Standardized Testing: The Good, The Bad and A Hmmmm…Moment

Bob Schaeffer of FairTest, an organization committed to a fair use of standardized testing in K-12 schools and college admissions, recently spoke with Creative Marbles about assessments.  Our conversation reminded me of questions I’ve been asking since I was a beginning teacher, “How do we know (i.e. grasp clearly in the mind) what another has…

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What’s Unemployment Got to Do With Picking Colleges for Application?

Forecasting job prospects based on location of the college is another criteria for prospective applicants and their parents to consider, before deciding to apply.  If unemployment in general is high in a particular state, does a student and family want to invest their limited capital and 4-5 years of effort in a college, when they…

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Financial Aid 101: Are You Financially Literate?

Paying for college seems out of the ordinary, given the total amount, which creates the “wake-me-up-from-a-dead-sleep-gasping-for-air” feeling.    However, with some foresight, families can approach college expenses together and with less nervousness.    Art Baird, Creative Marbles CEO and financial aid expert, and Jill Yoshikawa, Partner of the Educational Division at Creative Marbles, recorded a recent conversation…

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Will the $10 Billion Deficit in Pension Obligations Affect the Quality of UC Education?

The perfect storm:  increasing numbers of qualified high school graduates for UC admissions, baby boomers maturing to retirement, who were promised generous pensions–which UC administrators did not fund for 20 years starting in the early 1990’s–and current reductions in state funding for higher education–all put pressure to increase tuition–while at the same time real wages…

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