Here are links to recent news on college access and success.
by
Joe Rottenborn
Executive Director, Mahoning Valley College Access Program (MVCAP)
1. Law school is a waste of time, by Penelope Trunk - #cnn -
http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/26/living/reasons-against-law-school/index.html - "Many, many students think they are going to law school to join a non-profit and change the world. The problem is law students have to pay back their debt -- no small amount when we're talking law school. So unless you are independent wealthy, you'll have to go to a big law firm first, to pay off your school loans. And once you get used to living the life of someone at a big law firm, you're not likely to leave. This is because we get used to whatever salary we earn."
2. No Child Left Behind option meets praise and caution, by Greg Toppo –
http://usat.ly/nOOEsD via USAToday - "On Friday, Obama said he would give states a pass on much of the 2002 No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law — most notably the requirement that students make large annual gains on math and reading tests. He also would waive the requirement that virtually every student be "proficient" in the two subjects by 2014."
3. The Medium Is the Message: Should a College Call, Text or Tweet? by Rebecca R. Ruiz -
http://nyti.ms/na9O1G - "Members of the millennial generation may be stereotyped as rabid text messagers, but a group of nearly 10 high school seniors and college freshmen agreed on Saturday that they would most like to hear from a college they are interested in by phone."
4. No More Waiting Around, by Kevin Kiley - Inside Higher Ed -
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/09/27/wait_lists_become_a_new_topic_of_focus_at_nacac_annual_meeting via AddThis - "The main concern among counselors was the lack of transparency surrounding how institutions manage their lists and why they operate them as they do. While most of the admissions process is governed by fairly clear rules laid out by the association, there are few rules governing the time between May 1 and August 1. Counselors said they have noticed a trend of more students are getting put on wait lists every year, and many said they hear horror stories about students being blind-sided with quick deadlines or inadequate aid offers months after they gave up hope of getting into their preferred institutions."
7. ‘Complete College’ Study of College Graduation Rates, by Tamar Lewin:
http://nyti.ms/quaCw5 - "Another factor is the large number of students mired in noncredit remedial classes that the report calls the “Bermuda Triangle” of higher education. Half of all students studying for an associate degree, and one in five of those seeking a bachelor’s degree — including many who graduated from high school with a grade point average of 3.0 or higher, previous research has shown — are required to take remedial, or “developmental” courses, and many of them never move on to credit-bearing courses, much less graduation."
8. Should the School Day Be Longer? - Room for Debate - NYTimes.com -
http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/201... - "When and where does it make sense to institute a longer school day, and how should it be designed? While this change may benefit children from disadvantaged backgrounds, providing a social support system, would it help other American students if they had to spend more time in school, given what we know about how they learn?"
9. Help for Parents and Society, by Geoffrey Canada - Room for Debate -
http://nyti.ms/nM12lc - "The National Assessment of Educational Progress shows little improvement over the decades. The black-white achievement gap is as wide as ever. SAT scores are declining. I am convinced that one of the reasons is that the school day and year are too short. Without additional time, it is virtually impossible for students behind grade level -- particularly poor and minority students -- to catch up."
10. Targeted School Time and Programs, by S. Paul Reville - Room for Debate -
http://nyti.ms/qZquIw - "No wonder schools alone, which use less than 20 percent of a child’s waking hours, have proved incapable, on average, of closing the learning gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students. Low income students need stimulating, enriching learning opportunities after school and in the summers to complement and enhance academic learning in the same ways more affluent peers do through camps, tutors, music lessons, organized sports and travel."
11. For Us, More Time Is Critical, by Richard Barth - Room for Debate -
http://nyti.ms/nfYkcs - "The mission of public education is to open up the doors of opportunity for students. Increasing time in school is one element to ensuring that all children in America have access to the opportunities that open those doors."
12. The Higher-Education Battle the White House Should Be Waging, by Kevin Carey -
http://t.co/475xSNhb - "Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has been quite candid in denouncing "dropout factory" high schools where most students fail to graduate. He is less vocal in observing that many of the students who survive dropout-factory high schools enroll in community colleges or open-access four-year universities where graduation rates are even worse."
13. “Time Is the Enemy” of College Completion, Report Finds -
http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/time-is-the-enemy-of-college-completion-report-finds/36681 - "A new report suggests that college students need to find faster ways to earn degrees, because the longer they stay in school, the more likely they are not to earn a degree. Key findings revealed that 75 percent of students are commuters who juggle work and school, rather than live on campus, and less than a quarter of part-time students ever graduate. The research also found drop-out rates linked to race, income, and age."
14. 2011 College Completion Data Complete College America -
http://shar.es/bn52h - "Time is the enemy of college completion. Choose your state to see a snapshot of how well your state is educating all of today’s college students. Then click “Complete State Profile” to see the most comprehensive state and campus college completion data ever collected."
15. At a U. of Kentucky Dorm, a Live-In iPad Experience, by Alex Campbell -
http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/at-a-u-kentucky-dorm-a-live-in-ipad-experience/33380 - "Students moving into a newly renovated dormitory at the University of Kentucky signed up for a hyperwired college experience: Each one was given an iPad and required to take a series of tech-themed courses. The unusual program is called A&S Wired Residential College and is housed in a dorm of 177 freshmen, who plan to major in a variety of fields."
16. Teacher, Leave Those Kids Alone, by Amanda Ripley -
http://ti.me/ob8IqF via @TIME - "But cramming is deeply embedded in Asia, where top grades — and often nothing else — have long been prized as essential for professional success. . . . Modern-day South Korea has taken this competition to new extremes. In 2010, 74% of all students engaged in some kind of private after-school instruction, sometimes called shadow education, at an average cost of $2,600 per student for the year. There are more private instructors in South Korea than there are schoolteachers, and the most popular of them make millions of dollars a year from online and in-person classes."
17. Report exposes hidden failure of part-time students -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/college-inc/post/report-exposes-hidden-failure-of-part-time - "A new report finds evidence of a new majority on college campuses: part-time students. Three-quarters of today’s college students attend part time, juggling classes along with work and family responsibilities, according to a new report from the nonprofit Complete College America. Only 1/4 attend residential colleges as full-time students supported by their parents, the customary vision of college embraced by the suburban middle class. . . . Completion rates are lower still among under-represented minorities. The bachelor’s completion rate is 17% for Hispanics who attend part-time, 15% for African Americans, even after allowing 8 years to finish."
