Sherman Dorn
@shermandorn.com
Personal account, historian of education policy
I'm asking you, once again, to pay Harvard the attention properly due it given the proportion of all American undergraduates it teaches: 0.05%.
If you have reports on grade inflation in the Cal State or Florida university systems, you've got something a wee bit larger.
If you have reports on grade inflation in the Cal State or Florida university systems, you've got something a wee bit larger.
Harvard is sounding the alarm on grade inflation. What gives? Listen to our latest episode of College Matters from The Chronicle to get the scoop. https://chroni.cl/3JBDI7H
Has Harvard Gone Soft?
A report on grade inflation in Harvard’s undergraduate program has stirred up critics of “snowflake” culture, but it tells a deeper story about fairness, rigor, money, and power.
chroni.cl
November 10, 2025 at 10:13 PM
I'm asking you, once again, to pay Harvard the attention properly due it given the proportion of all American undergraduates it teaches: 0.05%.
If you have reports on grade inflation in the Cal State or Florida university systems, you've got something a wee bit larger.
If you have reports on grade inflation in the Cal State or Florida university systems, you've got something a wee bit larger.
My second (and final) leg home isn’t canceled but whooo…
It’s “2 am in Denny’s and yes I’ll have another pot of coffee” vibes in the C concourse
It’s “2 am in Denny’s and yes I’ll have another pot of coffee” vibes in the C concourse
November 10, 2025 at 3:01 AM
My second (and final) leg home isn’t canceled but whooo…
It’s “2 am in Denny’s and yes I’ll have another pot of coffee” vibes in the C concourse
It’s “2 am in Denny’s and yes I’ll have another pot of coffee” vibes in the C concourse
Images from my time in Providence for the History of Ed Society meeting.
I'm now disappointed in myself that I didn't take the cinnamon stick garnish back to my hotel room. That would've made my herbal teas much better.
I'm now disappointed in myself that I didn't take the cinnamon stick garnish back to my hotel room. That would've made my herbal teas much better.
November 10, 2025 at 12:13 AM
Images from my time in Providence for the History of Ed Society meeting.
I'm now disappointed in myself that I didn't take the cinnamon stick garnish back to my hotel room. That would've made my herbal teas much better.
I'm now disappointed in myself that I didn't take the cinnamon stick garnish back to my hotel room. That would've made my herbal teas much better.
I am chickening out the breakfast walk until it's 45 or warmer, so I renewed my @aaup.org membership. Click ... click ... click ... click ...
Well, friends, it's fewer clicks than doing anything in either Concur or Blackboard, and far more valuable.
Well, friends, it's fewer clicks than doing anything in either Concur or Blackboard, and far more valuable.
November 9, 2025 at 12:38 PM
I am chickening out the breakfast walk until it's 45 or warmer, so I renewed my @aaup.org membership. Click ... click ... click ... click ...
Well, friends, it's fewer clicks than doing anything in either Concur or Blackboard, and far more valuable.
Well, friends, it's fewer clicks than doing anything in either Concur or Blackboard, and far more valuable.
At a lovely panel this morning at US HES on Moyen and Thelin's "College Sports: A History" from Johns Hopkins U Press. Commenters: Eisenmann, Hevel, Spohr, Anderson.
College Sports
A History
www.press.jhu.edu
November 8, 2025 at 3:53 PM
At a lovely panel this morning at US HES on Moyen and Thelin's "College Sports: A History" from Johns Hopkins U Press. Commenters: Eisenmann, Hevel, Spohr, Anderson.
Reposted by Sherman Dorn
Good article from Justin Reich, who coordinates the Teaching Systems Lab at MIT, and whose book on ed-tech ("Failure to Launch") should be required reading for higher ed leaders/IT folks/faculty developers. Justin is an insightful and original thinker in the edtech space; I'm a big fan of his work.
Opinion | Stop Pretending You Know How to Teach AI
Colleges are racing to make students ‘fluent.’ One problem: No one knows what that means.
www.chronicle.com
November 7, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Good article from Justin Reich, who coordinates the Teaching Systems Lab at MIT, and whose book on ed-tech ("Failure to Launch") should be required reading for higher ed leaders/IT folks/faculty developers. Justin is an insightful and original thinker in the edtech space; I'm a big fan of his work.
I love the current incarnation of the Onion, and <expletive>, I'm a little surprised they're actually an hour or two ahead of reality in the current regime.
November 7, 2025 at 5:25 PM
I love the current incarnation of the Onion, and <expletive>, I'm a little surprised they're actually an hour or two ahead of reality in the current regime.
