'Education is for the birds'

St. John's University, formerly of Springfield, La. – where Florida juvenile justice secretary Walt McNeil earned his master's degree (see Saturday's St. Petersburg Times  story here) – claims to be accredited by the Accrediting Commission International in Beebe, Ark. Okay. So what's that?

Well, it might be a lot of things, but it's not recognized by the U.S. Department of Education or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. And according to diploma-mill experts, it has strong ties to the International Accrediting Commission, an outfit busted in 1989 in what may be the most hilarious sting ever.

You can read the full story here (and credit to author John Bear for pointing it out to us), but here's a taste: To snare the IAC, an assistant attorney general in Missouri created a fictional Eastern Missouri Business College with a faculty listing that included Lawrence Fine, Jerome Howard and M. Howard. Yep, that'd be the Three Stooges. Meanwhile, the college seal included the Latin phrase Solum pro Avibus Est Educatio. Translation: "Education is for the birds." No way a school like that could get accredited, right?

According to Bear's account, the ACI formed in Arkansas about the same time the IAC was folding in Missouri, and it actively sought to sign up the former group's members. The Gradebook asked St. John's representative Pam Winkler whether the school was ever accredited by the IAC, but she did not respond. ACI officials did not return a call for comment.

In 2002 and 2003, St. John's did seek accreditation from an entity recognized by CHEA, the Distance Education and Training Council. According to records obtained by The Gradebook from the Louisiana Board of Regents, DETC turned St. John's down, "ruling that the institution had not satisfactorily met ten of the twelve standards for accreditation."

DETC executive director Michael Lambert told The Gradebook he could not divulge which standards St. John's failed to meet, but "it was pretty much an open and shut case."

_ Ron Matus, state education reporter

Comments

[Drat - forgot one more point]

For those who are amused by this....

There was a double entendre on "there is no place like home"

A veiled suggestion that all of the above is why some people choose home schooling.

[Crocheting a Mocking Bird to Make a Point]

From Joe Public to all: Use your abstract thinking on this one.

I will explain the Name:

Crocheting : I am addressing the person who has posted several times "I'm glad to see this thread died". (good natured scoffing, since to make it personal is vain).

Mocking Bird: Mocking is what I do about the unprofessional, arrogant, non-educators that, by virtue of their position, have decision making authority within the education system. Their ignorance and arrogance is shielded by the authority vested in their position. (This is not directed to true professional educators, however much their profession is damaged by the non-professionals).
Plus the word "bird" makes a direct match with the original title "Education is for the Birds". This strategy works well with visual learners, as they can easily make the comparison and then go from there.

Make a Point: this is for the person who called me out to make a point and apparently is a literal thinker. Nothing wrong with that. There are a lot of people like that. To connect this to professional education, if I were your teacher and I continued to use satire, sarcasm and tangential abstractions to teach you, that would be an example of arrogance and abuse of my authority as a teacher. This arrogance and abuse of authority is usually couched in phrases like "I teach all of my student's the same way".

Make the connection between The Wizard of Oz (hint = "There is no place like home") and the content within the context of "Education if for the Birds".

In the above article, a person has a master's degree. A master's degree carries an image of a presumed level of education. However, if one reads the article, the idea is conveyed that the institution that granted the master degree does not have the credentials to back up this image. The person, by virute of his position, has authority. But does he have the necessary education to back it up?

Now to the point. Both the Wizard and school personnel have authority and power vested in them by their position.
Both of them have an image supported by their position, regardless of their true qualifications. The military has a phrase that addresses this concept. It is "respect the uniform (or rank)even if you don't respect the person in it".

The Wizard was only given power and authority by the people of the Emerald City based on the image, not truth.

The same concept fits with people within the education system who gain positions of power and authority based on an image, not truth.

[Wild guess]

The Wizard of Oz had a lot of power until the curtain was pulled back.

I'm glad to see this thread died.

[Ever hear of having a point?]

Uh, Mr. Public, I'm not sure I understand you. Instead of trying to be funny and witty (which you failed on both fronts) perhaps you should articulate a point.

[Joe Public]

So this is what our education system is all about.

In a lot of areas.

Projecting an image. No matter the basis of how the image was obtained.

Add bolster to this image with the authority given to education systems and their members along with the abuse of this power.

Voila.

And the public ends up repeating the refrain:

There is no place like home.

There is no place like home.