The way that teachers assess students has been under scrutiny since the UK government announced that this would be one element of a range of evidence used to replace GCSE and A Level exams this year. Teacher assessment is a key part of university study, too. University educators play a pivotal role in judging and grading written and non-written […] … learn more→

Safely resuming in-person instruction at U.S. public schools is important for the academic, physical, emotional and social well-being of children and their families. It’s also a key factor for the nation’s economic recovery. But in mid-July, despite considerable pressure from the Trump administration, many school systems around the nation had announced that they didn’t yet believe that anything close to […] … learn more→

Music education notably influences cognitive development and the acquisition of psychomotor, social and emotional skills. Research carried out in the field of neuroscience has also demonstrated the numerous benefits on brain plasticity of constant musical practice from the infant stage. However, for the digital-born generation, the early stages of conventional music learning, which typically focus on repetitive, […] … learn more→

State and local tax dollars cover the bulk of U.S. public school funding. The federal government spends just under US$55 billion per year on K-12 education, in addition to outlays for early childhood education and post-secondary programs like loans and grants for college tuition. That’s just 8% of the total $720 billion it costs to run the nation’s public schools during the […] … learn more→

Why would anyone start a blog? It’s a big commitment. A blog can be seen as an “extra”, as a “vanity project” as “not scholarly”, particularly if it doesn’t directly hit a “public engagement” or “impact” target.  It’s so much easier to write for other blogs. So why bother with your own? Well, I can […] … learn more→

When the University of California decided in early 2020 to stop using the ACT and SAT in admissions by 2025, the decision sparked discussions anew about how fair and useful college entrance exams are in the first place. Studies have shown, for instance, that some SAT questions systematically favor white students over Black students of equal ability. Some scholars say […] … learn more→

In Alberta, the once-radical idea of charter schools, placed largely on the back burner for the past two decades, has been brought back to the fore under Premier Jason Kenney’s United Conservative Party (UCP). The party’s Choice in Education Act will come into force Sept. 1, after the government passed it June 24. Under the new act, individuals […] … learn more→

There’s a lot to think about when writing short. A blog post, a short piece of writing, requires careful consideration, just like a longer text. But there’s no need to struggle with writing blog posts on your own. There’s quite a lot of blogging advice out there, most of it written by people who have […] … learn more→

Although faculty, staff, and students accomplished the Herculean task of pivoting to alternative distance delivery to finish the semester, what will happen this autumn is the looming question for higher education. The California State University system has decided that instruction will be primarily online this fall, while other institutions have pledged to reopen their campuses […] … learn more→

Higher education has been forced to reckon with two compounding crises this year: the Covid-19 pandemic and racism in America. Both have caused tremendous pain, trauma and loss for many within the higher education community and beyond, and obliged us to confront the systemic inequities that have plagued our most highly regarded educational institutions since […] … learn more→