This book sounds totally awesome, particularly for parents or anyone in the education system (K-12 or college). I say that based on co-author Joanne Lipman's recent article in the Wall Street Journal, entitled, "Why Tough Teachers Get Good Results." Lipman argues, "It's time to revive old-fashioned education. Not just traditional but old-fashioned in the sense that so many of us knew as kids, with strict discipline and unyielding demands. Because here's the thing: It works." She articulates these eight principles for tough teaching: 1. A little pain is good for you. 2. Drill, baby, … [Read more...] about Why Tough Teachers Get Good Results
How Many HS Students are “College-Ready”?
Less than half, according to the College Board. Julia Ryan, writing in today's Atlantic, reports: Of the 1.66 million high school students in the class of 2013 who took the SAT, only 43 percent were academically prepared for college-level work, according to this year’s SAT Report on College & Career Readiness. For the fifth year in a row, fewer than half of SAT-takers received scores that qualified them as “college-ready.” … [Read more...] about How Many HS Students are “College-Ready”?
The Challenges of College Life
Focus on the Family's Jim Daly and John Fuller had an excellent discussion with three presidents of Christian colleges, Dr. Sandra Gray (Asbury University), Dr. Michael Lindsay (Gordon College), and Dr. Pete Menjares (Fresno Pacific University). They discussed the common challenges facing college students (e.g., the dangers of the party lifestyle, the spiritual transition of making their faith their own, the financial costs associated with higher education, etc.). The show was broadcast last month, and is just under 30 minutes in length. … [Read more...] about The Challenges of College Life
Live Like A Narnian: Christian Discipleship in Lewis’s Chronicles
This new book by Joe Rigney, Live Like A Narnian: Christian Discipleship in Lewis's Chronicles, just in time it seems for the Desiring God conference The Romantic Rationalist: God, Life, and Imagination in the Work of C.S. Lewis, looks very interesting. Here's the publisher's description: In Live Like a Narnian Joe Rigney shows that Owen Barfield was right--What C.S. Lewis thought about everything was secretly present in what he said about anything. From apologetics to his thoughts on education, from his view of science to the role of government, from Natural Law to true manhood and … [Read more...] about Live Like A Narnian: Christian Discipleship in Lewis’s Chronicles
Tim Keller – Walking with God through Pain and Suffering
I've only just received this book and started flipping through it, but I would not be surprised if Tim Keller's latest book Walking with God through Pain and Suffering receives as wide a readership as The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism. The publisher writes, "Walking with God through Pain and Suffering is the definitive Christian book on why bad things happen and how we should respond to them." And Keller writes "at the heart of why people disbelieve and believe in God, of why people decline and grow in character, of how God becomes less real and more real to us--is … [Read more...] about Tim Keller – Walking with God through Pain and Suffering
Syllabus Shock
Reality is beginning to set in for college freshmen everywhere. A few months ago I wrote an article entitled Syllabus Shock for the Christian College Guide. Here's the opening: One of the first surprises of college gets distributed during the very first meeting of every class: a syllabus. Students who know what's on the syllabus usually earn higher grades than those who don't. And they always make a better impression on their professors. I know this is true because I'm a professor at California Baptist University in Riverside, California. But I was once a college freshman too.Here's a link … [Read more...] about Syllabus Shock