Michelle Rhee Resigns as D.C. Schools Chancellor

Michelle Rhee, the public schools chancellor of the District of Columbia who drew attacks from unions for firing more than 200 teachers, mostly over student performance, has resigned, effective at the end of the month.

Full story @

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-10-13/michelle-rhee-resigns-as-d-c-schools-chancellor.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/13/education/13schools.html

GOOD Transparency: Education in America

“It’s time we take a broad look at the state of education in America today. What are our graduation rates? How are our standardized test scores? How well paid are our teachers? Let’s take the pulse of our country’s education system — all the way from its kindergartens to its universities. Comparing and contrasting with statistics from other countries, we can see where we fit in on the international scene…and we can begin to think about how to repair education in America.” -

GOOD Magazine

Is College Education The Next Bubble Set To Burst?

“The price of a college education, compared to the CPI, has risen dramatically since 1980. It has outpaced the housing bubble, and has many of the same characteristics, including a government sponsored credit bubble.

And with competitive quality now in question compared to emerging economies like China, the value per dollar spent for that American college tuition may be even lower.”

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/charts-of-the-week-college-education-bubble-2010-7?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+clusterstock+%28ClusterStock%29#is-college-education-the-next-bubble-set-to-burst-1#ixzz0vOSdhhnl

Lessons from Amazon.com

Dear Education Leaders:

Here is a great lesson from Jeff Bezos (CEO of Amazon.com) – students and parents come first.  Period.

2009 MetLife Survey of the American Teacher

The MetLife Survey of the American Teacher: Collaborating for Student Success examines the views of teachers, principals and students about respective roles and responsibilities, current practice and priorities for the future (2009). The Survey report is being released as a series during the first quarter of 2010 with the following parts:

• Part 1: Effective Teaching and Leadership examines views about responsibility and accountability; what collaboration looks like in schools, and if and to what degree it is currently practiced.
• Part 2: Student Achievement examines views on student goals, teacher expectations, and what educators believe would increase student achievement.
• Part 3: Teaching as a Career examines collaboration in the context of teacher professional growth, experience level and career path.

Global Challenges and Transnational Research Partnerships: A Case for South African and US Collaboration – Tuesday, March 30, 2010, 5:30 – 7pm

Location	Longfellow Hall 13 Appian Way Cambridge, MA 02138
Type of Event	Lecture
Building/Room	Askwith Hall
Contact Name	Amber Haskins
Contact Email	amber_haskins@gse.harvard.edu
Contact Phone	617-384-9968
Sponsoring Organization/Department	Harvard Graduate School of Education
Registration Required	No

Featured Speaker Ihron Rensburg, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Johannesburg, will explore the challenges and need for global collaboration. UJ, one of South Africa’s largest city universities, offers both technological and traditional academic programmes to more than 46,000 students. UJ is committed not only to nurturing quality education, but community and global partnerships as well. Mr. Rensburg holds a Doctor of Philosophy in International Development Education, and Masters of Arts in Political and Organisational Sociology, both from Stanford University. He also holds a Pharmacy degree from Rhodes University.

This event is free and open to the public.

Classic College Meets Online Opportunities: Whither the Future of Higher Education? – Thursday, March 11, 2010, 5:30 – 7pm

Location	Longfellow Hall 13 Appian Way Cambridge, MA 02138
Type of Event	Lecture
Building/Room	Askwith Hall
Contact Name	Amber Haskins
Contact Email	askwith_forums@gse.harvard.edu
Contact Phone	617-384-9968
Sponsoring Organization/Department	Harvard Graduate School of Education
Registration Required	No

Two university presidents – and two quite different views of the future of learning. Dr. William J. Pepicello, President of the University of Phoenix, and Christopher B. Nelson, J.D., President of St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland, will discuss their contrasting conceptions of higher education. The University of Phoenix, the country’s largest private university, intensively promotes distance education and a for-profit university model, while St. John’s is the canonical example of a great books, liberal arts, residential college.

As the sixth president of the University of Phoenix, Dr. William J. Pepicello is responsible for the leadership of the largest private university in the United States. He holds both Master of Arts and a Doctorate of Philosophy in Linguistics from Brown University and a Bachelors of Arts in Classics from Gannon University.

Christopher B. Nelson, J.D. has been president of St. John’s College since June 1991. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from St. John’s, and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Utah College of Law, where he founded and directed the university’s student legal services program.

Meet Jodi Picoult Ed.M.’90: A Special Opportunity for HGSE Students & Alumni – Wednesday, March 3, 2010, 6 – 8pm

Location	Brattle Theater 40 Brattle Street Cambridge, MA 02138
Type of Event	Alumni Event, Class
Building/Room	Other
Contact Name	Courtney Hatch Blauvelt
Contact Email	gse_alumni_services@harvard.edu
Contact Phone	617-496-3605
Sponsoring Organization/Department	This event Co-sponsored by the Harvard Coop, the Brattle Theatre, and the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Registration Required	Yes
Admission Fee	$5
RSVP Required	Yes
Link	harvardcoopbooks.bncollege.com…

Advance ticket sales begin on Monday, February 8, 2010. A limited number of tickets have been especially reserved for purchase by HGSE alumni and students. Please identify yourself as a HGSE student or alum when you purchase your ticket to ensure priority ticket sales. You should purchase your ticket as soon as possible in person at the Harvard COOP or by calling 617-499-2012. Tickets are $5 each and can be used toward a House Rules book purchase at The COOP.

Rutgers University taps booming online education

“Seeking to increase profits as a buffer against dwindling state support, Rutgers University is making a major push into the multibillion-dollar industry of online education.

Rutgers President Richard L. McCormick has pledged to nearly triple online course revenue — from $20.5 million to $60 million — over five years.

Just a few months into the effort, the university is ahead of schedule. Online enrollments in 2010 project to be 80 percent higher than in 2009, said Raphael Caprio, vice president of continuing education.

“It took us 10 years to get to 500 students,” Caprio said. “And three semesters to get to 5,000.”" – Brian Whitley/The Star-Ledger, 02.21.10

For full article, click here

Rethinking Education

Great article by William G. Tierney for the Huffington Post!

“At the heart of the reauthorization debate over the “No Child Left Behind” law is a fundamental question about how we best educate our children to prepare them and our country to meet the dual challenges of the new century and of competitor nations seeking to knock America off the pedestal of world leader. As we have struggled to answer this question, one key lesson we have already learned is that education is about more than K-12 or post-secondary, it’s about the lifelong process of educating our continuum of citizens to be on the cutting edge of knowledge.

Throughout our history, as we moved from voluntary to mandatory to universal education we have introduced new ideas and concepts to meet the changing nature of who we were trying to educate: the immigrant (both then and now); the farmer, the suburbanite; the city dweller; the poor. Each time a new idea was introduced — compulsory education (and the taxes to pay for them), land grant colleges, community schools, all day kindergarten, charter schools, federal loans — the established authority has resisted…” – William G. Tierney, Huffington Post, 03.01.10

For the full article, click here