Hello:

I apologize for this exceedingly late response.  I am afraid that I was not aware that I had this e-mail account until two days ago, so I am discovering a host of e-mails that I have missed over the past 5 months.

I very much appreciate your consideration of the article.  It is exceedingly helpful to have the feedback, as I plan to make some of it public for the first time later this year in a conference presentation.

As for your comments here, this is really a question in two parts.  The first is about cognitive development in k-12, and the second concerns perspectives on successful higher education.  Both, of course, are very complex questions….and I think the best response might be with another question.  First, consider that higher education is considered to be an “end objective” ofeducation – it is called “higher” education because it is thought to be the highest form of education available.  So, the question for you is, given your observations of higher education (and the impression here and overseas that it is a worthwhile endeavor), what k-12 experience would best prepare students for the types of inquiry and scholarship that is expected in this environment?  Is it content knowledge, or are there other skills and abilities that might be valuable?

Thank you again for your response, and good luck with the continuation of your degree program.

Regards,

Robert

Letter to an Academic Author

This is the letter to the author of the article <A Brief History of American Higher Education>. This letter was wrote on February 2012 and it includes several questions I had after the reading.