346. 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. Creating Education Success at Home, by Marc Tucker - http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2011/10/19/08tucker_ep.h31.html via @educationweek - "First, most of these top-10 nations put more money behind their hardest-to-educate students than those who are easier to educate."

2. Syracuse, Selectivity, and ‘Old Measures,’ by Eric Hoover -http://chronicle.com/blogs/headcount/syracuse-selectivity-and-‘old-measures’/28973 - "Generally speaking, enrolling more low-income students means emphasizing grades over ACT and SAT scores, one of the many trade-offs admissions officials often weigh. When a college enrolls more Pell-eligible students, it can expect to see standardized-test scores to go down."

3. Not Marching in Step, by Elizabeth Murphy - Inside Higher Ed - http://bit.ly/ql6mGn via @AddThis - "It reported that a majority, but not all members, recommended bringing Naval and Air Force ROTC back to Brown. Katherine Bergeron, committee chair and dean of the college, said that while the group’s main duty was fact-finding, this final recommendation did come down to a vote, with six members for a recommendation to bring Naval and Air Force ROTC back to campus and four against. “We reported the split because in effect we found it analogous or reflective of the range of opinion on campus,” Bergeron, also a professor of musicology, said. “The idea was maximal engagement.”

4. More than 100 cities, counties agree to push early literacy, by Valerie Strauss -The Answer Sheet - http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/more-than-100-cities-counties/2011/10/16/gIQAMuQFqL_blog.html?tid=sm_btn_twitter via Washingtonpost.com - "The Campaign for Grade Level Reading is a collaborative effort by dozens of funders to make sure that all children, especially those from low-income families who often enter kindergarten already behind, learn to read. Signing onto the campaign are big cities such as Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston and Atlanta, and the entire state of Arizona. This issue is as important as any in public education; kids who don’t read have enormous difficulties later in life. To borrow a famous phrase from the campaign of former president Bill Clinton: It’s the reading, stupid."

5. Community college placement falters, by Jay Mathews - http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/community-college-placement-falters/2011/10/13/gIQANywVpL_story.html?tid=sm_btn_twitter via Washingtonpost.com - "All of the local two-year colleges I surveyed were aware that new research is forcing them to justify remediation. Half to two-thirds of their incoming students must pay for no-credit catch-up courses before they are allowed to take credit courses in those subjects. This requirement for remediation is contradicted by a study of thousands of community college students. Those who found ways to take for-credit courses despite flunking placement tests passed the courses 71 percent of the time. Headden said that was close to the 77 percent passing rate for all students in those courses."

6. Study Shows Parents Struggling to Save for College Education News - http://shar.es/bq5wm - "The study showed that 25% of U.S. households are contributing less toward their children’s college education — or have stopped saving entirely. 44% have not started saving at all. A meager 15 percent have reduced spending on other things to keep saving/paying for their children’s college educations."

7. Read The Joe Rottenborn Daily ▸ today's top stories on college access and success via @rottenbornj ▸ http://t.co/xt4njNy8