382. 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. Read The Joe Rottenborn Daily ▸ today's top stories on college access and success via @rottenbornj ▸ http://paper.li/rottenbornj

2. At White House Meeting on Affordability, a Call for Urgency, Innovation, and Leadership, by Collin Eatonhttp://chronicle.com/article/At-White-House-Meeting-on/130012/ -"Improving completion with the existing enrollment is not going to close the gap, we're going to have to get more students and get more students to complete—a good portion of them are going to have to be nontraditional students, those already in the work force."

3. Questions for the SAT's Top Cop, by Jacques Steinberg: http://nyti.ms/s4deNW - "During the 2010-11 academic year, the office conducted about 9,600 investigations of SAT testing irregularities, including fire alarms going off during testing and reports of test taker impersonation. On test day, test takers must present their admission ticket as well as an acceptable form of photo ID. The name on the admission ticket must match exactly the name on the ID, and the ID must include a recent, recognizable photo. Test center staff members are authorized to refuse admission to any test taker with invalid or questionable ID. A list of acceptable forms of ID is available on the SAT Web site."

4. The 'Boy Problem' Examined, by Elizabeth Murphy Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/tE7mzE via AddThis - "The female advantage is present across racial groups, as well, according to the data. In 1981, the most recent birth year calculated, white women have an 11 percent point advantage over white men, black women are at 9 percentage points and Hispanic women at 6 percentage points, according to the paper."

5. GAINS AND GAPS: CHANGING INEQUALITY IN U.S. COLLEGE ENTRY AND COMPLETION, by Martha J. Bailey and Susan M. Dynarski - http://www.nber.org/tmp/1823-w17633.pdf - "We find growing gaps between children from high- and low-income families in college entry, persistence, and graduation. . . . Sex differences in educational attainment, which were small or nonexistent thirty years ago,are now substantial, with women outpacing men in every demographic group. The female advantage in educational attainment is largest in the top quartile of the income distribution."

6. Districts see rise in homeless students, by Charlie Boss The Columbus Dispatch - http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2011/12/05/when-shelter-is-home.html - "It seems like in December and January, everything falls apart for a family,” said Pam Reveal, who oversees enrollment for Groveport Madison schools. “They lose their homes and jobs. A lot of them won’t go to a shelter unless they absolutely have to. Some have been sleeping in parking lots." The 5,822-student school district just southeast of Columbus has the highest rate of homeless students in Franklin County. About 8percent of the district’s students did not have a permanent address at one point last school year. That’s about 450 students, more than triple the number from the 2006-07 school year."

7. How to Rescue Education Reform, by FREDERICK M. HESS and LINDA DARLING-HAMMOND: http://nyti.ms/tntDvY - "Perhaps No Child Left Behind’s most enduring lesson is the value of humility — a virtue that must be taken to heart in crafting a smarter, more coherent federal role in schooling."

8. Employers Say College Graduates Lack Job Skills, by Lacey Johnson -http://chronicle.com/article/Employers-Say-College/130013/ - "The group surveyed more than 1,000 employers in various industries last month about whether job applicants possess the skills to thrive in the workplace. More than half of employers said finding qualified applicants is difficult, and just under half thought students should receive specific workplace training rather than a more broad-based education."

9. Guest post: A more relaxed approach to Early Decision, by Jeff Rickey - College, Inc. - http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/college-inc/post/guest-post-a-more-relaxed-approach-to-early-decision/2011/12/06/gIQAo1JXZO_blog.html?tid=sm_btn_twitter via Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive - "Instead of making them wait to hear from us until the middle of March, we developed a plan that allows students to apply Early Decision at any time up until our Regular Decision deadline of February 1. Students declare their Early Decision intentions by completing and submitting the Early Decision contract, and, once that is received and the admissions application is complete, the application is evaluated and the student is notified, usually within a couple of weeks of completion."

10. Still Waiting: Black Male Achievement in America, by LaVar Young - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lavar-young/black-male-achievement_b_1121379.html?ref=education&ir=Education - "But, the statistics are tangible and certainly disturbing, and they start immediately at birth. For one, black infant mortality rates are more than twice that of whites, in a country that already has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the developed world. As they grow into toddlerhood and childhood, the evidence mounts. Two-thirds of black children live in single parent households, which is three times that of white children. And one-third live in poverty, compared with one tenth of their white counterparts. In school, black males score lower on standardized tests, are nearly twice as likely to drop out of high school, three times as likely to be suspended from school and less likely to go on to a two-year or four-year college."

298. Summer College News

Here are some links to today's stories
about college access and success.
by
Joe Rottenborn
Executive Director, Mahoning Valley College Access Program (MVCAP)

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

2. Suicide attempts higher for veterans on campus, by Sharon Jayson - http://yourlife.usatoday.com/health/medical/mentalhealth/story/2011/08/Suicide-attempts-higher-for-veterans-on-campus/49808298/1 - "Nearly half (46%) of the 415 men and 110 women studied reported having had suicidal thinking sometime in their lives; 20% had suicidal thoughts with a plan. That compares to 2010 data from the American College Health Association, which showed 6% of college students reported seriously considering suicide."

3. Degrees of Wealth, by Steve Kolowich - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/r2wcRp - "But notwithstanding the apparent persistence of racial and gender-based handicaps, “obtaining a postsecondary credential is almost always worth it” for everyone, the researchers say. Broadly, people with associate degrees would typically earn around $1.7 million over their lives; those with professional degrees would earn $3.6 million. The degrees in between -- bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral (in that order) -- make up pretty even steps, each worth about $400,000 more than the last."

4. Tackling Urban Inequalities, by Kevin Kiley - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/qVQfEz - “When we look at poverty rates, graduation rates, crime rates, employment rates, one thing stands out,” Bloomberg said at the press conference. “Blacks and Latinos are not fully sharing in the promise of American freedom, and far too many are trapped in circumstances that are difficult to escape from.”

5. When it Comes to Earnings, Higher Education Isn't the Whole Story, by Beckie Supiano - http://chronicle.com/article/Education-Pays-but-So-Does/128526/ - "Within each occupation, like health professionals or sales and office workers, the more education a person has, the more that person is likely to earn. But some occupations pay better than others, so less-educated workers in them can earn more than more-educated workers in a different line of work. That finding echoes the center's report on college majors, since college major is closely tied to occupation."

6. Smart college shopping saves time, money and the environment, by Oliver St. John and Jayne O'Donnell: http://t.co/t6bKTeq via @USATODAY - ". . . Parents and students plan to spend an average of $808.71 on apparel, electronics, dorm furnishings and food items this year, down from $835.73 last year, according to a National Retail Federation survey by consumer intelligence firm BIGresearch."

7. A conversation: Kopp, West, Smiley on Teach for America, by Valerie Strauss - The Answer Sheet - http://t.co/zcFut19 via @washingtonpost - "I think of the degree to which we still put such low value on the lives and the opportunities for poor and working class kids of all colors, disproportionately black, brown and red. . . . It’s a moral disgrace when you look at the schools in our urban areas. Not just black, but brown and white poor and so forth."

