Jan 25, 2013

The Age of Flexibility

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Our programs developed in the era of oversupply of candidates. At stake were both quality and crowd control. We designed rules and policies...
2 comments:
Jan 18, 2013

Pareto efficiency and charter schools

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Is there the right balance between charter and district schools? It is raised over and over again across the country where legislators of d...
Jan 12, 2013

Tinkerers

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This last week, I had some chance to work through a few computer-related problems. One was designing a form in Word, another had to do with...
Jan 4, 2013

The rule of rules

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Here is an existential question for you: how do you know a policy exists? In what sense does it exist? Does it exist because we have been ap...
1 comment:
Dec 21, 2012

12/21/12 A.D.

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Driving through the rain, in a flash, I suddenly saw myself looking at a Christmas present,                                             ...
1 comment:
Dec 14, 2012

Partnership markets

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Rhode Island is a small state, but it is rich in various non-profit, academic organizations, government and businesses. The RI Foundation’s ...
Dec 7, 2012

Goofing off

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At lunch, people complain about cold. That’s what we do, because Paula and Kim are trying to enforce the no-shoptalk rule during lunch. So, ...
1 comment:
Nov 30, 2012

Join the teaching profession, become a selfish bastard

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TEIL, the Teacher Education Innovation Lab is one of my favorite parts of this job. It is very low-key; we just come and talk, but it alway...
Nov 16, 2012

Yes, you can go home again

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Strange things are brought back from trips home. I am not sure if Thomas Wolfe’s truism, you can't go home again, is really true. He imp...
2 comments:
Oct 26, 2012

Compartmentalizing

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They say men are better at it than women. They say we can put work into one compartment, life into another, and just keep them separately. I...
Oct 19, 2012

Communications should cost more

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As we are preparing for marketing campaign for our 2013 off-campus cohorts , I am worried and wondering about getting the word out. As the c...
Oct 12, 2012

Keeping still

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Our species evolved to do something – run away from danger, find food, hunt, fight – to solve problems. Our languages evolved to help with ...
Oct 5, 2012

The autumnal light

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The light is different. Even if it is just as warm, and when you find a completely green patch to look at, the light is undeniably autumnal....
Sep 28, 2012

Stories we tell

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Every week, I look back and try to find a story, somewhat entertaining, and hopefully not too narcissistic. Many a blogger succumbs to the t...
Sep 21, 2012

The joys of curricular cooking

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In the last couple of weeks, we held a series of meetings to check on the multiple curriculum projects we're undertaking this Fall; 18 ...
Sep 14, 2012

Selling experience

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It is not clear what higher education is all about. For centuries, people believed it was about wisdom or virtue. For a few centuries after ...
1 comment:
Sep 7, 2012

Decision-making is a contact sport

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I teach a doctoral class on organizational theory, leadership and educational policy. This is my sermon to them for the next week (double-di...
Aug 31, 2012

The many species of time

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We’ve been saying “Happy New Year!” to each other. Yes, our year starts in late August. That is when we wipe our slates clean, make the New ...
Aug 17, 2012

In the woods

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Breaking with the bad habit of eating over keyboard, I went out for a walk on campus. We are about to dive head on into the new school year....
2 comments:
Aug 5, 2012

The six tricks everyone should know

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Many simple time-saving technologies are underused in the academia – by staff and/or by faculty. This results in hundreds of thousands of wa...
Jul 26, 2012

Learning with TFA

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A couple of weeks ago, a colleague and I went to NYC to attend Teach for America’s Summer Institute. We are starting a collaborative program...
7 comments:
Jul 17, 2012

The Peace House

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In the Summer of 1992, we were leaving the Peace House, which is a big name for a small dorm in the Columbia Hall at the University of Notre...
1 comment:
Jun 28, 2012

The theory of the other

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Research is not about helping us to develop theories. To the contrary, research is a way of preventing our minds from generating too many th...
Jun 21, 2012

Reinventing email

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Email is like oxygen – it is essential to sustain life on this planet, and yet too much of it makes one dizzy. Many people are trying to “re...
1 comment:
Jun 13, 2012

Alice and Wonderland

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Alice, our first granddaughter, was born in the early morning of 6/8/12. Babies cannot tell stories, but they certainly know some. What else...
1 comment:
Jun 1, 2012

The other education

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Yesterday, I saw the Providence AFTERZONE end-of-the-year celebration. There was an Aikido club, a soccer club, a few art and crafts groups...
1 comment:
May 25, 2012

Lost in transmission

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What people tell you directly is always different from how others would relate that message. Any important and somewhat complex message you ...
May 18, 2012

Blind leading the blind

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One place where the “blind leading the blind” system works well is anonymous peer review. Introduced first in 1665 by Hendy Oldenburg , the...
1 comment:
May 10, 2012

Prying into practice

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My week began with a visit to Mike Convery, the Superintendent of Coventry Public Schools. His is one of the most interesting districts in t...
1 comment:
May 4, 2012

The Sowing Season

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This year is still winding down, with its ceremonies, with the Pomp and Circumstance, with faculty tired over grading, and red-eyed students...