Graduates » Carol J. Carter

Want a Higher G.P.A.? Go to a Private College

Grade inflation has risen among private colleges, especially in the last decade. However, my colleagues who teach at a range of colleges from four year to community college to career schools, believe that students have come to expect that because they are paying for college they should be gettingâ€”not earningâ€”good grades. Many professors feel that the students have the â€œyou work for meâ€ attitude. You can see how these behaviors, when unaddressed, create problems of expectation and work culture once these students graduate and begin work in a professional environment. Professors can most help students by emphasizing:

1) The extent to which you are challengedâ€”even if you earn a Câ€”is more important than taking an easy teacher where you get An â€œAâ€

2) The real-world expects you to challenge yourself in increasingly more complex ways. If you expect your boss to let you off the hook on a non-deliverable or late work, think again. This could cost you a pay increase or even your job.

3) Focus as much on the interesting experiences you can create for yourself as, in the end, these are often more important than your GPA unless you want to become a professor, a research scientist or get into medical school.

4) Ask the question: if you were a manager, would you hire yourself based on these actions?

Bottom line is that we canâ€™t continue to coddle todayâ€™s students or we wonâ€™t have a strong, resilient, capable and forward-thinking people to solve our greatest problems in business, community, science, and world-wide issues.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

ARTICLE
Want a Higher G.P.A.? Go to a Private College
By CATHERINE RAMPELL
Over the last 50 years, college grade-point averages have risen about 0.1 points per decade, with private schools fueling the most grade inflation, a recent study finds.

The study, by Stuart Rojstaczer and Christopher Healy, uses historical data from 80 four-year colleges and universities. It finds that G.P.A.â€™s have risen from a national average of 2.52 in the 1950s to about 3.11 by the middle of the last decade.

http://nyti.ms/9WAXLu

Share this Article with Your Friends:

A Way Around the Job Market

CAROLâ€™S SUMMARY:

Hiring fell 22% last year, so this is an especially challenging time for graduates looking for a job. So, how are students and recent grads adjusting? Many are working their way around the job market through entrepreneurship.

As an entrepreneur myself, I can appreciate the creativity and hard work this generation is mustering to make it through such a tough hiring market. For those still in school, I offer summer internships as one way to get experience and learn from my journey as VP of Marketing at Pearson to small business owner of LifeBound, LLC.

If you are interested in launching your own ideas which can grow into a business, you might want to start with a day job which can provide you income and benefits. You will be essentially working two jobs until your dream idea gets launched. If you get venture funding, you can short circuit the day job route, but be ready to be beholden to stakeholders who will expect results within a specific time-frame.

If you are interested in what it is like to work in a small business, there are many companies such as mine for which you can work. To apply for an internship with LifeBound, please email your cover letter and resume to cynthianordberg@lifebound.com.

ARTICLE:

The Wall Street Journal
April 19, 2010
A Way Around the Job Market
by Aditya Mahesh

Last year alone, hiring for recent college graduates fell by 22% (See College Gradsâ€™ Outlook Is Grim). Those who were fortunate enough to secure a job upon graduation saw their average starting salary drop by as much as 8%. For someone who just invested over $150,000 in a four-year undergraduate education, these results are alarming.

Yet undergraduate students, a resourceful, motivated and educated group of young people, are looking outside the box now more than ever, to get around this contracting job market. For many, this means entrepreneurship.

To view this entire article visit www.wsj.com

Share this Article with Your Friends:

In-School Banks Dispense Financial Sense

Our nation’s recession has put the spotlight on personal finances, and many schools across the country have opened their own banks to teach students lessons in financialÂ planning.Â When students don’t learn these skills early, the consequences can follow them through college andÂ the rest of their lives.

According to Sallie Mae,Â “84% of undergraduates had at least one credit card and the average was 4.6 credit cards per student. The average balance was $3,173. Despite the credit crunch, students’ credit card debt continues to rise as more students rely on credit cards than ever before and debt has even been linked to suicide among students.”Â Another study by the Project on Student Debt reports that “More than half of today’s college freshmen owe over $1,500 in credit card debt.Â In 1993, 1.3 percent of graduating seniors with student loans owed at least $40,000 (in 2004 dollars). In 2004, 7.7 percent owed $40,000 or more.”

