Dr Flavius Akerele III's The E Team Education blog

I wanted to share this person’s recent story because I think it is very relevant in how we treat each other when we are down on our luck. We must teach compassion not just in our schools, but also in our lives. I will call this person Anna (not her real name), and give you a little background to start. Anna is a wife and mother of two kids, she is highly educated as is her spouse, but due to budget cuts at their jobs they have both been unemployed for more than one year now. As with many people, they lived paycheck to paycheck, especially since they wanted their kids to have a good life. Unemployment ran out, savings ran out, and finally the bills started to pile up to the point where they gave in and applied for various forms of public assistance. This story is about their experience applying for help to pay their electric bill. The location is not easy to find, and they are rushing to get there before their scheduled 10am appointment. They finally located street parking a bl...

I believe this is an education issue that is not often talked about, or usually just ignored. There are some frightening statistics about poverty in this country, let alone in the world. Some recent studies show that 80% of the U.S population will at some point experience severe financial hardship. For those who work, we often live paycheck to paycheck; it can be a fine line between having a home and being homeless, especially if you have no family support. There are a lot of pundits out there who feel that “the poor are the reason the country is not doing well”, we have heard politicians refer to “the welfare state” and attempting to insult each other by calling the other “a welfare supporter”.   http://www.addictinginfo.org/2011/12/20/ted-nugent-calls-for-punishing-the-poor-claims-they-make-poor-decisions-to-end-up-in-poverty/ http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/07/07/1107217/-Being-Poor-is-becoming-a-Criminal-offense   Being poor continues to be a “political foo...

“Adaptive learning is an educational method which uses computers as interactive teaching devices. Computers adapt the presentation of educational material according to students' learning needs, as indicated by their responses to questions and tasks”. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adaptive_learning ) This is being introduced into our higher education system now. “New Player in Adaptive Learning” “Career Education Corp. has begun one of higher education’s broadest experiments with adaptive learning. Institutions in the for-profit chain have powered more than 300 online course sections with the emerging technology, and enrollments in those courses have topped 11,000 students”. “Broadly defined, adaptive learning is the use of data-driven tools to design coursework that responds to individual students’ abilities. Courses featuring adaptive technology typically use assessments to constantly adjust content, giving students extra help to master concepts or to skip ones they...

“Clay Shirky Says MOOCs Will Matter, but Worries About Corporate Players” “Clay Shirky, a best-selling author and an associate arts professor at New York University’s Interactive Telecommunications Program, is known for predicting how the latest tech trends will change traditional social institutions. These days he’s turning his focus to colleges themselves, imagining ways that MOOCs and other technologies might reshape higher education”. “For as long as students and their parents have nervously scanned tuition bills, they’ve asked themselves, ‘Isn’t there another way to do this? he wrote in a recent essay on The Chronicle’s Web site. “And for that long, the answer has been ‘no.’ Now, for the first time, the answer is ‘maybe”. Listen and read here: http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/clay-shirky-says-moocs-will-matter-but-worries-about-corporate-players/45087?cid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en Again, just sharing some interesting stuff   Dr Flavius A...

In the education industry, we push and sell learning. So why then does the education industry have difficulty hiring someone who has a lot of education? Admissions and operations positions have grown quite large out of the non-traditional market, but it seems like the hiring managers do not like people who bought what they sold. If you have a BA degree, you might squeak by, if you have a master’s degree or more, forget about it. So my question is: can you truly be qualified in higher education? I am not talking about a receptionist position (who are often undervalued), I am talking about directors of admissions, operations, campus, and education positions. Let me share some articles as more food for thought: “The Myth of the Overqualified Worker” “If your recruiting efforts attract job applicants with too much experience—a near certainty in this weak labor market—you should consider a response that runs counter to most hiring managers’ MO: Don’t reject those applicants out o...

I am going to add principals and vice principals into the teacher category, since they too are part of the education process. The following is a excerpt from article titled “ Trusting Teachers Is a Means to Authentic Parent Engagement ”: “Would trusting teachers with authority to collectively make the decisions influencing school success be at odds with authentic parent engagement? I can see how, from some points of view, the language suggests yes. The idea can easily come off as "just trust the educators, and save the families from themselves!" Indeed, there are people who have, at first glance, interpreted the idea that way . But trusting teachers can be a promising means to parents becoming integral to the inner workings of our schools”. ( http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/civic_mission/2013/07/trusting_teachers_is_a_means_to_authentic_parent_engagement.html?cmp=ENL-EU-VIEWS2 ) Teaching in the U.S   is one of the only professions I can think of where non-pr...

