Change of pace today!  I’ve been intrigued by two or three recent education-related events here in Missouri, but none of these thoughts are worth of a full column.  Today’s matinee, then, is a collection three mini-columns, disguised as a triple-feature. Apologies offered if needed.  
The Adult High School This news has been hinted at in the past, but it was exciting to see the official announcement materialize.  Four new “Goodwill Excel Centers” will be opened around the state (including Greene County).  They will allow dropouts over 21 to finish high school, earn diplomas, and gain several important skills.  Best of all, it will be free to all participants, as well as providing services like drop-in child care and others.
Implementation and unanticipated glitches are always possibilities in a new venture, and I could be missing something obvious.  But from my perspective, this seems to be a win/win idea, with no real drawbacks.  It also helps reinforce a broader vision of what ‘education’ can be.  I wish the endeavor all the best!!
The Proposed Statewide Civics Exam State Rep. Dean Dohrman has proposed a bill which would mandate that all college students pass a ‘citizenship test’ before they can graduate.  My feelings are so mixed here that I’ll pass on an opinion.  On the one hand, how can one argue with such a noble-sounding goal?  Turning out graduates who are better (and better-informed) citizens is still – and has long been – one of the goals of education.  Furthermore, the exam seems relatively harmless in terms of ramifications, as I suspect it would be hard for students to fail.  (I know, I know.)
On the other hand, we are faced with the basic question here that so often arises in almost all educational settings.  Can one exam, especially one that is necessarily based on facts only, ‘ensure’ (let alone even measure) that graduates ‘understand American civics’?  (Does passing the bar ensure that the candidate will be a good lawyer?) We’ve been recently and repeatedly introduced to the fact that ‘American civics’ is a complicated process. 
Please don’t get me wrong:  knowing (or knowing at test time?) how many senators, how many articles in the Constitution, and naming branches of government is certainly not bad!  (Would that more of us could remember those facts!)  But that information can always be googled, and will/does this ‘knowledge’ make better citizens? 
Perhaps that answer is yes.  Seriously.  I’m NOT trying to be a naysayer; I’m just wondering out loud.
Hillbilly Elegy If you haven’t read J.D. Vance’s book of the same title, I highly recommend it.  I was slow to do so, and I now see why it’s a best-seller.  It’s a fascinating, enlightening, well-written story, one that is simultaneously ‘an easy read’ and ‘thought-provokingly deep’ at the same time.  Near the end (and elsewhere in spots), Vance develops and shares some very good observations on politics, sociology, and certainly education (including how it’s affected by home environment!), which is why it’s mentioned here.  I’m still pondering some of those observations, and even how I feel about one or two of them, but that’s not the point.  These topics desperately need to be discussed on a variety of levels, including nationally.  A whole paradigm shift may be needed in places.  Excellent grist for the mill here – and a good read as well.