I have thoughts about this, that are perhaps related to my current major project. Also questions.
It’s officially broken containment.
November 7, 2025 at 2:12 AM
I have thoughts about this, that are perhaps related to my current major project. Also questions.
.@newrepublic.com here’s your chance!
Did Men With No Rizz Ruin the Workplace?
November 6, 2025 at 3:39 PM
.@newrepublic.com here’s your chance!
Important reporting: this provision of 2004 IDEA amendments also undergirds a separate Civil Rights Data Collection reporting element USDOE is eliminating
A Small Change in Special Ed. Rules Could Affect Equity, Accountability, Advocates Warn: The paperwork change could make it harder to track equity in special education, advocates said.
A Small Change in Special Ed. Rules Could Affect Equity, Accountability, Advocates Warn
The paperwork change could make it harder to track equity in special education, advocates said.
www.edweek.org
November 6, 2025 at 12:49 AM
Important reporting: this provision of 2004 IDEA amendments also undergirds a separate Civil Rights Data Collection reporting element USDOE is eliminating
50th anniversary of Dan Lortie’s Schoolteacher…
Teachers Value 'Patriotic' Education More Than Most Americans: Nearly two thirds of teachers favor presenting America as "fundamentally good."
Teachers Value 'Patriotic' Education More Than Most Americans
Nearly two thirds of teachers favor presenting America as "fundamentally good."
www.edweek.org
November 5, 2025 at 10:48 PM
50th anniversary of Dan Lortie’s Schoolteacher…
LOL email from IRB on a student oral history project
“The committee reviewed this submission and assigned a determination of Not Human Research.”
“The committee reviewed this submission and assigned a determination of Not Human Research.”
November 5, 2025 at 8:31 PM
LOL email from IRB on a student oral history project
“The committee reviewed this submission and assigned a determination of Not Human Research.”
“The committee reviewed this submission and assigned a determination of Not Human Research.”
Is there any truth to the rumor that the Colbert Questionert was used for voir dire?
“Best sandwich?
“What’s one thing that you own that you should really throw out (there on DC streets)?”
“Best sandwich?
“What’s one thing that you own that you should really throw out (there on DC streets)?”
My understanding is that’s very unusual. A brief hush for particularly private questions, sure. A hush the whole time, not so much. Makes it so voir dire is effectively closed (because inaudible!) to the public.
November 5, 2025 at 7:15 PM
Is there any truth to the rumor that the Colbert Questionert was used for voir dire?
“Best sandwich?
“What’s one thing that you own that you should really throw out (there on DC streets)?”
“Best sandwich?
“What’s one thing that you own that you should really throw out (there on DC streets)?”
💯🎯
It will be interesting to see if he can maintain this high-energy, extremely-online transparency while actually governing. It would be fascinating to see someone actually use this style of media to bring people in to gov't itself, to make them feel involved in administration.
November 5, 2025 at 7:04 PM
💯🎯
I've known bosses and others who judge so much based on styles of presentation, so much bunk.
Yes, we can have a discussion about what's pragmatic learning in a social setting, and what's an unreasonable violation of people's needs. It doesn't start with "you always 'fit' what other people want."
Yes, we can have a discussion about what's pragmatic learning in a social setting, and what's an unreasonable violation of people's needs. It doesn't start with "you always 'fit' what other people want."
"A lot of autism therapies try and make autistic people look and act 'normal.' These therapies don’t make our sensory differences go away. But they make us feel like we need to hide them." Reid Caplan, at TPGA:
thinkingautismguide.com/2019/10/what... #autism #sensory #autistic #neurodiversity
thinkingautismguide.com/2019/10/what... #autism #sensory #autistic #neurodiversity
What Is Sensory Processing Like For Autistic People?
Autistic people process our senses differently, and that’s okay! People should try and understand that, instead of trying to change us.
thinkingautismguide.com
November 5, 2025 at 5:46 PM
I've known bosses and others who judge so much based on styles of presentation, so much bunk.
Yes, we can have a discussion about what's pragmatic learning in a social setting, and what's an unreasonable violation of people's needs. It doesn't start with "you always 'fit' what other people want."
Yes, we can have a discussion about what's pragmatic learning in a social setting, and what's an unreasonable violation of people's needs. It doesn't start with "you always 'fit' what other people want."
Why Rufo was more successful at sowing hate than Bork saying almost nothing about Rufo.
“I realized upon finding these words that by choosing to read ‘Slouching Towards Gomorrah,’ I had in fact stumbled onto something of a key for unlocking the logic of the contemporary Trumpian moment.” www.hnn.us/article/hist...
