It took me ten years to complete an Associate of Arts in Liberal Arts and a Bachelor of Arts in Geology in that fashion.

The student loans I took out have been repaid without government assistance.

I too experience a high degree of satisfaction and yes, self esteem in my achievement which is the byproduct of taking education or any other task to fruition.

This puts even more pressure on higher education to lead the way academically. While being aware we cannot be led by any organization. A good start would be to see greater investment in full time faculty dedicated to teaching, research and curriculum development. Canada, Europe, and Australia are ahead of the curve here, I hope Dean Halfond's article leads to a greater recognition and investment in quality project management programs in the USA as well.

I wanted to warn you to be careful of the PMI only perspective. Construction Project Management has been a formal career path since the 1940s. This includes undergrad degrees, master's and PhD's in construction project management. So "project management" is far from "new" in academia.

Furthermore, despite PMI's efforts to capitalize on the growing awareness and popularity, "project management" is a process which uses exactly the same "tools and techniques" we find in general management. The only significant difference is projects, by definition, produce a unique product or service and have a defined stop. Otherwise, as Peter Drucker alluded, "management is management is management".

Globally, there are other professional organizations besides PMI, including the International Project Management Association (IPMA) http://www.ipma.ch/Pages/default.aspx based in Europe, which also has a branch in the USA-the American Society for the Advancement of Project Management (asapm)- http://www.asapm.org/; There is also the Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering International, http://www.aacei.org/, which, despite the name is a viable competitor to PMI, and then there is the International Council of Systems Engineers (INCOSE) http://www.incose.org/, which, like AACE takes a much more holistic organizational view of project management than does PMI.

Bottom line: PMI is by far the largest, but not necessarily the most highly respected of the organizations representing the practice of project management. And while their PMP (Project Management Professional) certification has become a de facto license to practice in some sectors, it is, IMPO, a grossly oversold credential. Clearly, the trends are moving away from exam-based certifications in this field and more toward competency-based credentials. I would hope that in the future, you can publish a more balanced perspective so that readers can do their own due diligence and make their own choices about whether "bigger" is really "better."

Best Regards,
Dr. Paul D. Giammalvo, CDT, CCE, MscPM, MRICS
http://www.build-project-management-competency.com
Jakarta, Indonesia

We need to examine:
- How school districts develop and execute comprehensive implementation plans for the standards.
- What the curriculum looks like.
- How teachers are prepared to use the standards.
- How teachers meaningfully base their instruction on the standards.
- How school leaders provide ongoing feedback to their teachers.
- How students will be assess on their understanding.
- How states will find the funding to support all these efforts.

All of these factors relate to whether the common core will make a difference to students.

State legislators recognize the efforts of the state-led consortium that has developed the standards. And state legislators are following the work of the two consortia that are developing assessments. At the same time, some state legislators are troubled that the people who are leading these efforts may move on from standards and assessments, to common curriculum, textbooks and teacher-preparation programs. There is concern that the effort that began with standards may have as its ultimate goal a nationalized K-12 system that will not remain voluntary to states. Recent actions have contributed to these fears.

For example:

- Rhode Island, like other states, was required by the federal government to commit to adopting the common standards as an eligibility criterion for the Race to the Top competition, even before the common standards were fully developed, released or endorsed.

- The federal government has committed $350 million to developing the common assessments that match up to the common standards.

- The Common Core Initiative acknowledges the need for ongoing federal support for its activities.

- The Obama administration's blueprint for reauthorization of ESEA suggests that Title I funds for disadvantaged children be contingent upon each state's acceptance of a set of voluntary common standards.

I think the most positive aspect of this voluntary, state-led effort is the renewed attention to the profound differences in expectations for student performance across states, and I am glad that Rhode Island is among states that want to do better. But I think there are still some unanswered questions that make it difficult for state legislators to lose their skepticism about the Common Core. Here are three of mine:

1. How will curricula be developed? Major publishers have had a place at every table during the development of the standards, and are now present for the development of the assessments. Are state departments of education prepared or able to take the lead in guiding the development of curricula, or will publishers decide what materials should be included?

2. What is the communication plan that will support the rollout of the Common Core standards and assessments? There are a lot of moving parts associated with the Common Core, and many state legislators still do not understand the implications associated with Rhode Island's adoption of the standards. For example, all indications are that with the greater rigor of the standards, the number of students who score below proficiency will increase. It will appear as if schools have slipped in their ability to prepare students. State legislators will receive calls from upset parents who demand to know what happened. How will the state department of education, superintendents, and principals work with their state legislators to prepare them for this situation, and make sure their elected officials understand the nuances associated with moving to a new assessment system?

3. Can Rhode Island afford this? The Common Core and its assessments call for professional development, upgrades to technology, purchases of new curricula and materials. I still have not seen any projections about the costs states will incur because of the Common Core, or about how state departments of education are planning to incorporate these costs into their budgeting.

To sum it all up, state legislators agree that students can benefit from rigorous state standards anchored in real-world demands that they will face after high school, and that are aligned to K-12 curriculum, assessments, high school graduation requirements and college placement standards. Legislators at the state level maintain that this can be best accomplished through the work of individual states or through voluntary participation in joint efforts like the Common Core. Rhode Island has opted to join in the Common Core, and we in the House of Representatives have faith that this effort will benefit our students, teachers and schools. Large, complex efforts like the Common Core always experience challenges, but we stand ready to work at the state and local levels to make decisions that optimize our chances for success here.

1. Studies that included those born beginning in 1977 prove that even they are liberal on social issues - sure, maybe not as much as the babies of the '80s, but even those born beginning in 1977 have long supported, say, gay rights, green technologies, and immigration rights. See, for example, "Generation We," by Eric Greenberg and Karl Weber (they say 1978 is the start date, but I use 1977 - not only because 1 year doesn't make much difference, but also because of reason #2 below).

2. An online chart proves that the "echo boom" period really started in 1977, when about 159,000 more babies were born than during the previous year.

This collective positive must be then be weighed against the negatives encountered when the education received by the individual is not useful in earning enough money to pay back extensive debt. Income contingency can help with this problem. The Thai government (which I have consulted for in the past on student loan issues) recently announced that student loan defaults have become such a budgetary strain that they will begin to combine income contingent loans with a plan to make student loan availability dependent in part on a student's projected future employment prospects.

I have noticed that even though the website asks commentators to identify their institutional affiliations or special interest in the topics at hand, no one seems to do it.

Tom Parker