New Project at Georgetown to Track Free Speech Incidents Across Country

A new project housed at Georgetown University studies the condition of free speech in the United States today.

Funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and led by Sanford Ungar, veteran journalist and former president of Goucher College, the Free Speech Project will document and analyze incidents in higher education and civil society that challenge free speech.

The project’s Free Speech Tracker documents such incidents over the past two years and will be continuously updated to reflect future incidents. It also follows activity in state legislatures that aim to curb public protest. The project’s site will feature video interviews with Ungar and others involved in the free speech debate.

To learn more about this project, explore the Free Speech Tracker, and review archived information about freedom of speech in the United States, please see the Free Speech Project’s website.

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The power and politics of knowledge: what African universities need to do

The idea that knowledge is infused with power and politics may sound abstract, so let me offer an example from my own life to illustrate. I was invited to a dinner proceeding a conference in an African capital city. I had expected to meet all the other speakers. But it turned out to be only for the chosen few. I could not help wondering how we’d been selected. White faces outnumbered black ones, men outnumbered women – at a conference to discuss African universities’ future role.

It was an interesting example of the power and politics of knowledge. These are factors I believe should be addressed to ensure African universities and higher education can play a more powerful role in transforming our world and empowering women.

The UN says its 2030 Agenda, which is made up of 17 sustainable development goals, is aimed at “transforming our world”. Quality education and lifelong learning, along with gender equality and empowerment of women, feature in many of the goals.

Universities and higher education, however, receive little attention in this document. So it may seem odd to focus on higher education in relation to Agenda 2030 and women. But I’ve chosen this perspective because higher education institutions in general and universities in particular are important for achieving Agenda 2030’s goals.

Universities have two main objectives: to educate students and to produce knowledge. They play a major role in procuring the human and intellectual resources needed for fulfilling the various goals of Agenda 2030.

Power and politics of knowledge

There have been institutions of learning in Africa for more than 1000 years. But today the most common type of higher education has its roots in colonial-era institutions.

Frantz Fanon, a Martinique-born Afro-French psychiatrist, philosopher and revolutionary, wrote about the colonisation of the mind some 50 years ago. He argued that colonised people tended to adopt their colonisers’ perspective. Independence in Africa did not really change this tendency, Fanon wrote.

African intellectuals have argued for many years that the continent’s universities and school systems in general reproduce(d) their colonial legacy. This happens, for instance, through curriculum and language. Benin’s Paulin Hountondji and Kenya’s Ali Mazrui are among those who have written about African scholars’ intellectual and epistemological dependency. Examples of this reliance can be seen in modern school books in parts of the continent.

It’s not for me as a European to judge whether Africa’s universities are still suffering from what Kenyan intellectual Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o would call the colonisation of the mind.

However, I do know that knowledge production is never neutral. It is neither objective nor power free. African women’s narratives about their journeys in academia show how the power and politics of knowledge are intrinsically linked to gender. Race and history must also be considered. This means issues of colonialism, imperialism and dominance are never far away.

The narratives I have studied show that it is not always simple to determine who exercises power over whom and when. Zimbabwean researcher Bevlyn Sithole sees dominance in action when researchers take ownership over communities’ knowledge. She highlights the importance of co-producing knowledge:

Co-production of knowledge between scientists and communities is a prerequisite for research aiming at a more sustainable development path.

Marrying Agenda 2030 and local knowledge

This returns us to the question of Agenda 2030.

How can academics produce knowledge of local relevance and include the perspectives and cultures of the people in question? How can knowledge be built that promotes sustainable development and appreciates culture’s contribution to it, as called for in Agenda 2030’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals?

The debate about Africanisation of curriculum and knowledge production also relates to the discussion about universities’ role as local drivers of sustainable development.

The so-called global knowledge economy has placed increasing demands on universities to internationalise and compete beyond national borders.

Can a university be locally relevant, focusing its teaching and research on local sustainable development needs and also be involved in global competition with an increasing emphasis on standardisation? Transnational capacity-building projects are one way universities try to address both local and global commitments. I have participated in capacity-building projects myself.

It has been argued, though, that capacity-building projects and other types transnational collaboration can lead to dependency. Agenda 2030 is likely to result in more such projects, because this is where funding can be found.

It is imperative to knowledge production that academics continue to collaborate. But it must happen in parallel with the decolonialisation of knowledge and methodology. The question is how it can be done.

The first step is to pay attention to the apparent universality of knowledge. I would warn against moving towards a complete Africanisation of curriculum and knowledge production. The dilemma is that this may entail an unproductive essentialisation of the “African”: for example, who the “African” is, where the “African” lives, and what the “African” can study. And what is “African” knowledge, and who can produce it?

Academic institutions and individual academics should try to contextualise knowledge and pay attention to the difference between universal knowledge and dominant knowledge. Yet we should also acknowledge that without ideas about universality, universal human experiences and human rights, Agenda 2030 would never be realised.

Contextualising knowledge

African education will not reach its transformative potential through the mindless transfer of knowledge, theories and methods from other parts of the world. This will reproduce dependency.

Instead, empowerment of women and sustainable development require that more contextualised knowledge be produced. The power and politics of knowledge must be analysed. It is necessary to differentiate between dominant knowledge and universal knowledge and, through this process, decolonise the African academy.

This is an edited version of an article that first appeared in BUWA, a journal produced by the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa.

Baby boomer women make up for lost study time and head back to university

Statistics from the Department of Education and Training show a steady cohort of baby boomer postgraduates, mostly women, enrolling at university at the age of 60 or over.

“Why on earth are you doing that?” friends ask. “Aren’t you a bit old? Your grandchildren will feel neglected.”

An upward trend

Between 2012 and 2015, Australian universities recorded a steady stream of enrolments. The larger the university, the higher the numbers. Take Western Australia’s five universities for example:

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The numbers for male postgraduates were similar, occasionally slightly lower. Available figures for 2016 do not indicate appreciable changes in enrolment numbers of males or females. Both groups may include existing academic staff, but the question remains as to why baby boomers are moving towards higher academic studies rather than retirement.

Completion rates for senior researchers indicate that whatever their reasons, they are highly successful:

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The old status quo

Social changes for women since the 1950s explain a lot. Women, it seems, are reaching towards long-held but unsatisfied desires for academic study.

In 1960s Australia, only 27% of university students were female. University was not a common goal for girls in that era. They were not expected to have long careers, if any at all. Acceptable options were nursing, clerical positions, teaching or hairdressing, none of which required a degree. Young married women were asked at job interviews if they intended to become pregnant, and learned to say “no” regardless of their intentions, rather than risk failing the interview.

University was not a common pathway for a girl, but marriage was. In the same time period, 45% of girls who left formal education after secondary school were married by the time they were 20. On the flip side, only 20% of those who did attend university were married by 20.

The era’s unwritten rule was marry early, have children straight away. Once children arrived, returning to work was frowned upon. For example, one colleague waited until her children were over 18, then delayed her academic aspirations even longer to help care for grandchildren. “Family first,” she said. She was halfway through a PhD when we met, and closer to 70 years old than 60.

Social change

Since the 1960s, the status of women and the acceptability of post-marriage careers and further social changes have made university education for young women a viable option. Baby boomers who missed out are now seizing their opportunity. Their motivation is not the apprehension of retirement and subsequent loss of identity, as is the case with older male postgraduates, but rather the lure of a new phase of life. One that was out of reach before. At university, senior women are achieving in their own right, no longer functioning as complementary bodies to men as mothers, wives, sisters or daughters.

I began postgraduate research at 63. In 2015, I was among 118 women over 60 at Western Australia’s five universities who successfully completed their degrees. In Australia’s most populous state, New South Wales, 373 senior women from 13 universities gained postgraduate degrees.

Studies show the intellectual, physical and emotional benefit of such challenges for older people. In 1989, UNESCO viewed academic and further education for older people as a legitimate use of higher education. In 2005 the OECD recognised the needs and aspirations of older people.

While it may still be seen as unusual for women to begin academic studies in their later years, it is not strange for women in their sixties to continue fulfilling academic careers. Academia is one place where seniors of any gender continue working until they decide to call it a day. Examples of women who do just that are easy to find: Professor of Classics at Cambridge University Mary Beard, age 62. Germaine Greer, writer and Professor at Warwick University, age 78. Curtin University’s Associate Professor Liz Byrski, age 73. The list goes on.

Senior female academics’ potential

We should encourage older women to see academic study as a fruitful, challenging way forward, regardless of age.

