341. 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. Undocumented immigrant students will be eligible for California aid, by Michael Martinez - http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/08/us/california-dream-act/index.html - "Undocumented immigrant students in California will be able to receive state-funded financial aid in 2013 to attend college, under a new law signed Saturday by Gov. Jerry Brown. The law allows top students who are on a path to citizenship to apply and receive the state aid, the governor said. About 2,500 students are projected to receive Cal Grants totaling $14.5 million, according to the California Department of Finance. That averages out to $5,800 per student. The funding amounts to 1% of the overall $1.4 billion Cal Grant program, officials said."

2. Starting to Worry, by Kevin Kiley - Inside Higher Ed - http://bit.ly/nmMkXK via @AddThis - "In the past year, presidents of several elite liberal arts colleges have questioned whether the financial model underpinning their institutions – one relying on high tuition costs and student aid paying for expensive instruction and residential life on beautiful campuses -- is sustainable over the long term. They have also begun to question whether the education they offer, with small classes, relatively rigid schedules, limited course and major offerings, and intense academic rigor, is going to continue to appeal to students. . . . In total, liberal arts colleges teach about 5 percent of all undergraduate students, and include hundreds of institutions, some of which are struggling financially.A residential liberal arts education is expensive to deliver. It requires highly trained faculty members, small classes, significant academic resources, and a residential environment with amenities."

3. Suddenly Ineligible, by Libby A. Nelson - Inside Higher Ed - http://bit.ly/nplIyb via AddThis - "The budget, proposed Sept. 29 by an appropriations subcommittee, would make several changes to the Pell Grant program. Among them: The grants could be used for 12 semesters, not the current 18; students enrolled less than half-time would no longer be eligible; and students who are eligible for less than 10 percent of the maximum grant would receive nothing, rather than $550 as they would have in the past. Students without a high school diploma or GED would no longer receive the grants."

4. Flexibility on Tutoring Pleases Districts, Worries Industry, by Michele McNeil - http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2011/10/12/07ses_ep.h31.html via @educationweek

"2009: Education Secretary Arne Duncan uses his waiver authority to let all school districts provide tutoring before choice and to serve as providers of SES tutoring.

2011: Mr. Duncan announces a broad waiver plan to give states more flexibility under NCLB, which includes lifting the requirement that school districts in need of improvement set aside money for, and provide, tutoring and choice."

5. Education Week's Digital Directions: Teachers use social media to enhance instruction - http://www.edweek.org/dd/articles/2011/10/07/460859iexchangesocialmediacurriculum_ap.html via @educationweek - "School districts around central Iowa are scrambling to keep up with policies stipulating personal and professional boundaries between teachers, administrators and students as social media applications and wireless-capable devices become more accessible. But most schools have come to terms with the fact the Internet, including social media, has become a stock part of instruction, said Karl Hehr, director of technology and information for Ames Community School District."

6. A Sociological Eye on Education Duncan vs. Duncan, by Aaron Pallas - http://bit.ly/p8Y0yk via @AddThis - "But although there are some shining examples of high-performing schools serving high concentrations of students in poverty, they surely aren’t typical–and it would be very misleading to claim that any state or school district has effectively eliminated the link between poverty and low academic achievement, despite a decade or more of federal and state reforms intended to do just that."

7. Economic inequality: The real cause of the urban school problem, by Greg J. Duncan and Richard J. Murnane - http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/ct-perspec-1006-urban-20111006,0,6924934.story - "Historically, we have relied on our public schools to level the playing field for children born into different circumstances, but in recent years, the gaps in achievement and behavior between high- and low-income children have only grown wider. Why? For one thing, residential segregation by income has meant that poor children are concentrated in the same schools to a much greater extent today than 40 years ago. As a result, children from low-income families are far more likely to have classmates with low achievement and behavior problems, which have a negative effect on their own learning."

8. Group Calls for More Spending on New York Students, by Winnie Hu - http://nyti.ms/nak1IL - “This is not going the cheap way,” said Michael A. Rebell, an education professor and lawyer who is executive director of the Campaign for Educational Equity. “What we’re saying is, if we’re really serious about overcoming the achievement gap, students need these services to have a meaningful opportunity. . . . Starting with prenatal care for mothers, the campaign’s recommendation counts on 18 years of services — through high school graduation — that include extensive early child care and after-school and summer programs."

9. A Classroom Software Boom, but Mixed Results Despite the Hype, by Trip Gabriel and Matt Richtel - http://nyti.ms/ojodYC - "The federal review of Carnegie Learning’s flagship software, Cognitive Tutor, said the program had “no discernible effects” on the standardized test scores of high school students. A separate 2009 federal look at 10 major software products for teaching algebra as well as elementary and middle school math and reading found that nine of them, including Cognitive Tutor, “did not have statistically significant effects on test scores.” Amid a classroom-based software boom estimated at $2.2 billion a year, debate continues to rage over the effectiveness of technology on learning and how best to measure it."

10. Digital library aims to expand kids' media literacy, by Greg Toppo – http://usat.ly/qud62q via @USATODAY - "It goes like this: Take a very large room and fill it with the latest digital media — laptop computers, music keyboards, recording equipment, video cameras and gaming consoles. Invite teenagers. Apply a little pressure, pushing them both to consume and produce media. Watch what happens."

11. Guest post: Let’s be up-front about merit aid, by Stephen MacDonald - College, Inc. - http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/college-inc/post/guest-post-lets-be-up-front-about-merit-aid/2011/10/07/gIQAx098SL_blog.html via Washingtonpost.com - "The only difference is that we disclose a student’s merit aid up front. Why? The late John Synodinos, former president at Lebanon Valley, believed that parents should know at the time of their child’s acceptance how much their education was going to cost them. “You wouldn’t buy a winter overcoat this way,” John said. “You wouldn’t buy a coat in December and wait until March to find out how much it is going to cost you. You shouldn’t have to buy a college education that way, either.”This policy takes the mystery out of the financial aid process, making it easy to understand for students and their family. This simple plan is one that rewards students for their good work. It’s a plan LVC still uses 20 years later."

12. Why school reform can’t ignore poverty’s toll, by Marcus D. Pohlmann - The Answer Sheet - http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/why-school-reform-cant-ignore-povertys-toll/2011/10/07/gIQAYPHMUL_blog.html via @washingtonpost - "Poverty increases family stress, leads to poor nutrition and medical care, and, importantly, means children are talked to less and end up with vocabularies that are about half that of middle-class children. Research suggests that the first years shape a child’s capacity to learn. Science tells us that it is essential to brain development that babies are spoken to, read to, cuddled, and allowed to engage in physical play. National Institute of Health studies have indicated the foundations necessary for higher learning — working memory, vocabulary, spatial recognition, reasoning, and calculation skills — are set by the time a child reaches puberty."

13. The Most Expensive Colleges In America: Campus Grotto List - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/10/the-most-expensive-colleg_n_1003135.html - "For the fifth year in a row, our friends at Campus Grotto calculated which colleges boast the highest total price tags in the country -- some nearing a whopping $60,000 per year. This year, 19 colleges made their list. See the top 10 most expensive colleges below, and click over to Campus Grotto for the full list and their methodology."