The Winning Attitude
By Watson Scott Swail, President and CEO, Educational Policy Institute I write today’s commentary from Chicago, Illinois, where we are in the final day of our International Conference on Student Success, or RETENTION 2010. Thus, no more emails for another six months about this event. You must be relieved (Retention 101 coming up, though!). More significant, perhaps, is that our host city is in the midst … Continue reading The Winning Attitude
The Political Dimension of Education
By Watson Scott Swail, President & Senior Research Scholar, Educational Policy Institute I began my post-Memorial Day morning by turning on my favorite TV show, Morning Joe, with former Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough. One of the guests was Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell and the subject came to Race to the Top Funds. The US Department of Education is providing over $4 billion in funds to states that … Continue reading The Political Dimension of Education
Leading by (a Bad) Example
By Watson Scott Swail, President and CEO of Educational Policy Institute and EPI International On May 20, The Texas State Board of Education voted to what some people have called “whitewashing” the history and social studies curriculum in the state to counterbalance “liberal-leaning academics.” Some of the changes debated included adding and deleting current political figures from third-grade social studies standards, dismissing the “socialist” United Migrant Workers, … Continue reading Leading by (a Bad) Example
(What) to Be, or What not to Be
By Watson Scott Swail, President and CEO of Educational Policy Institute This past week I was privileged to speak with the faculty and Board of Governors of Fanshawe College in London, Ontario. Fanshawe College is an example of a decades-old institution that has undergone massive growth in the new millennium. Today, Fanshawe serves 16,000 full-time students and approximately 30,000 part-time students. The campus is immaculate; state-of-the-art, … Continue reading (What) to Be, or What not to Be
Nights in Columbus
By Watson Scott Swail, President and CEO, Educational Policy Institute This was one of those weeks. Started in Miami on Sunday morning talking with the Council on State Governments on the new US Common Core Curriculum Standards that are going through in the US. Moved on to New Orleans, where I met at the AACRAO conference to discuss higher education ranking systems, and ended up in … Continue reading Nights in Columbus
The Swail Letter on Higher Education 