Category Archives: Education

Are Academic Course Requirements Out-of-Date?

Posted on July 11, 2018 by matt ohern

Do we take calculus in high school because we need this skill in our future career, or is it what we historically needed to get into prestigious colleges? Continue reading →

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Want to Honor Barbara Bush? Read to a Child

Posted on May 2, 2018 by matt ohern

“So there’s a reading circle and all the kids have a book and they’re passing the book kid to kid and they passed it to me and I couldn’t read.” That’s a dyslexic Neil Bush, describing the moment his mother … Continue reading →

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Scientific Knowledge vs Social Constructionism

Posted on March 21, 2018 by matt ohern

C.E. Larson is a professor of mathematics and applied mathematics at Virginia Commonwealth University, and he’s a big believer in the scientific method as a way of thinking and accumulating knowledge. He’s also worried that a proposed new General Education … Continue reading →

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Need “Consensus”? Try Pre-K for At-Risk Students

Posted on February 7, 2018 by matt ohern

If Governor Ralph Northam is looking for a place to build legislative consensus, here’s one place to start: Support for pre-k programs aimed at better preparing at-risk four-year-olds for kindergarten and beyond. True, conservatives remain skeptical about building massive universal … Continue reading →

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The Case for Performance-Based Funding in Higher Ed

Posted on January 24, 2018 by matt ohern

The following position paper was published by Partners for College Affordability and Public Trust, a sponsor of the Bacon’s Rebellion blog. ISSUE: Performance-based (also known as outcomes-based) Funding for Virginia’s Public Colleges and Universities. PROBLEM:  Until a little over a decade … Continue reading →

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