CAROL’S SUMMARY:

In 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled during Grutter v. Bollinger in favor of the University of Michigan Law School’s affirmative action argument that race-conscious admissions was justified by the educational benefits the diversity provided their students. New research on campus diversity, which goes beyond admissions to provide colleges with insight on how to structure their policies to maximize educational benefits for minority students, has sparked a national dialogue of divergent perspectives on this topic, which are featured in today’s article from the Chronicle of Higher Education. Following are excerpts from the article:

Jeffrey F. Milem, a professor of higher education at the University of Arizona, is quoted in the article: “You can’t just bring together a group of racially diverse people and assume that there will be benefits that come from that. That is an important first step, but it cannot be the only step colleges take.” Daryl G. Smith, a professor of education and psychology at Claremont Graduate University, agrees. She states that, “The conditions under which you bring people together matter.” Smith also says that many of the new studies “reveal key differences in how various racial and ethnic groups interact and show how colleges’ policies influence whether—and what—students learn from one another.”

James Sidanius, a professor of psychology and of African and African-American studies at Harvard University, acknowledges in his book, The Diversity Challenge: Social Identity and Intergroup Relations on the College Campus, that a long-term study of about 2,000 students at UCLA failed to confirm his belief that the university’s diversity and efforts to promote multiculturalism had a profound effect on students’ attitudes toward members of other racial and ethnic groups. In fact, some black students’ grades had suffered from their belief that they were admitted through race-conscious admissions policies, but also that involvement in racially or ethnically oriented campus groups appeared to hurt students’ ability to relate to peers from other racial and ethnic backgrounds. Rather than being challenged by advocates for minority students, the study has been praised by several as solid.

Ms. Darrell Smith, of the Claremont Graduate University, says, “The issue in this research should not be to demonstrate that we want diversity or don’t want diversity. The issue today should be: How do we go about building a healthy democracy in our institutions, building pluralistic communities that work?”

ARTICLE:

The Chronicle of Higher Education
January 31, 2010
New Research Complicates Discussions of Campus Diversity—in a Good Way
By Peter Schmidt

A new wave of research on campus diversity holds the promise of improving how colleges serve students of different hues. On the fundamental question of whether racial and ethnic diversity produces educational benefits, the latest studies’ bottom line is: Sometimes. With the right mix of students. If handled delicately.

The increased nuance and complexity of the recent research is seen as a byproduct of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2003 Grutter v. Bollinger ruling, in which a slim majority accepted the University of Michigan Law School’s argument that the educational benefits arising from campus diversity justified the use of race-conscious admissions.

In putting to rest courtroom debates over the constitutionality of such policies, the Grutter decision left proponents of affirmative action feeling freer to study—and publicly acknowledge—shortcomings in colleges’ efforts to promote diversity. Colleges have interpreted the ruling as requiring them to demonstrate how race-conscious admissions policies advance their missions. That, in turn, has created demand for research on the nuts and bolts of using diversity to improve education.

To view this entire article visit www.chronicle.com

CAROL’S SUMMARY:

President Obama’s first formal State of the Union address last night focused on the nation’s economy, and specifically, helping make college more affordable. “In the 21st century, one of the best antipoverty programs is a world-class education,” he said, calling for a $10,000 tax credit to families for four years of college, as well as an increase in Pell Grants. But even with financial aid, many students have trouble affording the basic fees. According to the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, median family income increase by nearly 150 percent during the last 25 years, only to have college tuition and fees skyrocket by 439 percent during the same time period.

According to the Chronicle of Higher Education article below, Obama “urged Congress to finish legislation that would restructure federal student lending and proposed a more lenient loan-forgiveness program for graduates with federally subsidized student loans.” He will ask Congress to boost federal spending on education by as much as $4 billion in the coming 2011 budget, Education Secretary Arnie Duncan said earlier in the day. Of that total, $3 billion will go toward elementary and secondary education and $1 billion will be for higher education.

In the U.S., 1 out of every 4 college students drop out or stop out (postpone their education and enroll again later). Closely linked to college drop-out rates are the numbers of high school students who quit school. In a May 2009 report by the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, and the Alternative Schools Network in Chicago, Illinois, approximately 600,000 students dropped out in 2008. If they had stayed in school and graduated, they would have generated over $1 billion in state and local taxes in just one year of their working lives. Consequently, addressing our nation’s drop out crisis is one antidote to the high cost of college. Without correcting the patterns of underachievement that often begin in middle school, the U.S. high school drop-out crisis will persist, making college even more unattainable.

