Starting last June a college professor, who goes by CandidProf, has been writing a series of posts based on his first hand experiences with students and administrators.
Recently I was asked why I included them in Leadership Turn; it isn’t an education blog and what exactly did the topic have to do with leadership. To be honest the question floored me.
The only thing I can think of that has more to do with leadership than education is parenting.
Both require serious leadership skills, but beyond that their focus, kids, are leadership’s future.
CP is on hiatus for now, but that doesn’t reduce …read more

NY Times columnist Nicholas Kristof comments that we finally elected an unabashed intellectual to the Presidency (it’s definitely worth reading), but what resonated more with me was the part that ties so closely with that CandidProf has been telling us.
“We can’t solve our educational challenges when, according to polls, Americans are approximately as likely to believe in flying saucers as in evolution, and when one-fifth of Americans believe that the sun orbits the Earth.
Almost half of young Americans said in a 2006 poll that it was not necessary to know the locations of countries where important news was made. That …read more

By CandidProf, who teaches physics and astronomy at a state university. He shares his thoughts and experiences teaching today’s students anonymously every Thursday—anonymously because that’s the only way he can be truly candid. Read all of CandidProf here.
Today’s generation of college students grew up with things handed to them.  Granted, that is not true for all of them, but it seems to be true for the bulk of my students.
Parents don’t want things to be as tough on their kids as growing up was for themselves.  Schools don’t want parents complaining.  So, the kids get everything just handed to them.
If …read more

Or is it a pyramid?“A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation that involves promising or paying abnormally high returns (“profits”) to investors out of the money paid in by subsequent investors, rather than from net revenues generated by any real business.”
“A pyramid scheme is a non-sustainable business model that involves the exchange of money primarily for enrolling other people into the scheme, without any product or service being delivered.”
This is what came to mind after reading CandidProf’s post yesterday; I finally decided that’s it’s both, making is a pyra-Ponzi scheme.
As CP described the situation it’s definitely a pyramid, his …read more

By CandidProf, who teaches physics and astronomy at a state university, shares his thoughts and experiences teaching today’s students anonymously every Thursday—anonymously because that’s the only way he can be truly candid. Read all of CandidProf here.It’s all about the numbers.  Sadly, that is how many college administrators see the students: as numbers.
The college has an enrollment figure.  In my state, one of the key measures that they are now implementing to rate college performance is the increase in enrollment figures.
For a long time, as a public institution, we have been funded by how many students are enrolled, so the administration …read more

By CandidProf, who teaches physics and astronomy at a state university. He shares his thoughts and experiences teaching today’s students anonymously every Thursday—anonymously because that’s the only way he can be truly candid. Read all of CandidProf here.
“If I don’t make a good grade on this test, I am going to hurt myself.  If you understood my background, you’d be worried about me.”
This is a statement made last week to one of my colleagues by a student who had already been identified as being unstable.
Unfortunately, this sort of thing is something that faculty face from time to time.  All sorts …read more

CandidProf is dealing with the aftermath of Ike—he’s fine, but has family in Houston; hopefully he’ll be back with us next week. (Read all of CandidProf here.)  In the meantime…Last week, CandidProf cited new rules by the Dallas School District that, essentially, eliminated accountability from the classroom—“…students who flunk tests, blow off homework and miss assignment deadlines can make up the work without penalty…”
Hilariously, an article yesterday on the dismal state of grammar and spelling said “the State Board of Education in May adopted new curriculum standards, including greater emphasis on grammar instruction in Texas schools.” I wonder how that …read more

By CandidProf, our regular Thursday guest author. Read all of CandidProf here.
I have been teaching college students since 1984 (starting as a TA in graduate school).  I have been at my current institution since 1994.  In 24 years of dealing with students entering college, the quality of preparation for those students seems to fall every year.
I see parents and schools setting students up for failure in college, and this worries me.  Entering students do not know how to study.  They do not know how to do work outside of class.  They do not know how to use outside resources.  They …read more

Yesterday CandidProf wrote about what he’s expected to do as “reasonable accommodation” for his students with disabilities.
Many of these struck me as totally UNreasonable. For example, the additional 18 hours a week for just one student is ridiculous—even more so because the work is expected to be done gratis in addition to a normal professor’s workload. No corporation could get away with that.
And CandidProf’s situation applies in the majority of universities, colleges and even high schools across the US.
I realize that in many lofty universities, such as Stanford and Harvard, there are rock star professors who teach only a few …read more

By CandidProf. This is the second part of a discussion about what today’s teachers face and the choices that they make. Read all of CandidProf here.
There are some students who come along who are indeed beyond anything that we should realistically be expected to deal with.  Yet, all too often, we are expected to deal with those students.
Every semester I get a notice from the Disabled Students Office about several students who are taking my class who are registered as disabled.  We are expected to make “reasonable” accommodations.
Unfortunately, nobody seems to know what constitutes “reasonable.” Some students have hearing problems …read more