For the trailblazing cohort of older researchers, the question remains – is there a future for them after graduating? They can assure themselves that they are role-models to grandchildren, other women, and the wider community. Some become mentors, officially or unofficially, to younger postgraduates or they may take up sessional academic positions – but they can do and be so much more.

People are living longer. We are healthier and more active in our later years. We are told 50 is the new 40, so surely 60 can be the new 50. Baby boomer postgraduates want to participate long after they are 60. It is shortsighted not to see the social and economic benefits of this. To the universities who nurtured them, and awarded scholarships, these women are an untapped asset. They could easily become research pods of energy and output, supported by their alma maters, to the advantage of both.

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Helping College Students Make Informed Student Loan Decisions

By Kelly Rosinger

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As college students across the country prepare to pay tuition bills, higher education leaders, policymakers, and researchers are faced with the important question of what they can do to help students make informed borrowing decisions.

The answer is not easy. College borrowing decisions are complex: each year, students have to decide whether to borrow, how much to borrow, what loans to take out among various options offered by the federal government and private loans, and how much to borrow from each source. Adding to this complexity is the fact that financial aid award letters, which are how colleges communicate information about loan options to students, are often difficult for students and their families to understand and do not always clearly distinguish between grant aid and loans. Differences in the information that different colleges provide to students in financial aid award letters can make it difficult to compare costs and borrowing options for those considering more than one college.

The consequences of borrowing decisions are large and long lasting. Outstanding student debt in the United States tops $1.3 trillion, and the average student borrower takes out $28,000 in loans. Loans, particularly federal student loans, play an important role in supporting college access and persistence toward a degree, but nearly one in 10 borrowers default on their student loans. Students who borrow but do not graduate are at particular risk of defaulting. Many students with debt but no degree borrow relatively little—often less than $5,000—yet one in three struggle to repay loans because they do not receive the earnings bump associated with a college degree.

Surprisingly, recent surveys demonstrate that many college students do not know whether they have borrowed or how much debt they have accrued during college. In fact, half of first-year students underestimate how much they have borrowed. Additionally, many students do not maximize borrowing from federal student loans before turning to private loans, which tend to carry higher interest rates and offer fewer protections for borrowers.

So what can we do to help students make informed borrowing decisions? A number of colleges in recent years have implemented low-cost interventions designed to facilitate active and informed borrowing decisions as students evaluate financial aid award letters. For example:

• A statewide initiative in Indiana requiring postsecondary institutions that participate in federal student aid programs to send students letters with information about cumulative borrowing and future monthly payments appears to have reduced reliance on loans. U.S. Rep. Luke Messer (R-IN) has introduced the Letter of Estimated Annual Debt for Students (LEADS) Act that would make the statewide initiative a federal requirement.

• A month-long text message campaign at the Community College of Baltimore County providing information about loans and connecting students with a financial aid counselor led to reductions in unsubsidized loan borrowing.

• Evidence from several community colleges demonstrates that students have a tendency to default to the amount that is listed in the loan offer.

In addition to the work colleges are doing, the federal government has also taken steps to help students make informed borrowing decisions.

In 2012, the Obama administration announced the financial aid shopping sheet, a one-page letter that colleges can send to students as a supplement to their financial aid award that aims to simplify and clarify information about college costs, borrowing options and student outcomes (e.g., graduation rates, loan default rates and median borrowing). Created by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Department of Education as part of a larger effort to improve consumer information, the shopping sheet is currently used by more than 3,000 postsecondary institutions, many of which direct the letter to students receiving federal military and veteran educational benefits. An evaluation of the shopping sheet offers some preliminary evidence that it has resulted in a modest decrease in borrowing at colleges with low graduation rates.

Interventions like the ones outlined above may be particularly important for some student populations for whom borrowing decisions are especially complex or for whom the consequences of student debt are particularly important, such as low-income and minority students. For these students, debt burdens are particularly high. According to a 2016 report from the Brookings Institution, black college graduates . Interventions aimed at promoting active and informed borrowing decisions among underrepresented student populations at particular risk may help students find a balance between borrowing enough to persist toward a degree but not so much that they struggle to repay loans or pursue graduate education upon leaving college.

The impact of such efforts on academic and long-term loan repayment outcomes are less clear, in part because the interventions in this area are relatively recent and a full investigation of long-term outcomes, such as persistence, graduation, and loan repayment is not yet possible. Nonetheless, a growing body of evidence indicates that low-cost, scalable interventions delivered to students as they evaluate loan options can influence borrowing decisions.

The next step is for college leaders and researchers to work together to continue to develop and evaluate strategies aimed at helping students make informed borrowing decisions. With continued efforts and leadership-research partnerships, we can help students navigate these critical decisions and improve outcomes for both students and institutions.

New Reports Detail Who Is Receiving Federal Student Aid

Title: Federal Student Aid Posts New Reports to FSA Data Center

Author: Matt Sessa

Date: Sept. 21, 2017

Federal Student Aid, an office within the Department of Education, recently released new data on the characteristics of federal student aid recipients, including student loan borrowers by institutional type, age, debt size, and location; grant and loan disbursements by age and location; and direct loan disbursements by programs of study.

The data represents some of the most up-to-date information on federal student loans available, with summary information from the National Student Loan Data System ranging from fiscal year 2007 to Q3 of 2017.

Notably, for academic year 2015-16, $50 billion in loans was disbursed to nearly 5 million recipients age 24 or younger, while $43.6 billion was disbursed to 3.5 million recipients 25 or older.

For more information please see the press release.

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Second-Wave Competency-Based Education: A Focus on Quality

By Aaron Brower & David Schejbal

The second CBE wave—more grounded and focused on quality than the first—is underway, and resources to support development of high-quality programs include the University of Wisconsin Flexible Option case study.

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Fear of being left behind in the chalk dust triggered the first wave of interest in competency-based education—or CBE—in the early 2000s. In 2012, that wave overlapped with a spike in MOOC fever (during what The New York Times dubbed “The Year of the MOOC”), a $1 trillion milestone in student-loan debt, and a Lumina Foundation/Gallup study on “America’s Call for Higher Education Redesign” noting the desire for “a new system of credentials and credits that is defined by learning and competencies rather than time.”

The second wave of CBE underway now is triggered not by an interest in the “next big thing” but by purpose. This approach is endorsed by ACE, Ellucian and Eduventures in a recently published study on “Deconstructing CBE: An Assessment of Institutional Activity, Goals, and Challenges in Higher Education,” which urges institutions “to carefully weigh the pros and cons of CBE and determine their path forward proactively rather than in reaction to a swell of popularity.”

Proactive higher education leaders are now exhibiting a more realistic, grounded approach to develop high-quality, scalable programs. The question has shifted from, “How do we get on board before this ship of CBE schools sails without us?” to, “How do we get started and sustain our efforts?”

Several models, including one through the University of Wisconsin (UW) System, are helping other institutions navigate the current question.

Through Lumina Foundation support, UW System chronicled the development and delivery of the direct assessment, competency-based UW Flexible Option as a resource for higher education policymakers, leaders, faculty and staff interested in CBE.

Our academic model is working: UW Flex has served 1,345 students between January 2014 and August 2017, with 187 students earning credentials during that period. Our retention rate of 70 percent or higher among bachelor degree-seeking students is remarkably high for what is essentially an open-access program.

Program alignment with the business plan led UW Flex to offer a bachelor of science in nursing program geared for nurses who already have an associate degree in nursing, such as Mary Olukotun of Milwaukee. She earned a BSN through the UW Flexible Option in just 16 months. Photo credit: Shawn Spence/Lumina Foundation For Education.

Our business model is built on each Flex academic program breaking even within five years of its start-up. Revenue, based entirely on enrollments, is shared among partner institutions for that academic program once we break even. UW-Extension reinvests its share of program revenue for curriculum revision. Our enrollments are on track to break even for our five-year plan.

UW Flex is successful, but we recognize that it is one version of successful CBE. We frame our story as a description of our experience rather than a prescription.

The UW Flexible Option case study at go.uwsa.edu/cbe reflects pivotal moments, lessons learned, and decisions made from the 2012-13 early development phase to the 2014 launch and subsequent growth in the academic program array and enrollments.

Here, based on the UW Flex experience, are steps on a scalable path.

Four Steps on a Proactive CBE Path

1. Clarify purpose and create a business plan.

Clarity of purpose is essential for anyone developing a CBE program. Is the purpose to increase access? Grow revenue? Improve job training and fill skills gaps?

