Notes in the Margins: Guns, shunting students and no more snow days
Twelve states aim for college gun rights Lawmakers are pushing for legislation that would give students, faculty and staff the right to carry concealed handguns while on campus. Legislation to allow concealed carry on college campuses is pending in 12 states, including Texas, Virginia and Florida, according to Students for Concealed Carry on Campus. (The Towerlight)
Snow days virtually eliminated with Web tools Despite winter storms that forced schools and colleges across the nation to cancel classes, tech-savvy educators are turning to Facebook, podcasts and other Web tools to keep students on track. (USA Today)
Anger Over New Rankings Education deans from some of the top research universities in the United States have called on U.S. News & World Report to rethink its plans for evaluating teacher education programs. In a joint letter, the deans questioned not only the methodology to be used, but also the magazine's plan to say that institutions that don't participate have "failed" to meet certain standards. Such an approach is "inconsistent with professional journalistic practices," the deans wrote, adding that they "worry that this implied coercion will cast doubt on the results of the entire evaluation." (Inside Higher Ed)
Harkin Delays Senate Hearing on For-Profit Colleges U.S. Senator Tom Harkin, the education committee chairman investigating for-profit colleges, delayed a hearing on the industry that was set for Feb. 17.Harkin, an Iowa Democrat, hasn’t set a new date for the hearing, which was moved “to accommodate the schedule of a key witness,” said Justine Sessions, a spokeswoman for the committee. The Senate committee is scrutinizing recruitment practices and student loan repayment at for-profit colleges, such as those run by Apollo Group Inc. and the Washington Post Co.’s Kaplan Higher Education unit. (Bloomberg)
New Facebook App Tells College Applicants What Their Chances Are Startup Splash Networks is launching a Facebook app called AdmissionSplash that shows prospective college students how likely it is that they will be admitted to each school on their lists. (Mashable)
Community College or Adult Ed? Some 60 percent of new community college students aren't ready for college-level classes. Those placed in basic math or reading rarely make it out of the remedial sequence, much less to a degree. Do they belong in college? Overwhelmed with students who need years of remediation, some Texas community colleges are steering low-skilled students to adult education or to vocational programs. (The Huffington Post)
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