Dr Flavius Akerele III's The E Team Education blog

Today’s winners are: “Student Arrested for Twitter Threat to Aid Office” “A student at St. Louis Community College was arrested Wednesday for a "violent" threat against the financial aid office, authorities said, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. The Twitter message said that she was so frustrated with the financial aid office that she wanted to kill someone. The tweet didn't name an individual. College officials discovered the post through regular monitoring of social media about the college”. http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2013/08/30/student-arrested-twitter-threat-aid-office   “Cheerleading Squad Suspended for Hazing at Towson U.” “Towson University has suspended its cheerleading squad from competing for the full academic year, citing an alleged incident of hazing, The Baltimore Sun reported. The Maryland university provided no details about the incident involving the team, which won a national championship award last year. But Towson...

“Making Campuses Safer From Rape” “I have had a very satisfying career as a university professor for more than 15 years now. Back in 1988, however, I couldn't have imagined such a future for myself. I was a junior in college and had just survived a sexual assault. It was a stranger rape. It was brutal. It happened in my off-campus apartment, just blocks away from the university. I learned later that the perpetrator was a relative of the president of the Board of Trustees at my university”.   “At the time there were few university resources available for survivors like myself. I had to contact each of my professors to see if I could get extensions on my papers and exams. I was left to navigate the legal system without guidance or support. I sought medical services on my own. I arranged to have friends escort me to and from classes. And, there were no organized counseling programs for survivors on campus. As a result, along with several others, I helped to create one of the ...

We often dismiss boys’ concerns and feelings in school due to wrong reason; but the fact of the matter is, school is becoming more difficult and hostile to young boys (thank you Eric Kline for the article). Read the whole article here: http://ideas.time.com/2013/08/19/school-has-become-too-hostile-to-boys/#ixzz2cRZUjDd1 , watch this short clip here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpXhbdl1MKo .   Zero tolerance has done a number on boys, and is especially skewed   negatively towards boys of color.     Dozier School for boys “The Florida School for Boys , also known as the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys ( AGDS ), was a reform school operated by the state of Florida in the panhandle town of Marianna from January 1, 1900, to June 30, 2011”. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_School_for_Boys ) “Investigators have been given permission to exhume remains found at the notorious Arthur G Dozier School for Boys in Florida, which closed in 2011 following ...

I have two articles to share today, the first is serious enough that I hope schools start looking at the issue more seriously, and the second is more comedic in nature since I find subject of the article to a be a clown. “Siblings' Disabilities Linked to Academic Troubles for Brothers, Sisters” “While schools are required to provide academic support for students with disabilities, a new study suggests the nondisabled siblings of disabled students may also be academically at risk”. “Those brothers and sisters are 60 percent more likely to drop out of school than students without disabled siblings, according to a University of California, Riverside, study, presented at the annual American Sociological Association conference here. Moreover, sisters of disabled students are particularly disadvantaged. They complete one-plus years less schooling than girls with nondisabled siblings”. "This is a pretty large percentage of our children, and they have pretty large impacts o...

As we know, things that happen elsewhere sometimes affect us at home. Some of these are continuing sagas, but the first one is new and very interesting and  is important in the fight to eliminate sexual assault on campus.   “Academic Approach to Alcohol” “Beginning this year, University of Idaho freshmen will face immediate expulsion if their grade-point average is below 1.0 at the end of fall semester -- and whether or not alcohol is to blame, it's part of an effort to curb underage drinking”. Read the rest: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/08/23/idaho-will-expel-low-performing-students-part-alcohol-prevention-plan     “California Campuses to Face Sexual Assault Audit” “After hearing testimony from University of California students who say their institutions ignored or mishandled their complaints of sexual assault, state lawmakers on Wednesday authorized an audit with "priority status" to examine how UC and California State University ca...