8. Unigo Expert Network: Best Jobs for College Students - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/unigo/unigo-expert-network-best_b_918965.html - "College students being strapped for cash is no surprise, but it does beg the question of what jobs make the best fits for students? Should students make as much money as they can and graduate with as little debt as possible - or - take on internships or lower paying positions in their field of interest?"

9. The 10 Colleges With The Best Dorms - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/05/the-10-colleges-with-the-_n_919218.html#s322931&title=Bryn_Mawr_College - "Dorms are notoriously spartan, cinderblock affairs. However, some colleges definitely have better living quarters than others. According to the Princeton Review, Pennsylvania liberal arts college Bryn Mawr has the best dorms in the country, followed closely by Maryland's Loyola University. Check out our slide show of the colleges with the best dorms.

10. 7 Tools to Aid the College Admissions Process, by Ryan Lytle - US News and World Report - http://t.co/ORmUWFQ - "As technology advances, digital tools have become more prevalent in making this life-altering process more manageable. Here are just a few of those tools available to students and parents:"

297. Summer College News

Here are some links to today's stories

about college access and success.

by

Joe Rottenborn

Executive Director, Mahoning Valley College Access Program (MVCAP)

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

2. NCAA cost-of-attendance puzzle: many schools, many methods, by Calder Silcox, Steve Berkowitz, and Jodi Upton - http://t.co/6IG4nQ3 via @USATODAY - "Instead, each school's financial-aid office makes an estimate — and each school uses its own formula. An estimate for in-state and out-of-state students is reported to the NCAA each year."

3. New school set to open, by Virginia Shank - Tribune Chronicle - Warren, OH: http://bit.ly/ofUjGz - "In 1997 the state legislature passed a law allowing community, or charter schools, to operate in Ohio. According to the Ohio Department of Education, there now are some 300 such schools in Ohio, including several in the Mahoning Valley. The privately operated schools receive public dollars, and typically cater to at-risk pupils. Like other community schools, STEAM is to be funded with public money; therefore, there is no cost to the family for a student to attend."

4. Debt, Dropouts and Degrees, by Libby A. Nelson - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/n6DiJq - "The report, “Debt to Degree: A New Way of Measuring College Success,” was released Wednesday by Education Sector. Its authors say they aim to give a more complete picture of higher education -- rather than judging by graduation rates alone or by default rates alone -- by dividing the total amount of money undergraduates borrow at a college by the number of degrees it awards."

5. Debt to Degree: A New Way of Measuring College Success, by Kevin Carey and Erin Dillon - http://www.educationsector.org/sites/default/files/publications/Debt%20to%20Degree%20CYCT_RELEASE.pdf - "The American higher education system is plagued by two chronicproblems: dropouts and debt. Barely half of the students who start college geta degree within six years, and graduation rates at less-selective colleges oftenhover at 25 percent or less. At the same time, student loan debt is at an all-timehigh, recently passing credit card debt in total volume. Loan default rates haverisen sharply in recent years, consigning a growing number of students to yearsof financial misery. In combination, drop-outs and debt are a major threat to thenation’s ability to help students become productive, well-educated citizens."

6. Texas orders ATI to stop enrolling new students - http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9OORN3G2.htm - "The Texas Workforce Commission has ordered ATI Enterprises Inc. to halt new enrollment at its 16 careers schools and complete training programs for current students. . . . The commission in April announced the company had been put on probation and required an outside auditor to review 2010 placement results."

7. University Reveals the Secrets of Winning Merit Scholarships, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://t.co/6qmUu8v via @cbsmoneywatch - "That’s why I was excited when the University of Rochester decided to share its fascinating accounting of just what mattered when the school was deciding which applicants would get its latest round of merit awards. After the university’s freshmen class had been selected, Jonathan Burdick, Rochester’s dean of undergraduate admissions and financial aid, sat down this summer and analyzed the merit scholarship numbers to determine what admission factors had influenced the scholarship decisions."

8. Bloomberg to Use Own Funds in Plan to Aid Minority Youth, by Michael Barbaro and Fernanda Santos - http://nyti.ms/qOwY7K - "Even as crime has fallen and graduation rates have risen in New York over the past decade, city officials said that black and Latino men, especially those between ages 16 and 24, remained in crisis by nearly every measure, including rates of arrest, school suspension and poverty. Although the populations of young white, black and Latino men in New York are roughly the same size, 84 percent of those in the city’s detention facilities and nearly all of those admitted to children’s and family services facilities are black and Latino youth, according to data from the Bloomberg administration. “The magnitude of the disparities is stunning,” said Linda I. Gibbs, the deputy mayor for health and human services. “It’s tragic.”

9. Teach for America 2011 acceptance rate: 11 percent, by Jenna Johnson - Campus Overload - http://t.co/TQlr2g6 via @washingtonpost - "Since 2008, Teach for America has compiled a “top contributors list” to rank schools of similar size by the number of students who are accepted into the program. This year, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor had the highest number of students selected, with 119. For medium-sized schools, Harvard led the pack with 66 placements. And for small schools with fewer than 2,999 undergraduates, Spelman College had 36 placements."

10. America's Top Colleges: Forbes List - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/03/forbes-top-colleges-for_n_917203.html#s320311&title=Williams_College - "For the second year in a row, Williams College, a small, western-Massachusetts liberal arts school, has been named as the best undergraduate institution in America. With total annual costs adding up to nearly $55,000, a Williams education is certainly not cheap, but the 2,000 undergraduates here have among the highest four-year graduation rates in the country, win loads of prestigious national awards like Rhodes and Marshall Scholarships, and are often rewarded with high-paying careers."

11. HBCU Voices: Students On Why HBCUs Remain Relevant - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/03/hbcu-voices-students-on-w_n_917066.html#s320667&title=Danyelle_Gary_Hampton - "Here at HuffPost College, we asked current HBCU students to share what their schools meant to them. The response to this question was overwhelming. Many students said they were accepted to "predominantly white institutions," but chose instead HBCUs to connect to their past and present. Others said they sought the communities they found at HBCUs, or wanted to continue a family tradition of HBCU education."

270. Review of College News

Here are some links to today's stories

about college access and success.

by

Joe Rottenborn

Executive Director, Mahoning Valley College Access Program (MVCAP)

1. Read The Joe Rottenborn Daily ▸ today's top stories via @rottenbornj ▸ http://t.co/UftEiOc

2. Sad summer ahead for teen employment, by John Wisely and Christina Hall - http://usat.ly/jHcVz7 via @USATODAY - "The official teen unemployment rate is about 25%, but that figure doesn't count all the teens who aren't seeking work. When all teens are factored in, only 25% of them will actually have jobs. That level of discouragement or disinterest worries many economists."

3. Troubled life ended in violence, by Adam Ferrise - TribToday.com - Tribune Chronicle - Warren, OH: http://bit.ly/mIoBnS - "Before Brandon Adkins was gunned down Saturday in the street, he had been shot at, attempted suicide, had his life threatened and was suspected of committing myriad crimes, including stealing a car, burglary and assault, according to police reports."

4. Now That You've Gotten In, by Lionel Anderson - http://nyti.ms/k44fM6 - "Now that you’ve gotten in, give some thought to staying in, excelling and, ultimately, graduating."

