Derek Bok

education institutions, both public and profit, both nonprofit and for-profit, and from state colleges to research universities to community colleges to a wide variety of technical and professional schools, serve a public purpose.” In similar fashion, Derek C. Bok comments that “All universities are prominent members of their communities by virtue of the vast complex libraries, laboratories, classrooms, and offices they require to carry on their work. Try as they may, they cannot go unnoticed…

Does Class Size Matter? Imagine you are failing school and you are about to drop out. Wouldn’t you wish you could have done something to improve your experience? According to the U.S. Department of Education, “every year 1.2 million students drop out of high school across America which is one student every twenty six seconds or seven thousand students a day.” To counteract this problem, studies have shown that reducing class size has been beneficial for students. To begin with, smaller class…

Smaller Classes Show Benefits Each year, hundreds of students fall through the cracks. Society blames it on curriculum, home life, and teachers. While the curriculum and home life do affect this, a lot of the time, these students are lost when a teacher lacks the resources or time to help each student that needs it. I believe that class size affects the way a student learns. According to The Seattle Times, “Students behave better and pay more attention in smaller groups.” If class sizes are…

Derek Bok saw that the use of laptops and iPads in class has become a very common thing in today's educational society. With that observation he saw that students taking notes on their iPad or laptop had more opportunities to distract themselves. Studies have shown that students who use technology in class damage their education (Bok,Derek). Regulating the use of technology in our everyday lives is a very important skill to have today. Without the regualtion When we don’t regulate the use…

Right now in our society a college education is no longer a choice or privilege, but rather a requirement. We are practically raised and accustomed to believe that one needs higher education in order to achieve in life. There is a saying from Derek Bok that says; "if you think education is expensive, try ignorance," but as technology is steadily advancing and computers are running close to anything, is a college education really necessary? There are people whom have not ever set foot in a…

The average beginning teachers’ salary in the 2012-13 school year was only $36,141 (SOURCE). With the cost of living in the U.S. being between $25,000 and $43,000, it is nearly impossible for a teacher to live completely independent (Gould). For years teachers have been over-worked and under-paid. They do so much work in and outside the classroom in order to teach children to the best of their abilities. Forbes magazine featured an article titled “Are Teachers Overpaid?” in March of 2011. This…

When preparing for a career, “hands on” experience is very important, most jobs require it. In the essay, “Preparing for a Career”, Derek Bok says, “60 percent of Arts and Science professors do not even think that preparing for a good job is a particularly important goal for undergraduates.” That isn’t a way to think when it comes to a career. The reason students attend college is to get…

As it seems, for the entirety of a student’s primary learning life, they are being prepared for the next grade level. The ultimate goal for students is to have enough knowledge to either enter the work force directly or to proceed on to higher education options. Although high schools across the U.S. are not all the same, their educational goals, for the most part, are. General education is seen as the stepping stone for a much larger goal of higher education advancement, and while K-12 learning…

(“Class Size” 2). Even if reducing the size of a class is costly, the question should remain, compared to what? If class reduction provides substantial, lifelong benefits, why not invest rather than waste money on unproven reforms (Haimson 3)? As Derek Bok once said, “If you think education is expensive, try ignorance”…

another 4% transferring and graduating from other colleges. This rate, while being lower than that of the white students, was significantly higher than the graduation for white students at division 1 schools.” As said by economist William G. Bowen and Derek Bok. Miles Corwin shared this study with his reader at a point where affirmative action was up for vote. This strategic placement allowed the reader to consider factual evidence while reflecting on how they feel they would vote on the subject…