Creating a business plan forces this discussion and builds a business case for the new program. At the most basic level, the plan answers the questions: What will the new CBE programs cost, and how will we pay for them? A well-developed, thoroughly vetted business plan also serves as a roadmap, touchstone and communication tool. It details the functions, systems, roles and personnel required to ensure student and program success; presents worst-case and likely case scenarios; informs decision-making to keep on track toward enrollment and revenue targets; and builds the case for scalability of academic offerings, operations, infrastructure, and, ultimately, CBE program viability.

For the UW Flexible Option, our governing board—the UW System Board of Regents—requested a business model based on each academic program breaking even within five years after its launch. That directive led to the development of a cost-recovery, revenue-sharing business plan and centralized operational model to ensure viability of our project-based, direct assessment CBE academic model.

2. Align program offerings with the business plan.

For the UW Flexible Option, aligning what programs are developed with the business plan was critical and necessitated addressing the most urgent employment needs and public interest, high job growth areas and student demand. Health care, technology and business programs satisfied this criteria in our state and are represented in our current choice of programs.

A Substance Use Disorders Counselor certificate program illustrates the criteria we set for programs: strong employment need demonstrated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, student demand among working counselors who need to complete training that fits their schedules, and public interest as state licensure requirements changed under the Affordable Care Act to ensure counselors are better qualified to respond to this health crisis. Offered through partnership with UW-Madison, this program is the first in the UW Flexible Option to break even (within 18 months of inception) and bring in program revenue.

As a caveat, we note that offering high demand academic programs—such as a bachelor of science in nursing (BSN)—pits an institution against competitors in a crowded educational marketplace. We relied on curricular design and marketing to distinguish the UW Flex BSN program within this crowded marketplace, as we describe in the Academics: Program Identification section of our case study.

3. Develop a high-quality academic model and learning environment that respond to the needs of students.

UW System and UW-Extension leaders envisioned education that was flexible enough for nontraditional students who juggle family and work and who are bound by schedules and locations that preclude traditional classroom programs or traditional online programs. The challenge was to develop programs in which students could apply disciplinary knowledge to move through the curriculum more quickly, and ones that are not restricted to semesters and whose pace is driven by students.

Nontraditional students in this market prefer to control their learning environment, such as when they start their education; when and where they access curriculum materials and assistance; and how quickly or slowly they move through their program, with the ability to easily monitor their own progress and to take breaks without losing ground.

In response, we developed a non-credit, non-term, direct-assessment environment that allows students to progress at their own pace. There is no penalty for going fast or slow. Students are guided by faculty and other academic supports, as illustrated in this video introduction to the UW Flexible Option model. UW Flex provides personalized guidance, support, and encouragement through Academic Success Coaches and a highly structured online learning environment with intuitive navigation, consistent organization of materials and persistent links to resources and support.

To ensure curricular quality, the curriculum is led by University of Wisconsin faculty and grounded in pedagogy, as we detail on our website.

4. Build economies of scale to ensure sustainability.

Sustainability depends on effective delivery of what students want and need and on efficient use of resources.

For a high-touch online program such as UW Flex, technology systems must provide staff and faculty access to up-to-date interactions with prospective and current students to see their status, manage relationships, and reach out to them when they need help.

We relied on some manual processes in the early days. Doing so with a relatively small student population helped us clarify business practices before codifying them in technology. Now that we’ve implemented our technology systems, continuous improvement of them helps support student and program success. For example, based on recent research, we are incorporating early warning indicators into our student information system to identify students at risk for dropping out.

Interest in CBE remains high, yet “the complexities of implementing and defining CBE [have] kept most institutions wholly or primarily at an aspirational phase of implementation,” according to “Deconstructing CBE.” What helped UW Flex move beyond aspiration was a clarity of purpose, a thoroughly vetted business plan, consideration of factors critical to success, and making data-informed decisions.

We hope that the UW Flexible Option experience—via go.uwsa.edu/cbe—is a valuable resource for others looking for new ways to educate more people in our nation. Greater access to quality education supports the academy’s collective efforts to improve the health and wellbeing of our citizenry, our communities, our country and our world.

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Resources for Those Riding the CBE “Second Wave”

• The Competency-Based Education Network (C-BEN) formed in 2014 to help colleges and universities address challenges in CBE design, delivery and ability to scale. C-BEN is hosting its third annual CBExchange Sept. 20-22, 2017, to look at best practices, design elements, and new resources for those developing programs. Also, C-BEN Executive Director Charla Long announced that C-BEN will launch a CBE virtual collaboration platform for those interested in connecting and working with others on shared projects.

• Navigating the CBE Frontier, a blog series in The Evolllution by University of Wisconsin-Extension Provost Aaron Brower, shares lessons, insights and reflections—based on the UW Flexible Option experience—on developing, launching and maintaining a competency-based program.

• The UW Flexible Option case study website provides takeaways, challenges, resources, and research findings based on the University of Wisconsin System and UW-Extension experience developing and delivering a direct assessment, competency-based program. Funded through a Lumina Foundation grant, this resource is designed for higher education leaders, policymakers, faculty and staff developing CBE programs. A description of the six main content areas follows.

1. Academics answers how we decide what academic programs to offer, how we ensure quality, and how we develop curriculum and engage faculty. Resources include an illustration detailing the step-by-step curriculum development process, videos on project-based curriculum development and proficiency assessment, faculty presentations on incorporating critical thinking, a look at faculty roles and engagement, and a transcript model.

2. Budget addresses how we estimate expenses and revenues, why we value our business plan, and what we found helpful to incorporate in our plan. Resources include a business plan template based on the UW Flex plan.

3. Communications details how we build stakeholder relationships and includes insights about our media and marketing approaches. The communications plan template provided is based on the UW Flex plan.

4. Enrollment Management and Technology discusses the Academic Success Coach role central to student services, the IT staffing leadership and technologist roles developed, the transformation required from maintenance to development of IT systems, and the need for student-centric IT support in our multi-institutional environment.

5. Metrics highlights the need for new definitions and measures of student and program success and for direct comparisons of student outcomes for CBE and traditional programs.

6. Policy presents an overview—through video and text—of the regulatory framework and approval process impacting CBE programs, particularly direct assessment models, and includes May 2017 UW System and UW-Extension recommendations for regulatory reform.

Providing Transparency to the Title IX Process

By Terry W. Hartle

This post originally ran on the New England Journal of Higher Education website. 

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When U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced Sept. 7 that her department would revisit how Title IX rules are enforced with respect to campus sexual assault, she said the first step would be a “transparent notice and comment process” to replace the 2011 “guidance” (and follow up 2014 guidance) that has been criticized for its one-size-fits-all presumption and lack of flexibility for campuses.

The U.S. Department of Education announced more details last week about how that process will work.

On Friday, Sept. 22, the department issued a “Dear Colleague” letter and Q&A document on Title IX and sexual assault. The Dear Colleague letter rescinds the 2011 and 2014 guidance and states that the department will develop a policy that “responds to the concerns of stakeholders and that aligns with the purpose of Title IX to achieve fair access to educational benefits” through a rulemaking process. The schedule for this process is unclear.

In the interim, the department will rely on the “Q&A on Campus Sexual Misconduct,” developed using the 2001 “Revised Sexual Harassment Guide.” In some areas—such as letting colleges choose whether to use the “preponderance of evidence” or the “clear and convincing” evidentiary standard—the Trump administration is clearly making a change from current practice. In other areas, the new Q&A requires the same thing as the existing guidance. For example, the 2011 guidance and the Trump administration’s Q&A both require schools to have a title IX coordinator.

It should go without saying that schools should be very careful about altering current practices and only do so after close examination of the Q&A. And keep in mind that any changes may be temporary. The regulatory process the department intends to pursue is very likely to result in further changes in federal requirements.

But as the process for updating the Title IX campus sexual assault enforcement rules gets underway, let us not forget how notable it is that this is happening in the first place.

At one level, a regulatory process is not a big deal. The Education Department does it all the time on many issues.

Just since 2000, hundreds of higher education rules have been modified, created or eliminated.

However, the department rarely uses the regulatory process for Title IX. Indeed, OCR has gone through the formal rulemaking process just three times since initial Title IX regulations went into effect in 1975. Only two of these affected higher education. The first time involved revoking the prohibition on discrimination in the application of the codes of personal appearance in 1982. In 2000, OCR altered Title IX regulations to implement the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987, the so-called “Grove City” law that overturned a 1984 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that held that Title IX applied only to student financial aid, not other parts of the college that received federal dollars. The Civil Rights Restoration Act ensured that Title IV student financial aid triggered Title IX exposure for the entire school.

