Education News

Matthew Lynch published in Higher Education, Testing September 21, 2016

Are your looks landing you better grades?

We’ve all heard of studies claiming that attractive people enjoy advantages, such as earning more money and are generally perceived as being smarter. Two economists, Rey Hernandez-Julian and Christina Peters, set out to determine exactly why this is. They hypothesized that perhaps other factors come into play such as confidence, various personality traits or greater effort given, not solely appearance that influences these benefits. They set out to Metropolitan State University of Denver to test their theory, with some interesting results.

Overall, attractive students did receive better grades than their less attractive peers. However, when taking online courses, more attractive students didn’t receive better grades. The more attractive the student, the larger the difference in grades between traditional and online classes. In other words, in virtual classes where students couldn’t be seen, the difference in grades between the more and less attractive students narrowed.

Peters, an associate professor at MSU Denver told the Washington Post, “we really thought it was just that more attractive people have other personality traits, other skills. But it does appear to be some type of actual discrimination on the part of the professors. That surprised us.” The study also determined that better looking professors were ranked higher by their students as well.

Though more attractive students did receive higher grades in traditional in-person classes, the difference was small. For example, the deviation would be from an A- to a B+ for the less attractive student. Still the fact that the bias exists at all is concerning.

The question now becomes if professors do possess these biases, how can they be fixed? It is likely not being done intentionally so it will take a commitment to consciously not grading in a biased fashion to avoid. Is it even possible to enforce something like that?

What do you think? Do attractive students fare better in class?

Matthew Lynch published in Higher Education September 17, 2016

Report: Foreign students at U.S. colleges on the rise

Enrollment at U.S. colleges of students of Chinese and Saudi nationality is rising dramatically, according to the “Open Doors” report released this week by the State Department and the Institute of International Education. Overall, international student enrollment at U.S. colleges and universities was up 8 percent year-over-year for the 2013-2014 school year.

The largest foreign group of U.S. students are Chinese, at 31 percent, followed by India, South Korea and Saudi Arabia. The fastest growing group of foreign students in U.S. colleges and universities are Saudis though — growing by 21 percent from the start of the 2013 to 2014 school years.

When it comes to individual colleges, New York University boasts the highest number of foreign student, with over 11,000. The University of Southern California ranked second with just over 10,900 foreign students studying at its campuses. Other colleges that made the list for having a high number of foreign enrollees included Arizona State University, Michigan State University, Northeastern University, Purdue University, Columbia University and the University of California at Los Angeles.

Geographically, the Washington D.C. area has the highest number of foreign student enrollment dispersed among institutions like Georgetown, American, George Washington and Catholic universities.

So what makes the U.S. such a sought-after destination for students from all over the world? Many of the schools listed in the report are known for strong research programs, making them attractive to wealthier families from overseas that are interested in gaining an advantage in the job force of their own countries when their kids return home. International students certainly help the bottom line of these schools and provide diversity on campus, but I’d like to see a study that outlines whether the American economy benefits from these students long-term — or if the talent then leaves the U.S. in favor of their native homes.

Matthew Lynch published in International Education September 9, 2016

Teens fight for better global educational opportunities

Across the globe, 15 year olds came together recently to stand up for an issue that impacts the education of kids around the world: poverty. As I’ve discussed here before, students with underlying issues like poverty, hunger or neglect are often unable to function at a necessary level in K-12 classrooms. All of the best academic initiatives in the world cannot fix a broken home or an empty stomach, which is why these issues must be addressed inside schools for academics to improve too.

The “action/2015” initiative shares my sentiments. Students who are 15 years old today are calling on world leaders to put policies in place to eradicate hunger, violence against women and children, and poverty in order to make the world a better place by 2030. This global group of students recently made their case to the U.S. State Department, calling for everything from clean drinking water to better educational opportunities for children across the globe.

In an interview with National Public Radio, Toluwanimi Sola-Adeyemi of Lagos said that she is petitioning for more reliable electricity in her home country of Nigeria and that when the power goes out, it affects everything from safe drinking water to ability to go to school. Other students are asking for things like better opportunities for education in third-world countries, particularly for women.

It is great to see these young people taking such ownership of these world issues, particularly access to education. With their determination and the help of the world leaders today hopefully we will be closer to equal access to education and eliminating poverty across the globe by 2030.

Matthew Lynch published in Higher Education September 4, 2016

Does a college education mean a longer marriage?

We’ve all heard the daunting statistics about marriage outcomes in the United States. Roughly half of all first time marriages end in divorce. However, new research suggests that education status could have some bearing on whether your marriage succeeds or fails.

