Advocate Online

They're Talking On Campus. . .

…About the roughly 3.2 million students who took at least one online course from a degree-granting institution during the fall 2005 term, double the number in 2002.

“Making the Grade: Online Education in the United States 2006,” from the College Board and the Sloan Consortium, also reports that more than 60 percent of chief academic officers found learning outcomes in online education to be “as good as or superior to face-to-face instruction.” Conversely, only one in four academic leaders told researchers that their faculty members agreed with that assessment.

The bulk of online students are “nontraditional” learners at the undergraduate level and taking courses through community colleges.

…About a proposal from the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce that calls for overhauling the nation's education system.

The most radical proposal from the commission, comprising political, business, and higher education leaders, would create a new exam to test students in 10th grade on core subjects. Depending on their performance, students could then leave high school early and enroll in a community college for a two-year degree in a technical field or a program that would enable them to transfer to a four-year institution. Students who scored well on the test could stay in high school to prepare for a more rigorous test, allowing them to graduate from high school and enter college as juniors.

View the recommendations at www.skillscommission.org/.