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."

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

131. MVCAP fyi

See free MVCAP e-books on college admissions and financial aid for sharing, printing, and downloading at our online resource library: http://issuu.com/mvcap

1. Some Early Returns on Early Admission, by Jacques Steinberg http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/12/early-admission-2011/

‎"Among those colleges and universities with binding early-decision programs — in which those applying have consented in advance to attend if admitted — Northwestern is reporting that early applications increased by 24 percent, to about 2,100, when compared with last year; submissions to the University of Pennsylvania are up 18 percent, to 4,557; Duke and Johns Hopkins are each up by nearly 14 percent, having received 2,282 and 1,314 applications, respectively; and Rice is up about 15 percent, with about 1,000 early applications."

2. For-Profit College Recruiters Caught Giving False Info (WATCH) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/12/forprofit-college-recruit_n_782982.html

"After a Remington College professor was surprised to find two convicted felons on his class roster, ABC sent an undercover producer posing as a convicted felon to meet with a Remington recruiter. When the producer told the recruiter of his felony conviction, the recruiter assured him they would work with him and that he could find work in law enforcement or corrections. But according to the Texas Department of Public Safety, those convicted of felonies are barred from working in those areas. In another instance, a DeVry University recruiter grossly exaggerated the percentage of graduates who obtained jobs upon graduation."

3. 7 Most Affordable College Towns: Forbes List http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/12/most-affordable-college-towns_n_782341.html#s180096

‎"A new study by Coldwell Banker Real Estate reveals that many students and their families are opting to purchase houses in college towns rather than pay for dorms, reports Forbes. To determine rankings, Coldwell Banker looked at the list prices of houses in 120 college towns, which had at least 6 homes available for purchase between April and September of 2010. Forbes gives the fifteen most affordable college towns. Below, check out the top seven -- and why buying, rather than renting, might be a good idea."

4. College study abroad suffers its first decline, by Mary Beth Marklein - http://usat.ly/bPGX3z - RT @USATODAY

"Europe still attracted the largest share of U.S. students — more than 140,000 — but enrollments dropped 4%. They rose in Africa (16%), Asia (2%) and South America (13%). That growth was fueled in part "by new and sometimes more affordable" programs in developing countries, the report says."The economic situation around the world, not just the U.S., is clearly having an impact," says Peggy Blumenthal, executive vice president of the institute. Although the 2008-09 figures are the latest available, there are signs that the most recent year has begun to see an uptick in U.S. students going abroad."

5. Black Colleges Look To Increase Online Education Presence, by Kathy Matheson http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/14/black-colleges-look-to-in_n_783277.html

"Blacks comprised about 12 percent of total enrollment in higher education in 2007 but were 21 percent of students at for-profit institutions – many of which are online, according to an American Council on Education report released this year. Tom Joyner, a syndicated radio host with a largely black audience, also sees the market's potential. The longtime historical black college and unversity booster and philanthropist has invested about $7 million to start HBCUsOnline.com, an educational services venture run by his son."

6. Questionable Science Behind Academic Rankings, by D.D. Guttenplan - http://nyti.ms/d93SWh

"But researchers who looked behind the headlines noticed that the list also ranked Alexandria fourth in the world in a subcategory that weighed the impact of a university’s research — behind only Caltech, M.I.T. and Princeton, and ahead of both Harvard and Stanford. Like most university rankings, the list is made up of several different indicators, which are given weighted scores and combined to produce a final number or ranking. As Richard Holmes, who teaches at the Universiti Teknologi MARA in Malaysia, wrote on his University Ranking Watch blog, according to the Webometrics ranking of World Universities, published by the Spanish Ministry of Education, Alexandria University is “not even the best university in Alexandria.” The overall result, he wrote, was skewed by “one indicator, citations, which accounted for 32.5% of the total weighting.”

7. China Surges Past India as Top Home of Foreign Students, by Tamar Lewin - http://nyti.ms/cZL6l9

"The report found that a record high of 690,923 international students came to the United States last year — nearly 128,000 of them, or more than 18 percent, from China. Over all, the number of international students at colleges and universities in the United States increased 3 percent for the 2009-10 academic year. India, which in recent years had been in the top spot, increased its numbers only slightly, to 104,897 last academic year. “The number of students from China is booming, because of that booming Chinese economy,” said Peggy Blumenthal, executive vice president of the institute. “But India, which also has a booming economy, is only up 1.6 percent. I think one factor is the great number of Chinese families with disposable income, two working parents and only one child, and a determination to invest their money to make sure that child receives the best education possible.”

8. Pay of 30 Private-College Presidents Topped $1-Million in 2008, by Andrea Fuller http://chronicle.com/article/Compensation-of-30/125371/

"The Internal Revenue Service overhauled the way it instructed colleges to report compensation for 2008. Colleges were asked to report salaries according to the calendar year, not the fiscal year, as in years past, meaning that some dollar amounts overlap with what was reported the previous year. But one thing remained the same: As in years past, the top earners included presidents who received large payouts when they stepped down. John R. Brazil, who retired in January as president of Trinity University, in Texas, was the second-highest earner during 2008, receiving $2,777,653 in total compensation. More than $2-million of that amount included payout and interest on deferred compensation.The highest-paid sitting president was R. Gerald Turner, of Southern Methodist University, who earned $2,774,000 in total compensation. According to the university, Mr. Turner's compensation was unusually high because he cashed out a life-insurance policy and bought his own policy. . . ."

9. Top district lets average kids lag, by Jay Mathews - http://voices.washingtonpost.com/class-struggle/2010/11/top_district_lets_average_kids.html

"Dan Stephens, who teaches math at Northwood High School, thinks he knows why. It is a reason I have never heard before from his renowned district. The most prevalent complaint, buttressed by the new documentary “Race to Nowhere” being shown in Montgomery County, is that teachers and principals put too much pressure on the kids. They are jittery, sleep-deprived, maybe suicidal. Stephens, who teaches Precalculus and Geometry to mostly average kids, thinks his students are the opposite of too stressed. They don’t try very hard and know they will still graduate, so no problem. “All I can do is beg my students to study. Ultimately, they know they don’t have to and don’t,” said Stephens, who has taught for 20 years. “I would guess fewer than a handful actually studied for their test last week. No joke.”

10. Black-White Differences in Oracy and Literacy: A Needed Conversation, by Tom Sticht - http://www.educationnews.org/commentaries/opinions_on_education/102925.html

"Listening to adults speak in early childhood may, as suggested by Ferguson, produce differences in both oracy (listening to and comprehending speech) and literacy (reading). In research for the U. S. Department of Defense, colleagues and I found that there were significant differences between black and white young adults who were applicants for military service in the oracy skills involved in listening to and recalling information from spoken messages. Additionally, when simultaneously listening to and reading information from a 5th grade passage spoken at 100 words per minute, whites correctly identified 95 percent of mismatches between the spoken and written versions of the same message while blacks answered 85 percent correctly, a ten point gap. Surprisingly, however, when the spoken message was presented for listening at 250 words per minute, forcing examinees to listen and read at that rate, which is about the average rate for silent reading by college-oriented, high school graduates, whites got 60 percent of mismatches correct while blacks got only 30 percent correct, a 30 point gap. For some reason, accelerating the rate of speech from 100 to 250 words per minute tripled the gap between scores for whites and blacks. This suggests some differences in the internal brain processes involved in the fluency of processing oral and written language at rates of reading typical for entering college freshman."

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