History According to Robert Bork
How the conservative scholar’s 1996 bestseller anticipated blaming everything on “woke.”
www.hnn.us
November 5, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Why Rufo was more successful at sowing hate than Bork saying almost nothing about Rufo.
Zohran Mamdani won because he wanted people ON the bus, not UNDER it.
November 5, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Zohran Mamdani won because he wanted people ON the bus, not UNDER it.
There's something more interesting in the development of broader double-majoring: students are entering with credits from APs, dual-enrollment, but NOT graduating earlier.
It’s part of a trend that’s spreading nationwide, according to a Hechinger Report analysis of federal data, as students fret about getting jobs in an economy that some fear is shifting faster than a traditional college education can keep up. hechingerreport.org/students-wor...
College students hedge their bets in a chaotic labor market by double-majoring
The practice of double-majoring is rising at many colleges and universities as students fret about getting jobs in an economy seemingly shifting faster than single majors can keep up.
hechingerreport.org
November 5, 2025 at 1:42 PM
There's something more interesting in the development of broader double-majoring: students are entering with credits from APs, dual-enrollment, but NOT graduating earlier.
If Waffles's pouch has a tiny copy of the Little Red Book, I'm going to die.
November 5, 2025 at 1:34 PM
If Waffles's pouch has a tiny copy of the Little Red Book, I'm going to die.
Defamation unlocks stochastic violence.
Math teachers at Cienega High School in Arizona are facing death threats and calls that they be fired after a Turning Point USA employee falsely accused them of wearing Halloween costumes mocking the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
Arizona teachers' costumes weren't about Charlie Kirk. They're facing death threats anyway
Math teachers at Cienega High School in southern Arizona are facing death threats and calls that they be fired after a Turning Point USA employee falsely accused them of wearing Halloween costumes mocking the assassination of the organization’s co-founder, Charlie Kirk.
n.pr
November 5, 2025 at 2:56 AM
Defamation unlocks stochastic violence.
A book can have both slow and fast influence. Slow as in a contribution to a conversation that people pay attention to for years, and fast in terms of hitting the zeitgeist.
I'm so happy for @itsafronomics.bsky.social that she gets both with #TheDoubleTax
I'm so happy for @itsafronomics.bsky.social that she gets both with #TheDoubleTax
I'm becoming increasingly aware that #TheDoubleTax is going to age like fine wine considering *points at everything*.
November 4, 2025 at 2:59 AM
A book can have both slow and fast influence. Slow as in a contribution to a conversation that people pay attention to for years, and fast in terms of hitting the zeitgeist.
I'm so happy for @itsafronomics.bsky.social that she gets both with #TheDoubleTax
I'm so happy for @itsafronomics.bsky.social that she gets both with #TheDoubleTax
Next week: Blue Jays fans file lawsuit against the Rogers Centre for letting Drake within a mile of the stadium.
A new class action lawsuit against Spotify alleges the company has “turned a blind eye” to “mass-scale fraudulent streaming” on its platform and that one musician in particular has been the beneficiary of “billions” of fake streams: Drake.
Lawsuit Against Spotify Claims 'Billions' of Drake Streams Were 'Fraudulent'
bit.ly
November 3, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Next week: Blue Jays fans file lawsuit against the Rogers Centre for letting Drake within a mile of the stadium.
Reminder: new time-series data on the number of students by state receiving special education services, starting in the mid-70s.
Fresh time series data on special education service counts from my colleagues Alex Kurz and Ashley Kochim. From 1975 on, by state! And there's an open competition for analyses.
Brief 🧵
Brief 🧵
November 2, 2025 at 9:57 PM
Reminder: new time-series data on the number of students by state receiving special education services, starting in the mid-70s.
Such a shift from "I HAVE to practice" to "I GET to practice." When I restarted viola as an adult, Stephanie Judy's "Making Music for the Joy of It" was a wonderful adjunct reading.
(Yes, shes a violist!)
(Yes, shes a violist!)
November 2, 2025 at 8:21 PM
Such a shift from "I HAVE to practice" to "I GET to practice." When I restarted viola as an adult, Stephanie Judy's "Making Music for the Joy of It" was a wonderful adjunct reading.
(Yes, shes a violist!)
(Yes, shes a violist!)
Fresh time series data on special education service counts from my colleagues Alex Kurz and Ashley Kochim. From 1975 on, by state! And there's an open competition for analyses.
Brief 🧵
Brief 🧵
November 1, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Fresh time series data on special education service counts from my colleagues Alex Kurz and Ashley Kochim. From 1975 on, by state! And there's an open competition for analyses.
Brief 🧵
Brief 🧵