Welcome

One of North Carolina’s top schools of education will soon have a new dean. According to UNC-Greensboro Provost David H. Perrin, Dr. Karen Wixson "is the right person to encourage and inspire our diverse faculty and staff both as individuals and as an academic community with a demonstrated commitment to academic excellence, diversity, equity, and educational opportunity."

This week, I consider whether her commitment to diversity will include the most elusive kind (for university folk, that is) — intellectual diversity.

 

Bulletin Board

  • The E.A. Morris Fellowship for Emerging Leaders is now accepting applications for the 2010-2011 class. Applicants must be between the ages of 25 and 40, reside in North Carolina, and commit to a yearlong program of activities designed to examine, develop, and enhance their leadership skills. There is no cost to individuals accepted into the program. For additional information, please visit the E.A. Morris website at http://www.eamorrisfellows.org.
  • Become a member of JLF’s Freedom Clubs! We have seven regional clubs covering every part of North Carolina, so there is one near you and your like-minded conservative friends. For more information, visit https://www.johnlocke.org/support.
  • The John W. Pope Civitas Institute will hold two poll luncheons this month. The first luncheon will take place on Wednesday, October 27, at 11:45 a.m. at the Cardinal Club in downtown Raleigh. The second luncheon will take place on Thursday, October 28, at 11:45 a.m. at the Rainbow Room in Fayetteville. To register, go to http://www.nccivitas.org/events.
  • Are you a busy school board member looking to enhance your professional development but don’t want to miss a full day of work to do so? The John W. Pope Civitas Institute will be offering school board member training on Friday, November 12 from 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Crabtree in Raleigh. If you register by November 5, the cost is $50 (includes lunch). If you register after November 5, the cost is $60. For additional information and to register visit www.nccivitas.org/events.

 

Are you kidding me?

Karen Wixson has been named dean of UNC-Greensboro’s respected school of education. Dr. Wixson is a professor and former education dean at the University of Michigan. She is an expert in reading, literacy, and language arts instruction and is a well-known proponent of constructivist theories of reading.

In a November 2000 issue of the Christian Science Monitor, Wixson and eight other education school leaders urged the presidential candidates to take a more methodical approach to proposals designed to improve public schools. Republican George W. Bush supported broad school choice measures, while Democrat Al Gore believed that school districts should reorganize and reconstitute failing schools. Both supported charter schools to varying degrees.

Dr. Wixson and her colleagues acknowledged strengths and weaknesses in both platforms. They urged the Republican and Democratic candidates to move beyond politics and study each proposal carefully. "This means putting all options on the table, moving beyond ideological divides, conducting extensive experiments with each of the reforms proposed by the major presidential candidates, and subjecting each remedy to rigorous evaluation."

One must be skeptical of policy prescriptions that fail to acknowledge the inherent limitations of educational research. That said, the "all options on the table" approach proposed by Wixson and her colleagues is refreshing. Much has changed in the last decade, but I hope she feels the same way. Soon, Wixson will become a resident of a state where the governor and legislative leaders refuse to put all options, particularly school choice measures, on the table. As dean of the UNC-G school of education, she will have an opportunity to bridge the ideological divide and commit to an impartial assessment of all school reform proposals.

 

Facts and Stats

National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results for North Carolina, 2009:

Fourth Grade Reading
At or above Basic: 65 percent
At or above Proficient: 32 percent
At Advanced: 7 percent

Eighth Grade Reading
At or above Basic: 70 percent
At or above Proficient: 29 percent
At Advanced: 3 percent

 

Mailbag

I would like to invite all readers to submit announcements, as well as their personal insights, anecdotes, concerns, and observations about the state of education in North Carolina. I will publish selected submissions in future editions of the newsletter. Anonymity will be honored. For additional information or to send a submission, email Terry at [email protected].

 

Education Acronym of the Week

RICA — Reading In the Content Area

 

Quote of the Week

"Reading is a basic tool in the living of a good life." — Mortimer J. Adler