OCR has been more inclined to simply issue “guidance” that interprets Title IX regulations pertaining to campus sexual assault rather than pursue a formal rulemaking process. For example, the 2011 Dear Colleague Letter was developed “in house” without any suggestions from affected parties.

It is significant that the Trump administration is attaching a great deal of importance to getting the serious and complicated issue of campus sexual assault enforcement right. Promulgating regulations affecting Title IX is infrequent, hard and important. It is always a good idea to give all the parties involved an opportunity to comment and give their views on public policy.

Institutions, in responding to claims of sexual assault, have a responsibility to support the victim and to be fair to both parties. Figuring out exactly how to do that, when there may be different stories about what happened, no witnesses, and substance abuse may have been involved, can be extraordinarily difficult.

What we have had is a set of requirements, some of which are legally mandatory, others of which may or may not be mandatory. For colleges and universities the result has been uncertainty and complexity with no way to be sure in advance if they are doing the right thing. In this environment, it’s hardly surprising that schools have run afoul of OCR.

In the short run, any tweaking of campus policies or proceedings is likely to be at the margins. It is unlikely that colleges and universities will immediately change policies that they spent the last six years writing—and sometimes rewriting. And no institution will back off the commitment to prevent sexual assaults from occurring in the first place and handling cases that do occur with compassion for the survivor and fairness to both parties.

But replacing legally binding but unclear guidance with legally binding and clear regulations, and soliciting input from all sides in doing so, is a very good idea that will result in clearer regulations and, we hope, greater protections for all students.

Exergames: good for play time, but should not replace physical education

More and more young Australians are playing video games during their leisure time. Fortunately, video game manufacturers have introduced “exergames” in an effort to make this typically sedentary activity more physically engaging. These “active” video game consoles, like the Nintendo Wii, offer gamers sporting experiences that mimic the real game or sport.

Health and physical education (HPE) teachers have embraced this technology in their classes to motivate children who show a lack of interest in traditional physical education activities. However, these exergames don’t provide the same skill development as traditional physical education.

Research shows benefits are not the same for Exergames

At the University of Tasmania, researchers in the Active Work Laboratory are investigating exergames and their contribution to skill development in children. More specifically, they have looked at how children develop the ability to process or prepare for complex movements that involve crossing the midline of the body.

The ability to cross the midline is important because it helps the right and left sides of our brains communicate. This link allows both sides of the body to move together more efficiently to perform a wide variety of everyday tasks such as reading, writing, crawling or riding a bike. These types of skills are often utilised in high-level sports like tennis, and should be taught during physical education.

In our previous research, we showed that teaching children deliberate ball-bouncing strategies can improve how quickly they are able to process complex movements. To see if exergames could produce similar results, we randomly assigned boys and girls between the ages of seven and 12 to one of three groups:

• a Nintendo Wii tennis group that required children to perform midline-crossing movements across the body,
• a Nintendo Wii bowling group that did not require midline crossing movements,
• and a control group of seated children who only played a hand-held video game requiring no arm or leg movements.

Children’s ability to process movements was measured before and after they participated in their training groups. Our results showed exergame training was not sufficient to produce the same improvements children gained from the ball-bouncing games. We concluded that teachers should be wary of replacing traditional physical education instruction with the use of exergames.

There are several possible reasons for these results.

Exergames have a greater margin of error

Previous research has found games involving actual movements require more focus and brain activity than the movements necessary for success during video gameplay. Exergames allow for a greater margin of error to be successful. This greater range might allow for a player to have slower processing speed and still win the game, but in a real ball- bouncing game, the same slower processing speeds would result in a failed catch. These real games require the player to organise several muscles to produce both gross and fine motor movements with precision to catch a ball.

Real gameplay, then, might “train” the brain to physically perform the movements better than virtual gameplay.

Variability in feedback

Feedback a player receives during gameplay, both virtual and real, has the potential to promote skill development. Exergames are designed to make this virtual feedback seem as real as possible through visual graphics, auditory prompts, and haptic feedback (such as vibrations made by handheld game controllers).

However, moving the exergame controller through space does not accurately replicate moving an actual object such as a tennis racket or bowling ball, because of differences like weight, grip and aerodynamics. Performing movements with actual sporting equipment also allows for greater variability in feedback. For example, the “feeling” of hitting a well-timed tennis shot versus a poorly-timed one. The decreased authentic feedback available during exergame play might contribute to less improvement in movement processing speeds.

Exergames are “one-size-fits-all”

Another important factor in skill development is the ability to tailor activities during training to the needs of the learner. Traditional physical education allows for increases in task difficulty as soon as a student is competent.

In contrast, exergame training requires repetitive movement skills and only allows for advancement once the present stage is completed. This code is hard-wired, and the time for each stage cannot be changed by teachers or students. This difference prevents the physical educator from providing training experiences tailored to each child’s skills or level.

The exergame environment is still a “one-size-fits-all” experience that lacks the individualisation abilities of traditional physical education.

Exergames are better than nothing, but not better than real exercise

While parents should encourage their children to play exergames instead of sedentary video games during leisure time, we do not recommend HPE teachers replace traditional physical education with exergames when motor skill improvement is the primary goal of the lessons.

Babies can learn the value of persistence by watching grownups stick with a challenge

Inside Higher Ed—International Enrollments: From Flat to Way Down

Title: International Enrollments: From Flat to Way Down

Author: Elizabeth Redden

Source: Inside Higher Ed

New data from about two dozen universities indicates that although some institutions are maintaining or even increasing their international enrollment numbers, some U.S. higher education institutions are now witnessing a trend of declines in international student enrollment.

University officials reported in recent interviews with Inside Higher Ed that there has been a slowdown in the flow of students from China and declines in graduate students from India. Declines in enrollments of Saudi Arabian students also continue, a trend that began in 2016 after the Saudi government tightened up the terms of its scholarship program.

The data show that national policies or demographic shifts in key source countries, changes to scholarship programs or a country’s own higher education capacity, and increasing competition for students from their own countries can lead to shifts in international student numbers. In addition, increased concerns from international students about their personal safety, their ability to get a visa, and whether there could be changes to the optional practical training and H-1B visa programs after they graduate can also have a negative influence on universities’ international enrollment.

ACE is taking several actions to address the importance of maintaining a welcoming perception to international students and scholars, including submitting this amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in the case examining President Trump’s second attempt to ban refugees and immigrants from several majority-Muslim countries. The Supreme Court will hear arguments in the case Oct. 10.

Robin M. Helms and Lucia Brajkovic from ACE’s Center for Internationalization and Global Engagement also published a blog post about recent data and reflections on international student enrollment in the United States, titled “The Sky Is Falling . . . or Is It? New Data and Reflections on International Student Enrollment.” This data is based on a survey conducted by the Institute of International Education in cooperation with four other higher education associations.

Too much information? More than 80% of children have an online presence by the age of two

GAO Report: Students Need More Information to Help Reduce Challenges in Transferring College Credits

Title: Students Need More Information to Help Reduce Challenges in Transferring College Credits

Author: U.S. Government Accountability Office

Date: August 2017

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently released a report on the challenges college students face when attempting to transfer credits.

The report found that between 2004 and 2009, over one-third of all college students transferred at least once, and that in the act of transferring, they lost an average of 43 percent of their previously accumulated credits.

The GAO cited a lack of easily accessible information and understanding by students about their transfer options. The report recommends that colleges be required to disclose on their websites the institutions with which they have an articulation agreement, and to develop a consumer guide for students and families that includes general transfer information.

To download the full report, see the GAO website.

NDIS failing to catch children with late-onset difficulties

The rollout of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) in selected sites in 2016 signified a shift in cultural views about disability. Historical views were based on a medical model derived from deficit, dysfunction and impairment. Today, we ask that building capacity, inclusion and access be the way forward for people and young children living with disabilities.

However, medical evidence is still required to establish entitlement, and some children with late-onset delays miss out.

Children with late onset delays disadvantaged under the medical model

Some children are born with congenital risk factors known to cause developmental delays – for example, very low birth weight, hereditary conditions, birth defects or trauma incidents. These factors ordinarily generate specialised monitoring or specific screening to identify issues as soon as possible, to enable families’ access to early childhood early intervention (ECEI).

However, not all delays in child development can be detected at birth or immediately post-partum. Late-onset delays usually present themselves at age two or three. In Australia, a universal approach to developmental health aims to capture this population of children.

A recent study conducted in a pilot NDIS site found administrators of early childhood early intervention agencies predicted children with late onset delays would be poorly served under this model.