Research from the National Center for Health Statistics find that 78% of college-educated women married between 2006-2010 could expect marriages lasting at least 20 years. Just 40% of women with a high school education or less are estimated to enjoy enduring partnerships.

The findings provide even more evidence of the marital gap present in the U.S. among educational lines. Research illustrates that college-educated individuals are more likely to be married than their less educated peers. According to a Pew Research Center study, 65% of adults age 25 and above with a bachelor’s degree or higher were married, compared to 53% of adults with less education.

The research doesn’t spell out the reasons these marriages withstand, however it is known that college-educated individuals are more inclined to get married later in life and tend to be more established financially than less educated adults.

Educated women aren’t the only demographic with a higher chance for enjoying a long-term marriage. Approximately 65% of college-educated men could expect their first marriage to last 20 years or longer, compared to 50% of men with a high school diploma or less. Additionally, higher educated men are overall more inclined to get married in the first place.

Are these social and demographic trends surprising? Perhaps college educated individuals aren’t directly taught the sort of skills necessary for a lasting marriage, but incur such life experiences throughout their years of higher education that make this happen.

What are your thoughts on the college-marriage connection?

Matthew Lynch published in Policy & Reform September 3, 2016

Flexible learning to highlight free educator series

Educational diversity and flexible learning environments will be the highlights of a new, free professional development series hosted by the Lightspeed Learning Academy and Lightspeed Technologies.

Operating within the academy will be a “complimentary, one-day professional development event hosted by Santa Ana (CA) Unified School District (SAUSD) on December 4th, 2015.”

Lightspeed’s key note leader for the start of the development series will be Santa Ana’s deputy superintendent of California’s sixth-largest school district, Dr. David Haglund.

Dr. Haglund’s keynote address will be titled “Driving Instructional Change in the Classroom” and will deal with how the district he helps to lead has added educational diversity and a flexible learning environment.

“At SAUSD, we’ve made a commitment to giving students 24/7 access to learning resources and providing a personalized learning pathway for each student,” Dr. Haglund said while talking about his upcoming presentation at the academy’s event.

Those in attendance for the one-day event will be given a tour of the Santa Ana Advanced Learning Academy and will also have access to a leadership webinar that will include ideas on how to keep students motivated and the best ways to reach them.

Flexible learning options are so important when it comes to giving our kids the right tools for success. While this is just the start and kick-off, the Lightspeed Learning Academy is sure to continue grow once this event has concluded. Learning from the success of other leaders in education and being shown different ways of keep students engaged is certainly a great opportunity for any educator to soak up as much information as possible.

For more information on the Lightspeed Learning Academy, please visit this link.

Matthew Lynch published in Policy & Reform August 26, 2016

Obama in favor of longer days and academic years

President Obama has outlined an ambitious education agenda stating, “The challenges of a new century demand more time in the classroom.”

He highlights that this reform correlates with the economic crisis and says that a well-educated workforce will improve the nation’s future prosperity.

The President wants to see changes — which translate into longer school days and more days of the year in classrooms — in early childhood education. He says he will pledge new grants to states for programs to help children prepare for kindergarten.

He discussed a longer school calendar in the US, noting that children in America spent a month less in school than their South Korean counterparts.

Obama broadened his views on the topic too, saying he hopes to see improvements in K-12 including less difference between the 50 states when it comes to “benchmarks for academic success.” He explains the goal of the No Child Left Behind Act is higher standards and hopes to see reach these goals through the help of the Act.

He also wants to recruit and retain better teachers. Obama advocated merit pay for teachers, despite the opposition from allies in the teachers union and Democratic Party. He also said states and school districts should work to eliminate low quality teachers from the classrooms.

In addition, Obama proposed increases in Pell grants to keep up with inflation rates.

I like the education reform that Obama outlined. Most of the ideas he’s pressing would do a lot of good for US students and beyond, especially when it comes to classroom time.

Matthew Lynch published in Higher Education August 17, 2016

Report: Nearly 90% of college freshmen receive a tuition discount

It’s no secret that college tuition is expensive and that rising student debt is a real economic problem. Not everyone is paying full price for a college education, though. In fact, a vast majority are paying below the advertised price.

By way of NPR.org, the National Association of College and University Business Officers conducted a study “of tuition discounts at private, nonprofit, four-year colleges and universities.”

The information released in the survey suggests that all colleges that were surveyed offered some sort of discounts to its students.

“They estimate 89 percent of first-time, full-year freshmen received some kind of discount in 2014-2015. Of those students, the average grant they received is estimated to cover 54.3 percent of tuition and fees.”

