Dear Commons Community,

Online Learning Journal (formerly JALN) published its latest issue yesterday featuring the best papers presented at the OLC 21st International Conference on Online Learning and Innovate 2016.  The nine papers selected for this issue cover a range of topics and issues on online and blended learning in both K-12 and higher education. I, along with colleagues Paige McDonald (The George Washington University) and Patsy Moskal (University of Central Florida), were the issue’s guest editors. 

An example of the articles is one entitled, Assessing Readiness for Online Education – Research Models for Identifying Students at Risk, written by our CUNY colleagues, Claire Wladis, Katherine M. Conway, and Alyse C. Hachey (Borough of Manhattan Community College). Their study explored the interaction between student characteristics and the online environment in predicting course performance and subsequent college persistence among students in a large urban U.S. university system. Multilevel modeling, propensity score matching, and the KHB decomposition method were used. The most consistent pattern observed was that native-born students were at greater risk online than foreign-born students, relative to their face-to-face outcomes. Having a child under 6 years of age also interacted with the online medium to predict lower rates of successful course completion online than would be expected based on face-to-face outcomes. In addition, while students enrolled in online courses were more likely to drop out of college, online course outcomes had no direct effect on college persistence; rather other characteristics seemed to make students simultaneously both more likely to enroll online and to drop out of college.

The issue is available for free download at:  http://onlinelearningconsortium.org/read/online-learning-journal/

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

The saga of ITT Educational Services, the for-profit college company, may be coming to an end.  Yesterday, ITT announced that it was closing most of  its campuses.  As reported by the New York Times:

“The company cited the Education Department’s recent decision to bar its chain of colleges from using federal financial aid to enroll new students as the reason for the sudden shutdown. Except for a small school that operates under a different name, the move puts an end to an operation that has been accused of widespread fraud and abuse, leaving roughly 35,000 students and 8,000 employees in the lurch.

ITT Educational Services, whose recruitment, lending practices and educational quality have been under scrutiny by federal regulators and state prosecutors for years, said in a news release that it had “exhausted the exploration of alternatives, including transfer of the schools to a nonprofit or public institution.”

It denounced the Education Department’s decision to restrict the use of federal funds, calling it “inappropriate and unconstitutional” and “taken without proving a single allegation.” Nicole Elam, an ITT spokeswoman, declined to make any further comment.

Ted Mitchell, the under secretary for the Education Department, denied assertions that ITT was being targeted for political reasons, saying that the issues surrounding its educational programs and financial stability gave the federal government little choice.

“The risk presented by ITT to both students and taxpayers made it irresponsible for us to allow them to enroll new students and not have additional oversight,” Mr. Mitchell said. He also noted ITT’s independent accreditor had concluded that the schools were unlikely to be able to comply with the accreditor’s standards.”

ITT is a troubled company. The actions of the US Department of Education against ITT were warranted.

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

The National Football League will be kicking off its new season this week but the biggest story is not about which teams have a chance to win the Superbowl but San Francisco 49s quarterback, Colin Kaepernick’s refusal to stand  for the national anthem.  In recent weeks, Kaepernick has been using his refusal to stand as a means of protesting violence against African Americans at the hands of law enforcement. Yesterday, President Obama defended his right to do so.  As reported by several media outlets:

At a press conference held in China, where Obama had been attending the G20 conference, he told reporters, “I gotta confess that I haven’t been thinking about football while I’ve been over here and I haven’t been following this closely. But my understanding, at least, is that is he’s exercising his constitutional right to make a statement.”

The president also acknowledged that while it is no doubt difficult for some to watch, “…I don’t doubt his sincerity. I think he cares about some real, legitimate issues that need to be talked about…”

He further noted, “I’d rather have young people who are engaged in the argument and trying to think through how they can be a part of our democratic process than people who are just sitting on the sidelines and not paying attention at all.”

The President is correct in his comments.  It will be interesting to see if other athletes decide to support or copy Kaepernick.

Tony

America Was Built on Labor!

Dear Commons Community,

Below is a letter from Randi Weingarten, President of the AFT, calling its membership to action on this Labor Day.

Tony

Anthony,

Today is Labor Day—and there’s a good reason it’s a national holiday. By organizing together and fighting collectively, workers have been able to better their lives and the lives of their families. So rather than think about Labor Day as the last gasp of summer or bemoan the loss of union clout, let’s redouble our efforts to recreate an enduring middle class.

