352. 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)

(I'm just back from Portland, OR.)

1. Facebook's Impact on Student Grades, by Rebecca R. Ruiz - http://nyti.ms/nMA4mn -"While overall time spent on Facebook negatively affected G.P.A., the results were not clear-cut. As it turned out, those who frequently shared links on Facebook or checked the site to see what friends were up to tended to have higher grades. Those students who posted status updates tended to have lower grades. . . . Meanwhile — contradicting the zero-sum logic of some who might believe that a minute spent social networking is a minute spent not attending to schoolwork — the study found no substantive link between time spent on Facebook and time spent studying."

2. Online students might feel less accountable to honor codes, by Steve Kolowich Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/rRjY7Q via AddThis - "In a series of experiments, researchers at Ohio University found that students in fully online psychology courses who signed an honor code promising not to cheat broke that pledge at a significantly higher rate than did students in a “blended” course that took place primarily in a classroom. “The more distant students are, the more disconnected they feel, and the more likely it is that they’ll rationalize cheating,” Frank M. LoSchiavo, one of the authors, conjectured in an interview with Inside Higher Ed."

3. College Admissions: What Do Schools Really Care About? by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://moneywatch.bnet.com/spending/blog/college-solution/college-admissions-what-do-schools-really-care-about/6985/ via @cbsmoneywatch - "A new college admission study by the National Association for College Admission Counseling, which represents many colleges and universities, provides a handy cheat sheet on what schools do value when they review applications. . . . Clearly the best things that teenagers can do to increase their chances of getting accepted is to perform well in college prep courses and to make sure they include some rigorous classes in their schedule."

4. How Student Loan Borrowers Are Getting Into Trouble, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://moneywatch.bnet.com/spending/blog/college-solution/how-student-loan-borrowers-are-getting-into-trouble/6903/ via @cbsmoneywatch - "Private student loans don’t provide the protections that federal students loans offer and yet a new federal study suggests that an alarming number of college students are turning to private lenders before they’ve taken full advantage of their federal options."

5. Hechinger More, better early education could help close California’s achievement gap, by Sarah Garland: http://hechingerreport.org/content/more-better-early-education-could-help-close-californias-achievement-gap_6653/#.TqbKtAVPJkM.twitter via AddThis - "In California, the state with the largest population of Hispanic students in the country, the achievement gap starts early—long before children enter school.Hispanic children are much less likely to enroll in preschool than white or black children, and begin kindergarten more than half a year behind their white counterparts. First-generation immigrant students, many who speak only Spanish, start out more than a year behind. One way to combat this problem, educators argue, is enrolling more Hispanic children in preschool, where they can learn to count, say the alphabet and practice the other pre-reading and math skills they will need later on."

6. Push Is On to Add Time to School, by Nora Fleming - http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2011/10/26/09elt_ep.h31.html via @educationweek - "But while policymakers and recently proposed federal legislation promote expanded learning time as a strategy for school turnaround, some worry that it may be gaining steam too rapidly as a fix for schools that lack the know-how, resources, or research to implement it effectively."

7. NAEP's Odd Definition of Proficiency, by James Harvey - http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2011/10/26/09harvey.h31.html via @educationweek - "Joanne Weiss [is] the chief of staff to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. According to an article in the Aug. 24 issue of Education Week, Weiss said the practice of permitting each state to set its own proficiency standards amounts to “lying to parents, lying to children, lying to teachers and principals about the work they’re doing.” . . . The No Child Left Behind Act, passed by Congress in 2001 as the latest reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, permitted states to develop their own assessments and set their own proficiency standards to measure student achievement. Most states, for their purposes, quite sensibly defined proficiency as performance at grade level.What about NAEP? Oddly, NAEP’s proficient standard has little to do with grade-level performance or even proficiency as most people understand the term."

8. Screen Time Higher Than Ever for Children, by Tamar Lewin - http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/25/us/screen-time-higher-than-ever-for-children-study-finds.html?_r=1&hpw - "Despite the American Academy of Pediatricians’ longstanding recommendations to the contrary, children under 8 are spending more time than ever in front of screens, according to a study scheduled for release Tuesday. The report also documents for the first time an emerging “app gap” in which affluent children are likely to use mobile educational games while those in low-income families are the most likely to have televisions in their bedrooms."

9. College Readiness Is Lacking, City Reports Show, by Fernanda Santos - http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/25/education/25progress.html?src=recg - "Only one in four students who enter high school in New York City are ready for college after four years, and less than half enroll, according to the A-through-F high school report cards released on Monday."