I always curious how things get so bad and we do not notice. This cannot be good for any student: “U. of Northern Virginia's Approval to Operate Revoked” “The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia has revoked the operating certificate of the University of Northern Virginia, an unaccredited institution that was raided by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in 2011 in relation to its enrollment of foreign students. In a letter sent to the institution, the State Council cites the university's failure to obtain candidacy status with an accrediting agency approved by the U.S. Department of Education in five years. The letter also states that the university waived its right to appeal the revocation upon entering into a 2012 consent agreement that extended the deadline to obtain said candidacy status until June 1 of this year”.  “The university has been instructed to immediately cease offering postsecondary educational programs in the Commonwealt...

I had just read this article titled: “why you gotta be so mean?” in the chronicle of higher education ( http://chronicle.com/article/Why-You-Gotta-Be-So-Mean-/140469/?cid=wb&utm_source=wb&utm_medium=en ), and it got me thinking. Right now, we are living in a culture of meanness and sarcasm, where it is ok to criticize but not explain why, where people think it is ok to “get in your face”. Yes, comedies like Seinfeld are funny, but have you noticed how rude everyone is to each other? This should not be happening in education, but it does; it happens from K-12 through higher ed. This is a form of bullying and it hurts our students. Criticism is supposed to help you get better, but unfortunately, a lot of people in authority use it to belittle, punish, and for their own amusement. Sometimes, they even blog about their meanness to the world.   If we are going to educate, we need to rise above this pettiness, because in the end, it is about the student. Dr Flavi...

http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2013/07/17/203016331/the-40-year-old-photo-that-gives-us-a-reason-to-smile (read the story of this picture here) Children do not start-off with biases and prejudice; they learn that from adults. Children have great le detectors, they can often see through our BS and lies with such precision that it frightens us adults, and then we do something stupid like ask them to be quiet. Children do not see race, color, accent, culture; they see who is nice to them, who is fun to play with, and who is genuine. They can also learn new languages at an incredible pace if exposed to them. It is always sad when we see children start to lose their innocence because the world around you is diminished somewhat. We could learn a lot from children. Be like a child sometimes, life might be more enjoyable. Dr Flavius A B Akerele III The ETeam

I am going to start by sharing an excerpt from the course I am currently teaching: “One of the most valuable assets of a small business is the employee. They have the power to affect the bottom line positively or negatively. Because employees affect profitability in many ways it is essential for the entrepreneur to recruit the best possible personnel”. (From my Management 325 class) What this says to me is how you recruit, and how you treat your potential candidates during the recruiting process, will determine what kind of employees you end with. If you treat the candidate pool like cattle, and take it for granted that “someone wants the job”, you will not get dedicated loyal employees who are looking for longevity. If however, you value each, and every candidate, even those who you ultimately reject, as professional skilled human beings, word will get out that you have integrity and people will still want to work for you. It is often the case in higher education institutions...

College campus news always seems to go quiet during the summer months. However, make no mistake assaults are still happening during this time so please do not lose sight of this subject. “Protesters Call for Stricter Sanctions on Colleges That Mishandle Sexual Assault” “Several dozen students and recent graduates—in T-shirts bearing their colleges' names—rallied in front of the U.S. Department of Education on Monday to demand tighter enforcement of federal antidiscrimination law, with stricter sanctions when institutions fail to support victims of sexual assault”. "The Department of Education needs to be more punitive and hold schools accountable, said Andrea L. Pino, a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill whose federal complaint in January helped to galvanize students around the country”. Read the rest: http://chronicle.com/article/Protesters-Call-for-Stricter/140375/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en   This is all about studen...

It could be very easy to lose sight of so many other important educational issues due to media coverage and political climate. There are still many other ongoing issues in education that will affect the safety of our students as well. For example: “U.S. Will Investigate Title IX Complaint at Swarthmore” “Swarthmore College will be the latest to face an investigation by the U.S. Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights for possible violations of federal law, OCR announced Friday. Students complaints filed under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and the Clery Act allege that administrators mishandled cases of sexual assault, underreported statistics, and retaliated against students, the Huffington Post reported. On Monday, students who helped prompt recent complaints at Swarthmore and other campuses nationwide rallied outside the department’s offices in Washington, urging OCR and Education Secretary Arne Duncan to better enforce Title IX”. http://www.ins...

