Downeast Schoolhouse » college

Against College

admin — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 10:00:47 +0000

Matthew Crawford has written a piece called The Case for Working With Your Hands that is making quite a splash these days. It’s the cat’s-paw, if you will, for his just-published book Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry Into the Value of Work.

In it he makes the case for the importance, the worth and dignity [...]

Tell Ol’ Bill

admin — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 12:45:16 +0000

Bill Gates does a lot of good work these days, so much that one can almost forgive him for Vista, and ME, and…

But let’s not be distracted. His philanthropy is not only a genuine benefit to millions across the world, but as well sets a wonderful example to the hard-working and the fortunate, in stark [...]

Diploma to Nowhere?

admin — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 10:10:25 +0000

This is the image we get when we choose “Get the Facts” and then “Maine” from the Strong American Schools: Diploma to Nowhere page.

Not so very promising, is it?

A hoax is being played on America. The public believes that a high school diploma shows that a student is ready for college-level academics. [...]

Shifting Expectations

admin — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 10:00:24 +0000

This is from The College Track: Onward and Upward in the latest issue of The American magazine.

Murray On My Mind

admin — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 10:00:12 +0000

It’s hard to shake off very easily the things we’re reading about Charles Murray’s new book, Real Education: Four Simple Truths….

We mentioned the book earlier (here), and we’ll need to keep considering it, it seems. We’ll get our hands on a copy and report back.

In the meantime, there’s a pretty interesting article in the September [...]

“For Most People, College Is a Waste of Time”

admin — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 10:42:20 +0000

In today’s Wall Street Journal, Charles Murray calls for revolution — the overthrow of the present system of college degrees. For Most People, College Is a Waste of Time:

Outside a handful of majors — engineering and some of the sciences — a bachelor’s degree tells an employer nothing except that the applicant has [...]