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Showing posts with label mentors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mentors. Show all posts

Friday, October 7, 2011

340. 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. 'Flipped' classrooms take advantage of technology, by Greg Toppo – http://usat.ly/pZBzkm via USATODAY - "Pressed for time and struggling to reach a generation raised on YouTube, Roshan, like a growing number of teachers, digitally records her lessons with a tablet computer as a virtual blackboard, then uploads them to iTunes and assigns them as homework. In class the following day, she helps students work out exercises and answer knotty questions. It's the latest way technology is changing teachers' jobs — in this case it's literally turning their workday upside-down. But teachers say flipped, or upside-down, classes offer greater control of material and more face time with students."


2. Should universities move more aggressively into online education? by Rebecca R. Ruiz - http://nyti.ms/oaczIp - "The authors emphasize that expanding online course offerings at public institutions would expand the supply of seats – the number of students a university might accept – and expand that university’s revenue. But would such an increase in class size – not to mention the challenge of teaching and learning online – demean the quality of instruction?"

3. 25 Colleges With the Worst Professors in 2011, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://moneywatch.bnet.com/spending/blog/college-solution/25-colleges-with-the-worst-professors-in-2011/6830/ via @cbsmoneywatch - "According to an analysis of millions of RateMyProfessors.com evaluations by an education think tank, the following 25 schools have the worst professors among 650 top schools that were surveyed."

4. Apple's Steve Jobs Was a Pioneer in Ed Tech, by Ian Quillen -http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/DigitalEducation/2011/10/apple_founder_steve_jobs_passe.html -"In the less than two years since Jobs stood on stage in his characteristic black mock turtleneck and blue jeans and introduced the iPad, Apple's tablet computer has exploded on the educational scene. In the third quarter of fiscal year 2011, the iPad surpassed all of Apple's educational Mac desktop and laptop computer sales combined. Its popularity with classroom teachers, educators have said, is due to a combination of its portability, long battery life, and intuitiveness of use, especially for young students and students with disabilities such as autism."

5. For Children at Risk, Mentors Who Stay, by David Bornstein - http://nyti.ms/pCGmmd - "Samuel was out of control. He cursed at his teacher, refused to do school work, attacked other kids in the schoolyard — and Samuel was still in kindergarten. His home life was chaotic. He’d never met his father. His mother had emotional and drug problems and was unable to care for him. His grandmother did her best. His older brother was involved in violent crime and had been in and out of jail. He taught Samuel to smoke marijuana when he was 6 years old."

6. Steve Jobs's Legacy to Higher Education, by Marc Prensky -http://chronicle.com/article/Steve-Jobss-Legacy-to-Higher/129297/ - "But what we can't argue about is that as a result of Steve Jobs our environment has permanently changed. His genius in making devices that are beautiful, fun, useful, and that—most of all—students and others wanted to have, essentially remade our institutions of higher learning."

7. Steve Jobs told students: ‘Stay hungry. Stay foolish.’ by Valerie Strauss - The Answer Sheet - http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/steve-jobs-told-students-stay-hungry-stay-foolish/2011/10/05/gIQA1qVjOL_blog.html via @washingtonpost - “My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: ‘We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?’ They said: ‘Of course.’ “My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.“And 17 years later I did go to college."

8. 'Net Price Calculators' Give Clearer Picture On College Cost, by Justin Pope - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/06/net-price-calculators-giv_n_998585.html - "It sounds like a simple question: How much is a college actually going to cost?In fact, it's a slippery one. But thanks to a federal mandate, a new tool to help students and families pin down an answer is finally arriving this month: a fairly simple online calculator to estimate what you can expect to pay to attend any college in the United States."

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

237. Unstack the Odds--Access Programs, Part 2



Unstack the Odds: Help All Kids Access College—and Graduate!
by
Joe Rottenborn
Executive Director, Mahoning Valley College Access Program (MVCAP)


16. Access Programs, Part 2


The second trait Jennifer Lee Schultz and Dan Mueller examined in their literature review of access programs was to Balance academic support with social support. [emphasis in original] As the two writers indicated, “Research has shown that social support is a predictor of college attendance and completion (Perna, 2000). Social support helps students see college as a realistic option.” (Jennifer Lee Schultz and Dan Mueller, Effectiveness of programs to improve postsecondary education enrollment and success of underrepresented youth: A literature review, NorthStar Education Finance, November 2006. p. 9.) http://www.mncollegeaccess.org/sites/b862decd-72ee-44b5-80f8-4f0ac42e8716/uploads/NorthstarLitReviewWithoutRICFSum_11-06.pdf

Schultz and Mueller also commented on the importance of peer support, stating “Students are more likely to plan to attend college if their friends also plan to enroll (Hossler, Schmit, & Vesper, 1999). Strong social networks help support students’ academic and emotional development, which can influence their likelihood of enrolling in college (Cabrera & La Nasa, 2001).” (Jennifer Lee Schultz and Dan Mueller, Effectiveness of programs to improve postsecondary education enrollment and success of underrepresented youth: A literature review, NorthStar Education Finance, November 2006. p. 9.) http://www.mncollegeaccess.org/sites/b862decd-72ee-44b5-80f8-4f0ac42e8716/uploads/NorthstarLitReviewWithoutRICFSum_11-06.pdf

