Coaching the Mind

[...] toward Clark. In the Wainstein Report released two weeks ago, Clark's knowledge of the paper classes is confirmed: Clark was aware of the AFAM paper classes at the time that they were offered; [...]

[...] and Athletics department during the years Julius Nyang'oro conducted his infamous "paper classes." While I remained publicly reticent, waiting in vain for an administrator from Arts & [...]

[...] his experience of being “steered” to the AFAM major and the substandard AFRI and AFAM “paper classes.” Not a single interviewer, however, has ever posed to McAdoo any challenging questions to [...]

[...] Willingham provided remains far from rich. Kane writes, Willingham learned of [the ‘paper classes’] when she was asked to work with a female athlete on a paper. Willingham said the paper was a [...]

[...] false claims. The local and national media ignored that moral responsibility with respect to Mary Willingham; and in their attempts to scandalize UNC, they scandalized themselves. The media scandal [...]

[...] at UNC. McCants asserted that the truth is in the transcripts, a mantra traced back to Mary Willingham. N&O reporter Dan Kane supports both Willingham and McCants. As a discredited public [...]

[...] Late this afternoon I got an email from Dan Kane asking if he could talk with me about Mary Willingham's research application. So I called him. Through the course of our conversation, we covered [...]

[...] , on the same day, covering the UNC scandal, though no new information has surfaced since Mary Willingham's plagiarism was discovered. Both articles distorted the facts, reflecting the typical [...]

[...] his professional life.” In other words, Smith believes I am merely an apologist for college athletics. Clearly, however, Smith is a selective reader. To conclude my April 1 essay about Smith& [...]

[...] 2012 NCAA Tournament AGG was -25.3. So what do we do with this information? Do we conclude college athletics is a failure? A scam? Is Nocera right? Is the term student-athlete a blatant example of [...]

[...] ” her thesis is a thin synthesis of research and anecdotes linked together to criticize college athletics, but it offers no suggestions on how to provide student-athletes with a real education [...]

[...] balance between academics and athletics. In the wake of the UNC scandals, stakeholders in college athletics and higher education across the country should be asking how to determine whether a [...]

[...] weather in North Carolina, I saw the position as an opportunity to contribute to an academic support program in the process of rebuilding. I saw it as a new challenge, and so I applied for the [...]

[...] point because Smith has directed all his criticism at the athletics department and the academic support program, ignoring the fact that all of the academically underprepared athletes who have been [...]

[...] Willingham reported. Yet her anecdotal claims and recollections of her experience in the Academic Support Program are also dubious. As I explained in my essay “Truth and Literacy at UNC,” [...]

[...] admissions decisions regarding specially admitted student-athletes. Although we in the Academic Support Program for Student-Athletes are capable of supporting many student-athletes who are not as [...]

[...] “technicality.” The question is whether Willingham accurately completed the research application for the Office of Human Research Ethics, indicating she would be accessing students’ [...]

[...] the most regretful. How dare you. I responded as follows: Jay, unless you can show the research application, nothing you say is relevant. So I'll tell you this: If you publish the research [...]

[...] university research office states she claimed on her research application. Though Willingham audaciously accused the university of conspiring against her, she has [...]

[...] sophistry. Smith’s latest, of course, is an attempt to defend Willingham after her research application became available through public records requests and revealed she has misrepresented the [...]

[...] the data. She claimed 70% of her sample, which consisted of mostly men's basketball and football players, read below a high school level. Based on my experience, I would not be surprised if the [...]

[...] ). In a previous blog entry, I questioned whether Willingham violated FERPA when she accessed football players' records to report aggregate grades for a "cohort" of 17 football players who [...]

[...] and focused gazes communicated more than any words could have. Of course, in a room full of football players, my moment of triumph was bound to be brief. "I still hate algebra," quipped the [...]

[...] me that Willingham had posted to her blog aggregate grades for a "cohort" of 17 football players who played in the bowl game. At that point, I started becoming concerned that she had not [...]

[...] Black Hole at UNC Kenneth Wainstein, however, did not record his interviews with the former academic counselors he accused of knowingly participating in academic fraud at UNC. Last February, when UNC [...]

[...] , I know they will be supported well. They have always been supported well by the dedicated academic counselors in the Academic Support Program for Student-Athletes. Those counselors are why the term [...]

[...] Real Sports episode. Specifically, Kane could have asked McAdoo why he again alleged that academic counselors compelled him to major in AFAM, though his major was actually EXSS. Likewise, Kane could [...]

[...] , if any, choice in their course selection. He refused to accept my explanation that the academic counselors presented each athlete with course options and then helped the athlete make choices [...]

[...] and what research indicates about their effectiveness. Last, we present methods academic support staff can use to help students choose appropriate learning techniques and thereby improve as [...]

[...] that department. That might be a factor. But the evidence also is overwhelming that the academic support staff, which at the time effectively reported to the athletic department, knew these classes [...]

[...] the Lines for a second time, to defend allegations he made against his former teammates, academic support staff, and coaches at UNC. McCants asserted that the truth is in the transcripts, a mantra [...]

[...] . Over the past two years, Willingham has made multiple, damning allegations against academic support staff and the Athletics Department, without any evidence corroborating those allegations. Her [...]

[...] tiring of the sly, though fallacious, deductions. One not acquainted with the jargon of educational assessment may be snookered by his contentions, but I am a more knowledgeable reader than most, as [...]

[...] of CVs, Cramer himself appears far more qualified than me to make statements about educational assessment and evaluation. He earned his bachelor's degree from MIT, one of the most rigorous [...]

[...] , Willingham’s shadowy methodology is highly problematic for anyone familiar with educational assessment. First, grade-level equivalents can only be determined by an individual test, not a [...]

[...] the 50% range has not been examined thoroughly. As a learning specialist familiar with educational assessment, I do not even need Willingham's data to identify egregious errors in that claim. First, [...]

[...] After temporarily taking down my posts regarding the controversies surrounding UNC athletics, I have decided to re-post because I want to make sure any future reporting on my [...]

[...] hamper or compromise their freedom of inquiry. Throughout Smith's public campaign against UNC athletics, he has violated the principle of intellectual honesty, proffering arguments designed to [...]

[...] Wolf was being petty. Unfortunately, Smith's bitterness against all who are associated with UNC athletics seems to be without limit. @BethelLearning @ProfessrWolf If phrase was in your mind because [...]

[...] at a Faculty Executive Committee meeting. Moreover, Smith's "personal opinions" on UNC athletics have manifested in a book, which, we can presume, he will include on his CV and for his next [...]