distant reading n.— «But Moretti is now promoting what he calls “distant reading,” which seems to me to suggest that scholars of literature outsource reading of books to lower-level workers. Moretti has a cadre of workers...
exploding contract n.— «The Peel Board of Education has the worst record in Ontario for giving young teachers what are called exploding contracts—new teachers are forced to sign letters of resignation at the same time as they sign...
gravy plane n.— «Also a large number of other athletic department personnel and their spouses made the junket. Also on the “gravy plane” were members of the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents and spouses, school...
Wizard-of-Oz diploma n.— «I fear that many of the students who pass will go on to earn Wizard-of-Oz diplomas, which signify nothing. Students will claim to be educated, but employers will know otherwise. The phenomenon of the Wizard-of-Oz...
pro-spiracy n.— «A pro-spiracy is like a con-spiracy, except instead of plotting against you, people are plotting for you. For instance, if we were to discover that, for years the government had been siphoning money out of wasteful...
academic redshirting n.— «Concern about the academic fate of children who stumble in the early grades is driving up the entrance age for kindergarten at schools across the United States. In some states, education policy-makers are taking...