10. When the Answer to 'Access or Excellence?' Has to Be 'Both' by Beckie Supiano - http://chronicle.com/article/When-the-Answer-to-Access-or/129423/ - "Pursuing both excellence and access is something most colleges try to do, and it's never easy. Top faculty and state-of-the-art facilities cost money, but raising tuition can shut some students out. If the college makes scholarships to attract high-performing students a priority, it might not be able to support those with financial need."

11. Business leaders inject themselves in school reform, by Valerie Strauss - The Answer Sheet - http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/business-leaders-inject-themselves-in-school-reform/2011/10/24/gIQArm5mFM_blog.html?tid=sm_btn_twitter via @washingtonpost - "This news release was issued in regard to the bill that the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions passed last week revamping NCLB. The bill reduces the federal role in public education that has become so prominent in the NCLB era, and it eliminates a key accountability provision of the law that wound up declaring thousands of schools failing, even when they weren’t. It turns back to the states the right to create their own accountability systems for schools, a move opposed by the Obama administration — and, apparently, leading businessmen. . . . Here’s the statement, which shows that the coalition doesn’t think the bill is tough enough:"

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288. 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. The Next Gate, by Jacques Steinberg - http://nyti.ms/oyZSoM - "As students contemplate graduate school, their frame of reference is likely the only admissions process most have ever known: the jagged maze they followed to college as high school seniors. There are some fundamental differences between the two processes — the weeding out of grad school applicants is largely the responsibility of faculty, for example, not a centralized admissions office; and there is nothing like the Common Application (except for law school, which has a universal form). But students should take comfort in the many parallels with college admissions."

2. In College, Without a Home, by Libby A. Nelson - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/oIFMmW - "The population is also growing, she said. The number of homeless youth has increased 69 percent in the past two years, to 1.6 million. Some are runaways; others are from chaotic family situations, maintaining contact with parents and siblings but spending the majority of nights on friends’ couches or in cars or mobile homes."

3. Paths to the Bachelor's Degree, by Doug Lederman - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/ouCqN3 - "Bachelor's degree recipients in 2007-8 who began their postsecondary educations at a community college took almost 20 percent longer to complete their degrees than did those who started out at a four-year institution, those who began at four-year private colleges finished faster than did those at four-year public and for-profit institutions, and those who delayed entry into college by more than a year out of high school took almost 60 percent longer to complete their degrees than did those who went directly to college."

4. 5 Myths of Remedial Education, by Jane V. Wellman and Bruce Vandal - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/qtNqzl - "And everyone admits that remedial education is not working, with just 25 percent of community college students who receive it going on to complete a college credential. Recognizing that increasing college attainment is a linchpin in creating more jobs and growing the economy, what to do about remedial education is an issue that would benefit from clear thinking. Here are five powerful myths shared by policy makers and educators alike that clearly hinder our pursuit of college success."

5. What Are Some Mistakes to Avoid in the College Admissions Process? by Unigo - http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/college-admissions-experts/2011/07/20/what-are-some-mistakes-to-avoid-in-the-college-admissions-process - "For those of you who don't have older siblings, hearing about mistakes other college-bound students have made can be a huge time saver. Take a look at some of these mistakes that are completely avoidable, and if you have some of your own, share them in the comment section below!"

6. Report finds 2 of 4 tests in ACT poor predictors of college success, by Jay Mathews-Class Struggle - http://t.co/gnCRVfY via @washingtonpost - "An independent analysis of results in Ohio has concluded that two of the ACT’s four subject tests — Reading and Science — are lousy predictors of college success and should be ignored by admissions officers . . . . “Our model predicts that a student who gets an ACT composite score of 24 by getting a 26 on the Reading and Science tests and a 22 each on the Mathematics and English tests is 59 percent more likely to be a first-year dropout and 43 percent more likely to drop out by the third year of college, relative to a student who gets the same ACT composite of 24, but with a 26 each on the Mathematics and English tests and a 22 each on the Reading and Science tests,” the report said."

7. Learning to Feel Lucky to be in College, by Julia Bumke - http://t.co/hnc6JcL via @voastudentu - "One of the lessons that has really hit home for me is how many American students dismiss college because they cannot see how to navigate it financially. I came from a high school background where students who did not attend college were exceptions to the rule, but that ratio is entirely inverted with the students at ACCESS. The majority of the students working with nonprofits like ACCESS were on the fence about attending college before they met an advisor at their high school or community group."

