The GSV Big 10: Poll Vault

Here's your weekly coverage corner for the top 10 stories, insights, and major plays in learning and skilling.

#1 Eliminate Department of Education, Four Republican Presidential Candidates Say

It’s a popular and provocative idea amongst Republican Candidates to nuke the ED…and distribute the $80 billion back to the states. In our view, that’s a dumb idea. We need national leadership to make US education aligned with our strategic interests. Today, that goal isn’t being accomplished, so let’s reimagine how the ED can be the tip of the spear of leading American education to excellence, accountability, and innovation. 

Education Next 

#2 In Los Angeles and New York, Fights Escalate Over Sharing Schools with Charters

Los Angeles School Board Member Rocio Rivas called charter school co-location “a cancer that comes in and then metastasizes and spreads.” More than half of California’s students are reading below grade level…that’s the real cancer. Why would you not look for a cure?

The 74

#3 How districts are gaming graduation rates by letting students cheat 

According to government statistics, 87% of high school students now graduate, up from 71% twenty years ago. While this should be a cause for celebration, color us skeptical that this is a result of things having actually changed that significantly. School systems have an incentive to show progress, and this report shows how they’ve gamed the system. The good news is that reality has the last at-bat.

The Thomas B. Fordham Institute 

#4 Why the Nation's Largest School District Is Making Virtual School a Permanent Option

At first glance, permanent school sounds like a path to virtual truancy. But, the reality is the worst school districts in the United States create some of the most anti-learning environments in the world. Giving students and parents more flexibility (and thus freedom) is a good thing.

TIME  

#5 After Test Prep Success, EdTech Unicorn PhysicsWallah Is Betting Big On Skilling

Every year, 1.3 million engineers graduate in India, but just half land a job right out of college…that’s 650,000 under qualified engineers graduating per year. PhysicsWallah, the “Mr. Beast of Education” content has 5.3 billion views with 480 million hours of watch time on YouTube since its inception in 2016.  

YourStory

#6 Bad luck for fresh-faced graduates who have splashed thousands on a degree: Job ads not requiring one is up 90%, according to LinkedIn data

It’s not where you go, it’s what you know. Recruiters globally are now 5x more likely to search for new hires by skills over higher education, and 75% of recruiters predict skills-first hiring will be a priority for their company in the next 18 months. It used to be that the Admissions Director at Harvard was the hiring director of Google…those days are no more.

Yahoo! Finance

#7 Affirmative Action Never Delivered on Its Promises. K–12 Reforms Can

There is a racial-achievement gap that precedes college enrollment and impacts preparedness and acceptance to top universities. If the measure of success for diversity initiatives is greater access to educational opportunities, then K–12 schools — not college admissions — should be the primary focus for policy reform. 

National Review 

#8 The Rising Trend in Private Education: Teeny, Tiny Schools 

When trying to create a system for scale, McDonald’s was great because it offered consistency and low-cost food. Ultimately, it wasn’t good for everybody…and it probably wasn’t good for anybody. 

The factory-esque style of education has ultimately resulted in US students being mass-produced for mediocrity.  This model is being disrupted through a variety of measures, including microschools. 

WSJ

#9 Accomplished 6x Edtech founder raises $6.5M in seed funding to unleash the learning power of the world's most engaging experiences

There are 3.7 billion gamers spending 2 hours a day gaming globally. “Invisible learning” – having an opportunity to learn in your natural habitat with minimal friction – is integral to creating a more knowledgeable society. 90% of Gen Alpha and Gen Z consider themselves gamers, and Gen Z gamers spend almost twice as much time with friends in virtual worlds than in real life. Kinjo turns Roblox into a learning platform for families, with children spending 3x more of their Roblox time on educational games. 

Benzinga

#10 Prompt and Process with Ethan Mollick [AI miniseries]

ChatGPT can be more than just the World’s best Trivial Pursuit player. Ethan Mollick is the authority on how AI will impact education and the workforce. This conversation with Reid Hoffman explores how society can prepare for a future with AI and how it enhances learning in—and beyond—the classroom. 

Apple Podcasts