Although developmental health checking is in place, it is grounded in a medical view of “disease prevention” and “risk”, and its effectiveness relies on contact with parents. While the administrators recognised partnerships with families are vital, they expressed concern that parents wouldn’t have the time or the support necessary to understand the impact of late onset developmental disability before having to tick a box to apply for funding. The administrators observed that the NDIS invested little in the individuality of each family and the impact of a child’s difficulties.

For parents of children with late-onset delays, an understanding of developmental concerns should be encouraged and supported in preschool.

Social disadvantage puts children at a greater risk

Today, the rates of children presenting in preschools with delayed development are increasing. This is a result of the cumulative effects of environmental factors and patterns of social disadvantage.

Many parents from socially-disadvantaged families were less likely to attend developmental health-checking systems at child and family health clinics. They miss out on developmental health monitoring and information that helps them identify milestones and markers.

Because of this, challenging behaviours known to be associated with developmental delays and intellectual disability (such as non-compliance, tantrums or aggression) are often accepted in their homes. For these parents, it can be difficult to understand them as developmental concerns. Consequently, social difficulties are only flagged as a problem once their child starts preschool.

If parents can’t understand the significance of developmental milestones, it’s harder for them to understand the notion of being “delayed” or, more importantly, the impact on learning.

Early childhood educators are well positioned to track development

Working within the Early Years Learning Framework is an essential part of any early educator’s daily work of observing children’s play, interests and social behaviour. Tracking individual progress often leads to conversations with parents arising from evolving developmental concerns about a child over time.

Early years settings, like preschools, are often the first place parents are able to have routine conversations about health information, developmental progress and the wellbeing of their child.

Flagging developmental concerns with parents is never an easy task, especially when it relates to social behaviour. Talking about these concerns may also be at odds with families’ historical views of sickness and/or their experiences of child-rearing. Parents may be reluctant to believe their children has these problems.

Crucially, at the four-year-old stage – late in a child’s development to be identifying delays – empowering parents requires trusting relationships mediated by professional report and observation. Building a family’s capacity to claim for services takes time.

How can we better support these children and their families?

Timing for access to ECEI is pivotal to a child’s future learning outcomes. This means we need to change how we view those with late-onset difficulties. A reliance on medical evidence as an entry ticket to the NDIS does little to achieve social justice for these children.

Parents of any child identified with a developmental concern in preschool should consult with a GP or paediatrician. This will mean inevitably going on a waiting list. These waiting lists could further disadvantage children who are already at risk due to social factors, and further compromise their learning opportunities. It also discounts the validity of evidence from qualified early childhood educators.

Being on a waiting list does little to support a sensible outcome for all, especially socially-disadvantaged families.

Supporting documentation from early childhood educators must be repositioned and upgraded to empower vulnerable families to access early intervention services sooner rather than later.

University education makes you a better citizen

The most important ways parents can prepare children for school

A Closer Look at Hispanic-Serving Institutions

By Morgan Taylor and Gina Garcia

This blog is part of a series highlighting the findings from Pulling Back the Curtain: Enrollment and Outcomes at Minority Serving Institutions.

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Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) have a rich and storied history. Beginning as a grassroots effort in the 1980s, HSIs were first recognized by educators and policymakers as institutions that enroll a large concentration of Latinx[1] students. Created in 1986, the Hispanic Association of Col­leges and Universities (HACU), the membership association for HSIs, served as a leader in the effort to persuade Congress to formally recognize HSIs in 1992 and target federal appropriations to these institutions.

Because an institution’s eligibility to become an HSI is predicated on enrollment, the number of HSIs changes on an annual basis. Currently, over 470 two- and four-year institutions meet the enrollment threshold to apply for eligibility to participate in the U.S. Department of Education’s Developing His­panic-Serving Institutions Program (found in Title V of the Higher Education Opportunity Act), and more than 300 are inching toward that threshold, a group also known as “Emerging HSIs.” Research shows that as Latinx student enrollment in higher education and the number of institutions eligible to become HSIs grow each year, HSIs’ significance to national college completion and workforce goals also grows.

Despite falling under one umbrella, it is important to recognize that HSIs are not a monolithic group, but are diverse by type, size, Carnegie Classification, regional location, institutional resources and expenditures, and purpose. In 2015–16, HSIs were almost evenly split between two-year (49 percent) and four-year (51 percent) institutions. Two-thirds of HSIs were public institutions, compared to one-third private institutions. Geographically, HSIs were located in 19 states across the U.S.; however, the vast majority of HSIs (81 percent) were heavily concentrated in just five states—California, Florida, New Mexico, New York, and Texas—and Puerto Rico. Emerging HSIs were more spread out across the United States, located in 35 states and DC. In many ways, HSIs are as diverse as the higher education enter­prise itself.

Graduation as an Indication of Serving Latinx Students

Graduation rates are one outcome worth considering as an indicator of how effective HSIs are at serving Latinx students. ACE’s Center for Policy Research and Strategy recently released a one-of-its-kind report, Pulling Back the Curtain: Enrollment and Outcomes at Minority Serving Institutions, using data from the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) to examine enrollment and outcomes of students who start college at HSIs and other minority serving institutions. NSC data were ideal since they provide a more robust picture of student outcomes because they capture students as they move across institutions and states. Findings from the report show that students attending HSIs do not fit the profile of students captured by traditional graduation rates—those who enroll exclusively full time. Instead, the majority of students enrolled at public HSIs move between full-time and part-time status, and nearly half of all students at private four-year HSIs attend through mixed enrollment (45 percent).

Further, the authors found that the completion rate for exclusively full-time students at HSIs, the NSC sub-cohort most comparable to the cohort used to calculate the federal graduation rate, was higher than the federal graduation rate across all sectors. Analyzing NSC data, the authors of the report found:

• Exclusively full-time students at public four-year HSIs complete within six years at a rate of 74.1 percent, compared to 42.7 percent using the federal graduation rate.

• Exclusively full-time students at private four-year HSIs had a six-year completion rate of 77.9 percent, compared to the federal rate of 49.1 percent.

• Exclusively full-time students at two-year public HSIs had a four-year completion rate of 40.3 percent, compared to the federal four-year completion rate of 25.5 percent.

Other Indicators of Serving Latinx Students at HSIs

While HSIs enroll a high concentration of Latinx students, and it appears that they are graduating students in fairly high numbers, many have raised the important distinction between enrollment/graduation and service. Higher education has reached the moment when collectively, HSI leaders, advocates, scholars, and legislators must decide what students can and should garner and experience as a result of attending an HSI. Put more simply: what does it mean to serve Latinx students beyond enrollment and graduation?

As student demo­graphics have changed, so too have students’ needs. As such, the idea of “serving” students has evolved to include providing academic and social support and fostering a positive campus racial climate. As HSIs look to the future, beyond their com­mitment to enrolling and graduating a diverse student body, they are right to construct organizational identities that exemplify what it means to be Latinx-serving. Given the high concen­tration of Latinx students at HSIs, and as the Latinx population enrolling in postsecondary education continues to grow, it is critical to understand what HSIs are doing to ensure their success and foster an inclusive environment.

 The national nonprofit Excelencia in Education recognizes programs at institutions, including HSIs, which have shown effectiveness in accelerating the success of Latinx students. Excelencia’s Growing What Works database serves as a resource of programs that the organization has recognized as leading examples of institutional policies and practices that promote Latinx student success. A few examples:

• City Colleges of Chicago-Harry S. Truman College’s Transitional Bilingual Learning Community (TBLC) works to increase enrollment of Latinx English language learners in the institution’s credit program. This two-semester, full-time credit initiative was designed to help Latinx English language learners transition into college-level courses taught in English, using learning communities to provide students with academic support, bilingual, and financial services. The program provides a space in which students can learn the culture of higher education while also supporting their identities and experiences. TBLC students earn their associate degree at four times the rate of nonparticipants and also transfer after earning their degree at seven times the rate of nonparticipants.

• California State University, Fullerton’s Enhancing Postbaccalaureate Opportunities at CSUF for Hispanic Students (EPOCHS) program seeks to close the achievement gap between Latinx and non-Latinx graduate students through bilingual workshops for students and families, as well as tutoring and mentoring services. EPOCHS addresses campus climate through cultural competency workshops for faculty and provides outreach activities with local high schools, community colleges, and nonprofit organizations. As a result, the three-year graduation rate for master’s students increased from 51 percent in 2010 to 63 percent in 2015. Of faculty who attended cultural competency workshops, 100 percent stated it helped increase their understanding of challenges faced by Latinx students.