Wages for workers have barely budged in three decades, something our members know all too well. Income and wealth inequality rivals levels last seen in the Gilded Age. The American dream has slipped away from those who are working hard to make it.

And rather than confronting these realities, many, particularly on the right, engaged in trickle-down magical thinking. And, when that didn’t work, they turned to union bashing and restricting labor rights that rendered workers powerless to address inequities. The result: stagnating wages and stifled hopes for men and women who worked hard and played by the rules.

But we continue to fight—for higher wages, fair contracts, professional development, safety measures, and resources for our members and their students, their patients and the others they serve.

So this Labor Day, tell your members of Congress that when unions are strong, America is strong, and urge them to support policies that make it easier, not harder, to join a union.

America’s educators, healthcare professionals and public service workers know this firsthand. After the Great Recession, some on the right seized the political moment to vilify teachers and assault the labor movement that gives them a voice. A study by the University of Utah showed that, in the four states that successfully weakened teachers’ right to bargain together, public school teachers’ wages fell by nearly one-tenth. That’s a statistic we as educators and public employees simply cannot afford.

Conversely, robust unions help everyone, not just members, and a growing body of research demonstrates that. There’s a multiplier effect. Unions lift up communities, strengthen the economy and deepen our democracy.

Last week, the Economic Policy Institute released a study showing that when union membership falls, wages fall for everyone. If unions were as strong today as in 1979, nonunion men with a high school diploma would earn an average of $3,016 more a year. And the Center for American Progress has found that kids who live in communities where unions are strong have a better chance to get ahead.

For those in unions, the advantage is even clearer. Collective bargaining leads to higher wages, economic growth, equality under the law, better public services and a strong public education system—all essential to leveling the playing field for working families. Workers in unions earn, on average, 27 percent more than their nonunion counterparts. The National Women’s Law Center has found unions close the pay gap for women, and the Center for Economic Policy Research has found black workers see outsized gains from union representation. It’s a powerful reminder of the link between organized labor and economic success.

Write your members of Congress today and urge them to stand with American workers and their unions.

You see the union advantage in our advocacy as well. When the recession devastated the construction sector and put millions of Americans out of work, the American labor movement came together with the goal of raising $10 billion to repair the nation’s crumbling infrastructure. Five years later, our members’ pension funds reallocated $16 billion for infrastructure investments, including rehabilitating New York City’s LaGuardia Airport, turning it into a travel hub befitting a great modern city and creating good American jobs in the process.

In the classroom, unions are critical partners in giving kids the chance to succeed. A 2016 study finds where teachers’ unions are strong, districts have a better track record of building the quality of our teaching force—keeping stronger teachers and dismissing those who are not making the grade. Unions fight for the tools, time and trust that educators need to tailor instruction to the needs of our children, to help them reach for and achieve their dreams.

Here at the AFT, we take that work seriously—for example, curating Share My Lesson, a free digital collection of lesson plans and resources for educators used by nearly a million people. In fact, Share My Lesson has more than 750 lessons about Labor Day!

In hospitals and patient care settings across the country, our members and their unions have been leading the fight against workplace violence.

Despite years of right-wing attacks on unions, which have curbed union strength dramatically, a 2015 survey found a majority of Americans would join a union if they had the choice. They want what a union offers: a voice in their workplace, the opportunity to negotiate wages and benefits, and the ability to retire with dignity and security.

Indeed, despite all the attacks waged against us, the AFT—which celebrated our 100th anniversary at our national convention this summer—has grown over the past several years, with well over 1.6 million K-12 and higher education educators and staff, state and local employees, and nurses and other healthcare professionals as members. And now we are seeing more vulnerable workers, such as adjunct faculty, graduate students, teachers at charter schools and early childhood educators seeking to join our ranks. In the private sector, tens of thousands of low-income workers have joined the Fight for 15 and the union movement because they know a union will help them get long-denied wage increases.

We have taken on the fight for adjuncts and early childhood educators from Pennsylvania to California—many of whom have to work multiple jobs just to make ends meet. These are the people who teach our youngest children, and they’re the ones who educate our college students; they deserve to live above the poverty line while doing this critical work.

