Academic Standards Archives — Minding The Campus

September 25, 2026

AI Has Made an Old Education Problem Harder to Ignore

Schools have long accepted the bare minimum in place of mastery.
September 16, 2026

Are You Reading This?

Oh good. You can read.
August 31, 2026

The New Test Reshaping American Classrooms

CLT founder Jeremy Tate on standardized testing, the Western canon, and what education is for.
July 28, 2026

What Should a College Degree Signify?

If we cannot define what a college graduate ought to know and be able to do, we cannot reform higher education.
June 15, 2026

Bragging Rights

From Iowa’s new civic education requirements to federal science reforms, the National Association of Scholars is helping drive reform across American education.
June 8, 2026

Where Art Thou ‘Queer Desire’?

Columbia prof deducts points for missing LGBTQ themes in Shakespeare.
June 3, 2026

Harvard’s Plan to Curb Grade Inflation Will Probably Fail, But There Is Hope

Grade inflation persists because no college can fight it alone. Accreditors offer the best chance of reversing the trend.
June 1, 2026

On Stupidity

Why do university administrators keep wrecking their institutions? Carlo Cipolla had a theory.
May 21, 2026

Against My Advice, My Brother Is Going to College

Whatever disappointed him about high school is unlikely to be remedied by a university curriculum more interested in global citizenship than civilizational inheritance.
May 20, 2026

Florida and CLT Are Building an Alternative to AP Courses

Education reformers now need to ensure these new programs can compete with the College Board on equal footing.
May 12, 2026

The Danger of Danielle Allen’s Civics Project

Her ‘bipartisan’ civics project masks a framework that empowers the academic left’s most radical actors.
May 8, 2026

Lightning Strikes Twice

Harvard joins Yale in acknowledging the intellectual climate crisis inside elite higher education.
April 8, 2026

Too Many Dogs Are Eating Too Much Homework

Students rely on trivial excuses to avoid academic responsibility—universities must stop accepting them.
April 1, 2026

Out With the Snake Pits, In With the Strategists

Defunding area studies was right. But America needs to build something better.
March 31, 2026

Report: ‘Progressive Ideology’ Is Embedded in General Education Requirements

Core subjects like American history and Western civilization are being pushed aside.
March 30, 2026

What Is Critical Thinking Anyway?

Colleges must reclaim the lost art of reasoning.
March 26, 2026

Credentialed, Not Educated

Many foreign language graduates aren’t proficient, raising doubts about what college degrees actually signal.
March 13, 2026

Fixing Stupid

Colleges should teach critical thinking again.
March 3, 2026

He Was an A+ Student After All

Grade inflation has gotten so bad that a 1968 C+ might clear the bar for a Yalie A today.
February 25, 2026

Is College Making People Stupider?

Yes.
February 12, 2026

Rigging the Clock

The explosion of academic accommodations at elite universities makes it tough to believe their students are truly smarter—or more capable—than everyone else.
February 9, 2026

A Geographic Solution

UATX could build a stronger student body by narrowing its recruiting efforts to elite Northeastern schools that consistently produce large numbers of high-achieving students.
February 9, 2026

An Ivy League President Breaks Ranks

Could a rare moment of candor change how elite universities respond to public skepticism?
February 6, 2026

Should Faculty SAT Scores Be Public?

After decades in higher education, I’ve reconsidered what accountability should look like.
January 14, 2026

No Standards, Just Vibes

Music education has been off pitch—but the choir may be getting back in tune.
January 13, 2026

Back to First Grade

One in eight college students can’t do basic math, a UCSD report finds.
December 22, 2025

Remedial Nation

Students can’t read or do math because teachers were never taught the subjects they teach.
December 18, 2025

Four Years, Warm Chairs

What’s the point of high school if students still can’t read?
July 29, 2025

‘Reading and Analyzing Are Not Essential,’ Says the College Board
June 12, 2025

College Students Are ‘Dumbing Down’ Their Essays to Avoid AI Detection