5. Education Week: Study Finds Gaps Remain Large for Hispanic Students, by Sarah D. Sparks - http://t.co/XzIegAW via @educationweek - "While growing numbers of Hispanic students have changed the face of American education over the past two decades, the gap between them and their white classmates in math and reading remains as wide as it was in the 1990s, according to a new federal study."

6. Oregon Legislature adopts goal of seeing 40 percent of Oregonians have a college degree, by Bill GravesOregonLive.com - http://t.co/6DWaFP8 - "The House voted 46-14 in favor of Senate Bill 253, which declares one mission of Oregon's education system is to ensure by 2025 that: 40 percent of all adult Oregonians have a bachelor's degree or higher, 40 percent have earned an associate's degree or post-secondary credential and 20 percent have a high school diploma or the equivalent. The bill goes next to Gov. John Kitzhaber, who will sign it into law."

7. Hunt is on for overseas college students, by Mary Beth Marklein - http://usat.ly/jAxCGs via @USATODAY - "But as more countries seek to cash in on the growing market for international students, the USA is losing ground. From 2000 to 2008, the number of students enrolled in a college outside their home country soared 85% to 3.3 million. During that time the U.S. share shrank, from 24% to 19%, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operative Development."

8. The Achievement Gap: Why Hispanic Students Are Still Behind, by Kayla Webley - http://t.co/ayrgeWS via @TIME - "The report analyzes tests given to fourth and eighth graders in math and reading in 2009. Overall, on a national level, Hispanic students scored about 20 points — or two whole grade levels — lower on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scale. (A common rule of thumb among education advocates is that 10 points on the NAEP scale is equivalent to one grade level.)"

9. Positioning young black males for success, by Michael T. Nettles - The Answer Sheet - http://t.co/iTQ9rsq via @washingtonpost - "One final note, at the symposium, the other recurring refrain we heard was that we don’t have a “child problem” we have an “adult problem.” That problem is the desperate need for all adults, parents, educators, policymakers and others to get involved and solve this crisis."

10. ANDREA NEAL: Effective summer reading programs can narrow the achievement gap - http://t.co/wh5FsEs - "The pioneering study on the subject was done in 1978 by Barbara Heyns, who followed 3,000 sixth and seventh graders in Atlanta, Ga. through two school years and the intervening summer. She concluded "the gap between black and white children and between low and high income children widens disproportionately during the months when schools are not in session."Similarly, a 1996 study found that middle-income students experienced reading gains during the summer while low-income students regressed."

11. Prioritizing Early Childhood Education: We Can't Afford to Wait, by Susan Ochshorn - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/susan-ochshorn/prioritizing-early-childh_b_880959.html - "A growing number of children in the United States are not ready for school. Studies show that at least half of the educational achievement gap between poor children and their more advantaged peers is evident in the kindergarten classroom."

265. Review of College News

Here are some links to today's stories
about college access and success.
by
Joe Rottenborn
Executive Director, Mahoning Valley College Access Program (MVCAP)

1. Read The Joe Rottenborn Daily ▸ today's top stories via @rottenbornj ▸ http://t.co/UftEiOc

2. Athletic departments see surge financially in down economy, by Steve Berkowitz and Jodi Upton - http://usat.ly/la5yCa via @USATODAY - "Much of the rise in athletics revenue came from an escalation in money generated through multi-media rights deals, donations and ticket receipts, but schools also continued increasing their subsidies from student fees and institutional funds."

3. Rich Get Richer in Athletics, by David Moltz - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/j6Yxv1 - "The median net generated revenue for those FBS programs that reported a surplus was nearly $4.4 million in 2009 but rose to about $7.4 million in 2010. By comparison, the median net deficit for the remaining FBS programs (98 programs lost money in 2010) was nearly $11.3 million in 2009 and increased to around $11.6 million in 2010."

4. Do Majors Matter? by W. Robert Connor - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/m011SC - "When one looks at these data, one thing is immediately clear. The fields that show the greatest gains in critical thinking are not the fields that produce the highest salaries for their graduates. On the contrary, engineers may show only small gains in critical thinking, but they often command salaries of over $100,000."

5. 10 Great Opening Lines from Stanford Admissions Essays, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://t.co/GIhhZ5h via @cbsmoneywatch - "Here are samples from winning college essays courtesy of Stanford University. These are opening lines of admissions essays that the Stanford admission reps especially liked. All of the essay writers were accepted as members of the class of 2012. You can find even more opening lines of sample admission essays in the Stanford Magazine."

6. Experts Call for Early Focus on Black Boys' Nonacademic Skills, by Mary Ann Zehr - http://t.co/XpkuUuz via @educationweek - "The convergence of “maleness, ethnicity, and poverty,” he said, contributes to academic outcomes for black boys, which tend to be more negative than those for black girls."

7. 37% of New York Graduates Meet College-Readiness Standard, by Sharon Otterman - http://nyti.ms/ksSnnR - "The new calculations, part of a statewide push to realign standards with college readiness, also underscored a racial achievement gap: 13 percent of black students and 15 percent of Hispanic students statewide were deemed college-ready after four years of high school, compared with 51 percent of white graduates and 56 percent of Asian-Americans."

8. Syracuse Sends Personalized Video Messages to Admitted Students to Stop ‘Summer Melt,’ by Jie Jenny Zou - http://bit.ly/jyymx5 - "Each video begins with Ms. Brewer or Mr. Crowley saying the first name of the recipient, followed by a brief general message. Recording a personal intro for each of the more than 300 students took some practice, pronunciation keys, and a few hours."

9. The Fathering Gap: Pitfalls of Modern Fatherhood, by Belinda Luscombe - http://t.co/8GqFRwP via @TIMEHealthland" - A new analysis by the Pew Research Center of data from the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) has found that more than a quarter (27%) of all fathers with children under the age of 19 now live apart from at least some of their children. Black fathers (44%) are more than twice as likely to live apart from their kids as white fathers (21%), while just over a third of Hispanic fathers maintain a separate abode. Similarly, 40% of fathers who didn't finish high school are not residing with their children, a living situation shared by only 7% of fathers who graduated college."

10. 3-year college degree programs not catching on, by Daniel de Vise - http://t.co/CxNS2ix via @washingtonpost - "But students have not responded, and most three-year degree programs have flopped — a reminder, college leaders say, that students still regard college as an experience to be savored. Why rush the best four years of your life?"

11. The Most Expensive Public Colleges For In-State Students - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/16/the-most-expensive-public_n_878006.html#s293193&title=Pennsylvania_State_UniversityUniversity - "On Tuesday, US News and World Report compiled their list of the 10 most most expensive public colleges for in-state students. Although these schools are not exactly costly compared with the most expensive private colleges (those top out around 40,000) they still dwarf the public college average."

210.Unstack the Odds--Black Males: A Crisis, Pt 1

Unstack the Odds: Help All Kids Access College—and Graduate!

by

Joe Rottenborn
Executive Director, Mahoning Valley College Access Program (MVCAP)

6. Black Males: A Crisis, Pt 1

“Every dude wanna be da "hardest," every girl wanna be "the baddest bitch," okay, koo, tell me where u gon be in 10 years when u tryna make ends meet, no job, no future for yaself......U still wanna be "Hood???" I understand I got a lil bit in me, but I will NEVER go back to that mentality!!”—J____ F_____, posting on Facebook, March 7, 2011.

