Education Rebel @ Work

I’ve been very open that as a recruitment consultant, I find as many people on Facebook as LinkedIn and sometimes more because Facebook is definitely more about networks. 

Key advice from the infographic-

Update your network on your job search via Status Updates. When your Facebook friend is out drinking and someone at the table mentions she is stressed because she can’t find anyone good for a new position, you’ll be in your friend’s subconscience, ultimately leading to a connection when everyone is sober.

Don’t assume an employer won’t see your profile. I know of a jobseeker who had a locked-down profile… but one of his Facebook friends showed a recent interviewer something controversial he had posted on the platform anyway. He was summarily rejected.  

So I think this is awesome. Awesomesauce, in fact. But this quote from Tulane is a little over the top. Really, 10 free slots for well-deserving students and some teacher training is the MOST comprehensive thing that any college/K-12 partnership has ever done in education reform? Really (said as much like Seth Meyers/Amy Poehler as possible)?

Officials on both sides are calling it a first-of-its-kind arrangement. “No one has done anything as comprehensive as what we’re thinking,” Tulane University President Scott Cowen said. “This is one more part of the puzzle of how we can improve education here in our community and for low-income students across the country.” 

More in love the with quote at the end from one of my education heroes, Mike Feinberg. He’s a hero because he understands that education is really about what happens to students AFTER they leave us.

“The ultimate goal for our kids is not to have them pass a state accountability test,” said Mike Feinberg, one of KIPP’s co-founders. “Nor is it getting them in or even through college. It’s that they have the freedom to do what it is in this world that they want to do. College is a ticket to be able to do those things.” 

This caught my attention. Does Duncan not know what power he has on college costs? All he has to do, like Mark Cuban has pointed out, is make it harder to get outsized student loans. Colleges would be forced to adjust their costs to meet the new market.

Rant… Sometimes I am not sure why I still read the National Journal Online Education Experts blog because they don’t let people comment and their experts don’t always say much. Imagine what could be done if a real conversation happened around these issues. 

Must read article on a class of students that were offered guaranteed college scholarships when they were in the sixth grade and what happened to them over 23 years later. This insight from the program director sums up exactly what we must understand about the lure of “college for all” as a measure of “success” in 2011. Right, Mr. Obama?

“What Proctor learned, he says, is that Dreamers’ achievements cannot be defined by a diploma, an attitude that he says Pollin and Cohen eventually embraced. The doctor and the pharmacist are successes, for sure. But so are the UPS driver and the Prince George’s police officer. They may not have college degrees, Proctor says, but they have a sense of purpose and ambition.”

As usual, right sentiment.. worried about context. I meet so many 30-something teachers who are ready for the classroom and am not convinced they should be judged by how they did in school over ten years ago. That being said, they should have to demonstrate their content and that they have academic aptitude before they start their teacher training program. What might that look like that benefits the teacher and is affordable?

This information is alarming: “At UNI, 36 percent of Latino student teachers would be excluded under the proposal, vs. 21 percent of blacks and 18 percent of white students, officials said.”

Really? Over Newark, NJ? Huh.

nycdigital:

NYC won City of the Year and Best Use of Social Media in the 2011 GovFresh Awards and was the runner up for Best Open Data Platform.

Thank you for your votes and support!

Given the urgency of improving the US education system, we can no longer afford to shut out an entire group of providers. In a time of declining state and federal revenues, policymakers should be stimulating, not stifling, the influx of private capital to our education system. When it comes to other crucial national challenges, policymakers do not ask whether they should engage for-profit companies, but how they should. It is time for education policymakers to follow suit.

EDUCATION, I’D LIKE TO INTRODUCE YOU TO ENTREPRENEURS

(Source: gjmueller)

This is an infographic by Course Hero on the ROI of going abroad. DISAGREE! Most of the career coaching clients I work with who are unable to do what they really want professionally because of student debt accumulated a significant amount of it during their semester abroad. 

I don’t disagree that traveling abroad is certainly an amazing opportunity, but with their ROI arguments. There are lots of ways to gain the experiences detailed in the infographic in your own community.

The advice in Target Practice is the piece you should heed the most. 

“The next Steve Jobs will totally be a chick, because girls are No. 2—and No. 2 always wins in America. Apple was a No. 2 company for years, and Apple embodies a lot of what have been defined as feminine traits: an emphasis on intuitive design, intellect, a strong sense of creativity, and that striving to always make the greatest version of something.” -Louie C.K.