By Andy Thomason. A few weeks ago, The Chronicle Review published an essay by Steven Pinker that took academics to task for their incomprehensible writing.
“In writing badly,” wrote Mr. Pinker, “we are wasting each other’s time, sowing confusion and error, and turning our profession into a laughingstock.” The implication is that academese could use a grand stroke of simplification. More...

By Andy Thomason. A new project from the National Student Clearinghouse will aim to provide an automated way for students who transfer from two-year institutions to four-year institutions to receive associate degrees. The “reverse transfer” initiative, which is funded by the Lumina Foundation, will create a depository where the four-year college can send a student’s academic data, which can then be downloaded by the two-year college. A student who has acquired enough credits will receive an associate degree. More...

By Andy Thomason. Rice University on Monday launched a free Advanced Placement course in biology, representing the first time that edX—the prominent provider of massive open online courses—has hosted an AP class for high-school students. More...

By Andy Thomason. Three U.S. senators urged the education secretary, Arne Duncan, in a letter on Thursday to provide better safety information to college students who plan to study abroad. The letter—signed by Robert P. Casey Jr. of Pennsylvania, Al Franken of Minnesota, and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, all Democrats—recommends, among other things, that the Education Department better advertise the State Department’s Smart Traveler Enrollment Program. Links to sign up for the program should be provided in the Free Application for Federal Student Aid and on the department’s website, the senators wrote. More...