• South Texas College’s Early College High Schools Program aims to close achievement gaps through partnerships with 30 high schools, preparing ninth and 10th graders for college-level courses and offering eligible 11th and 12th graders the opportunity to enroll in and complete dual credit courses in high school. The program focuses on low-income students who are likely to be the first in their families to attend college. It provides them a nurturing environment in which they can receive the additional support needed to succeed. Over the last five years, more than 1,400 students have graduated with an associate degree at no cost to the student or their family.

The institutions highlighted here offer a small taste of what HSIs are doing to help their students succeed. If we are to invest in this growing group of insti­tutions and the students that they serve, however, adequate funding is necessary.

Federal Investment in HSIs

While the practices above work to increase the success of Latinx students, HSIs need the funding and institutional capacity in which to provide these efforts. HSIs serve students who often require embedded support to persist and graduate, necessi­tating the resources or capacity to provide such support—which is why federal, state, and other funding is so important to the sustainability of HSIs. An examination of 20 years of Title V funding shows that 70 percent of grant recipients invested their funding into three activities: faculty and curriculum devel­opment, student support services, and funds and administrative management. Evidence shows that investing in these activities improves students’ academic achievement and institutional capacity to facilitate such achievement.

However, to continue serving Latinx students, HSIs need more adequate funding. According to HACU, HSIs receive just 69 cents per student for every federal dollar going to all other colleges and univer­sities. Furthermore, ACE’s 2015 brief on government investment in public HSIs shows that federal funding has decreased in recent years as the number of institutions competing for these funds has increased. Due to the financial backgrounds of the student population they serve, HSIs have limited ability to raise tuition as a revenue source. This in turn increases their dependence on federal funding and vulnerability to declines in federal appropriations.

It is well docu­mented that greater institutional resources lead to greater outcomes. Providing further support to these institutions, therefore, is critical given the important role they play, and will continue to play, in the education of Latinx students nationally.

HSIs serve as exemplars for actively enrolling, serving, and graduating diverse students. Yet serving Latinx students requires intentionality on behalf of institutions and support from the federal government. With the increase in Latinx students enrolling in postsecondary education and the subsequent increase in the number of HSIs, these institutions should remain at the top of all policy priority agendas.

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[1] We use the term, “Latinx” rather than “Latino,” as Latinx is a gender inclusive term for people who self-identify as having roots in Latin America, including Central America, South America, Mexico, and the Caribbean.

Freedom of Speech on Campus: Guidelines for Governing Boards and Institutional Leaders

Title: Freedom of Speech on Campus: Guidelines for Governing Boards and Institutional Leaders

Source: AGB Press

First amendment rights regarding freedom of speech on college campuses nationwide has sparked significant debate and media coverage in recent months. In response, following a July convening of various campus stakeholders including board members, presidents, faculty and students, the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB) developed a set of guidelines to provide clarity on the role of institutions in upholding such freedoms.

The report gives an overview of the tensions between sustaining inclusive campus cultures while upholding freedom of speech laws that may encourage provocative and polarizing ideas. To address this tension, AGB provides a six-point set of guidelines designed to encourage institutional leaders to increase their availability to students who want to directly discuss campus issues related to freedom of speech, and also encourage board members to support presidents in implementing campus freedom of speech policies, given the context of their institutional missions and values.

To download the full publication, please see AGB’s website.

Male teachers are an endangered species in Australia: new research

Male teachers may face extinction in Australian primary schools by the year 2067 unless urgent policy action is taken. In government schools, the year is 2054.

This finding comes from our analysis of more than 50 years of national annual workplace data – the first of its kind in any country.

We found a sharp decrease in the percentage of male teachers since records of teacher gender began in 1965. This includes classroom teachers, head teachers, and principals.

This rapid decline of men is not limited to primary schools. From 1977, when numbers of primary and secondary teachers were first recorded separately, we find an equally rapid decline of male representation in Australia’s secondary schools. In primary schools, there has been a steady decline from 28.5% to 18.3%; in secondary schools, it has dropped from 53.9% to 40%.

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Looking at the data by state and school sector, the lowest representation of men in primary schools is just 12.2% in Northern Territory Independent schools and 36.4% in Queensland government secondary schools.

Causes of the decline

Factors that deter men from teaching have been discussed in both the media and research literature. While some men (and women) may be deterred from teaching because it is perceived to have low salary and status, men also face social pressures to conform to particular masculine ideals. And teaching is often seen as “women’s work”. It is unclear if these pressures have intensified over the last 50 years.

There may also be a social stigma in advocating for more male teachers when women still face adversity in many other fields. In this way, policymakers may assume that declining male representation in schools is not a problem, or of less importance compared to other professions.

Alternatively, hiring policies may play a role.

We have little data on the hiring policies of different teacher employers around Australia. When looking at the percentage of male teachers in government, Independent, and Catholic sectors separately, we see that government schools show the sharpest drop over time. Independent primary and secondary schools and Catholic secondary schools also show a drop in male teachers, yet at a less rapid rate.

The impact on students

While teacher gender has little effect on student achievement, and students’ role models are often their peers, there are important social and psychological reasons for Australian schools to include more male teachers.

Students themselves tell us that they want to be taught by both women and men. Just as some boys and girls find it easier to relate to female teachers, others find it easier to relate to male teachers. A teaching workforce that is diverse – in gender, ethnicity, religion, and sexual orientation – is most likely to appeal to diverse groups of students.

The decline in male representation in schools also limits opportunities for students to observe men outside their families who are caring, nurturing, and concerned about education. This may lead students to assume that only women are suited for such work, or that such traits are atypical in men.

Finally, for students with risky home lives, male representation may be particularly important. The presence of male and female teachers within the school environment allows students to see men and women interacting in positive, equal, and non-violent ways, and to observe men working with female leaders. In this way, male representation in schools may help to challenge misconceptions of what men can and cannot do.

The impact on schools

There are also important workplace reasons for Australian schools to include more male teachers.

Across professions, workforce diversity is pursued because it creates an inclusive environment, facilitates multiple perspectives, and ensures that various groups are included in decision-making processes. Importantly, links have also been found to job satisfaction and performance.

Extending these findings to Australian schools, we suggest benefits for the school community when men and women are more equally represented.

Given the importance of diversity, the Australian government has committed to ensuring that the teaching workforce broadly reflects both the student population and Australian community. There are policies that aim to increase the representation of Aboriginal people, racial and religious minority groups, people under the age of 25, people with a disability, and women in leadership positions.

But there are no current workforce diversity policies to redress the sharp decline in male teachers.

What can be done

We now know where the male teacher population is headed. It is becoming increasingly unlikely that Australian schools will genuinely reflect the student population or broader community. A review of Australian workforce diversity policies is urgently needed.

Fortunately, much can be learned about increasing male representation in schools by looking to professions where the representation of women has been increased. These include STEM and business. As we suggest elsewhere, targeted scholarships could be used to increase the number of men studying education.

Additionally, increasing teachers’ salaries and permanent teaching positions may benefit the profession more broadly, while also providing incentives for men (and women) who consider a career in teaching later in life. Challenging negative perceptions is also important, and may require large-scale campaigns.

Both men and women are capable of being excellent teachers, and we want both in our schools. A more diverse teaching workforce benefits everyone – students, parents, and teachers alike.

New phonics test will do nothing to improve Australian children’s literacy

Minister Birmingham released a report today recommending that all Year 1 students in Australia complete a phonics test. The panel responsible for the report has recommended that Australia adopt the Year 1 phonics screening check that has been used in England since 2011.

What is phonics?

Phonics is the process of matching sounds to letters. It is an important skill when learning to read and write in English. There are two main approaches to teaching children phonics – synthetic phonics and analytic phonics.

Analytic phonics starts with taking a word that children know the meaning of, and then analysing it to see how the sounds in the word match the letters we see within the word. So five-year-old Emma will learn that her name starts with the sound “e” which is represented by the capital letter E, followed by the sound “m” which is represented by the two letters “mm”, and ends with the sound “u”, which is represented by the letter a.

Synthetic phonics starts with letters which the children learn to match with sounds. The meaning of the words are irrelevant, and indeed, inconsequential. The theory is that the children should master letter/sound matches first before trying to attend to meaning.

Which phonics method is better?

There is no evidence that one phonics approach is better than the other. In England, the US and Australia, there have been major inquiries into reading and all have concluded that systematic and explicit phonics teaching is a crucial part of effective reading instruction. But none have found any evidence that synthetic phonics approaches are better than analytic phonics approaches, or vice versa.