[Sources: http://kids-money.suite101.com/article.cfm/credit-card-debt-and-college-students]

http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/general/2006-02-22-student-loans-usat_x.htm

This is why LifeBound’s new book, MAKING THE MOST OF HIGH SCHOOL, includes financial literacy exercises in every chapterÂ and oneÂ chapter devoted to this topic.Â We also help students create an 8-year plan starting the freshmen year which includes budgeting.Â To receive a review copy, call our toll free # 1.877.737.8510 or email contact@lifebound.com

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
ARTICLE

USA Today

By Katharine Lackey, USA TODAYWhen students at Carter High School in Strawberry Plains, Tenn., forget their lunch money, they don’t have to worry about going hungry.Instead, they wander over to one of the five tellers who work at the student-run bank, where they can withdraw money from their savings accounts or fill out short applications for a $5 loan, all without leaving the building, says Lynn Raymond, a banking and finance teacher at the school.“We’re easing them into learning about borrowing money and the responsibilities that go along with that,” Raymond says of the experience students receive at the bank, which opened Feb. 16 in partnership with First Century Bank.“It’s just so important because so many people get in trouble financially,” she says.Students across the USA are increasingly getting hands-on experience about the financial sector through banks operating in high schools, and sometimes even in elementary schools.The first in-school bank opened in 2000 in Milwaukee and today there are several dozen, says Luke Reynolds, chief of outreach and program development at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. To view the entire article visithttp://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2010-03-31-schoolbanks_N.htm

Share this Article with Your Friends:

At College Admission Time, Lessons in Thin Envelopes

Carolâ€™s summary:

As teens await the springtime arrival of college letters, some students will read a rejection from their college of choice as an indication that they don’t have what it takes to succeed, but as the article below iterates through several interviews with highly successful people, there are many paths on the road to success. Rejection can actually open the door to a better opportunity. Investment mogul Warren Buffet, said, “The truth is, everything that has happened in my life…that I thought was a crushing event at the time, has turned out for the better.” With the exception of health problems, he says, setbacks teach “lessons that carry you along. You learn that a temporary defeat is not a permanent one. In the end, it can be an opportunity.”

While a college rejection can be devastating initially, it can also propel students â€œto define their own talents and potential,â€ said Columbia University President Lee Bollinger, who was rejected as a teenager when he applied to Harvard. Students need to remember that there is no one perfect college. Any number of schools can be good fits and places to thrive. In the face of rejection form a college or university, here are some steps students can take:

Talk to your counselor.
S/he has been through this before with other students and knows what to do.

Apply to schools whose deadlines haven’t yet passed.
Many colleges have late admissions policies or rolling admissions. Use College Search to help you find schools that are still accepting applications.

Apply to the same schools again.
Some schools will reconsider your application if you take the SATÂ® again and improve your scores or if your grades shot up dramatically at the end of your senior year. Contact the admissions office.

Ask for an explanation.
Was it your high school transcript? Your essay?

Consider transferring to the college.
If you spend a year at another school, you can prove to college admissions officers that you’re motivated and ready for college-level work. Consider community and state colleges, too.

Source: http://www.collegeboard.com/student/apply/letters-are-in/126.html

Winston Churchill said, â€œSuccess is the ability to go from one failure to another without losing enthusiasm.â€ The opportunity in this situation is for students to improve their ability to risk, despite the outcome. One of the most important life lessons is that we only â€œfailâ€ if we donâ€™t try. Learning how to master these lessons now can prepare students for success in college, career and life. This is why I wrote LifeBoundâ€™s book for seniors in high school, MAJORING IN THE REST OF YOUR LIFE: Success Secrets For College Students, which includes real-world advice from other professionals whoâ€™ve faced rejection and gone on to find their best career path. To request a review copy of our new fifth edition, call the LifeBound toll free # 1.877.737.8510 or email contact@lifebound.com.

ARTICLE:

WSJ
March 26, 2010
Before They Were Titans, Moguls and Newsmakers, These People Were…Rejected
At College Admission Time, Lessons in Thin Envelopes
By Sue Shellenbarger

Few events arouse more teenage angst than the springtime arrival of college rejection letters. With next fall’s college freshman class expected to approach a record 2.9 million students, hundreds of thousands of applicants will soon be receiving the dreaded letters.

Teenagers who face rejection will be joining good company, including Nobel laureates, billionaire philanthropists, university presidents, constitutional scholars, best-selling authors and other leaders of business, media and the arts who once received college or graduate-school rejection letters of their own.

