#diversity

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Thinking and Linking

‘Diversity’ is required, but it must be ‘critical’

Joanne Jacobs

Jun 6, 2022
1 min

‘Diversity’ is required, but it must be ‘critical’

Northern Arizona University will require all students to take four Diversity Perspectives courses in Global Diversity, U.S. Ethnic Diversity, Indigenous Peoples, and Intersectional Identities, reports John D. Sailer in City Journal. . . . Intersectional Movements of Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality promises to analyze “how intersectionality, and the matrix of inequality, have shaped the production of knowledge” and to provide “a critical lens through which intersectional e

Gender lessons: Boy parts, girl parts

Joanne Jacobs

Jun 4, 2022
3 min

Gender lessons: Boy parts, girl parts

gender identity, reports Laura Meckler in the Washington Post. “Seven states now require that curriculums include LGBTQ topics,” she writes. “The National Sex Education Standards, developed by experts and advocacy groups, name gender identity as one of seven essential topics, alongside puberty, consent, sexual orientation and other subjects.” That can mean anything from telling kids there are no “boy colors” or “girl colors” to telling them that boys don’t necessarily have “b

‘Loyalty oaths’ return as ‘diversity statements’

Joanne Jacobs

May 21, 2022
2 min

‘Loyalty oaths’ return as ‘diversity statements’

Professors who want tenure or promotion at the University of Illinois will have to submit a statement declaring how they support diversity, equity, inclusion and access, reports Colleen Flaherty on Inside Higher Ed. diversity statement,” she writes. It’s a throwback to the 1950’s, when professors were forced to sign anti-communist loyalty oaths, writes Charles Lipson, an emeritus professor of political science, on Real Clear Politics. To get or keep a job, professors “must pl

From ‘gifted’ classes to ‘enriched studies’

Joanne Jacobs

Sep 20, 2018
2 min

From ‘gifted’ classes to ‘enriched studies’

“Gifted” programs are becoming “enriched studies” in Montgomery County, Maryland, reports Dana Goldstein in the New York Times. The goal of the huge school system, which is both high performing and diverse, is to qualify a broader mix of students for advanced work. In hopes of closing “the excellence gap,” Montgomery County has turned its elementary magnets for “highly gifted” students into Centers for Enriched Studies, which are supposed to enroll “students who are outliers

Would UCLA hire Einstein?

Joanne Jacobs

Sep 14, 2018
1 min

Would UCLA hire Einstein?

Would UCLA hire Albert Einstein as a professor? asks Heather Mac Donald in the Los Angeles Times. Starting this fall, all faculty applicants to UCLA must document their contributions to “equity, diversity and inclusion.” (Next year, existing UCLA faculty will also have to submit an “equity, diversity and inclusion statement” in order to be considered for promotion, following the lead of five other UC campuses.) A modern-day Einstein, white, male but presumably not dead, woul

Who makes it on the spaceship?

Joanne Jacobs

Aug 31, 2018
1 min

Who makes it on the spaceship?

A middle-school assignment has sparked controversy by asking students who they’d leave behind if there were only eight seats on a spaceship fleeing a doomed Earth. Usually, these exercises pit the brilliant, but aging artist and the disabled humanitarian against younger, physically fitter candidates for survival. This list, assigned by a teacher at a Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio middle school, adds race, religion, sexual orientation, English fluency, beliefs and victim status. Studen

You got into college. Now what?

Joanne Jacobs

Aug 24, 2018
2 min

You got into college. Now what?

New York Times columnist Frank Bruni has good advice on how to get the most out of college. Hanging with people from the same background may be comforting, writes Bruni. But it’s a “wasted opportunity” to learn how to be comfortable with diversity of ideas and people. Credit: Ben Wiseman/New York Times That includes talking with professors. Bruni asked Mitchell scholars to rank the importance of college “coursework, travel abroad, internships, relationships with classmates,

End the craziness with college lottery

Joanne Jacobs

Aug 16, 2018
2 min

End the craziness with college lottery

Stanford offered admission to 2,040 of the 47,450 students who applied in 2018: That’s 4.3 percent, a new low. Most of the 45,410 who were rejected were excellent students who could have been successful. Credit: Ellen Winkler/Chronicle Review Elite colleges should stop agonizing over who’s marginally more desirable than whom, argues Dalton Conley, a Princeton sociology professor, in the Washington Post. Instead, he writes, selective college should set qualification standards

Harvard discriminates against introverts

Joanne Jacobs

Aug 15, 2018
2 min

Harvard discriminates against introverts

Harvard discriminates against introverts, argues Jonathan Zimmerman, a professor of education and history at Penn, in the Washington Post. Harvard is being sued by Asian-Americans, who charge the university engaged in unlawful discrimination. Asian-American applicants were given lower “personality” scores by admission officers — but not by interviewers who actually met them. Zimmerman isn’t sure if the “personality” evaluation documents show bias against Asian-Americans, but

Is this the end of race-based admissions preferences?

Joanne Jacobs

Jul 5, 2018
1 min

Is this the end of race-based admissions preferences?