All inquiries have concluded that whatever phonic instruction method is chosen, it should be one part of a suite of skills children should have when learning to read.

What is the phonics test?

The phonics test is based on synthetic phonics. The children are given 40 words on a computer screen, with no context. The words are not put in a sentence, or given any meaning. This is deliberate, and an important feature of a synthetic phonics approach, as the children must show they are not relying on meaning or prior experience with the word in order to successfully decode it.

To this end, 20 of the words the children are given are nonsense words, like “thrand”, “poth” and “froom”, to ensure they are not using meaning to decode the words.

Why are we introducing it?

Minister Birmingham is concerned about the numbers of students in Australia who are struggling with literacy. The decline in literacy standards of Year 9 students is very concerning, and he is right to be looking for solutions. But the solution will not be found in this phonics test for six-year-olds.

As the test has been has already been in use for six years in England we are fortunate to be able to learn from their experience. A major evaluation of the test conducted by the Department for Education in England found that the test is not delivering improvements in literacy capabilities, and in fact, is delivering some unwanted side effects, like class time being spent learning to read nonsense words rather than real words.

Numerous other recent studies of the implementation of the phonics test in England provide valuable information that allow us to test the claims for the test against research evidence.

What does the research say?

Claim: The phonics test has improved reading results in England since its introduction.

Evidence: Year 1 children in England are certainly getting better at passing the phonics test. Over the past six years, pass rates have increased by 23%. This means around 90% of Year 1 children in England can now successfully read nonsense words like “yune” and “thrand”.

However research has found that the ability to read nonsense words is an unreliable predictor of later reading success.

And so far, the phonics test in England has not improved reading comprehension scores.

As the test only tests single syllable words with regular phonic patterns, it is not possible to know how many English children can read words like “one”, “was”, “two”, “love”, “what”, “who”, or “because”, as such words are not included in the test. This is unfortunate because these are amongst the 100 most common words in the English language, which in turn make up 50% of the words we read everyday – whether in a novel, a newspaper article or a government form.

“Yune”, “thrand” and “poth”, on the other hand, make 0% of the words we read.

Claim: The phonics test will pick up children who are having reading difficulties. Birmingham has stated “the idea behind these checks is to ensure students don’t slip through the cracks”.

Evidence: Research in England has found that the test was no more accurate than the teacher’s judgement in identifying children with reading difficulties. Teachers already know which children struggle. As researchers, teachers and principals have all said – teachers need more support in knowing how to support those struggling children.

Claim: The phonics test will provide detailed diagnostics to support teachers to make effective interventions. The chair of the panel recommending the test says that the phonics test will drill into the detail of phonics to establish what children know.

Evidence: A thorough analysis of the test’s components found it fails to test some of the most common sound/letter matches in English, and indeed screens for a very limited number of the hundreds of sound/letter matches in English. They found that children can achieve the pass grade of 32 from 40 with only limited phonic knowledge.

Other research found the test fails to give any information about what the specific phonic struggles of a child might be , or whether the struggles are indeed with phonics.

These limitations mean the check has negligible diagnostic or instructional use for classroom teachers.

Learning lessons

Australia is in the fortunate position of being able to learn from the research that has been conducted since the implementation of the phonics test and mandatory synthetic phonics teaching in England. The lesson is clear. The test is unable to deliver what was hoped. Australia should look elsewhere for answers to its literacy challenges.

Already state Education Ministers have begun to let Birmingham know that they will not be taking up the offer of the national phonics test.

This may be an issue where Australia is able to overcome its intellectual cringe, and act on the research evidence rather than old colonial ties.

The UK continues to top world university rankings – here’s why that matters

This is how to stop students dropping out of university

Australians pay more for education than the OECD average – but is it worth it?

Australians value education, so when looking at the OECD’s Education at a Glance 2017 report, it’s not surprising to see we spend more on education than average among comparable nations.

However, it’s worth noting where the money comes from. A closer look at the data shows public funding for education in Australia is much less than the OECD average, with private funders (including families and students) footing the rest of the bill. When combining both public and private funding sources, our overall spending on education is 5.8% of GDP from primary to tertiary levels. As our Federal Education Minister has been quick to note, this is more than the OECD average of 5.2%. However, when looking at public expenditure, Australia, at 3.9% of GDP, is well below most OECD countries.

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Government spending on education increased by 6% from 2010 to 2014, but total government expenditure for all services increased by 18% over this time. So, in relative terms, expenditure on education as a proportion of all government expenditure has decreased.

Why does Australia rely so much on private sources to fund education, and are we getting enough for what we pay?

Early childhood education and care

Early childhood education and care (ECEC) in Australia is disproportionately funded by private sources compared to most OECD countries. One third of all expenditure on early childhood institutions, on average, comes from private sources. This is most often parents and families.

Only Japan, Portugal and the United Kingdom have higher shares of private expenditure on pre-primary education. Australia has a unique model, with only one in five children that attend ECEC enrolled in a public institution, compared to nearly 70% average across the OECD.

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We have achieved huge growth in enrolment rates for four-year-olds in pre-primary and primary education, with 90% enrolled in 2015 compared to 53% in 2005. This was largely driven by the 2008 National Partnership Agreement on Universal Access to Early Childhood Education. However, the OECD average also jumped significantly over those ten years, so Australia is now performing just above the OECD average of 87%.

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Further reading: Early learning report card: Australia is improving rapidly, but there’s more work to do

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This achievement is overshadowed by our poor performance in lifting three-year-old participation. Australia has 68% of three-year-old children enrolled in a form of ECEC, below the OECD average of 78%. Only about one in five three-year-olds attend preschool. This is well below the OECD average of 73 per cent.

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The OECD notes that two years of ECEC appears to boost PISA results and have a positive impact on life outcomes, so it is well worth lifting investment to increase the number of three-year-olds entering pre-primary education. Australia has significant work to do to achieve the OECD average. Experiences with four-year-old preschool show it can be done.

Schooling

On average across the OECD, 91% of expenditure on school-age education comes from public sources, but Australia’s public contribution is only 81% of total expenditure. Households account for 16%. Levels of expenditure from private sources increase from 12% in primary to 24% in lower secondary – the highest in the OECD. A similar level of private investment is in upper secondary education.

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The data are clear on the need for more young people to achieve Year 12. Unemployment rates correlate closely with qualifications, from 12% for non-Year 12 completers, to 6.1% for Year 12 completers and 3.4% for tertiary graduates.

One in eight young people are not in employment, education and training. This number has not changed over the last six years. We need to refocus our education system to provide young people with the education, capability and pathways support they need to successfully transition to further education and employment.

Tertiary

At the tertiary level, Australian households and international students contribute more than double the OECD average expenditure. Private sources amount to 61% of expenditure, compared to an OECD average of 30%. Chile and Japan are the only countries where households account for a greater share of expenditure on tertiary education institutions, at 55% and 51% respectively.

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Tertiary education provides a strong public (around $150,000 per male graduate) and private benefit (around $233,000 per male graduate). This is more than a 9% return on both public and private investment.

A strong tertiary system is vital for Australia’s future, with a need to ensure strong pathways across university and vocational education and training.

Are we getting enough for what we pay?

Australia is unique in having significant levels of private funding, and delivery by private institutions, from early childhood through to tertiary. The returns from education are strong for those who complete. However, despite the significant spend, the education system is not maximising the talents of all children and young people.

Our results in international tests like PISA are declining and many children are missing out at important education milestones before, during and after school.

It is clear that spending more money on education doesn’t necessarily buy better results. We need to focus not just on how much we spend, but on who and for what outcome.

Proposal to Track Teaching Hours of UW Professors Reappears in State Budget

Title: Proposal to Track Teaching Hours of UW Professors Reappears in State Budget

Author: Greg Neumann

Source: WKOW

The Wisconsin State Legislature has once again inserted a proposal from Governor Scott Walker to track the number of teaching hours that University of Wisconsin (UW) System professors spend in the classroom back into the state’s budget. Republican leaders of the Joint Finance Committee had previously removed the measure in April; last week, however, the proposal was reinserted. The full State Assembly will vote on the budget this Thursday.

UW System President Ray Cross has voiced concerns about the legislature’s interest in setting policy for his institutions and how such a measure could impact the work professors do outside of the classroom such as research.