145. 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. Grading Higher Education: Giving Consumers The Information They Need, by Bridget Terry Long: http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/rc/papers/2010/12_thp_cap/12_higher_ed_long.pdf

"The problem is that going to college is an expensive investment. The cost of four years of college can exceed $100,000, and over a quarter of four-year college students graduate with over $25,000 of student loan debt. Moreover, the college investment is a high-risk proposition. While the average return on a postsecondary credential is substantial, justifying the cost in most cases, there is no guarantee that a person will benefit. Only half of college entrants complete a bachelor’s degree and so many students forfeit the potential returns of such a degree."

2. The Long Road to College Access - Bridget Terry Long - http://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/features/long06012001.html

"Although the Georgia plan has cost $1.2 billion over the last seven years, it has only increased enrollment by about 100,000 students. That means that, in the end, 80 percent of the funds went to students who would have gone to college anyway. At the same time, the program boosted University of Georgia state schools' average incoming SAT scores by about 100 points, making it more difficult for lower-scoring students to gain admission."

3. Who Benefits from Financial Aid? Bridget Terry Long - http://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/features/long10012002.html

"Low-income families depend heavily on government support in order to make college a reality. This support comes through need-based policies, such as Pell Grants and Perkins Loans. Unfortunately, there has been a national shift towards merit-based aid and support, both of which increase affordability for the middle class."

4. Remedial Requirements Bridget Terry Long Researches Remediation - http://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/2005/0901_long.html

"Their findings suggest that students in remedial courses are more likely to graduate, or transfer from two-year schools to four-year schools, than students with similar educational backgrounds who did not take remedial classes. The problem is that remedial courses can also prolong the time it takes for a student to get a degree—which can be a source of discouragement for many."

5. Why Your Child Won't Graduate From College in Four Years, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://t.co/Wpet5p7

‎"According to the report, about half of students who started college in 2003, had managed to graduate within six years. Another 15% were still attending college and more than a third had dropped out.The figures were a bit brighter for those who started at four-year colleges and universities. Fifty eight percent of these students graduated within six years."

6. Hechinger Report Deliberate efforts help Minnesota’s private colleges create (and keep) diverse student body, by Beth Hawkins - http://t.co/LNys5RK

"They’d do well to pay a little attention to some Minnesota success stories. For almost the tenth consecutive year the number of minorities enrolled in the 17 four-year, liberal arts schools that belong to the Minnesota Private College Council has increased [PDF]. This year, 17 percent of incoming freshmen statewide are minorities, as are nearly 23 percent of transfers."

7. Community College Spotlight Costs drive college decisions, by Joanne Jacobs - http://t.co/27yOGi7

"Hit by the recession the Murrays are contributing less to college savings and seeing lower returns on their college fund. The availability of financial aid is becoming a larger factor in the decision of where to send children to school, according to a 2010 survey by college admissions counseling service ApplyWise.com and media company NextStepU."

8. Hechinger Report Early-college programs rethink high expectations, by Sarah Butrymowicz - http://t.co/fKQfXs9

‎"Still, only about 11 percent of early-college graduates nationwide received associate’s degrees, far below the original goal of 100 percent. And the average early-college student graduates with just 22 credits, less than a year’s worth of college coursework."

9. What Is a College Degree Worth in China? - Room for Debate - http://nyti.ms/fxgcSd

"According to recent statistics, the average Chinese college graduate makes only 300 yuan, or about $44, more a month than the average Chinese migrant worker. In recent years, the wages of college graduates have remained steady at about 1,500 yuan a month. Migrant workers' wages, however, have risen to 1,200 yuan."

10. College Grad Rates Stay Exactly the Same, by Kevin Carey http://chronicle.com/blogs/brainstorm/college-grad-rates-stay-exactly-the-same/29394

"All in all, this confirms what we already knew: College works well for the kind of student who has been going to college for a long time: white middle- and upper-class children of college graduates who enroll full-time directly after leaving high school."

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136. 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

Follow the most important stories on college admissions and financial aid on Twitter at http://twitter.com/rottenbornj

For links to articles on college admissions and financial aid, you can "friend" Joe Rottenborn at http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=23325544

"Like" the MVCAP fan page: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=23325544#!/pages/Mahoning-Valley-College-Access-Program-MVCAP/284002915922

You can join the group MVCAP Financial-Aid Friends at this page: http://www.facebook.com/?sk=2361831622#!/group.php?gid=126580419181

1. Four Sure-Fire Ways to Derail Your College Search, by Sue Biemeret http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/22/biemeret-3/#more-24669

