Another example of burying the lede - though maybe nobody would have read the item were the point stated right up front. This post is a response to a (yet another) irresponsible NY Times article about education bemoaning today's irresponsible student, grade inflation, and the lack of adulation of the professoriate. Of course, none of Mark Bauerlein's fantasy world ever really existed (except maybe the grade distribution, which probably reflected the quality of students when only the rich could attend university). "In essence," writes Drezner, "Bauerlein's lament is a bad sequel to William Deresiewicz's "Excellent Sheep," which was a poorly-supported argument as well." Oh, but the buried lede? It's this: "Of course The New York Times will publish essays about elite schools. Of course publishing something like Bauerlein's essay is one of those trolling exercises that will prompt vigorous replies like this one." That's what education journalism has become these days.
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