I think that Joss Whedon’s biggest problem isn’t so much, per Matt Yglesias, greed and/or an unwillingness to work for cable. Rather, it’s that Whedon was born too early, before the economics and artistic potential of long-form television ultimately align.
When moving pictures were first invented, they would literally just film theater productions, a static camera [...]
All Posts Tagged: 'Matt Yglesias'
The Joss Whedon Dilemma
Shameful Cont’d
Matt Yglesias responds to the University of Phoenix post below:
I think the main lesson here is that traditional universities need to do a better job of getting into the niche that’s currently dominated by these poorly performing for-profits. In part, state governments would do well to shift emphasis away from trying to burnish the sheen on [...]
Selection Effects and…What?
In the comments section of Matt Yglesias’ response to this morning’s post on improving the higher education market, several readers raise the issue of selection and peer effects in higher education. This comes up a lot. Essentially the argument is that very selective colleges provide a lot of value to students, and are thus worth [...]
Choice for the Chosen Ones
Matt Yglesias responds to the post below, saying:
There probably isn’t a unique best way to handle this. Which is why it’s fortunate that even if you restrict your attention to the relatively small set of elite colleges and universities there are still a whole bunch of ‘em. It seems to me that there’s a set [...]
NCLB Paranoia
Matt Yglesias has a smart post about how some people are too quick to succumb to paranoid interpretation of NCLB–that the 100 percent proficient target is a conspiracy to destroy public education. As he rightly points out, it’s a strange anti-public education conspiracy that counts Ted Kennedy and George Miller as enthusiastic members, but excludes [...]
Unwarranted Pessimism on the Achievement Gap
Matt Yglesias is too pessimistic about the prospect of closing the achievement gap.
Referring to Paul Tough’s recent NYTimes article, which concludes that the gap can be closed if we put disadvantaged students in schools that are better-run and have more money, he says:
This seems to me to involve assuming a can opener. Schools full of [...]
The Wire: Teaching to the Test Revisited
Matt Yglesias makes some thoughtful observations about yesterday’s Wire post, generating a bunch of really interesting comments about NCLB and test prep over on his site. It’s great to see some actual discourse on this topic—both because claims of “unintended consequences” often are unexamined and because they are sure to loom large when [...]
Teachers Unions: Good, Bad, or???
Matt Yglesias says teachers unions get a bad rap. To a degree, I agree with him. Teachers unions have been a force for good in education policy in many ways, particularly in defending public education and maintaining or increasing funding for it. And, the availability (and abuse) of teachers unions as a scapegoat does allow [...]
Lowering Student Loan Default Rates: What One Consortium of Historically Black Institutions Did to Succeed 
College and Career-Ready: Using Outcomes Data to Hold High Schools Accountable for Student Success
03/19/10 | Ben Miller is quoted on college graduation rates and the NCAA Tournament in the Detroit Free Press.
03/19/10 | Linda Perlstein links to Education Sector's "College- and Career-Ready" event.
03/17/10 | Ben Miller's column on graduation rates and NCAA Tournament eligibility is mentioned on The Wall Street Journal's The Daily Fix.
03/17/10 | Kevin Carey's critique of Diane Ravitch's latest book is quoted in Doublethink's Conventional Folly blog.
03/15/10 | Ben Miller pens an op-ed for US News & World Report on using graduation rates to determine NCAA Tournament eligibility.