In light of some of the news in Florida, I thought I would write just a little about my perceptions of “the talk”, and how my parents raised me. This is my personal opinion and perhaps that of my family only. First, a few facts: “Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most-populous continent. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers six percent of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4 percent of the total land area”. “ Population : 1.033 billion (2011) ” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africa According to the U.S census data: “Black or African American. A person having origins in any of the Black racial groups of Africa. It includes people who indicate their race as "Black, African Am., or Negro"; or report entries such as African American, Kenyan, Nigerian, or Haitian”. The population estimate of the U.S.A in 2012, 313,914,040 Black or African American alone, percent, 2012 (a) 13.1% http...

There are many important stories in education today that are either underreported, or that we do not pay enough attention to. These stories are important because they could potentially have a far-reaching impact for our respective organizations or our industry in general. For example: ·          Blackboard is one of the most used online learning platforms in the world. It has grown a lot through acquisition, but now it looks like it is making some changes. Is your organization using Blackboard? “Blackboard May Double or Triple Spending on Software Development” http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/blackboard-will-double-or-triple-spending-on-software-development/44743?cid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en ·          There has been a lot of discussion within multiple universities about how to improve the completion rate of the doctoral programs, as well as shorten the time without sacrificing...

“2 For-Profit Universities Get Good News From Accreditors” “Two of the nation's biggest for-profit-college companies, the Apollo Group and Bridgepoint Education, reported good news from their accreditors on Wednesday”.   “Bridgepoint announced that its Ashford University had received initial accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, one of the nation's six regional accrediting bodies”. “As you are aware, Ashford University has been pursuing accreditation with the Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) for more than a year now. Today, I am very pleased to announce that Ashford has been granted initial accreditation with WASC” (quote from Ashford President). “And Apollo reported that its University of Phoenix had escaped being placed on probation by its regional accreditor, the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, wh...

Sexual assault and wasteful spending in higher education have been topics I have written about multiple times. We have seen recently a major community college in the country lose its accreditation due to mismanagement, and we have seen multiple schools get penalized for underreporting sexual assault on campuses, as well as ignoring assaults. All this has led to situations like articles I am about to share. Keep in mind, I am not taking sides, I am just pointing out what can happen if you do not handle your business properly in the first place. “Student Accused of Rape Files Title IX Suit” “A number of colleges are currently facing complaints that they do not adequately investigate charges of sexual assault. A male student who was suspended by Saint Joseph's University is suing the Philadelphia institution under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Bloomberg reported. The student says that he was accused of rape (over what he says was consensual sex, and s...

“Chancellor U. to Shut Down” “The embattled Chancellor University will close in August, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports . Chancellor, a for-profit institution located in Cleveland, enrolled fewer than 250 students earlier this year and planned to drop its regional accreditation in the fall. The university was formed in 2008 when a group of investors, led by Michael Clifford, purchased Myers University, a struggling private nonprofit institution. Chancellor later landed Jack Welch, the former chairman and CEO of General Electric Co., to help run the university's management school. But Strayer University subsequently purchased the Jack Welch Management Institute”. http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2013/07/09/chancellor-u-shut-down More on San Francisco… “Robert Agrella is the new "special trustee" for City College of San Francisco, which may lose its accreditation next year. The California community college system chancellor, Brice W. Harris, appoi...

‘There are no clear answers to the question of where City College of San Francisco’s 85,000 students will go if the college shuts down next year. That unprecedented and nightmarish scenario became a real possibility last week when the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges voted to strip the college of its accreditation in June 2014”. “City College is San Francisco’s only two-year institution. No nearby community college is in a good position to run the college, which is California’s largest. And the idea of turning over control to another two-year college is not considered viable by college and state officials, sources said, in part because the commission does not favor it”. “The college has a month to request a review by the accreditor. It plans to pursue one, according to a college spokeswoman. A review, however, would result in an overturned decision only if City College was able to prove that the commission made procedural errors with its decision to yank...

For those who work in higher education, this is a big deal! “Mammoth 2-Year College to Lose Accreditation” “City College of San Francisco will lose its accreditation in one year and be shut down, its regional accreditor announced on Wednesday, unless the college can prevail in a review or appeal process with the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges”. “The two-year college, which enrolls 85,000 students, would be the largest institution ever to lose its accreditation. Without regional accreditation it would no longer receive state funding and would certainly close its doors”. “One year ago the commission, part of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, slapped a "show cause" sanction on City College for a wide range of identified problems, including dangerous budget deficits, a balky governance system and a failure to track student outcomes”. “A subsequent report from a state agency reinforced concerns about the two-year college’s fi...