This morning, after being out of the office for a long weekend because of NATO in Chicago, I checked traffic on this blog. It was far higher than usual, most of it coming from this post by Kim Rees at Flowing Data, who was very condescending about my post on visualizing ACT Scores. I like […]
If you grew up in the 60’s you know that headline is from the end of the Lawrence Welk Show, something I hated as a child but now think is pretty cool. But that’s not what this is about. After years of trying to effect some change in our profession via gentle nudging, I’ve decided […]
It appears some people are coming here looking for my BLS Jobs Data Visualization. Frankly, WordPress is not very good at embedding Tableau visualizations, so I put it on my other blog. It’s here.
There are more revelations about test score manipulation, this time in New Jersey. And all the old arguments are re-surfacing: Colleges cannot be trusted, rankings are to blame for all the evils in college admissions, there oughta be a law…. I’ve often said I’m no fan of rankings because they measure inputs more than outputs, […]
Today, it seems, is the day. You know the one I’m talking about. The day our national obsession with selective college admissions comes to a head. The day we check to see if any of the Ivy League Institutions (ILIs) has cracked the zero percent admit rate to which they all seem to aspire. I’m […]
Warning: If your MBTI type includes the letter F, you’re likely to not like this post. If you’ve been around a University long enough, you’ve heard about strategic planning. And at some point, you’ve heard people like me complain about strategic planning. Some typical observations: Too many people approach strategic planning like a five-year old […]
This is dedicated to Father Anthony Lang, the professor who taught me logic and aesthetics in college. The two classes combined to show the beauty of clear thinking. Mount Holyoke College has received a lot of press in the past week or so for announcing that it will freeze tuition next year. Here’s just one […]
If you live in Illinois, you should know about the Illinois MAP (Monetary Award Program), which has helped millions of students earn a college degree. And you should know that almost every year, someone suggests that the funding should be removed from private universities, which they apparently think of as bastions of the wealthy. So, […]
I’ve updated my IPEDS Data Visualization. I am never completely happy with it, but I think this does a nice a job of showing important information in a concise manner. But it takes a few minutes to learn how to use it. When you click on the link, you’ll go to a page that looks […]
I like Lynn O’Shaughnessy’s blog The College Solution, because Lynn does a nice job of pulling out data and looking at things objectively. I think we need more of that. But a recent post of hers pointed out to me how frequently we use terms in higher education that are disingenuous, and how data can be misleading: […]