The Trump administration has revoked Obama-era guidelines calling for colleges to use race in admissions. In a joint letter Tuesday, the Education and Justice Departments said the previous guidelines “advocate policy preferences and positions beyond the requirements of the Constitution.” In a separate statement, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos urged colleges to use Supreme Court decisions as a guide to “what affirmative action policies are constitutional . . . Schools should

Harvard: Asians aren’t likable, kind, ‘respected’

Joanne Jacobs

Jun 17, 2018
2 min

Harvard: Asians aren’t likable, kind, ‘respected’

Asian-Americans are less likely to get into Harvard, despite higher grades and test scores and stronger extracurriculars than other applicants, concludes an analysis of 160,000 student records by Students for Fair Admissions, which is suing the university for discrimination. Admissions officers gave Asian-Americans lower “personal” scores for traits such as personality, likability, courage, kindness and being “widely respected,” reports Anemona Hartocollis in the New York Tim

How Asian kids ace exams for elite schools

Joanne Jacobs

May 9, 2018
2 min

How Asian kids ace exams for elite schools

At a highly selective public magnet school, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology near Washington D.C., 65 percent of incoming students are Asian-American, 23 percent are white, 5 percent Latino and 2 percent black. Last year, 75 percent were Asian-American. Few come from low-income families. If applicants do well on the entrance exam, they’re judged by grades, an essay, teacher recommendations and a resume. There’s pressure to increase racial, ethnic and so

Test-optional students are as likely to graduate

Joanne Jacobs

May 1, 2018
2 min

Test-optional students are as likely to graduate

At colleges that don’t require applicants to submit SAT or ACT scores, students admitted on grades alone are just as likely to graduate as those who submit test scores, according to a new study, Defining Access: How Test-Optional Works. Credit: LA Johnson/NPR In addition, researchers found that test-optional colleges “enroll — and graduate — a higher proportion of low-income and first generation-students, and more students from diverse backgrounds,” reports NPR’s Claudio Sanc

Joanne Jacobs

Mar 18, 2018
1 min

‘White privilege’ goes too far in Oconomowoc

“Privilege” is too touchy a topic for parents in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, a mostly affluent, mostly white town, reports Annysa Johnson for KHOU. After a Martin Luther King Day exercise — a “privilege aptitude test” — offended parents, Superintendent Roger Rindo said future assemblies will stick with “teaching diversity.” Teachers will be allowed to discuss privilege, when relevant, with proper context. Some parents disagree. “I don’t know how you can have a discussion about rac

Test-optional is not an equalizer

Joanne Jacobs

Jan 23, 2018
2 min

Test-optional is not an equalizer

Test-optional college admissions tilts the playing field just a little bit more, writes Kelly Ochs Rosinger, a Penn education professor, on The Conversation. More than 1,000 colleges no longer require applicants to submit an SAT or ACT score. “Instead of expanding economic and racial diversity at American colleges, test-optional policies have actually served to make selective colleges even more selective,” she writes, citing an analysis of 180 liberal arts colleges, including

Teacher prep trains for mediocrity

Joanne Jacobs

Dec 26, 2017
2 min

Teacher prep trains for mediocrity

A traditional teacher-preparation program qualified Ryan Williams-Virden to be a mediocre teacher, he writes. He “half-assed” his studies and still earned a credential. The reality is that most teacher preparation programs don’t require or nurture excellence: Students in graduate education programs have among the lowest GRE scores, and despite the pathetic effort I put in, I aced the tests I was required to take to receive my license. Even worse is the fact that I walked out

How Miami diversifies gifted classes

Joanne Jacobs

Dec 12, 2017
1 min

How Miami diversifies gifted classes

Gifted classes in Miami schools include a mix of low-income and minority students, reports Claudia Rowe for the Seattle Times. That’s because the district uses a different standard for identifying disadvantaged children as “gifted.” In Miami, middle-class and affluent kids need IQ scores of at least 130, while low-income children or those whose first language is not English can get in with scores 13 points lower — provided they rate highly in measures of creativity and academ

All-minority charters: Is it segregation?

Joanne Jacobs

Dec 4, 2017
2 min

All-minority charters: Is it segregation?

At 25 percent of urban charter schools, 99 percent of students are non-white, reports AP. That compares to 10 percent of traditional public schools. Does it matter? Kindergartners at a New Orleans charter school. Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images Some inner-city families prefer “cultural homogeneity,” AP concedes. Others simply want a safe, effective school. Test scores tend to be higher at integrated schools, reports AP. Only 20 percent of students reach proficiency at traditi

White teachers expect less of black students

Joanne Jacobs

Oct 24, 2017
1 min

White teachers expect less of black students

White teachers’ low expectations for their black students could become “self-fulfilling prophecies,” concludes an analysis published in Education Next. When evaluating the same black student, 33 percent of black teachers expected the student to finish college, compared to 24 percent of white teachers, the study found. There was no difference in predictions for white students. Teacher expectations affect student success, conclude Seth Gershenson, a public policy professor at A

Joanne Jacobs

Oct 23, 2017
2 min

Teach for America turns left

Teach for America, founded in 1990 to challenge the educational status quo, has turned left, writes Sohrab Ahmari, a former TFA corps member, in Commentary. These days, TFA’s voice on charters, accountability, and curricular rigor is decidedly muffled. Such education-reform essentials have been eclipsed in TFA’s discourse by immigration, policing, “queer” and transgender-identity issues, and other left-wing causes. TFA’s message seems to be that until numerous other social il

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