Building Momentum: Lessons Learned & Success Strategies of the Utah State Women’s Network

By Jessica Egbert

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Utah is a place of exceptions: exceptionally beautiful and diverse landscapes; exceptionally high volunteerism; exceptionally high quality healthcare; exceptionally healthy economy; exceptionally educated population; and exceptionally low unemployment. Unfortunately, it is also a place where pay equity and leadership opportunities for women have been exceptionally poor. However, with the support of a volunteer Board of Directors and the advocacy and mentorship of Presidential Sponsors, the Utah Women in Higher Education Network (UWHEN; ACE Women’s Network Utah State Network) has helped begin to turn this around on college and university campuses across the state.

The complex charge of advancing women’s leadership in higher education requires strategic initiatives, effective communication and engaged leadership. Essential to UWHEN’s strategy was increasing the awareness and commitment of higher education leaders to ACE’s Moving the Needle: Advancing Women in Higher Education Leadership initiative, a collaborative, multi-association effort to increase the number of women in senior leadership positions in higher education. As such, the UWHEN Board of Directors adopted the goal of increasing the number of Utah institutions that had taken the pledge. At the start of this goal, just over 42 percent of UWHEN member institution presidents had signed the pledge. This number has now risen to nearly 86 percent—and we are hopeful for additional signers.

Simultaneous to this work, UWHEN members (myself included) participated in the annual ACE Women’s Network State Chairs’ Leadership Conference, which prompted the following question: although Moving the Needle was primarily orchestrated for colleges and universities, have we reached out to policy leaders outside of higher education? Realizing key influencers may be unaware of the initiative, UWHEN led the charge to connect with state policy leaders, specifically, Utah Governor Gary R. Herbert.

UWHEN reached Governor Herbert, a recognized advocate for women in leadership through his support of the Women’s Leadership Institute’s ElevateHER Challenge, through a supportive contact (Val Hale, director of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development) and through the Governor’s exceptional executive assistant, Fran Stultz. UWHEN drafted a letter providing background information on our efforts, including a specific request: for the Governor to support Moving the Needle and provide a letter to encourage the same of policy and educational leaders throughout Utah and across the United States. I signed the request along with three institutional presidents: Deneece Huftalin (Salt Lake Community College; 2014-17 UWHEN Presidential Sponsor); Richard Williams (Dixie State University; 2017-20 UWHEN Presidential Sponsor); and Richard P. Nielsen (Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions; UWHEN Board Chair’s home institution).

Following the submission, the Governor’s office requested a draft letter, which we provided. UWHEN received the official response from the Governor’s office shortly thereafter, the entire process taking less than one month. In addition to the social media and email distribution by UWHEN, the letter was circulated by the Women’s Leadership Institute, ACE, the Utah System of Higher Education, several academic institutions, and the local media wrote a follow-up article.

While UWHEN continues its efforts to increase the quantity of institutions committed to Moving the Needle, the process thus far and the support from Governor Herbert resulted in several takeaways on how UWHEN was effective in reaching its goal:

• Context is important. Utah has a relatively small quantity of higher education institutions and vast geographic boundaries. Each state network has its own roadblocks.

• Promote the power of ACE affiliation. Connecting the state network to the national association adds credibility.

• Challenge and empower board members in shared goals. Individual board members were essential to the Moving the Needle progress.

• Connect the 5Ps. Private institutions, Public institutions, Presidents, Politicians, and Press.

• Use tag-teams. Having two board members from each institution focused on the same initiative was effective in educating and obtaining presidential support.

• Know the assistant (and treat him or her well). If you need to get on the calendar of an institutional president or policy influencer without having a direct connection, get to know his or her assistant. The assistant is a source of great knowledge and access.

• Make good use of the Presidential Sponsor(s). These institutional leaders are incredible sources of support, influence, and expertise. Don’t be afraid to ask for help!

Above all, don’t get discouraged. Would UWHEN have liked to have 100 percent of presidents from Utah institutions sign the Moving the Needle pledge? Absolutely. However, it’s important to take time to acknowledge successes and get creative at climbing over walls. After all, the journey to having 50 percent of U.S. college and university presidencies filled by women by 2030 is not one that is travelled overnight. By uniting regional, state, and national efforts, our collective work creates pathways to leadership and builds pipelines of qualified candidates for future generations of higher education leaders.

UWHEN Board, 2017.

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10 Strategies for Success

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1.  Support Your Audience. UWHEN includes women across all higher education roles (faculty, staff and administration). While some state networks focus on staff and administration, similarly identified issues in faculty promotion and tenure may serve a catalyst for expanding the audience. UWHEN serves the faculty population by ensuring they serve on the UWHEN Board of Directors and including topics of faculty interest at events.

2. Connect with Leaders. UWHEN has a Presidential Sponsor whose role is advocacy and mentorship. Current and past Presidential Sponsors have been remarkably supportive, helping UWHEN make effective decisions and advocating shared goals across the Utah System of Higher Education (USHE). The Presidential Sponsor presents to the USHE Council of Presidents an annual report reflecting the mission-fulfillment activities of UWHEN, related activities on each member institution’s campus, and requests for support from ACE.

3. Include State Systems of Higher Education. Because USHE is in a position of influence and a supporter of UWHEN initiatives, two ex oficio seats are held on the UWHEN Board for USHE leaders. Although USHE is a non-paying member of UWHEN, Board members serve in strategic advisement and support roles.

4. Address Regional Needs. While Utah has relatively few higher education institutions, those institutions span a wide geography. As such, UWHEN hosts three regional events each fall on different campuses. Additionally, each member institution has access to grant funding through UWHEN toward a leadership-related campus event. Finally, several institutional members have formed campus UWHEN chapters that provide grassroots support to their employees.

5. Integrate Public and Private Institutions. The UWHEN Board of Directors consists of 36 representatives from 14 member institutions (eight public institutions, the technology college system, and five private institutions) and the Utah System of Higher Education. By integrating diverse institutions, UWHEN continuously builds its network, expands innovation and serves a greater number of women in higher education.

6. Manage Your Money. Adequate funding is essential to UWHEN fulfilling its overarching mission. Each member institution pays an annual rate based on the student FTE. When UWHEN expanded funding beyond membership fees and added paid and in-kind sponsorships, the network grew the size and scope of events, increased campus grants, added professional development grants, outsourced a website overhaul (currently underway) and logo revision and purchased materials. Increased awareness and positive experiences resulted in stronger constituent engagement with UWHEN.

7. Look Outside of Your Network. By seeking diverse experts in politics, business, and non-profits, UWHEN has found powerful speakers and workshop facilitators, as well as built connections to leaders and potential sponsors. Alignment with like-minded organizations has also moved forward UWHEN’s initiatives through increased awareness and shared goals. For example, UWHEN connects with organizations such as the Utah Women and Leadership Project, Real Women Run, and the Women’s Leadership Institute.

8. Use Your Data. Within each annual report, UWHEN provides quantitative and qualitative data on institutional member initiatives related to UWHEN mission fulfillment. The report is presented to the USHE Council of Presidents and provided to the ACE Women’s Network. This accountability measure increases credibility while also helping UWHEN tell its story.

9. Diversify Marketing and Communication Strategies. To address the diverse generations of women employed in higher education, UWHEN needed to diversify marketing and communication strategies. Among these initiatives were an expanded social media presence, branded emails, automated email list sign-up, Facebook ads, improved and increased imagery, livestreaming conference keynote presenters, online registration, web-based data collection and reporting, and updating the logo and website. Through enhanced sophistication and savviness of marketing and communication efforts, UWHEN expanded its reach, engaged its audience, achieved registration goals, and improved capacity to address the needs of its constituents.

10. Engage in Board Development and Continuity Planning. The UWHEN Board of Directors is essential to the organization’s success. Board members are responsible for communicating information on respective campuses to develop grassroots interest and awareness in UWHEN. Because UWHEN does not have access to employee lists from campuses (one of our greatest challenges), Board members must educate employees about events, services and resources. A new attendee to a successful UWHEN event will likely convert from being a one-time-attendee to a long-term participant. UWHEN Board members generally serve three year, staggered, renewable terms and each institutional member is invited to have two Board members.

While the ACE Women’s Network State Chair Handbook indicates university and college presidents should appoint the board, we have discovered this level of engagement with a president is less likely and have found greater success by soliciting board membership through personal connections, interested members and referrals. While the Board has vacillated in its use of committees, a recent revision of committees, committee charges, and specific duties reengaged the Board’s work in meaningful ways by ensuring each person has a role and that the talents of each Board member individually contribute to UWHEN’s success. Board members should be empowered to own initiatives, rally teams and be accountable for reporting milestones and achievement.