Inside Higher Ed - Measuring Completion (November 30, 2011) - After more than a year of study, a federal committee is urging the Education Department to change how it tracks and evaluates graduation rates and other measures of success for students at community colleges...

CT Mirror - Teacher training a key to school reform, commissioner says (November 29, 2011) - It is one of the state's largest suppliers of new schoolteachers, but after Central Connecticut State University sends its graduates into the classroom, it knows little about how they perform...

Collegewebeditor.com - 75% College Students won't scan your #highered QR codes (November 29, 2011) - According to the study conducted by Archrival on 24 US campuses... three quarters of current students won't probably bother scanning your QR codes...

Inside Higher Ed - Better Data, Better Rates (November 29, 2011) - Colleges may be able to improve their graduation rates by gaining a better understanding of the students they enroll, according to a report being released today...

Community College Times - Federal panel recommends graduation, transfer rate (November 29, 2011) - A federal committee exploring the best ways to gauge student success at community colleges has signed off on its recommendations, which in part call on the U.S. Education Department to provide a single graduation-and-transfer rate for two-year college students...

New England Board of Higher Ed - Projecting Project Management's Future Within the Academic Landscape (November 28, 2011 ) - U.S. universities have had century-long success in absorbing existing professions into their curricula-by making academe their gatekeeper. These professions often started with apprenticeships and short training courses leading to a certification examination-and were then elevated and "academized" into a comprehensive body of knowledge...

Community College Times - Electronic mapping helps colleges target campaigns (November 28, 2011) - Community colleges increasingly are turning to electronic mapping to reach targeted audiences for a variety of purposes, including enrollment, fundraising, fee-related initiatives and marketing...

Diverse Issues In Higher Ed - Congressional Super Committee's Inaction Means Potentially Devastating Cuts (November 28, 2011) - With the collapse of a congressional "super committee" charged with cutting $1.2 trillion in federal spending, most education programs face the prospect of moderate to deep cuts beginning in January 2013 - including programs for minority-serving colleges and universities...

Chronicle of Higher Ed - Debt Protesters Denounce Colleges for Broken Promises (November 27, 2011) - Pamela Brown recently added her name to the "pledge of refusal." By doing so, she agreed not to repay her student loans-if 999,999 other Americans sign the pledge, too...

Diverse Issues in Higher Ed - Osher Scholars Get Much-Needed Assist From Community College Scholarship Program (November 23, 2011) - Since beginning her studies at Pasadena City College in southern California in 2006, each term has been a financial challenge for Nelli Pogosyan, and this semester is no exception. But now, thousands like Pogosyan catch a small break thanks to a statewide endowment specifically supporting community college-goers...

Journal Inquirer - Chase keys MCC (November 29, 2011) - Rockville High product Elise Chase was a force at both ends of the court to help lead the Manchester Community College women's basketball team...

Hartford Business Journal - Pathways students taking technology to new levels (November 28, 2011) - The motto at the Pathways to Technology school is "We prepare for tomorrow ... today." Talk about practicing what you preach. The magnet high school in Windsor offers a rigorous academic program centered around exposing its 400 students to the tools, skills, and career options presented by the technology field. And it has reason to celebrate after a group of its students captured top honors in the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship World Series of Innovation competition...

CT Mirror - At a New Haven documentary studio, there's power in youth (November 28, 2011) - Several weeks ago, a dozen or so high school students gathered at the site in the East Rock neighborhood where a 23-year-old man had been shot to death the week before... Armed with portable Flip video cameras, the students fanned out to interview residents...

CT Mirror - Education commissioner proposes easing bureaucratic barriers (November 25, 2011) - In affluent, high-achieving school districts like this one, the state's top education official thinks the best strategy might be for the state education department to step aside and do less, not more...

CT Mirror - Increased reimbursements pay off in getting state closer to desegregating Hartford schools (November 24, 2011) - It took more than just luck in the school choice lottery for 11th-grader Safiya Francis to leave one of the lowest-performing schools in the state and land a seat in Newington High School. It took a huge boost in financial incentives for Newington, a high-performing district, to be able to afford to enroll Francis and other Hartford students. Twenty-five city students attend Newington High School...

CT Mirror - Budget chief calls for legislature to tackle cash-starved pension system (November 29, 2011) - Now that state legislators have closed the largest budget deficit in Connecticut history, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's administration has a new challenge: Fix a state employee pension system on a collision course with fiscal collapse in about two decades...

Chronicle of Higher Ed - "Program or Be Programmed"? (November 30, 2011) - As the job market is getting even less welcoming, and digital skills are at the forefront of national discourse, digital literacy objectives are being integrated into student learning goals across disciplines. But there are still a lot of questions to answer: what skills are essential? Do students in all majors benefit from learning to program...

Inside Higher Ed - Ask the Administrator: Texting and Teaching (November 29, 2011) - I teach at a community college and find that many of my students text in the classroom. My policy, which is stated on my syllabus, is that I ask students who use the phone to leave the class for the day. This doesn't seem to discourage cell phone use. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! A few thoughts, before I open the floor to my wise and worldly readers, many of whom have been in the classroom more recently than I have...

Inside Higher Ed - What Does Coursekit Say about the Future of the LMS? (November 29, 2011) - Coursekit announced today that the LMS was officially open to the public. The startup earned a fair amount of buzz earlier this year when it raised $1 million in investment and its trio of founders said that they were dropping out of the University of Pennsylvania to pursue their business idea full-time...