Thank you for this, as others have said you write so well. Re your comment about Go8 levels of retention: yes, absolutely. Go8s like my employer have high retention because we select students well, ones who are conventionally good at conventional study under conventional circumstances. The unconventional circumstances have the potential to add a great deal of value to students and society. And attrition isn't always bad, I would love to know if Stanford got punished for a couple of dropouts from their PhD program at the turn of the century when Brin and Page chose to develop Google instead, presumably using some of what they'd learned so far
Thanks Colin - if the only people that go to uni are (primarily) school leavers with high ATARs (say 80+) who succeed, are retained, complete at a high rate, we’d have much fewer graduates and would be a skills and intellectual backwater .
We do need to improve quality and consider educational reforms suited to the needs of students admitted - but policy and evaluation grounded in 80+ thinking is a distraction. Just look at what VU has been able to achieve over recent years - made possible by catering for no or low ATAR.
You write so well Matt - always a laugh, two or three in there! I missed it this year, but I now strangely feel like I was there..!
Thank you for this, as others have said you write so well. Re your comment about Go8 levels of retention: yes, absolutely. Go8s like my employer have high retention because we select students well, ones who are conventionally good at conventional study under conventional circumstances. The unconventional circumstances have the potential to add a great deal of value to students and society. And attrition isn't always bad, I would love to know if Stanford got punished for a couple of dropouts from their PhD program at the turn of the century when Brin and Page chose to develop Google instead, presumably using some of what they'd learned so far
Thanks Colin - if the only people that go to uni are (primarily) school leavers with high ATARs (say 80+) who succeed, are retained, complete at a high rate, we’d have much fewer graduates and would be a skills and intellectual backwater .
We do need to improve quality and consider educational reforms suited to the needs of students admitted - but policy and evaluation grounded in 80+ thinking is a distraction. Just look at what VU has been able to achieve over recent years - made possible by catering for no or low ATAR.
Great summary that reflects most of what I experienced. I should have stopped and said hi. Looking forward to what you write next.
Fascinating read Matt,