Graduate students at Cornell University are celebrating the recent National Labor Relations Board decision that reinstates the right of graduate workers at private universities to organize. They are building momentum and talking to hundreds of fellow grad students about the power of collective bargaining, and are excited about the prospect of winning union recognition and joining more than 25,000 AFT graduate employees at public institutions who already enjoy the benefits of a contract.

The AFT has been going strong for 100 years, and we want to ensure at least 100 more years of fighting for our members and the communities they serve. Show your support for a strong labor movement by sending a letter to your elected officials today.

The aftermath of the Great Depression and World War II led our country to understand we were all in it together. We established the GI Bill and other educational access and equity programs; management and labor respected each other, with unions being the voice of labor; and the middle class thrived.

Now, as income inequality is again at its height, let’s remember on this Labor Day what a strong labor movement has done—and can do again—to help workers, our communities, the economy and our democracy grow and thrive. This Labor Day, let’s make sure our elected officials remember as well.

Have a safe and happy Labor Day.

In unity,

Randi Weingarten

AFT President

Dear Commons Community,

David French, an attorney and staff writer for the National Review, has a piece today commenting on how Fox News has hurt the conservative movement and conservative candidates.  His main thesis is that Fox News has come to dominate the right’s thinking by virtue of the fact that it provides the largest conservative media outlet.  Conservatives feel that appearing on the cable network enhances their visibility and chances of winning elections.  While it might provide a conservative audience, it does nothing for those candidates who need to appeal to larger audiences of independents, moderates, and liberals.  Here is an excerpt:

“The conservative movement is a victim of Fox’s success. The network is so strong that conservatives who ignore it risk obscurity and irrelevance, even as it remains far too weak to truly transform the landscape. So long as Fox continues to make more than $1 billion per year, that’s unlikely to change. It will be up to conservative leaders to wean themselves off the cheap high and intentionally engage the vast majority of Americans who don’t turn on Fox, don’t follow Sean Hannity, and think “The Factor” sounds more like an old game show than the most-watched news program in America. Appearing on Fox can create an alluring but illusory fame, and in seeking it above all else, some of our best minds inadvertently limit their own influence. I don’t resent Fox’s existence, but I lament its effect on our movement. It’s time to leave the cocoon.”

French provides excellent insight into Fox’s influence or lack thereof.  However, viable candidates with worthy messages will be hard-pressed to break from the network’s grip on conservatives.  

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

A contract dispute between the union representing Long Island University-Brooklyn faculty and the university’s administration has led to a planned lockout just as the fall semester is set to begin.

The university plans to lock out faculty beginning at midnight tonight (Saturday), LIU’s university counsel Gail Haynes said.

Below is an appeal from Jessica Rosenberg, the LIU Faculty Federation President.

Tony

______________________________________________________________

Anthony,

The administration of Long Island University is marking Labor Day with an unprecedented lockout of full- and part-time faculty at its Brooklyn campus who have been engaged in a hard fight for a fair contract since spring.

LIU’s administration has told the hundreds of members of the Long Island University Faculty Federation (NYSUT/AFT) that they are barred from the university’s campus as of 12:01 a.m. this morning. Their pay is being stopped. And yesterday afternoon, they received notice that their health insurance will also be cut off this morning—with less than a day’s notice.

Tell LIU’s administration to end the lockout and bargain with our members now.[click.actionnetwork.org]

In labor history, lockouts are also known as “employer strikes.” LIU has chosen the weekend when Americans reflect on the importance of the labor movement to strike against LIU’s faculty—and against the 8,170 students on LIU’s Brooklyn campus. LIU plans to redeploy administrators and hired strikebreakers to teach these students when classes begin this week.

Tell LIU’s administration to let its faculty return to work, restore their pay and benefits, and settle a fair contract now.[click.actionnetwork.org]

In unity,
Jessica Rosenberg

LIUFF President

Dear Commons Community,

Eli Capilouto, president of the University of Kentucky, announced that a controversial mural in the foyer of Memorial Hall depicting black slaves will be uncovered.  The decision to cover the mural was made last year following student protests demanding that something be done about the 40-foot mural. As reported in The Chronicle of Higher Education:

“The University of Kentucky will remove a veil from a controversial mural on the campus that depicts black slaves picking crops, the university announced on Thursday. It will surround the painting with “other works of art from a variety of perspectives that provide a larger narrative of our history, our aspirations, our shortcomings, and the progress we still must make,” wrote the institution’s president, Eli Capilouto, in a blog post.”

