Where did we ever get the idea that sending home a weekly packet, starting in kindergarten in some schools, accomplishes anything beyond turning curious and enthusiastic children into homework haters for life?

The hundreds and hundreds of middle school students we see are more concerned with managing teacher expectations and less with learning. Standardized tests calibrate approval exclusively with right and wrong answers instead of any grasp of why an answer is correct or, better yet, why the question was posed in the first place.

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As we look back at the many ups and downs of 2015, we are grateful for some areas of progress and at the same time, cognizant of changes that need to occur in order to improve the higher ed landscape.

According to data from the National Center for Education Statistics, about 16 percent of teachers nationwide are forced to work a second job outside the school system. In North Carolina, however, that number is closer to 25 percent.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On December 22, 2015, Hillary Clinton spoke at a high school in Iowa, and she made a comment that speedily boomeranged on her: "I wouldn't keep any school open that wasn't doing a better-than-average job."

A rich guy from a venture capital firm decides that every public school student in New York City should learn to be a computer coder. Nearly everyone hailed the plan as a brilliant solution to what ails inner-city public schools. But is it?