Rapper and hip-hop mogul Jay-Z said, regarding his song “American Dreamin,’” that “our aim is the same as everyone, shooting for the American dream of success and wealth, but the target is a little different: Instead of trying to land in college or in a good job, I’m trying to get rich in the streets.” (Jay-Z, Decoded, New York: Spiegel & Grau, 2010, p. 33.) As the entertainer put it, “but it’s just a rational response to the reality we faced. No one was going to help us. Not even our fathers stuck around.” (Ibid. p. 86.)

Donna Ford had earlier studied variances in achievement between gifted Black males and female adolescents. Ford summarized those differences as follows: “Black males were more likely than females to be underachievers; they exerted considerably less effort in school and held more negative attitudes about school than females. They found school less relevant and personally meaningful than did their female counterparts. Further, Black males were more pessimistic about social factors than were Black females. For example, several of the early adolescent Black males spoke with anger and disappointment about the injustices Blacks must wrestle with.” (Donna Y. Ford, Reversing Underachievement Among Gifted Black Students: Promising Practices and Programs, New York: Teachers College Press, 1996, p. 128.)

In October 2010, The Council of the Great City Schools issued its research report called A Call For Change: The Social And Educational Factors Contributing To The Outcomes Of Black Males In Urban Schools. In his preface, Executive Director of the Council Michael Casserly pulled no punches: “The nation’s young Black males are in a state of crisis. They do not have the same opportunities as their male or female counterparts across the country. . . . At almost every juncture, the odds are stacked against these young men in ways that result in too much unfulfilled potential and too many fractured lives.” (A Call For Change: The Social And Educational Factors Contributing To The Outcomes Of Black Males In Urban Schools, The Council of the Great City Schools, October 2010, p. iii.)
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/opinion/A-Call-For-Change.pdf

The report summarized the situation in which Black kids may find themselves:
In 2008, Black children ages 18 and under were three times more likely to live in single-parent households than White children. Nearly two-thirds of all Black children lived in a single-parent household.
In 2007, one out of every three Black children lived in poverty compared with one out of every ten White children. (Ibid., p. 3)

Further, it supported the summary statement that “Black males continue to perform lower than their peers throughout the country on almost every indicator” (Ibid., p. 2) with these facts:
Between 2003 and 2009, the average reading scale of large city (LC) Black males was lower than the average score of White males in national public shools (NP) by at least 28 points at grade 4 and 29 points at grade 8. (Ibid., p. 3)
In 2009, the average reading scale score of large city (LC) Black males who were not eligible for free or reduced-price lunch (Non-FRPL) was one point lower at grade 4 and seven points lower at grade 8 than the score of White males in national public schools (NP) who were eligible for free or reduced-price lunch (FRPL). (Ibid., p. 4)
In 2009, the average mathematics scale score of large city (LC) Black students in grade 4 and 8 was significantly lower than Hispanic students in large cities (LC). Both were lower than White students in national public schools (NP). (Ibid.)

As for the report’s “Factor 4: College and Career Preparedness,” Black males were, once again, found to be behind, as these data indicate:
Black males were more likely, compared with White males, to drop out of high school and not graduate. Fewer Black males take Advanced Placement exams or enroll in two- or four-year colleges after graduation. Furthermore, the average SAT and ACT scores of Black males were lower than those of White males. (Ibid., p. 5)
Three out of 10 Black males enrolled in a four-year institution, compared with four out of 10 White males. (Ibid.)
Approximately 15 percent of Black males graduated in four years and about one-third graduated in five years compared with 33 percent of White males graduating in four years and one-half graduating in five years. (Ibid., p. 6)

Executive Director Casserly anticipated the reaction to this report. As he stated: “This report is likely to make people angry, and it should. We hope that this is a louder and more jolting wake-up call to the nation than this country is used to hearing. The fact that the previous calls have fallen on so many deaf ears is not encouraging, but we are convinced that we must ring the alarms one more time and play a larger role in setting this situation right.” He finished by saying this: “With so many of our citizens lacking access to the fruits of the richest nation on earth, our aspirations as a truly just nation are called into question.” (Ibid.)

186. 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. Student killed in shooting near Ohio university - http://bit.ly/gQdh1S #cnn

"Hughes said the shooting is a surprise. "It's sad because young people here are trying to turn around a lot of things," he said. "That campus is a bright shining star."

2. Tragedy at a Party, by Scott Jaschik - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/fu8HZF

‎"A statement from Youngstown State said that university police believe that there is no threat to the campus, but that security there has been heightened as a precaution. Cynthia E. Anderson, president of the university, went to the local hospital where shooting victims were treated to talk with students and their families. In a statement, she said that the "tragic act of violence" made Sunday "a sad day for the YSU family."

3. Bad Apples or More? by Doug Lederman - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/g3gqjx

"The review finds that 53 of the 120 universities in the NCAA’s top competitive level, the Football Bowl Subdivision, were found by the NCAA's Division I Committee on Infractions to have committed major rules violations from 2001 to 2010. That number appears to have held largely constant from the previous two decades, but the 2000s show that the number of colleges that committed serious violations of the association’s academic rules nearly doubled, to 15 from 8 in the 1990s."

4. Toughen NCAA Academic Rules, by Gerald S. Gurney - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/gQnAHI

‎"A more critical analysis suggests that the recent patterns of serious institutional involvement in academic fraud may be related to predictable consequences of changes in the 2003 NCAA initial eligibility legislation that certify woefully underprepared athletes as qualified to compete in the college classroom."

5. New Data Show Students at For-Profit Colleges Twice As Likely To Default On Loans - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/03/for-profit-students-default-loans-new-data_n_818507.html?ir=College

"In addition, students taking out loans at for-profit schools were responsible for nearly half of all federal student loan defaults within the three-year timeframe, even though students enrolled at such institutions made up less than 15 percent of college students nationwide."

6. What to Expect From the Revised AP U.S. History Program, by Erik Robelen: http://t.co/qaMEpuR

"Unlike the current AP U.S. history course, the new curriculum framework lays out clear expectations for what students need to understand about different periods in American history," he writes. "These understandings are written at a high conceptual level in order to allow teachers to illustrate them with appropriate examples of historical actors and events drawn from each period."

7. A Letter to My President—The One I Voted for... by Paul Karrer: http://t.co/7mGX0dN via @educationweek

"It’s not bad teaching that got things to the current state of affairs. It’s pure, raw poverty. We don’t teach in failing schools. We teach in failing communities. It’s called the ZIP Code Quandary. If the kids live in a wealthy ZIP code, they have high scores; if they live in a ZIP code that’s entombed with poverty, guess how they do?"

8. Best college essay ever? by Valerie Strauss - http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/college-admissions/best-college-essay-ever.html

‎"After receiving it again recently, I found the the author, a writer named Hugh Gallagher, to find out the real history of the piece. Gallagher told me that he wrote the essay when he was 17 for a high school writing contest. He won (and the essay was published in Harper's Magazine). He did then use the essay as part of his applications when he applied to five colleges about two decades ago. He attended New York Univ. . . ."