That’s at least half off of student fees and maybe tuition.

Still–even with the steep discounts, it’s not enough to curb the rising rate of students who carry too much debt. At least this survey doesn’t go into detail as to how these discounts may offset the full cost of college or how it impacts the load of debt that students carry post graduation.

While the study is a brief overture into how some schools attend to the full cost of college, it also shows just how expensive some schools are if nearly 90 percent of freshmen are able to utilize discounts. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a college system that was just plain affordable for all students, without the trappings of all these discounts and needing to spend so much time tracking down the money to attend?

Matthew Lynch published in Policy & Reform, Teachers August 12, 2016

Study: Retention rates dropping dramatically

The rates of retention, or “holding back” students, has dropped drastically since 1995, according to a new study from the American Educational Research Association. From 1995 to 2005, grade retention was at 3 percent but has dropped to just 1.5 percent between 2005 and 2010. Though the study reveals numbers it does not present a definitive answer as to “why” these retention numbers are dropping, and so significantly.

What makes the numbers even more interesting is the fact that since the early 1990s, the idea of “social promotion” (or allowing kids to go to the next grade even if they were not up to par academically) has been shunned among educators. As a result, retention should be going up, not down — but there are some realities that come into play that may not be evident in the cut-and-dry data of this report.

For one thing, school districts that may have started to hold back more students in the early 1990s, for example, may have soon seen how expensive that tactic actually was and may have unofficially reversed those policies. Perhaps that’s a cynical look but as someone who has taught in a public school system with many at-risk students, I can see it happening.

There could also be a more positive reason why these numbers are dropping and it could relate to earlier detection of academic issues — and earlier confrontation of those problems. Instead of waiting until the end of the year to have a child repeat a grade, schools are targeting students during the year with customized learning plans and programs to meet their weaknesses in the moment.

The drop in retention rates is likely a combination of both things and likely a few others thrown in there. It will be interesting to see how these retention numbers fare in the coming years as Common Core and PARCC testing is implemented throughout the country.

Matthew Lynch published in Ask An Expert June 12, 2016

Is Sesame Street more important than preschool?

According to a new study produced by Melissa Kearney of the University of Maryland and Phillip Levine of Wellesley College, Sesame Street teaches children just as well as preschool.

Well, kind of.

The Washington Post reports that “kids can learn as much from ‘Sesame Street’ as from preschool” because of the show’s focus on “academic curriculum.”

Levine and Kearney’s study found that kids received the same benefits from Sesame Street as they did with Head Start. While other studies have explored the notion of if preschool was needed at all, this one adds another layer to that argument by maybe proving that educational television may be just as vital to a child’s development.

Kearney told the Post that due to the benefits of the study that it may open more doors to alternative forms of education down the road. With the cost of college rising, student loan debt exploding, and educators searching for new and innovative ways to educate students, having something similar to Sesame Street on TV or via the internet may serve a new population of students.

Free and sustainable forms of education are readily available via Massive Open Online Courses and this study further proves the viability of alternative forms of free education. It seems to me that the focus should be more on open access to high standards of education, and less on what price tag we can put on these items. There is a reason that Sesame Street has such a lasting appeal — and I think it can teach all educators some lessons in the best way to reach students.

Matthew Lynch published in Policy & Reform June 7, 2016

Indiana judge: Stop locking up students

An Indianapolis-area judge has sent a letter to district superintendents that insists school administrators stop having so many students arrested. The letter says that 1,500 Indy kids are sent to juvenile detention centers annually, but that 80 percent of those are never charged. What happens instead is that the juvenile centers simply send the kids back, but they have the stigma of being arrested attached.

“Locking up kids is not the right way to solve this problem,” Moores said in her letter that also said she had no intention of processing kids who were not appropriate for a detention center. ““We have to draw the line because we don’t want to make major criminals out of rowdy kids.”

The trend to arrest first, and ask questions later, throughout schools districts in the nation is troubling. Judge Moores hit the nail on the head when she pointed out that sometimes having a child arrested makes even more trouble and I believe it can even be the catalyst that pushes some kids into the criminal lifestyle. Yes, we want to keep all our students safe and violent actions or threats on school campuses must be taken seriously. There needs to be more resolution inside schools, though, instead of always turning to the criminal justice system — particularly for non-violent, minor issues.

We need more support within schools to handle the behavior issues that arise, whether that be for more training for teachers or better equipped school counselors and administrators. Keeping “bad” kids in school benefits us all – not just the student otherwise facing arrest.