What kinds of supportive strategies can we put in place at the middle school and high school levels to help students prepare for college and career success?

How can we boost students’ intrinsic motivation to see themselves as learners who have the ability to achieve academically?

How can we better serve students so that they excel in their areas of strength and interest while also providing opportunities to improve in areas of learning deficiencies?

ARTICLE:

The Chronicle of Higher Education
January 28, 2010
In a Speech Focused on the Economy, Obama Calls for Cutting College Costs
By Libby Nelson
Washington

In his first formal State of the Union address on Wednesday night, President Obama focused on the nation’s economic problems but also zeroed in on several issues of concern to higher education, including college costs.

He urged Congress to finish legislation that would restructure federal student lending and proposed a more lenient loan-forgiveness program for graduates with federally subsidized student loans.

To view this entire article visit www.chronicle.com

CAROL’S SUMMARY:

There are more men than women ages 18-24 in the USA — 15 million vs. 14.2 million, according to a Census Bureau estimate last year. But nationally, the male/female ratio on campus today is 43/57, a reversal from the late 1960s and well beyond the nearly even splits of the mid-1970s. The National Center for Education reports the number of females attending college in 2004 surpassed males by about 200,000 nationwide. According to a new study, “Gender Equity in Higher Education: 2010” by the American Council on Education, that gap has remained steady, however, the enrollment disparity between Hispanic men and women has continued to increase with enrollment of undergraduate Hispanic men ages 24 or younger dropping from 45 percent to 42 percent between 1999 and 2007, according to this same study. The percentage of undergraduates at community and four-year colleges who were male hovered between 42 percent and 44 percent from the 1995-1996 academic year to 2007-2008, the last year for which data was available, says the report. Fewer than half of foreign-born Hispanic men who live in the United States complete high school.

Jacqueline E. King, assistant vice president for policy analysis at the council and author of the report, added, “There has been some anecdotal evidence coming in from community colleges saying that since the recession, they’ve seen enrollment of non-traditional-aged men expanding pretty rapidly. They’ve been laid off or they’re worried about being laid off, so the job market is pushing them to upgrade.” King also found that 68 percent of college enrollees from low-income families were female; only 31 percent were male.

How can we do a better job getting Latin males into the college pipeline starting in middle and secondary schools?

What pedagogical approaches might need to be put in place that honor the different learning preferences between boys and girls?

How can we draw more men to the teaching profession who in turn become role models for boys?

ARTICLE:

The Chronicle of Higher Education
January 26, 2010
Female Undergraduates Continue to Outnumber Men, but Gap Holds Steady
By Andrea Fuller

The gender gap in undergraduate enrollment appears to have stopped widening for most groups, according to a report being released on Tuesday by the American Council on Education.

The percentage of undergraduates at community and four-year colleges who were male hovered between 42 percent and 44 percent from the 1995-1996 academic year to 2007-2008, the last year for which data was available, says the report, “Gender Equity in Higher Education: 2010.” Among undergraduates who were black or age 25 and older, even smaller proportions were male, but the ratio of women to men in those groups was relatively stable over that same time frame.

To view this entire article visit www.chronicle.com

According to an annual nationwide survey, the recession hit this year’s college freshmen hard, affecting how they chose a school as well as their ability to pay for it. This week the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles, regarded as one of the premier research and policy organizations on postsecondary education in the country, released their 44th “The American Freshman: National Norms Fall 2009” report, which provides information about the demographic profile, perceptions, and mind-sets of their incoming freshmen classes. At the start of the fall semester, the Institute surveyed 220,000 first-time, full-time freshmen from 297 four-year colleges and universities. Some interesting findings summarized in the Chronicle of Higher Education article below include:

• “About two-thirds of freshmen said they were either somewhat or very worried about their ability to finance their college educations. Those citing “some” concerns about money increased about two percentage points, to 55.4 percent, while students citing “major” concerns remained at 11.3 percent, about the same as in 2008.”
• “A record-high 4.5 percent of freshmen said their fathers were unemployed. (That rate had long fluctuated between 2 and 3 percent.) The proportion of students saying their mothers were unemployed, which has risen steadily from 5.4 percent in 2006, reached 7.9 percent in 2009.”
• The number of students taking out loans was at its highest in nine years, at 53.3 percent. (Source: New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/21/education/21college.html?ref=education)
• “The proportion of students planning to major in business dropped in 2009 to a 35-year low of 14.4 percent, and those with “business career aspirations” fell two percentage points from 2008.”
• “78 percent of the freshmen said being financially well-off was an important objective, making that the most prevalent goal among incoming freshmen for the second year in a row. In second place was raising a family, which about 75 percent of the students said was very important to them.”
• “39 percent of freshmen said they would need tutoring while in college.”