9. Financial Aid Fundamentals: File the FAFSA Now! -

http://www.top-colleges.com/blog/2011/02/05/financial-aid-fundamentals-file-your-fafsa-now/

‎"That means it is critically important for students – those that are college bound or already enrolled in degree programs – to file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) as soon as possible. Almost all forms of financial aid – including scholarships, grants and student loans – use the FAFSA as the foundation for award decisions."

10. College search would end with Harvard’s ‘yes,’ by Richard O. Jones - http://t.co/EHUnnOk via @oxfordpress

"Although he’s applied to 17 colleges — large and small, near and far — if Badin High School senior Raymond Dong gets the acceptance letter he most wants, he’ll be heading to Harvard next fall."

11. Are football stars really heroes, or just famous? by Sharon Jayson -USATODAY.com http://t.co/MCFwnMm

"But are the players on the field really heroes, or just celebrities?
Those who study heroism say there is a tendency to confuse it with fame or celebrity worship, which has sparked some researchers to take a closer look at just what makes a hero in the 21st century."

12. Footballer: 'Are you OK with destroying a kid's brain for this game?' by Stephanie Smith - http://bit.ly/fakTTc #cnn

‎"Can you ever make football so that no one gets hurt? No. People are going to get hurt," said Nowinski, president of the Sports Legacy Institute. "But you can eliminate certain drills, you modify certain drills, minimize certain drills...eliminate dumb things like 'bull in the ring.'"

13. To Close Gaps, Schools Focus on Black Boys, by Winnie Hu - http://nyti.ms/gh0mHj

“I think this is a form of racial profiling in the public school system,” said the coalition’s executive director, Michael Meyers. “What they’re doing here, under the guise of helping more boys, is they’re singling them out and making them feel inferior or different simply because of their race and gender.”

14. New NAEP Science Scores Reveal Significant Achievement Gaps, by Jasmine Harley - http://www.civilrights.org/archives/2011/02/1140-naep.html

"Black 4th-graders and 8th-graders scored on average 36 pts lower than their White counterparts and Black 12th-graders scored on average 34 pts lower than their White counterparts; Hispanic 4th-graders scored on average 32 pts lower than their White counterparts. The gap decreases to 30 pts in 8th grade and to 25 pts in 12th grade. . . ."

15. Why the stakes are so much higher now, by Audrey Kahane - NorthJersey.com http://t.co/CNn1zIg via @NorthJerseybrk

"The college admission process wasn't nearly as anxiety-producing 30 years ago. As I often tell parents, we probably wouldn't be admitted if we had to apply to our alma maters today. Parents have heard enough stories from friends and relatives whose high-achieving children have been turned down by schools that would have been considered "safe" 30 years ago to know that this is true, but they still don't understand why things are so different now."

16. What Is The Achievement Gap? Education Equality Project: http://t.co/64ElJ3h

"The huge difference in academic performance between students from different economic circumstances and racial/ethnic backgrounds is what we call the achievement gap."

17. Educators missed lesson on segregation, by Tony Norman - http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11035/1122872-153.stm

"At McCaskey East High School in Lancaster, 11th-grade black students were placed in separate homerooms with black teachers for six minutes a day, starting in December. The theory was that black students are more likely to take education seriously if they have a mentor who shares their racial background."

18. The Harvard Effect, by Timothy Noah - http://www.slate.com/id/2283744/

"At the end of 2007, Harvard announced that it would limit tuition to no more than 10% of family income for families earning up to $180,000. (It also eliminated all loans, following a trail blazed by Princeton, and stopped including home equity in its calculations of family wealth.) Yale saw and raised to $200,000, and other wealthy colleges weighed in with variations."

19. 8 Big Changes to College Admissions in 2010 and 2011, by Kim Clark - US News and World Report: http://t.co/uVIryt4

"Interviews with admissions officers at some of the nation's most popular colleges reveal recent and important shifts in the weighting of traditional admission factors. . . . College officials outline 8 major changes to their admissions practices that will affect applicants from now on:"

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171. MVCAP fyi: M L King Day

On this Martin Luther King Day, these pertinent articles from past blogs are cited:

1. A Lesson on Urban Identity, by Matthew Amaral - http://www.educationnews.org/blogs/105853.html

“Can you be Ghetto and successful?” I tell them they can’t talk about drug-dealers, rappers, athletes, or other entertainers--we’re talking about real careers. . . . This is something that will really come into focus on a college campus when a majority of the students are NOT like them."

2. Achievement gap slow to close, by Diana Lambert - http://www.sacbee.com/2011/01/10/3311645/achievement-gap-slow-to-close.html

"In 2009 there was a gap of 27% points between fourth-grade white students and African American students, and a gap of 22% points between white and Latino students in math. There also was a 28% gap between white and African American fourth-graders in reading."

3. Minorities are now the majority at UT-Austin, by Jon Marcus and Reeve Hamilton - Hechinger Report http://t.co/7JnZQJJ

"Whites are in the minority this year for the first time in the history of the flagship Texas school, which was segregated until the 1950s. Fifty-two percent of the Class of 2014 is nonwhite. Black and Hispanic students represent about 5 percent and 23 percent, respectively. Asians account for 17 percent of freshmen. The demographic shift at U.T. is a bellwether of what is about to happen—and, with little notice, already has, at other universities in Texas, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois and New York—in a country where new Census figures confirm that nonwhites are by far the fastest-growing proportion of traditional-age university students."

4. Proficiency of Black Students is Found to Be Far Lower Than Expected, by Trip Gabriel -http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/09/education/09gap.html?_r=2&hpw

“What this clearly shows is that black males who are not eligible for free and reduced-price lunch are doing no better than white males who are poor,” said Michael Casserly, executive director of the council. The report shows that black boys on average fall behind from their earliest years. Black mothers have a higher infant mortality rate and black children are twice as likely as whites to live in a home where no parent has a job. In high school, African-American boys drop out at nearly twice the rate of white boys, and their SAT scores are on average 104 points lower. In college, black men represented just 5 percent of students in 2008."

5. Black Male Achievement in a 'State of Crisis,' Study Says, by Dakarai Aarons - http://t.co/1wmZtp2 via @educationweek"

"As a study this summer by the Schott Foundation for Public Education pointed out, fewer than half of black males graduate from high school on time. "At almost every juncture, the odds are stacked against these young men in ways that result in too much unfulfilled potential and too many fractured lives," writes Michael Casserly, the council's executive director. The council's report suggests that the underperformance of black male youths is nothing short of a national emergency, and it calls for the convening of a White House conference."The previous efforts to ring the alarm bell have too often fallen on deaf ears, and we thought that a White House conference would help both raise the visibility of the issues and aide in attempting to martial the public will to tackle it," Casserly said in an interview."

6. This Raging Fire, by Bob Herbert, The New York Times, November 15, 2010 - http://nyti.ms/9Jjsc2

"The first and most important step would be a major effort to begin knitting the black family back together. There is no way to overstate the myriad risks faced by children whose parents have effectively abandoned them. It’s the family that protects the child against ignorance and physical harm, that offers emotional security and the foundation for a strong sense of self, that enables a child to believe — truly — that wonderful things are possible. All of that is missing in the lives of too many black children."

