The GSV Big 10: Talk the Talk, Walk the Walk

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

#1 Charter Schools: New Evidence of Student Success

Charter schools are blowing traditional public schools out of the water when it comes to student performance. In New York, charter students were 75 days ahead in reading and 73 days in math compared with traditional public-school competition.

WSJ Editorial Board

#2 Suddenly, School Choice: Its Rapid Post-Pandemic Expansion Sets Up a Big Pass/Fail Test for Education

Boom. The school choice movement is red hot, and it’s showing no signs of slowing down. Expect school choice to be front and center in the 2024 debates on both sides of the aisle.

RealClearInvestigations

#3 NAEP Scores ‘Flashing Red’ After a Lost Generation of Learning for 13-Year-Olds

NAEP scores are lower than they ever have been, yet people expect status quo solutions to turn this around. As Matt Bateman put it, “if education could be fixed with money, it would be.”

The 74

#4 Should you send your children to private school? 

A staggering 34% of newly-minted undergrads at America's elite universities are products of private schools — while a mere 8.5% of American high schoolers attend such institutions. There are many ways to go about closing this gap, but let’s start with “brazenly unfair” legacy admissions.

The Economist

#5 The Pushkin Prize for Egregiously Deceptive Self-Promotion

Malcolm Gladwell’s comparison of Columbia University and George Santos is a savage and sobering takedown of the hypocrisy of Higher Ed and U.S. News’ rankings. For more on the scandal, check out Malcolm Gladwell’s interview with Columbia’s student newspaper.

Pushkin

#6 "College for All" Isn't for Everyone

To truly value “diversity,” universities ought to be able to admit that different people have different abilities…and create pathways for people who don’t belong in college. Glenn Loury gives new life to Booker T. Washington vs. W.E.B. Du Bois’ debate over education for African-Americans in his recent Substack piece.

Glenn Loury

#7 Race-Based Affirmative Action Is Over. Corporate Diversity Could Be Next

The DEI Debate shouldn’t be Democrat vs. Republican…it should be intentions vs. outcomes. The end of affirmative action isn’t the end of DEI; it’s an opportunity to start a new beginning based on first principles, not on a one-size-fits-all policy.

Bloomberg

#8 Why We Need the Liberal Arts

The “liberal education” isn’t reducible to a lengthy list of books, languages, or equations. Instead, it’s about instilling a spirit of curiosity, creativity, and courage. In a world of digital natives (and soon digital newborns), these skills are more important than ever.

James G. Martin Center

#9 The Indoctrination of the American Mind

Many educators have successfully indoctrinated students into a culture of labels, fear, and severely reduced expressive freedom. Lots of young people find themselves stuck between a rock and a hard place; “worried about cancel culture while embracing its punishing ethos.” Government intervention will not be sufficient to quell this trend. 

The Free Press

#10 PODCAST: David Blake - The “Miracle” Deal That Turned Degreed Around

In this episode, Degreed Founder David Blake recounts his rollercoaster journey from despair to the successful sealing of a multi-million dollar deal with Bank of America. A decade later, this one “miracle deal” turned Degreed into a platform used by ⅓ of the Fortune 50.

The Winwire