What does it mean to be college ready? Does it mean you got a good score on a test? Does it mean you can adequately navigate the system and skate through? Or should it mean that your basic educational foundation is strong as well as your critical thinking skills?   “Most students aren’t ready for college, ACT data show” “Most students are not adequately prepared to face the rigor of college, according to the latest ACT scores , which also show that the average composite score on the college-entrance exam fell from last year”. “That composite score dropped to 20.9 among high school students in 2013, the lowest in eight years. Since 2006, scores had been relatively flat at about 21.1, on a scale where 36 is perfect”. “The report released today by the Iowa City, Iowa-based organization found just 39 percent of test-takers in the class of 2013 met three or more of the ACT college-readiness benchmarks in English, reading, science, and math. Nearly one-third did not meet ...

From the saga of City College San Francisco:   “Different Tactics to Help City College of San Francisco” “City College of San Francisco on Tuesday formally asked its accreditor to reverse the decision that, a year from now, would strip the college of its accreditation, The San Francisco Chronicle reported. But to the disappointment of many students and faculty members, the college's request to the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges did not mention a recent report by the U.S. Education Department faulting the accreditor for being out of compliance with several rules that relate to its review of the college. Robert Agrella, a state-appointed trustee who has been running the college since shortly after the accreditor's decision to revoke recognition, defended the decision not to focus on the commission's own problems. "I believe that if the college changes direction and begins to attack the commission, rather than working with it to corr...

So I thought I would split today’s offerings between K12 and College. I need to preface that I am not offering an opinion, but I do look forward to hearing what everyone has to say on these issues. “Draconian Policy for Weak Teachers” “It had to happen eventually. Tennessee will revoke the licenses of teachers whose students fail to post progress on standardized tests (" Teachers Face License Loss ," The Wall Street Journal, Aug. 17). Evidently it isn't enough to fire these teachers. They have to be punished, and what better way to do so than preventing them from ever teaching again”. “Although Rhode Island, Louisiana and Delaware are also considering pulling the licenses of teachers whose students consistently fail to improve test scores, Tennessee is the predictable center of the strategy. It was at the University of Tennessee in 1992 that William Sanders constructed the controversial value-added model being used to evaluate teachers. The state has already abol...

New York is one of the largest states, so issues in education often have a far-reaching affect: “N.Y. Test-Score Plunge Adds Fuel to Common-Core Debate” “The release of New York state test scores showing steep plunges in mathematics and English/language arts proficiency from last year has state officials and educators grappling with the growing influence of the common core on standardized-test performance”. “Education officials in the Empire State say this year’s scores , released Aug. 7, on tests aligned for the first time to the Common Core State Standards, give schools a more accurate and honest picture of whether students are being adequately prepared for both postsecondary studies and the labor market”. “But others in the K-12 community believe that as common-core-aligned tests roll out over the next several years, such scores will be used to attack educators, and ultimately hamper students’ development. The process, they say, shows that there is a focus on standardized...

“Experimental College's First Graduate” “A groundbreaking form of competency-based education now has its Patient Zero. Zach Sherman, a 21-year-old sanitation worker in Ohio, earned a self-paced associate degree from College for America in early June -- just shy of 100 days after he enrolled in the online program”. “Sherman is the first completer among a group of five College for America students who have successfully earned its competency-based general studies degrees. Southern New Hampshire University launched the college in January. It is one of three institutions now offering “direct assessment” academic tracks, which are not based on the credit hour standard”. “That means students can control how fast they move through the program’s task-oriented homework, assignments and assessments. There are no formal instructors at the college -- only academic coaches and reviewers who determine if students have mastered each task by checking each assignment and sending the...