7. Financial Aid: A Broken Bridge to College Access? by Bridget Terry Long and Erin Riley - http://www.hepg.org/document/19/

"Although there are many barriers to college access and success for low-income and minority students, most can be grouped into three major categories. The first set of major barriers relates to cost. . . . A second major set of barriers to college enrollment and persistence is academic preparation. . . . The third major impediment to higher education for many students, particularly those from low-income families, is the complexity of the college admissions process and financial aid systems, as well as a lack of accurate information about higher education costs. College attendance is the culmination of a series of steps and benchmarks, and this current landscape is too complex and difficult for many families to decipher and navigate."

8. Failure to educate, by Junia Yearwood - http://b.globe.com/dz8Hmo

"I knew that most of my students who walked across the stage, amidst the cheers, whistles, camera flashes, and shout-outs from parents, family, and friends, were not functionally literate. They were unable to perform the minimum skills necessary to negotiate society: reading the local newspapers, filling out a job application, or following basic written instructions; even fewer had achieved empowering literacy enabling them to closely read, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate text. However, they were all college bound — the ultimate goal of our school’s vision statement — clutching knapsacks stuffed with our symbols of academic success: multiple college acceptances, a high school diploma; an official transcript indicating they had passed the MCAS test and had met all graduation requirements; several glowing letters of recommendation from teachers and guidance counselors; and one compelling personal statement, their college essay."

9. Unready and Unsuccessful, by Joanne Jacobs - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joanne-jacobs/unready-and-unsuccessful_b_775668.html

"Seventy percent of California's degree-seeking community college students failed to earn a credential or degree -- or to transfer to four-year universities -- within six years, concludes a new study. Most students drop out quickly, reports the Institute for Higher Education Leadership & Policy and the Campaign for College Opportunity. Between 2003 and 2009, only 40 percent of students earned at least 30 college credits, which is considered "the minimum needed to provide an economic boost in jobs that require some college experience," reports the LA Times. Blacks and Latinos did worse: Only 26% of black students and 22% of Latino students had completed a degree or certificate or transferred after six years, compared to 37% of whites and 35% of Asian Pacific Islanders. Students fail because they're not prepared for college-level reading, writing and math. Many are juggling jobs and family responsibilities too, of course, but college readiness is the make-or-break issue."

10. A Call for Change - http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/opinion/A-Call-For-Change.pdf

"The Social and Educational Factors Contributing to the Outcomes of Black Males in Urban Schools”

160. MVCAP fyi: 10 in 2010

While the MVCAP blog resets over the holidays, 10 of the most important articles highlighted in 2010 are featured below.

1. Proficiency of Black Students is Found to Be Far Lower Than Expected, by Trip Gabriel -http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/09/education/09gap.html?_r=2&hpw

“What this clearly shows is that black males who are not eligible for free and reduced-price lunch are doing no better than white males who are poor,” said Michael Casserly, executive director of the council. The report shows that black boys on average fall behind from their earliest years. Black mothers have a higher infant mortality rate and black children are twice as likely as whites to live in a home where no parent has a job. In high school, African-American boys drop out at nearly twice the rate of white boys, and their SAT scores are on average 104 points lower. In college, black men represented just 5 percent of students in 2008."

2. Black Male Achievement in a 'State of Crisis,' Study Says, by Dakarai Aarons - http://t.co/1wmZtp2 via @educationweek

"As a study this summer by the Schott Foundation for Public Education pointed out, fewer than half of black males graduate from high school on time. "At almost every juncture, the odds are stacked against these young men in ways that result in too much unfulfilled potential and too many fractured lives," writes Michael Casserly, the council's executive director. The council's report suggests that the underperformance of black male youths is nothing short of a national emergency, and it calls for the convening of a White House conference."The previous efforts to ring the alarm bell have too often fallen on deaf ears, and we thought that a White House conference would help both raise the visibility of the issues and aide in attempting to martial the public will to tackle it," Casserly said in an interview."

3. This Raging Fire, by Bob Herbert, The New York Times, November 15, 2010 - http://nyti.ms/9Jjsc2

"The first and most important step would be a major effort to begin knitting the black family back together. There is no way to overstate the myriad risks faced by children whose parents have effectively abandoned them. It’s the family that protects the child against ignorance and physical harm, that offers emotional security and the foundation for a strong sense of self, that enables a child to believe — truly — that wonderful things are possible.
All of that is missing in the lives of too many black children."

4. Urban Education: The State of Urban Schooling at the Start of 21st Century, by Martin Haberman - http://www.educationnews.org/ed_reports/104105.html

"Since 1962 the achievement gap between disadvantaged populations and more affluent ones has widened. At one extreme urban school districts graduate half or fewer of their students. (Arbanas, 2001) At the other extreme 11% of American students are now among the top 10 percent of world achievers. “If you’re in the top economic quarter of the population, your children have a 76% chance of getting through college and graduating by age 24. . . . If you’re in the bottom quarter, however, the figure is 4 %.” (Loeb, 1999) White students’ achievement in reading, math and science ranks 2nd, 7th and 4th when compared with students worldwide. Black and Hispanic students however rank 26, 27th and 27th on these basic skills. (Bracey, 2002)

5. Even with free tuition, hurdles remain for raising number of college graduates, by David Jesse - Hechinger Report: http://t.co/ctzrZe1

"Just 54 percent of the first recipients are either still in college or have graduated, a stark reminder that it will take more than money to achieve the president’s ambitious goal of leading the world in college attainment by 2020. Nationally, getting students through college has long been a challenge: only half of those who start certificate or degree programs at two- and four-year institutions finish within six years, U.S. Education Department data show.

“We took the first hurdle down [not having money for college] and now can see all the hurdles behind it,” said Michelle Miller-Adams, a visiting scholar at the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research in Kalamazoo and author of the first comprehensive study of the initiative."

6. Financial Aid: A Broken Bridge to College Access? by Bridget Terry Long and Erin Riley - http://www.hepg.org/document/19/

"Although there are many barriers to college access and success for low-income and minority students, most can be grouped into three major categories. The first set of major barriers relates to cost. . . . A second major set of barriers to college enrollment and persistence is academic preparation. . . . The third major impediment to higher education for many students, particularly those from low-income families, is the complexity of the college admissions process and financial aid systems, as well as a lack of accurate information about higher education costs. College attendance is the culmination of a series of steps and benchmarks, and this current landscape is too complex and difficult for many families to decipher and navigate."

7. From Access to Success: Funders Guide to More Americans Earning Degrees - http://edfunders.org/downloads/GFEReports/GFE_FromAccessToSuccess_FundersGuide.pdf
"A large proportion of students are underprepared—academically, financially and in terms of their own assumptions and expectations—for college. As a result, only about
57 percent of students who enroll in a bachelor’s degree program graduate within six years, and only one-fifth of students who begin at a community college graduate within three years.
The disparities for students of color and students from lower-income households are even starker."

8. In families, numbers work out, by George Will - http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2010/aug/29/in-families-the-numbers-work-out/?partner=yahoo_feeds#

"Two decades have passed since Barton wrote “America’s Smallest School: The Family.” He has estimated that about 90 percent of the difference in schools’ proficiencies can be explained by five factors: the number of days students are absent from school, the number of hours students spend watching television, the number of pages read for homework, the quantity and quality of reading material in the students’ homes — and, much the most important, the presence of two parents in the home."

