Endgame Solution: updates (March 2024)
The revolutionary (as in novel or as in "where the future revolutionaries study") Instant University takes years to built: here are the updates
In our post from 06/23/22, we described the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education (DHE) vision of an “Instant University” where…
…university admissions will switch to a lottery system…. Each cell of the intersectional hyper-matrix will be assigned a number of winning tickets proportional to the share of the cell in the Massachusetts population at large… To defend the equitability of the outcome against the knowledge, skills, and abilities of the students, admission will be immediately followed by graduation. A tuition, of a size of the former 6-year package, will be charged during a microsecond-long transition period in between.
Our 03/24/23 issue featured the predecessors of this idea.
Due to fierce resistance by the self-proclaimed “educators,” and in spite of the appealing low cost, the Instant University has not been built yet.
But it’s not to say that there was no progress towards this noble goal. There is, both in the universities and in the associated K-12 Petri dishes:
Western Oregon University abolishes “D-” and “F” grades. Silly them: this doesn’t solve the high DFW rates problem… not there and not at UMass Boston (p. 43).;
When “D”s and “F”s are no longer an option, something must take their place: and lo and behold, last year, almost 80% of Harvard grades were “A”s, a 20% increase from 2022. Same in K-12. But don’t get a wrong idea: at our Instant University, Asians will be getting only “F”s, with all their unearned racist prizes withheld;
Maybe we should get rid of the stupid letters all together? “Ungrading” is gaining steam nation-wide and at UMass Boston, courtesy of our friend and all-time favorite, Comrade Melnick.
And who needs homework?! (Also here.) When the Instant University comes into being, it will be hard to grade the assignments within the allotted millisecond between admission and graduation.
“Mathematics as a universal language for humanity” is so racist! Evanston Township High School in Illinois teaches Black Math to the Black students and Latinx Math to Latinx students (what about the mixed race students?)
Rome wasn't built in a day! But when finally built, the Instant University will destroy our K-16 education in a second.