Next, they recognized the role of mentors in college access programs serving underrepresented advisees. They noted: “In addition to peer support, research has shown that mentors play a key supportive role in helping low-income students overcome obstacles and enroll in college (Levine & Nidiffer, 1996).” (Jennifer Lee Schultz and Dan Mueller, Effectiveness of programs to improve postsecondary education enrollment and success of underrepresented youth: A literature review, NorthStar Education Finance, November 2006. p. 9.) http://www.mncollegeaccess.org/sites/b862decd-72ee-44b5-80f8-4f0ac42e8716/uploads/NorthstarLitReviewWithoutRICFSum_11-06.pdf

A third characteristic of college preparation programs reviewed by Schultz and Miller was that such initiatives “Intervene early.” [emphasis in original] As the authors indicated, “Research has shown that it is critical to intervene early in order to facilitate curricular planning. Researchers recommend that programs begin by eighth grade (Perna, 2002), no later than the ninth grade (Corwin et al., 2005), or well before high school (Levine & Nidiffer, 1996) if possible.” (Jennifer Lee Schultz and Dan Mueller, Effectiveness of programs to improve postsecondary education enrollment and success of underrepresented youth: A literature review, NorthStar Education Finance, November 2006. p. 10.) http://www.mncollegeaccess.org/sites/b862decd-72ee-44b5-80f8-4f0ac42e8716/uploads/NorthstarLitReviewWithoutRICFSum_11-06.pdf

In regard to this characteristic of early intervention, Schultz and Miller found that “Almost all of the programs reviewed begin serving students in ninth grade or earlier, and 40 percent of the programs target students prior to entering high school.” (Jennifer Lee Schultz and Dan Mueller, Effectiveness of programs to improve postsecondary education enrollment and success of underrepresented youth: A literature review, NorthStar Education Finance, November 2006. p. 10.) http://www.mncollegeaccess.org/sites/b862decd-72ee-44b5-80f8-4f0ac42e8716/uploads/NorthstarLitReviewWithoutRICFSum_11-06.pdf






Friday, January 7, 2011

165. 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. NCAA football: All dollars, no sense, by Frank Deford - http://bit.ly/dZyc3A /via @SI_24Seven

"Why should any of this be surprising? College football is a billion dollar enterprise now, and everybody involved is making money -- sometimes millions -- except the players themselves."

2. Presidents Plot Push for Aid Changes, by Doug Lederman - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/hZqEzI

"A 2008 study by the Institute for College Access and Success found that four-year colleges were distributing $3.3 billion in institutional aid to one group of students in excess of those students' proven financial need, while first-year students at those same institutions had $2.4 billion in unmet need over and above their grants, subsidized loans and work study funds."

3. Athletes and Students Graduate Comparably, by David Moltz - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/f4uleP

"Released Thursday by the NCAA, results from a representative, division-wide sample of 115 institutions show that 66 percent of athletes who enrolled as freshmen in 2003 graduated within six years. This is comparable to the 65 percent graduation rate for all students at the 444 Division III member institutions."

4. Verbal Commitments Challenged, by David Moltz - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/gaExv8

"Some coaches of high-profile sports teams occasionally make verbal scholarship offers to potential recruits as early as the eighth grade. For example, last February, a 13-year-old quarterback verbally committed to play football at the University of Southern California. The prospect would most likely not be able to enter college until 2015."

5. 6 Great College Resolutions for the New Year, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://t.co/1Z7EwRU

"Many parents focus on getting their teens into college rather than making sure that their children are well prepared to succeed in college. The latter is far more important."

6. Georgia Facing a Hard Choice on Free Tuition, by Kim Severson - http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/07/us/07hope.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp

"Part of it is the program’s popularity. A majority of freshmen in Georgia have grades good enough to qualify for Hope, which covers tuition, some books and fees — but not housing costs — at any Georgia university or technical school."

7. Do Legacy Preferences Count More Than Race? by Richard Kahlenberg - http://chronicle.com/blogs/innovations/do-legacy-preferences-count-more-than-race/28294

‎"How does the 45-percentage-point increase given to primary legacies compare with other preferences such as those for under-represented minorities? Hurwitz’s study doesn’t say. But Bowen and colleagues (using earlier data, from a smaller set of schools and controlling just for SAT scores) found that being an under-represented minority increased one’s chances by 27.7 percentage points."

8. Pittsburgh mentors, money fuel education, by Mary Beth Marklein - http://usat.ly/gv4iIb RT @USATODAY

"It centers on the Pittsburgh Promise, a 3-year-old scholarship — worth up to $40,000 over four years — for public school graduates. Students can use the scholarship at just about any college or trade school in the state. Their only requirements: attend class regularly and maintain a 2.5 grade point average."

9. A Tough Job Outlook, by Scott Jaschik - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/gIjYqu

"For those seeking jobs teaching English or foreign languages, the job market remains bleak -- but what passes for good news may be that the number of openings is flat this year, and isn't dropping further after dramatic declines in the previous two years."