Education

The Best and the Brightest Led America Off a Cliff

Chris Hedges / Truthdig Dec 8, 2008 The multiple failures that beset the country can be laid at the feet of our elite universities. Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Stanford, along with most other elite schools, do a poor job educating students to think. They focus instead on creating hordes of competent systems managers. Dig deeper ( 9 Min. Read )

No Child Left Behind Fails Us All

BLANK Oct 21, 2008 Truthdig asked Demitrious C. Sinor, an inspirational educator, to sound off on the state of our schools. He warns that unless the No Child Left Behind regime ends soon, America's classrooms could unravel. It's a reality that neither presidential candidate seems to fully understand, but one he sees every day, from where he sits. Dig deeper ( 8 Min. Read )

Banking Collapse Lands on America’s Schools

Bill Boyarsky / Truthdig Sep 30, 2008 One of the worst casualties of the Iraq war and the Wall Street failures is the U.S. public school system, which is central to the nation’s economic, intellectual and social health. With financial resources being consumed, education cuts are on the way. Thank you, John McCain and President George W. Bush. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

Equality, by the Numbers

Ellen Goodman / Truthdig Jul 31, 2008 Let me begin by raising a glass of champagne to the official closing of the math gap. It turns out that girls do not lack the math gene. Nor are they math-phobic. Nor is there any "intrinsic" difference -- thank you, Larry Summers -- between the abilities of girls and boys to succeed in the numbers business. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Liberating the Schoolhouse

BLANK May 1, 2008 UCLA professor Wellford Wilms, one of the nation's leading authorities on the crisis of public education in America, offers a must-read counterpoint to Bush's blather about "No Child Left Behind." Dig deeper ( 45 Min. Read )

When Teachers Are the Dropouts

Paul Cummins / Truthdig Apr 26, 2008 Much is made of the dropout rate in America's schools, and usually it's the students who are the focus of the discussion. But what happens when teachers themselves opt out of their roles in the classroom? [In this short analysis, Truthdig educational expert Paul Cummins looks at teachers' heartbreak, frustration and depression.] Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Oprah’s Learning Curve

Eugene Robinson / Truthdig Nov 6, 2007 I can't summon any schadenfreude for Winfrey, just sympathy -- both for her good intentions and her determination to live up to them. And I pity anyone foolish enough to stand in her way. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

UC Irvine Fires Liberal Law School Dean

Jon Wiener / Truthdig Sep 14, 2007 In a move that shocked legal scholars and outraged faculty, University of California Irvine Chancellor Michael Drake has fired noted liberal law professor Erwin Chemerinsky, who had signed a contract only a few days ago to become the first dean of UC Irvine's new law school. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Making the Grade

Sharon Scranage / Truthdig Aug 7, 2007 Students aren't the only ones who worry about grades -- teachers also have to meet performance standards and follow curricula dictated by their districts. However, as educator Sharon Scranage points out, teachers working with socioeconomically disadvantaged children have to deal with even greater challenges without the aid of a specific "core" curriculum to address their students' special needs. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

The Education Blame Game

Sharon Scranage / Truthdig Jun 22, 2007 It's not just kids who get left behind in an educational system that fetishizes data and quantitative measures instead of qualitative progress. Teachers, particularly in lower-income schools, end up punished and humiliated because they are judged to be "underachievers," according to educator Sharon Scranage. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Obama Cools on Affirmative Action

Eugene Robinson / Truthdig May 15, 2007 Barack Obama doesn't think anyone should cut his two daughters any slack when they apply to college -- not because of their race, at least. In the unlikely event that the Obama family goes broke, then maybe. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Stephen Colbert Endorses Child Labor

Staff / Truthdig Apr 7, 2007 The pseudo-pundit argues that the best way to leave no children behind is to put them to work. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )