331. College Access and Success News

Here are links to recent news on college access and success.
by
Joe Rottenborn
Executive Director, Mahoning Valley College Access Program (MVCAP)

1. Thanks, but No Thanks, by Kevin Kiley - Inside Higher Ed - http://bit.ly/qxDuLn via AddThis - "The committee’s report notes that while U.S. News’ rankings are undoubtedly influential, college admissions officials and high school counselors question their value to students applying to college. . . . The committee’s report takes issue with the way the publication styles the rankings as the “Best Colleges” because the weights assigned to different metrics are essentially arbitrary."

2. Ambivalent on Agents, by Scott Jaschik and Kevin Kiley - Inside Higher Ed - http://bit.ly/pnw0bL via @AddThis - "At last year's NACAC meeting, he voiced skepticism about commission-based agents, saying that "this goes to the heart of the tension we’ve been experiencing for many years, which is what is the nature of what we do” in admissions. He said that the tension is a divide between viewing admissions as "connected to the educational mission" of academe and viewing admissions as "essentially sales."

3. The Secrets of a Good Principal, by Michael Winerip - http://nyti.ms/pkqboB - "Under state regulations, test scores can count for up to 40 percent of a teacher’s evaluation. “These tests are so unreliable; I wouldn’t count them 10 percent, 8 percent, 1 percent,” she said. “You don’t want teachers feeling belittled; you want them to keep their dignity so they can be at their best.”

4. Delay Kindergarten at Your Child’s Peril, by Sam Wang and Sandra Aamodt - http://nyti.ms/ofTr8j - "Parents who want to give their young children an academic advantage have a powerful tool: school itself. In a large-scale study at 26 Canadian elementary schools, first graders who were young for their year made considerably more progress in reading and math than kindergartners who were old for their year (but just two months younger). In another large study, the youngest fifth-graders scored a little lower than their classmates, but five points higher in verbal I.Q., on average, than fourth-graders of the same age. In other words, school makes children smarter."

5. The Complexity of ‘Fast Apps’ by Eric Hoover - https://chronicle.com/blogs/headcount/the-comlexity-of-fast-apps/28889 - "Several years ago, Vermont started using a fast app amid plans to grow its undergraduate enrollment by about 25 percent. The university sent its “VIP Application” to select prospects with specific test scores and self-reported grade-point averages. The pitch: recipients would pay no application fee and receive a decision within 21 days. The application was relatively short, and required an essay (though not a “new” one). That strategy helped Vermont expand its applicant pool. In 2002, the university received 9,800 applications; for this year’s freshman class, it received more than 22,000."

6. Top 10 Myths About Scholarships, by Beckie Supiano - https://chronicle.com/blogs/headcount/top-ten-myths-about-scholarships/28862 - "For all of the good information available to help students figure out how to pay for college, there are also more than a few urban legends about who gets money and why. Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of the web sites FinAid and FastWeb, tried to clear up some of these misunderstandings at a session of the NACAC meeting here on Friday, where he shared ten myths about college scholarships."

7. American students abroad pushed out of 'bubbles' by Justin Pope – http://usat.ly/olZP12 via @USATODAY - "After decades of laissez-faire and faith that just breathing the air in foreign lands broadens horizons, American colleges and international programs are pressing students harder to get out of their comfort zones. It's happening in popular destinations as well as more exotic spots in Asia and Africa, where there are fewer Americans, but language and culture barriers make them even more tempted to stick together."

8. Rethinking Pre-K: 5 Ways to Fix Preschool, by Kayla Webley - http://ti.me/qIi4a0 via @TIME - "Take two kids, one from a low-income family, the other middle class. Let them run around and do little-kid things in their respective homes and then, at age 5, enroll them in kindergarten. When the first day of school rolls around, research shows that the child from the low-income household will be as many as 1.5 years behind grade level in terms of language and prereading and premath skills. The middle-class kid will be as many as 1.5 years ahead. This means that, by the time these two 5-years-old start school, the achievement gap between them is already as great as three years."

9. Guest post: Get out your net-price calculator, by Bob Clement - College, Inc. - http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/college-inc/post/guest-post-get-out-your-net-price-calculator/2011/09/22/gIQA8XVjqK_blog.html via Washingtonpost.com -"One thing is certain: as of Oct. 29, any prospective college student that doesn’t ask, “What is this college really going to cost me?” will be making a poorly informed decision. Similarly, any institution that doesn’t provide a useful and accurate answer to that question may risk losing the trust of its most savvy prospects and their parents."

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