise in the number of applications. Schools finishing 16th or 20th in either sports are likely to see a 2 percent rise, the paper said.
This is called the “Flutie Effect,” named after a last-ditch pass by Boston College quarterback Doug Flutie in 1984 that turned out to provide the winning score over defending national champs, University of Miami. The following year, applications to Boston College jumped 16 percent, and then 12 percent in 1985, though school officials said the championship was not the only reason.
Some educational leaders have denied such an effect exists, but the brothers’ research, which covered a period of 19 years, showed otherwise.”
Perry doesn’t want to Race to the Top
Statesman: Texas will not compete for federal education grant
The Statesman’s Kate Alexander reports that Rick Perry has decided not to compete in the $4 billion Race to the Top program.
“This program is not a ‘Race to the Top’ but a sprint to the middle, to mediocrity,” Perry said Wednesday in Houston.
If Texas had submitted an application, the state could have received up to $700 million.
Race to the Top is a federal program funded by last year’s stimulus package. Its mission is to encourage education reform and innovation.
The Texas Education Agency has already spent 800 hours preparing an application for Race to the Top. The agency reports it did not finish the application.
Traizzle Chapter 8
The final chapter of this fall’s Travizzle series was posted to the Serials page.
Education News Updates and Issues
Statesman: Principal bans senior T-shirts at high school
With a school-appropriate front — “HHS 2010″ — and a controversial-and-possibly-in-appropriate backside — “Well, that sucked” — this senior year keepsake may be the mullet of T-shirts.
Was Hays High School correct in confiscating these T-shirts? Or were the students freedom of speech rights violated?
Houston Chronicle: Dropouts cost Houston $165 million a year
“Cutting the dropout rate in half at 143 high schools serving the greater Houston region would increase wages $165 million a year and generate $16 million more in taxes for the state and local governments. That’s according to a study released today by the Alliance for Excellent Education, which analyzed dropout data among the nation’s 50 largest metropolitan regions.”
Answer Sheet: Diagnosed with “over-comprehension:” My standardized test nightmare
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is touring with Newt Gingrich and Al Sharpton in support of “Race to the Top” aka “NCLB on steroids.” But one thing they aren’t talking about is “over-comprehension” and that may be too much emphasis is placed on standardized testing.
Answer Sheet: “In the Age of ‘Twilight’: Kids who only read fantasy and ‘readicide’”
Lucy Calkins, professor of curriculum and teaching at Columbia University’s Teachers College, says don’t worry if your kids only read fantasy. Instead, be happy they’re reading.
“Parents don’t understand that fantasy is not lightweight,” Calkins said. “They think it is lightweight because of the themes, but that is really wrong. Fantasy involves multiple works and there is often a lot of text complexity.”
Associated Press: Leggo my Eggo! Kellogg fights waffle shortage
Although not really education news, it is interesting to know that something as ubiquitous as waffles in a grocery store aisle, may be, well, not so ubiquitous any more due to production problems at four plants.
Blog Spotlight: Thomas B. Fordham Institute
OK, so this really isn’t a Blog per se, more just a Web site for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute.
However, it still has a lot of interesting information, including a study on the state of Ohio, which has seen a mass exodus of young people in recent years. They also have analyzed Ohio’s Big 8 urban districts for the past several years.
Issues Fordham follows include Charters & Choice; Curriculum & Instruction; No Child Left Behind; Teacher Quality; Testing & Accountability; Dayton & Ohio Projects; Regulation; and Technology.
Fordham publishes every Thursday ”a weekly bulletin of news and analysis” called The Education Gadfly.
Fordham describes itself a “Washington, D.C.-based, non-profit think tank dedicated to advancing educational excellence in America’s K-12 schools.”
The institute was named after an Ohio industrialist who died in 1945. Its sister non-profit is the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, which sponsors charter schools in Ohio. Neither non-profit is affiliated with Fordham University.
Inactive Blogs I Wish Were Active
Education in Texas
Last post: April 23, 2008
This Blog was written by a Texas science and technology teacher — and would have been more pertinent to Texas teachers than say EdWize, which has a tab on the New York City Department of Education. Also, this Blog wormed its way into my heart when I saw this post. I know I said that exact line several times in U.S. history during my junior year of high school.
By the way, this Blog ranks on the Top 100 Education Blogs list by the Online Education Database. I wonder why he stopped blogging?
Texas Teacher Law
Last post: September 11, 2009
OK, so a year or more hasn’t elapsed like with the above Blog, but I think it is safe to say this is at least a pretty inactive Blog.
Which is a shame. Teachers do need “practical legal advice … on Texas School Law.”
Updates from the Texas Tribune
Texas Tribune: Physical Education Requirements Soon to be Gone
Written by Abby Rapoport, published 11/16/2009. A bill from the last Lege session and the State Board of Education chairwoman both separately support standard high school graduation plans that do not include PE or health classes.
Texas Tribune: Imagine the Controversy
Written by Abby Rapoport, published 11/17/2009. Rapoport likens SBOE meetings to ACL Fest: “[You] know where to look and there’s sure to be entertainment.” Issue on the plate: Imagine International, a charter school program seeking contracts, which “has a history of contentious school management and questionable non-profit status — the charter school community’s nightmare.”
Blog Spotlight: This Week in Education
Journalist and former Senate education staffer Alexander Russo writes This Week in Education.
In entries, Russo —who aims to cover education news, policymakers, and trends — writes updates that include a distinctly political edge.
Russo’s latest Twitter updates always appear as the Blog’s first entry — so don’t be thrown by the Sept. 3, 2009 posting date — this Blog is very much still active. Although, I have to admit blogging your twitter updates that are advertising your Blog updates seems a little redundant to me too. I recommend just scrolling past that first entry, because this Blog is very much worth reading.
Or follow his Twitter feed only, if it’s easier for you to synthesize information in 140 characters or less.
Travizzle Chapter 7
Travizzle Chapter 7 — the penultimate installment — has been added to the Serials page. Check the Life & Arts/Classifieds section next Monday for Travizzle’s finale!
Also, look in this Wednesday’s paper for our Inspired by Poe winners.
Q&A with Mike Sutter
Click here to read an interview with Statesman food critic Mike Sutter. (The link goes to “Our Inside the Statesman” Blog, which is a virtual tour of the newspaper — from start to finish. Reporters Corrie MacLaggan, Andrea Lorenz and Patrick George have answered previous Q&As for this Blog.)
Note: Mike Sutter is not a frying pan. As part of his job, he needs anonymity, so, when he walks into a restaurant, no one will recognize him as the Statesman food critic, and perhaps alter their cooking, service and etc. to get a better review.