9. For-Profit Colleges Change Higher Education's Landscape, by Robin Wilson - http://chronicle.com/article/For-Profit-Colleges-Change/64012/

"Proprietary schools charge a lot more than public colleges—an average of $14,174 this year, compared with $2,544 at public two-year institutions and $7,020 for in-state tuition at public four-year institutions, according to the College Board. But students frequently choose proprietary schools over public colleges because for-profits do so much to limit the hassle of enrolling and applying for aid, and because students can take the classes they need quickly and get on with their lives."

10. Experts Begin to Identify Nonacademic Skills Key to Success, by Sarah D. Sparks - http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/12/23/15aera.h30.html?tkn=TOOFSR%2B4810CTp1N9ef4pgxwBLgqJMYV0Ew0&cmp=clp-edweek&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EducationWeekAmericanEducationNewsTopStories+%28Education+Week%3A+Free+Daily+Stories%29 via @educationweek

"Across education and industry, research by Mr. Sackett; Neal Schmitt, a psychology professor at Michigan State University in East Lansing; and others shows the biggest predictor of success is a student’s conscientiousness, as measured by such traits as dependability, perseverance through tasks, and work ethic. Agreeableness, including teamwork, and emotional stability were the next-best predictors of college achievement, followed by variations on extroversion and openness to new experiences, Mr. Sackett found."

• 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


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152. 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. The Case for Early Decision, by Robert J. Massa - http://nyti.ms/fuagT1

‎"Here’s what colleges typically don’t make clear: Although early decision is binding, no college will hold a student to a contract if a family determines that the financial aid package is inadequate, regardless of how much assistance the college offers or what the needs analysis-scholarship eligibility criteria suggests. That’s right. If the family says they can’t afford it, files an appeal and the college still doesn’t meet their expectations, they can withdraw their child’s application without penalty."

2. Did You (Or Your Child) Get an Early-Admission Decision? by Jacques Steinberg - http://nyti.ms/gpxx4k

"In the meantime, though, I hope that those of you who applied — or had a child who applied — will use the comment box below now, or over the next few days, to tell readers what you’re hearing as you hear it. In the process, I’d like to give readers of The Choice the virtual experience of being around the kitchen table or at the computer as these decisions land. So please, tell us your stories."

3. Surprise: Alumni Love Their Colleges, by Allie Grasgreen - Inside Higher Ed - http://t.co/dz4hBVW

"The survey, which was commissioned by the American Council of Education, hinges on one finding in particular: that despite a harsh economic climate for recent graduates and a harsh political one for colleges in general, 89 percent of alumni say their degree was worth the time and money."

4. 10 Paying College Jobs That Look Good on Your Résumé - US News and World Report, by Alexis Grant - http://t.co/JsHgLGh

‎"Your best bet is to look for a job that's related to the career you're hoping to pursue, so you can gain relevant skills, contacts, and experience. If you don't know yet which career is right for you, use your college job to help you figure that out, says Lindsey Pollak, author of Getting from College to Career: 90 Things to Do Before You Join the Real World. If you don't end up enjoying the job you choose, you can cross it off your list of potential careers.
These 10 jobs are great choices for students because they look good on a résumé, work around class schedules, and offer decent pay."

5. The 7 Most Important Classes to Take In College, by Rachel Dozier - http://j.mp/hUxJyc

"You’re not in school for the easy A’s. Here are seven classes that are not only fun but can help you down the road as well—no matter what your major is!"

6. Education Week: Study: States Must Move Faster to Close Achievement Gaps, by Mary Ann Zehr - http://t.co/BGp8XFI via @educationweek

"In Washington State, for example, the Center on Education Policy predicts it will take 105 years to close the gap between white and African-American students in 4th grade reading at the rate it’s going. By contrast, if Louisiana continues at the same pace in narrowing the gap between those same two groups of students in 4th grade reading, the gap will be closed in 12.5 years."

7. College, Jobs and Inequality - Editorial 12/14/10, The New York Times - http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/14/opinion/14tue1.html?_r=1&hp

"Over the past year, for example, the unemployment rate for college grads under age 25 has averaged 9.2 percent, up from 8.8 percent a year earlier and 5.8 percent in the first year of the recession that began in December 2007. That means recent grads have about the same level of

unemployment as the general population. It also suggests that many employed recent grads may be doing work that doesn’t require a college degree.
Even more disturbing, there is no guarantee that unemployed or underemployed college grads will move into much better jobs as conditions improve."

8. Emphasizing Sports Over Academics Sets Up Black Boys to Lose, by Richard Whitmire - http://t.co/r4Utc5k via @educationweek

"It’s perhaps understandable that high school boys ignore the odds and insist that academics don’t matter because they have a shot at the pros. But parents should know better. A community that pushes sports over academics is doing a terrible disservice to its children, who will find themselves in deep trouble when their athletic aspirations fail to materialize and they don’t have the academic background to do much else."

9. Md.'s Towson University conquers 'graduation gap' by Daniel de Vise - http://t.co/8ffofsd via @washingtonpost

"In 10 years, according to school data, Towson has raised black graduation rates by 30 points and closed a 14-point gap between blacks and whites. University leaders credit a few simple strategies: admitting students with good grades from strong public high schools, then tracking each student's progress with a network of mentors, counselors and welcome-to-college classes."

10. Dearth of Blacks at Oxford and Cambridge, by D.D. Guttenplan - http://nyti.ms/hTf6ta

"According to Mr. Lammy, last year the whole of Oxford University admitted just one black student, and Cambridge University does not have a single black faculty member. . . . A spokeswoman for Oxford said that Mr. Lammy’s arguments “don’t stack up.” In a statement, the university said lack of success in secondary school was the biggest barrier to blacks’ admission, noting that “in 2009, 29,000 white students got the requisite grades for Oxford compared to just 452 black students.”
“Black students apply disproportionately for the most oversubscribed subjects,” it said, further reducing their chances of success."

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140. 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. Report on College Attendance Crisis for Black Males Exaggerated - http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/achievement-gap/report-on-college-attendance-c.html

"The article also referred imprecisely to the significance of the number of black men in college. While black men made up “just 5 percent” of college students in 2008, that figure did not represent one of the areas in which blacks showed a lack of achievement, given that black men make up only about 6.5 percent of the general population."

2. University report: Class of '11 will see slightly better jobs outlook, by Andrew Katz - http://bit.ly/ifypLZ #cnn

"The Recruiting Trends 2010-2011 survey, released November 17, found that overall hiring is expected to grow by 3 percent over last year to provide 122,000 opportunities for graduates across all degree levels. In fact, nearly 72 percent of those positions could be filled at the bachelor's degree level alone, as the entire college labor market is leveraged by an expected 10 percent increase in the hiring of those degree holders, the survey of 4,600 employers says."

3. California State campuses raise tuition in middle of school year, by Michael Martinez - http://bit.ly/9kN1W3 #cnn

"The 5 percent increase will raise tuition from the current $2,115 to $2,220 for the spring semester for full-time undergraduate students. Next fall, full-time undergraduate tuition rise from $4,440 to $4,884 per year. Trustees sought to soften the blow by stating that about half of its undergraduates -- about 180,000 students -- will be fully covered for the tuition increases through financial aid."