I have been writing recently about being poor, because my eyes were recently opened to situations that almost any American can find themselves in faster than we know. There is much opportunity in this country, but sometimes that opportunity can be taken away for so many reasons beyond our control; look at the recent financial crisis for example. What this country does have is a good safety net for those who are poor, and while it is not perfect, it is something that a large part of the world does not have. The problem with the safety net is that it comes with a stigma so great that some of those who truly need it refuse to access it because they get shamed. “GOP Congressman Displays Contempt and Ignorance While Blasting Food Stamp Recipients” “Congressman Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma (R) displayed a contemptuous attitude towards food stamp recipients and complete ignorance of how the program works when he blasted a couple who was “physically fit” as fraudulent criminals because...

It turns out that there are issues affecting City College of San Francisco’s accrediting body itself, so this seems like a story worthy of continued scrutiny. “Game Changer for CCSF?” “City College of San Francisco’s regional accreditor is now in the same existential bind as the college, having been told by its overseer to fix several problems, pronto, or risk being stripped of power”. “The U.S. Department of Education on Wednesday notified the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges that it is out of compliance in several areas related to its sanctioning of City College. The commission must take “immediate steps” to avert the suspension or termination of its federal recognition as an accrediting body, according to a letter from the department”. Read the rest: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/08/14/education-department-reprimands-accreditor-san-franciscos-community-college   Wow! How many other students beyond the current 80000 could this a...

They are short stories but with potentially far reaching implications. “Capella Gets Federal Approval for Competency-Based Degrees” “Capella University announced that the U.S. Department of Education has granted approval to two new, competency-based degree programs . The university's "FlexPath" online bachelor's of science in business and master of business administration degrees are so-called "direct assessment" tracks, which are not based on the credit hour standard. Students in the two programs can now access federal financial aid thanks to the department's green light. Southern New Hampshire's College for America is the only other institution to receive such approval, but Northern Arizona University is also seeking  it. Regional accreditors have signed off on the direct assessment degrees at all three institutions”. http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2013/08/13/capella-gets-federal-approval-competency-based-degrees “Oakland U. ...

“4 Ex-Football Players at Vanderbilt Arrested for Rape” “Four former members of the Vanderbilt University football team were charged Friday with raping an unconscious woman -- also a Vanderbilt student -- in a dormitory, The Tennessean reported. The university, which had already suspended the former athletes and barred them from campus, issued a statement that said: "We are proud of the collective accomplishments of our student athletes over many years and we expect the highest standard of conduct from them. It is a privilege, not a right, to represent Vanderbilt as a student athlete, and when our standards of conduct are not met, we will hold our student athletes accountable. The charges brought today against the four former Vanderbilt football players allege conduct which is abhorrent and will never be tolerated. We will review our athletics program to be sure that it, like all other programs at the university, reflects our culture of community and respect for others and ...

I chose an on ground but non-traditional school for my doctoral program for a couple of reasons. Chief among the reasons were: ·          I needed to continue working ·          I wanted to finish on time ·          I did not want to be someone’s slave There are horror stories on all these things within the “traditional” doctoral programs, even in the so-called more “prestigious” institutions. My personal thought with more named universities is that you are buying access, not necessarily a better education (leave it at that for today). Whenever I hear stories like the one I am about to share, I feel confident I made the right decision. “Former Intern Wins Back Wages From University” “A former doctoral student who worked as a psychology intern at the University of California at San Francisco was awarded more than $14,000 in back wages after filing a compl...

Most romances and affairs tend to happen where you spend this most time and with the type of people that you spend most of your day with. This makes sense because; when do you have time to meet other kinds of people? Academia is no exception, we know of the stories of the distinguished professor dating a series a Teaching Assistants or Research Assistants, seems to be usually the professor is male. The question here is: has this ever been legal as far as university rules? Surely it is not the ethical thing to do considering the multiple possibilities of conflict of interest, but this story I read today caught my eye. “UConn Bans Student-Professor Romance” “Romantic undergraduate student-professor and undergraduate-staff relationships are now banned at the University of Connecticut. The university’s Board of Trustees unanimously approved the new policy this week, The Hartford Courant reported. Graduate students also are prohibited from dating faculty in some cases where the re...