We keep paying more for worse results, in both public education and health care

All through the health care debate the president and the advocates of his horrible health care bill repeated again and again how we pay more than other leading countries for far worse results. Why do they not make the same argument about public education? Instead it’s always how we need to pump more and more money into the system.
We both know the answer, but it would be nice to see some Republicans ask the question.

I agree with Glenn Reynolds that this is an interesting point.

A liberal arts education need not be a "a waste of time and money"

Should B-students get a liberal arts education?  Not according to a Wall Street Journal essay by "Dilbert" creator Scott Adams, who claims it is "a waste of time and money."  "Wouldn't it make more sense to teach B students something useful, like entrepreneurship?"

Adams goes on to list some of the skills that instead should be taught to B students in our colleges.  However, it should be noted that many of these same skills are learned from a rigorous liberal arts education.  In fact, the definition of a classical liberal arts education embodies the development of such fundamental skills and knowledge as the ability to write persuasively, speak confidently and think critically.  These and more are the goals of liberal arts majors through the study of literature, languages, philosophy, history, mathematics, and science. 

The problem is that too often both liberal arts and business degree programs are producing graduates who haven’t learned much of anything during their four, five or six years in college.  The authors of Academically Adrift have joined others in chronicling how "many of the modern-day trends in higher education have lowered the quality of the educational experience".

I don't argue with Adams about the value of the entrepreneurial skills he believes should be taught to B students, but I think we should look beyond his advice in considering what a college education should offer both A and B students.

Related:  Why some employers value a solid liberal arts education

Can blended learning improve higher education efficiency?

Louis E. Lataif  lays out some details of  the higher education bubble in Forbes:

Higher education in America, historically the envy of the world, is rapidly growing out of reach. For the past quarter-century, the cost of higher education has grown 440%, according to the National Center for Public Policy and Education, nearly four times the rate of inflation and double the rate of health care cost increases. The cost increases have occurred at both public and private colleges.
Like many situations too good to be true--like the dot-com boom, the Enron bubble, the housing boom or the health care cost explosion--the ever-increasing cost of university education is not sustainable.
Just 10 years ago the cost of a four-year public college education amounted to 18% of the annual income of middle-income families. Ten years later, it amounted to 25% of that family's average annual income. The cost of attending a private university is about double the cost of public universities. Think of higher education as the proverbial frog in boiling water. It feels very warm and comfy but soon will be cooked.

Can blended/hybrid learning increase productivity?

Yet colleges and universities can improve their life expectancy--and their relevance--if they focus on becoming more productive. There are many innovative ways that can be accomplished. It will involve taking advantage of disruptive technologies. Technology-assisted pedagogy can be enormously effective.
It's difficult in today's universities to talk about "productivity" or "efficiency" the way business does. Faculty members associate that idea with larger classes, a higher teaching load or lower quality. And given the lifetime tenure system and the co-governance structure of most universities, orderly change will not happen without the cooperation of the faculty.
But everyone, particularly faculty scholars, favors high-quality learning. Universities need to embrace the concept of "deeper learning"--increasing the value of a college education by delivering more education, and doing so in ways that increase retention. In other words, learn more per dollar spent, and retain what is learned longer.
Deeper learning means getting 150% or 200% of the knowledge formerly delivered in a given course. The Chronicle of Higher Education reported: "Several studies have shown that students learn a full semester's worth of material in half the time when online coursework is added."
There is so much classroom time that can be off-loaded to technology tools for self-paced learning in asynchronous time. And then the time spent in the classroom on the same subjects can be much richer with robust discussion and debate about the strengths and limitations of those tools and techniques.

Hybrid learning in elementary school:  The combination of a strong teacher with Khan Academy - too good to be true?

"The reality is you can't do more with less, only less with less,"

"The reality is you can't do more with less, only less with less,"

These are the words of Jeanne-Claire Cotnoir, president of the Briarcliff Teachers Association.  Their community is divided over plans to trim school spending, with passionate sentiments on both sides of the issue.  Former school board member Joan Austin voices an opposing view.

"A leaner school system might just be a better one."

Per pupil spending is $29,964, but proposed budget cuts will trim that slightly.  Plans include teacher layoffs as well as downsized music programs and AP classes.

The teachers union says taxpayers need to increase education spending, but some taxpayers believe that more money does not necessarily lead to better schools.

You can read the entire article after the jump.

Beer pong practice

The scenario:	Just past midnight and a chaperone hears loud noises coming from a hotel room where a group of eight-grade boys are staying during an overnight class trip
The evidence:	Ping pong balls, plastic cups filled with soapy water and the hotel ironing board
The explanation:	Training for beer pong
The lesson:	Never underestimate the creative minds of middle school boys.

74% of women and 63% of men going to college after high school

As you can see, the portion of high school graduates who go immediately into college has been rising over the years, largely because of the influx of women into the nation’s institutions of higher learning. Last year, the college enrollment rate among women who were recent high school graduates was 74 percent, and for men it was 62.8 percent.

Source:  NY Times - 4/9/11

Found at Why Boys Fail

Mark Perry at Carpe Diem provided the graphic for the expected results.

You can read the entire article after the jump.

Children without fathers at home

...when compared to intact married families, children from single-parent homes are...A third more likely to drop out before completing high school.

It's not just about the teachers, the curriculum or the money.

Teen Moms: Just a Small Part of Single Mothers – The Foundry, 4/8/11

Marriage: America’s Greatest Weapon Against Child Poverty – The Foundry, 9/16/10