4. Experts give tips to college grads seeking first job, by Christine Dugas - RT @USATODAY - http://usat.ly/hpzZSr

"The unemployment rate of Americans ages 20 to 24 has climbed from 8.5% in 2007 to 15% this year at a time the overall unemployment rate hovers just below 10%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Adding to the pressure to get a job, graduates on average are starting out with $24,000 in student loan debt, according to a new report about 2009 from The Project on Student Debt."

5. Students can make up credits online, by Susan Sawyers - RT @USATODAY - http://usat.ly/hxMzAT

"The classes are part of a widening phenomenon called credit recovery — a term that sounds more about erasing debt than advancing education but actually enables troubled students to get credit for classes they've previously failed or didn't complete."

Here are some articles that were posted earlier:

6. Unready and Unsuccessful, by Joanne Jacobs http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joanne-jacobs/unready-and-unsuccessful_b_775668.html

"Seventy percent of California's degree-seeking community college students failed to earn a credential or degree -- or to transfer to four-year universities -- within six years, concludes a new study. Most students drop out quickly, reports the Institute for Higher Education Leadership & Policy. . . ."

7. Failure to educate, by Junia Yearwood - http://b.globe.com/dz8Hmo

"I knew that most of my students who walked across the stage, amidst the cheers, whistles, camera flashes, and shout-outs from parents, family, and friends, were not functionally literate. They were unable to perform the minimum skills necessary to negotiate society: reading the local newspapers, filling out a job application, or following basic written instructions; even fewer had achieved empowering literacy enabling them to closely read, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate text. However, they were all college bound. . . ."

8. Wising Up on STEM Completion - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/903NgE

"According to NSF statistics cited in the AAUW report, despite the fact that women make up the majority of college students generally, only 88,371 of them graduated in STEM fields in 2007, compared to 138,874 of their male counterparts. In 2007, men outnumbered women in science and engineering careers, 73 percent to 27 percent."

9. A Time of Urgency, by Freeman A. Hrabowski III - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/bNqGXs

"Many might be surprised that underrepresented minorities aspire to earn STEM degrees at roughly the same rate as other groups. However, only about 20 percent of underrepresented minority students complete undergraduate STEM programs within five years."

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134. MVCAP fyi

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1. College job market to see slight rebound MSU News Michigan State University http://t.co/122LM4m

"Overall hiring is expected to increase 3 percent, with bachelor’s-level and MBA-level hiring both surging 10 percent, said Phil Gardner, director of MSU’s Collegiate Employment Research Institute, which conducted the survey of some 4,600 employers. Geographically, the Great Lakes region, which took the brunt of the recession, will see a robust 13 percent increase in bachelor’s-level hiring, which is tops in the nation, Gardner predicts. The region consists of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin.But the good news should be taken with a word of caution, Gardner said. An uptick in job growth is simply the first step out of a very deep hole, he said, and hardly represents a return to the heady economic days of the late 1990s and early 2000s."

2. How to Define College Readiness? Good Question, by Catherine Gewertz http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/curriculum/2010/11/lest_you_harbor_any_doubt.html

"What happened here? The Tribune analyzed how ACT's "college readiness benchmarks" lined up with schools' own ideas of their students' preparedness. At some of Illinois' most well-regarded high schools, as it turns out, rather substantial portions of students are falling short of the ACT's benchmarks, which are supposed to indicate how ready they are to succeed in entry-level credit-bearing college coursework.Predictably, this sort of thing can prompt some squirming and defensiveness in high schools that are used to elite distinctions. But it takes us back to that persistent question: Exactly how do you define college readiness?"

3. UVA Announces Early-Action Plan, by Eric Hoover http://chronicle.com/blogs/headcount/uva-announces-early-action-plan/27710

"In 2011, early applicants would apply to Virginia by November 1 and receive a decision in January. Successful applicants would have until May 1 to accept or decline their admission offers, and they would be able to apply to other colleges—under early-action, early-decision, or regular-decision programs. Several selective colleges have some version of an early-action program, but restrictions vary. Georgetown University, for instance, tells its early applicants that they may apply to other colleges’ early-action and regular-decision plans, but not to a binding early-decision plan.Greg Roberts, Virginia’s dean of admission, said he and his staff considered a variety of early programs over the last six months. “This provides the most flexibility and freedom for students,” he says. “It’s the type of plan that will result in the most diverse applicant pool.”

4. Black Students’ Proficiency: Cutting to the Chase, by John Jensen http://www.educationnews.org/ed_reports/education_organizations/102927.html

"African-American boys especially need deliberate retention of knowledge. Consider the kid and the bicycle accident we noted above. What’s the equivalent of an educational 911 call for the kindergartner already way behind? It’s to replace an osmosis model with a retention model. This becomes particularly obvious when the deficit can be clearly diagnosed and the diagnosis tells us what’s missing. If he’s missing a thousand words of vocabulary, a thousand words spelled, a thousand pages read, and a thousand number sets processed, is there a mystery here requiring a multi-year study? That his mother wasn’t swift at math, his dad is overseas, and his brothers are into sports doesn’t change his deficit. Call 911. If it’s a mystery to anyone exactly what the median, standard response is to repair the educational equivalent of a broken bone, our system is much worse off than anyone is facing. More of an osmosis model is not an adequate substitute for an effective retention model applied student by student."

5. Nearly one-third of students studied online last year - http://voices.washingtonpost.com/collegeinc/2010/11/survey_nearly_13_of_students_s.html

"The survey is a collaboration between the Babson Survey Research Group and the College Board and is "the leading barometer of online learning in the United States," according to a release. For-profit colleges and career-oriented public campuses have been swift to embrace online learning. Prestigious public and private colleges have been slower. It was a big deal last year when the University of North Carolina appeared to become the first flagship public school to require students to take a class -- Spanish 101 -- online."

6. Some sweet college essay advice (from a student) - http://voices.washingtonpost.com/campusoverload/2010/11/some_sweet_college_essay_advic.html

"Today's guest blogger is Jimmy Mayers, a senior English major at St. Lawrence University in New York. Before you tense up, close your eyes, take a deep breath. The college essay is one of the most famous parts of the college application -- and for good reason. Here you can paint a picture of yourself that stands out from the numbers in your test scores and transcripts. So, if you're nervous about writing your college essay, change gears. Suspend your disbelief, as any good literature teacher would say, and accept for a moment that you're going to write a great college essay. Here are a few pointers:"

7. The Most Political Colleges: Top 10 Schools Where Students Follow The Beltway As Closely As Their Studies Unigo http://t.co/SEJcIuu

"As students, political activism is a compelling way to bring that entire body of knowledge together and truly make a difference. While some say activism during the collegiate years is declining, over 30,000 student votes paint a different picture, one in which political activity is a vibrant, integral part of the academic experience."

8. Jocktastic! Top 10 Schools Where Sports Rule Unigo http://t.co/Hjcs3XY

"Sure, there are some students who chose to observe sports from afar (or not at all), but for most, being obsessed with college sports is a way of life. We scored 30,000 student votes to identify the Top 10 Schools where the Big Game is a Really Big Deal."

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