Two data points and a question: 1. This graph showing the dramatic 80% reduction in the world poverty rate over the last 40 years: 2. This Gapminder survey showing that 95% of Americans asked believe that poverty rates have stayed the same or increased: The question: What explains the great discrepancy between reality and belief? […]
Poverty reduction and public awareness Read More »
Forbes columnist Michael Noer has a nice feature on the Acton MBA — “Startup School: An MBA Designed For Entrepreneurs, Not I-Bankers.” Acton is unique because of “its relentless focus on a single goal: educating aspiring entrepreneurs. The curriculum discards the traditional M.B.A. silos of finance, accounting and marketing to revolve around the entrepreneurial cycle
Forbes on the Acton MBA Read More »
My 38-minute overview of Montessori education, excerpted from my lecture on Objectivism, which is part of my Philosophy of Education course. Maria Montessori (1870–1952) was an Italian educator and theorist whose system of “scientific pedagogy” led to the development of Montessori schools worldwide. More Montessori information and recommendations at my Montessori Education page. * Please
Montessori education: practices and principles Read More »
I just came across Kevin Rathunde and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s academic study, published American Journal of Education. From the abstract: “Multivariate analysis showed that the Montessori students reported greater affect, potency (i.e., feeling energetic), intrinsic motivation, flow experience, and undivided interest (i.e., the combination of high intrinsic motivation and high salience or importance) while engaged in
Montessori versus traditional schools: Rathunde and Csikszentmihalyi’s study Read More »
I love charts like this one (click for full size), and I give them to my students regularly. The accompanying advice I give to my students is the usual-but-important advice about passion: * Major in what you are most excited about, for then you’ll have more fun doing the hard work and you’ll be more
Test performance and choosing a major Read More »
A fascinating working paper by economists Filipe Campante and Edward Glaeser about two initially very similar cities with divergent paths over the last century. Here is their abstract: Buenos Aires and Chicago grew during the nineteenth century for remarkably similar reasons. Both cities were conduits for moving meat and grain from fertile hinterlands to eastern
Comparing Buenos Aires and Chicago over the 20th century Read More »
At Harvard University, here is the reading list for the 2012 entering freshman class: * A More Perfect Union — Barack Obama, 2008. President Obama’s speech at the 2008 Democratic Presidential Primary, addressing race and inequality in the United States. * Every Asian American I Know Is Smart — Frank H. Wu (Professor of Law
Harvard versus Rockford: what freshmen read Read More »
John Merrow on “Rebirth: New Orleans,” a documentary about the transformation of schools in New Orleans after the hurricane, mostly by means of charter schools. “In 2004, not even one-third of 8th graders in New Orleans could pass a state reading test. In some schools, the number was lower — just 4 percent. “Since then
New Orleans schools rebuild after Katrina Read More »