Effective Teaching hosts a wiki site for collaborative use by teacher groups. This organization is pioneering on-line collaboration approaches based upon the real world needs of educators across a range of cultural and geographic situations.


CONSIDER .... Less than 60% of the students entering four year colleges in America today are graduating. This means more than 40% of today's college students fail to graduate. They may go on to lead happy and successful lives, of course -- but the data isn't in on this point.

Statistics about college education in the US are discussed in "Crossing the Finish Line," a 389-page book just published by Princeton University Press (2009) and authored by Bowen, Chingos & McPherson. The authors selected 21 four- and six-year public universities in the US and analyzed multiple variables: BS degree attainment, high-school scores and college success, socio-economic variables and college success, family background and degree attainment, and demographic/cultural influence on college performance and degree completion.


CONSIDER also .... The changing focus regarding what is essential in providing good educational experiences. Twenty years ago, Dr. David Orr authored a visionary statement about what really matters in the practice of education. Dr. Orr's original article is attached HERE with the permission of the author to make the work available to Internet audiences.


AND CONSIDER ... The changes in technologies and practices that are coming over the hill today. KnowledgeWorks Foundation offers a nice graphic summary of the menu before us. The view is offered as a MAP consisting of six themes: 1) Grassroots Economics: 2) Smart Networking; 3) Strong Opinions, Strongly Held; 4) Sick Herd; 5) Urban Wilderness; and 6) The End of Cyberspace.