Beckie Supiano

1 month ago | chronicle.com | Beckie Supiano

As often happens with attention-grabbing issues in higher education, much of the conversation about grade inflation is focused on the most-selective colleges. But Peter Burkholder, a professor of history at Fairleigh Dickinson University, thinks that rising grades are also a problem for a more-typical institution like his, where administrators are more focused on improving student success than on whether too many students might be getting A’s.

1 month ago | chronicle.com | Beckie Supiano

Room 0101 in the College of Sciences Building at the University of Central Florida is a standard-issue lecture hall. Students sit in upholstered chairs, bolted to the floor in rows, with little desks that fold down from the arm rests. The setup makes it easy to surreptitiously text friends or consult ChatGPT, but awkward to work with one another. Even for those sitting near the front, the professor is far away — up on stage, behind a big lectern.

1 month ago | nepc.colorado.edu | Beckie Supiano |YearBy Year |David F. Labaree

This post is a recent essay by Beckie Supiano from the Chronicle of Higher Education.  Here’s a link to the original. There’s been a lot written lately about the effect that the pandemic had on student learning, and this piece picks up on some of that analysis. But what I find so compelling about this piece is how the author goes more deeply into the role that the educational standards has had in dumbing down the capabilities of students.

1 month ago | chronicle.com | Beckie Supiano |Alexandra Dufresne |Fernanda Zamudio-Suarez

Diversity officers are ready to fight back. Diversity officers ready to advocate for their work, despite the risks. Diversity officers, many of whom were hired by colleges just a few years ago, have spent the last few years fielding attacks from state and federal lawmakers and trying to justify their existence. They are now seeing jobs being cut, departments being eliminated, and student-support programs ending, among other things.

2 months ago | chronicle.com | Beckie Supiano

When the U.S. Department of Education announced on Tuesday that it was eliminating nearly half of its staff, it said that it would “continue to deliver on all statutory programs that fall under the agency’s purview,” including Pell Grants and student loans. Or subscribe now to read with unlimited access for less than $10/month. A free account provides you access to a limited number of free articles each month, plus newsletters, job postings, salary data, and exclusive store discounts.