‎"My mantra is simple: “The school that fits you best is the best school for you.” When a student finds a college that fits him academically, socially, emotionally and financially — and the college feels the exact same way about that student — fit happens and the college admission “game” is a win/win. But it’s so easy to stray off course, to make things other than fit matter. And when that happens, the college search can get messy, uncomfortable and just plain wrong. In that spirit, here are four easy ways to derail the college search:"

2. Consensus or Groupthink? - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/9p5Pet

"The convergence around the "college completion agenda" -- put simply, the now widely held view that the country must in the next 10-15 years significantly increase the number of Americans with a quality postsecondary credential -- has been driven by many factors, most notably the imprimatur of President Obama within the first weeks of his term. But arguably even more important has been the fact that the country's highest-profile foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the most visible foundation focused primarily on higher education, the Lumina Foundation for Education, have both thrust college completion to the top of their agendas."

3. Colleges Ask Prospective Students Creative Essay Questions http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/19/most-creative-college-ess_n_785443.html

"The University of Chicago is also famous for its unorthodox questions. According to the school's admissions homepage, the admissions essay is "an opportunity for students to tell us about themselves, their tastes, and their ambitions. They can be approached with utter seriousness, complete fancy, or something in between."

4. Top 10 Ways to Improve Students' Achievement and Create Learners - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/pam-lowe/top-10-ways-to-improve-st_b_786205.html

"One of the major negatives is that change is rarely welcome. People tend to like the status quo and do not want the apple cart overturned. Our first year was fraught with change; change in vision, strategies, instructional methods and materials. Through it all, our staff preserved as we worked on our improvement. Over the course of my educational experience I've collected a list of criteria that I believe create an atmosphere ripe for improving student achievement. Here I will call it: Top 10 Ways to Improve Student Achievement and Create LearnersDisclaimer: This is by no means all that schools should be doing. Note that these are broad actions; there are many more detailed actions that need to be taken."

5. Early Decision Applications Are Soaring: Here's Why, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://t.co/d7Dtu6J

"Many elite schools that accept early decision and/or early action applications are experiencing more students applying to college through the early bird options. Vanderbilt University, for instance, received 1,666 early decision applications this year, which represents a 30% jump. Northwestern University’s early decision applications (2,127) soared 26% and the University of Chicago’s early action applications increased 18.5%.Students are applying earlier because at many schools they enjoy a greater chance of acceptance. Some schools are filling half of their classes with students who apply to college early."

6. Rise in College Applications Raises Concerns About Access, by Caralee Adams - http://t.co/2C5IHhX via @educationweek

"With the rise in applications for admission, more colleges are rejecting more students and becoming more selective. The report suggests this could close doors of opportunity for more low-income, first-generation students in all sectors, as these students typically are less certain of their academic goals, received less rigorous college preparation, and have more difficulty negotiating the college bureaucracies. Applying to more schools only to be rejected by more institutions also makes the application process more costly for students and schools, the report notes. While applying to more schools may give students more options for the best fit or the best financial aid package, the report shows growing evidence that financial aid investments are outstripping investments in teaching and learning in the classroom, ultimately canceling out the students' advantage."

7. Teaching for America, by Thomas L. Friedman - http://nyti.ms/dp5tJa

"Here are a few data points that the secretary of education, Arne Duncan, offered in a Nov. 4 speech: “One-quarter of U.S. high school students drop out or fail to graduate on time. Almost one million students leave our schools for the streets each year.... One of the more unusual and sobering press conferences I participated in last year was the release of a report by a group of top retired generals and admirals. Here was the stunning conclusion of their report: 75 percent of young Americans, between the ages of 17 to 24, are unable to enlist in the military today because they have failed to graduate from high school, have a criminal record, or are physically unfit.” America’s youth are now tied for ninth in the world in college attainment."

8. Growing Up Digital, Wired for Distraction -http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/21/technology/21brain.html?pagewanted=1&ref=general&src=me

"Researchers say the lure of these technologies, while it affects adults too, is particularly powerful for young people. The risk, they say, is that developing brains can become more easily habituated than adult brains to constantly switching tasks — and less able to sustain attention. “Their brains are rewarded not for staying on task but for jumping to the next thing,” said Michael Rich, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School and executive director of the Center on Media and Child Health in Boston. And the effects could linger: “The worry is we’re raising a generation of kids in front of screens whose brains are going to be wired differently.”

9. Download or print the free MVCAP Powerpoint presentation "Paying for College" at our site: http://issuu.com/mvcap/docs/paying_for_college

10. Read The Joe Rottenborn Daily for today's top stories on college admissions/financial aid in newsletter form - http://paper.li/rottenbornj