1. University Rewarded Student for New AI Tool … Then They Suspended Him
READ: Emory University suspended college student Benjamin Craver after his AI tool won first place in the University’s startup competition. Emory now says the creation of Eightball, which creates study tools based on user-uploaded material, was an improper use of AI. Craver says he had received no feedback that Eightball might pose problems until he received official notice of his suspension:
“I was upset and a little freaked out,” Craver said about reading the letter on his laptop. “I just laid in bed for a while that day.”
Rob Nelson, who teaches a history of higher education class at University of Pennsylvania and blogs about AI in education, said most universities aren’t issuing new policies or guidance on how to use AI, but relying on teachers to be clear with students about what’s allowed and what’s not.
Read more from Joseph Pisani at The Wall Street Journal here.
2. The Math Doesn’t Add up on Grade Inflation
READ: Grades are up, but test scores and attendance rates are down. Matt Barnum spoke with teachers across the country about grade inflation, why the practice has continued post-pandemic, and how it’s impacted academic standards:
“I can’t hold students accountable,” [Troy Olsen, a high school teacher in Arlington, Va.] said. “Then they graduate high school not really having learned certain things.”
Dartmouth cited high school grade inflation as a factor in its decision to reinstate standardized test scores for college admissions. Read more in The Wall Street Journal here.
3. How To Resist Activities Culture
READ/LISTEN: Soccer practice Monday, chess club Tuesday, dance class and soccer practice Wednesday. Children are doing more than ever before, but a new study from the Economics of Education Review found that overscheduling extracurriculars is linked to depression and anxiety in youth. Anna Nordberg wanted to understand what was behind the country’s burgeoning “Activities Culture” and why it’s become more challenging for kids to experience unstructured downtime. What she found were anxious parents:
Even when stress over college is years in the future, there is still a very palpable sense that being a “good” parent means giving your child an opportunity to take ballet, or piano, or play sports. And participation in scheduled activities can feel like it’s signaling the intensity and commitment of your parenting, and maybe even a certain position in life, given the uncomfortable fact that travel sports and extracurriculars take a ton of time and money, often shutting out less affluent families who may not have flexible work schedules.
Read more in Slate here. Keri, Ariel, Bernita, and Tafshier also discussed this topic as part of their summer preview on this week’s episode of The National Parents Union Podcast here.
4. In Support of Emily Hanford 2.0
READ: Robert Pondiscio and Riley Fletcher took to the pages of Education Next to make the case for more philanthropic dollars for education journalism. They point to the impact of Sold a Story’s Emily Hanford, whose reporting on the science of reading has led to everything from new legislation across the country to the adoption of new curricula, as an example of what can happen when reporters can spend time in the classroom:
Education reporters need to make it their business to study the ins and outs of teaching and learning and go deeper than covering school board meetings and budgets. There is so much for children to gain through the sustained and enterprising efforts of journalists.
Read more here.
5. Jail Education Program Delivers Results
READ/LISTEN: One month of participation in an education program while incarcerated can improve reading and math scores by an entire grade level and decrease recidivism by 18% over three months and 23% over a year. The findings come from a recent study of Flint, Michigan’s Inmate Growth Naturally and Intentionally Through Education program in Genesee County Jail, and researchers say they offer a great deal of hope:
All in all, the researchers said IGNITE spells improvements for society, reducing the “social cost” of crime post-release by $5,600 per year per person through just one additional month of participation in the program.
Read more from Rachael A. Dziaba and Meghna Mitra here, and listen to Chris and Kate discuss the cost of not educating our nation’s prisoners on this week’s episode of The Citizen Stewart Show here.
6. Don’t Count Progressives Out on School Choice
READ: Ashley Rogers Berner took to the pages of The Hill to correct the record on progressives and school choice. While the policy position is often framed as a conservative issue in the news, Berner says there are many reasons more left-leaning coalitions have embraced a pro-choice stance:
Why did the government’s public housing and public food benefits allow participants to choose their meals or homes, but its public education benefit did not allow a choice for schools? Why were wealthy American parents able to choose schools by choosing to own or rent in “good” school districts, but low-income parents had to take what they were assigned? This seemed a violation of justice.
Read more here.
7. The Wheels on the Bus…Fall Off
READ: Lora Kelley wrote for The Atlantic about the country’s continued struggle to find bus drivers, the decrease in bus ridership, and what the school bus system’s continued decline means for students. She urged readers to reimagine the purpose of buses:
The bus is a liminal site: Bus time is part of the school day, but it’s not class time. Students gather together, but they have less structure, and there’s less of a focus on academics. This freedom makes the bus worth looking at in full, as a meaningful, rich space for kids in America.
Read more here.