The director of the survey, John H. Pryor, told the Chronicle reporter, “The effects of the economic downturn were spread across the college experience, whether the issue was how to pay for college or what majors and eventual careers to pursue.” The report also states that one in five of today’s freshmen entering a four-year college as a first-year student had remedial work in high school and that “Almost twice as many … believe that they will need special tutoring or remedial work in college.”

LifeBound’s transitions programs are designed to prepare students for college and career success, and the new edition of our book, Making the Most of High School, will include a chapter on personal finance. If students learn the requisite skills starting in middle school, they will be better positioned to succeed in life after high school.

How can we make college more affordable for students who desire to go and help them succeed once they get there?

How can k-12 school districts and parents better prepare students with the tools and confidence they need to persist and succeed to college graduation?

What programs can we put in place at the middle school and high school levels that help students see the connection between school and future career success?

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ARTICLE:

The Chronicle of Higher Education
January 21, 2010
Cost of College Is a Big Worry of Freshmen in National Survey
By Ashley Marchand

Financial concerns, from paying for college to job prospects, dominated the new-student experience in 2009, according to an annual survey on freshman attitudes.

About two-thirds of freshmen said they were either somewhat or very worried about their ability to finance their college educations. Those citing “some” concerns about money increased about two percentage points, to 55.4 percent, while students citing “major” concerns remained at 11.3 percent, about the same as in 2008.

The survey, The American Freshman: National Norms Fall 2009, is conducted by the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles. This was the 44th year of the report, which provides institutions with information about the demographic profile, perceptions, and mind-set of their incoming freshmen classes.

To view this entire article visit www.chronicle.com

CAROL’S SUMMARY:

Learning how to think critically has traditionally been associated with a liberal arts education, but in the aftermath of our nation’s economic crisis, many business schools are realizing the value of approaching problems from many perspectives and finding innovative solutions. The New York Times article below cites ring leader, Roger Martin, the new dean of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, who had an epiphany after observing his son’s elementary school principal’s success with the success of people who run top corporations. He was surprised that this retired principal exhibited the same quality components of an international law firm in his town—questioning assumptions, looking at things from multiple points of view, coming to the table with solutions, keeping an open mind, etc.

“As a result [of Mr. Martin’s recommendations], a number of prominent business schools have re-evaluated and, in some cases, redesigned their M.B.A. programs in the last few years. And while few talk explicitly about taking a liberal arts approach to business, many of the changes are moving business schools into territory more traditionally associated with the liberal arts: multidisciplinary approaches, an understanding of global and historical context and perspectives, a greater focus on leadership and social responsibility and, yes, learning how to think critically.”

One big question: Will a liberal arts approach to teaching business create a different breed of M.B.A. graduates? Steve McConnell, a managing partner of NBBJ, an architecture firm based in Seattle, thinks so. McConnell noticed that the students he hired who went to school at Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto exhibited fundamentally different approaches to problem solving. McConnell said, “They seemed to be naturally free of the bias or predisposition that so many of us seem to carry into any situation and they brought a set of skills in how you query and look into an issue without moving toward biased or predetermined conclusions that has led to unexpected discoveries of opportunity and potential innovation.”

Critical and analytical thinking skills are not just for liberal arts degrees or those seeking master’s degrees in business. LifeBound’s title Critical and Creative Thinking for Teenagers lays the ground work for helping high school students develop these skills early so they are better prepared for future college, career and life success. Additionally, LifeBound’s academic coaches training helps educators integrate these skills into their own teaching paradigm. For more information about our programs or training, please call toll free 1.877.737.8510 or send an email to: contact@lifebound.com.

ARTICLE:

The New York Times
January 10, 2010
Multicultural Critical Theory. At B-School?
By LANE WALLACE

A DECADE ago, Roger Martin, the new dean of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, had an epiphany. The leadership at his son’s elementary school had asked him to meet with its retiring principal to figure out how it could replicate her success.

He discovered that the principal thrived by thinking through clashing priorities and potential options, rather than hewing to any pre-planned strategy — the same approach taken by the managing partner of a successful international law firm in town.

“The ‘Eureka’ moment was when I could draw a data point between a hotshot, investment bank-oriented star lawyer and an elementary school principal,” Mr. Martin recalls. “I thought: ‘Holy smokes. In completely different situations, these people are thinking in very similar ways, and there may be something special about this pattern of thinking.’ ”

To view this entire article visit www.nytimes.com