President Capilouto also promised that further steps will be taken in the coming academic year to address issues of diversity on the campus.

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

Georgetown University has been entangled in controversy over its history of owning and selling slaves.  The Georgetown administration has now decided to take action to atone for its past.  As reported in the New York Times:

“Nearly two centuries after Georgetown University profited from the sale of 272 slaves, it will embark on a series of steps to atone for the past, including awarding preferential status in the admissions process to descendants of the enslaved, university officials said Thursday.

Georgetown’s president, John J. DeGioia, who announced the measures in a speech on Thursday afternoon, said he would offer a formal apology, create an institute for the study of slavery and erect a public memorial to the slaves whose labor benefited the institution, including those who were sold in 1838 to help keep the university afloat.

In addition, two campus buildings will be renamed — one for an enslaved African-American man and the other for an African-American educator who belonged to a Catholic religious order.

So far, Dr. DeGioia’s plan does not include a provision for offering scholarships to descendants, a possibility that was raised by a university committee whose recommendations were released on Thursday morning. The committee, however, stopped short of calling on the university to provide such financial assistance, as well as admissions preference.

Dr. DeGioia’s decision to offer an advantage in admissions to descendants, similar to that offered to the children and grandchildren of alumni, is unprecedented, historians say. The preference will be offered to the descendants of all the slaves whose labor benefited Georgetown, not just the men, women and children sold in 1838.”

This is a step in the right direction.  Other colleges and universities will be looking at how this plays out.

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

Patti Davis, Ronald Reagan’s daughter, posted a letter to Hillary Clinton on her website advising her not to wade into the mud with Donald Trump and “don’t respond to Donald Trump’s bullying…all that is accomplished is, you both get dirty”. 

Excellent advice for a presidential candidate although in the streets of New York, the popular wisdom is that you take care of a bully by punching him in the nose.

The full text of the letter is below.

Tony

===================================================================

Dear Hillary,

We only met once, so I doubt that you will ever see this. But I do feel the need to express myself about your campaign and the up-coming debates. Lately it seems as if you and your running mate, Tim Kaine, are trying to out-bully Donald Trump. It appears to have started when he called you a bigot. I can understand how this would infuriate you — it’s a terrible thing to accuse someone of — but may I suggest that responding in kind by pointing out his racist tendencies is simply getting down into the mud with a mud-throwing bully? All that is accomplished is, you both get dirty. I am certain that, when Chelsea was growing up, if she was bullied by a schoolmate, you didn’t tell her to go out there and be meaner than that kid. This would not be good parenting. Well, we’re living through the adult version of that scenario and I believe I speak for many people when I plead with you to please act like the adult here — don’t respond to Donald Trump’s bullying. Ever. America is starved for some show of dignity in this election year, and you are the only one who can provide it.

Now about the debates. According to the news, you are studying and rehearsing. This is a good thing. One report suggested you might be rehearsing with several people pretending to be Donald Trump because you can’t know which Donald Trump will show up. While it is true that debating Trump is bit like debating Sybil, I think it could be overwhelming to try and suss out all 16 personalities and come up with a game plan for each one. What about this? What about being so impenetrably calm that none of his guises can throw you off? What about responding to every taunt and innuendo, every insult, with an encyclopedic knowledge of the facts and issues facing this country (and this world) today so that he will look like a buffoon no matter which one of his personalities emerges? You could easily make it seem like you showed up for a presidential debate and he showed up for a fight in the sandbox.

The one time we met was at my mother’s service. The way you looked at me after my eulogy, the pride and the understanding in your eyes and the slight nod of your head signaling your approval was a small private moment between us, but it was a huge moment in my life. Your compassion and, yes, your approval, meant the world to me, as did the words we shared afterward. I don’t think many people have seen that side of you. I think they should. A president has to parent America and there are a lot of dimensions to that task. You may be debating Sybil, but the consistency, comfort and knowledge of a parent who can responsibly lead our fractured country into more peaceful times will leave Sybil chattering among 16 personalities, none of which are capable of leading.

Patti