To view this entire article visit www.wsj.com

Share this Article with Your Friends:

To Reduce Dropouts, Obama proposes $900M for schools

Carolâ€™s summary:

In spite of our countryâ€™s relative affluence worldwide, only about 70% of entering freshmen finish high school, and the numbers are even worse for African-American and Latino students, with only a 50-50 chance that theyâ€™ll graduate on time.Â Big city schools fare worst:Â Fourteen urban school districts have on-time graduation rates lower than 50%; they include Detroit, Baltimore, New York, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Miami, Dallas, Denver and Houston, and compared to other developed countries, the United States ranks 13^th among 20 members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Last year, 16 percent of all public high-school students left the system, up from 9.3 percent in 2006 (a 6.7 percent increase). Source: U.S. Department of Education.

This week President Barack Obama proposed $900 million in â€œSchool Turnaround Grantsâ€ at the nationâ€™s 5,000 lowest performing schools over the next five years.Â If we are to remain competitive relative to the new global competition for talent, schools and districts must commit to strategies that help students persist with their educational goals.Â Some of the attitudes and behaviors that result in low achievement start all the way back in elementary school, and LifeBound offers programs starting in fifth grade. Specific to high school, schools need to adopt student success and transition programs designed to help students get off to the strongest start possible. The new second edition of our book for 9^th graders, MAKING THE MOST OF HIGH SCHOOL: Success Secrets for Freshmen, which is coming outÂ in April of 2010, includes the following features:

Exercises on financial literacy in every chapter
Two new chaptersÂ are devoted toÂ financial literacy and technology
An 8-year academic plan for students that covers high school and college
End of chapter exercises that that promote critical and creative thinking and ACT/SAT preparation
A fully updated Appendices on activities for students both in high school and outside of high school to develop their leadership skills.

To reserve a copy of our new updated book for freshmen success, or any of our other resources, call us toll free at 1.877.737.8510 or email contact@lifebound.com

How can we build better early-warning systems for struggling students?How can we effectively use the data to transform learning and reduce the drop out rate?

How can we connect classroom learning with real-world experiences toÂ motivate more students to finish high school?

ARTICLE

USA Today

WASHINGTON (AP) â€” President Barack Obama on Monday addressed the nation’s school dropout epidemic, proposing $900 million to states and school districts that agree to drastically change or even shutter their worst performing schools.

Obama’s move comes as many schools continue to struggle to get children to graduation, a profound problem in a rich, powerful nation. Only about 70% of entering high school freshmen go on to graduate. The problem affects blacks and Latinos at particularly high rates.

To view the entire article visit

http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2010-03-01-obama-dropouts_N.htm

Share this Article with Your Friends:

With Scant Jobs, Grads Make Their Own

With the unemployment rate for 20- to 24-year-olds at 16%, many college and graduate-school graduates are starting their own businesses. The National Association of Colleges and Employers published a recent report citing that employers plan to hire 7% fewer graduates from the class of 2010 than they hired from the class of 2009. This is after hiring already dropped 22% in 2009 from that of 2008. According to the article below, the launching of new enterprises among young people is likely to continue. “Given the state of the economy, and the state of the job market, many young people are getting the push they needed to become entrepreneurs,” says Bo Fishback, vice president of entrepreneurship at the Kauffman Foundation, a nonprofit organization that promotes entrepreneurs. “It’s a lot easier to decide to launch your own company when there aren’t a lot of jobs out there.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Share this Article with Your Friends:

For-Profit Colleges Say They Are Key to Obama’s College-Completion Goal

CAROL’S SUMMARY:

The Chronicle article below points out that for-profit colleges can play a big role in the Obama Administration’s goal of having the world’s highest number of college graduates by 2020. Several statistics are cited, mostÂ from the National Center for Education Statistics, unless otherwise noted as follows:

ApproximatelyÂ two million students attend for-profit colleges, or aboutÂ eight percent of the college-going population
Between the 1996-7 and 2006-7 academic years, the number of associate, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees awarded by private, for-profit institutions rose at a faster rate than the number of those degrees conferred by public and private nonprofit colleges: The number of associate degrees conferred by for-profit institutions more than doubled during that 10-year span, to almost 118,000. For public institutions, the number increased by 22 percent, to 567,000, during the same period. At private, nonprofit colleges the number of associate degrees decreased by almost 11 percent, to 44,000. Associate degrees awarded by for-profit institutions made up 16 percent of all associate degrees awarded in 2006-7, up from 10 percent in 1996-7.
The number of bachelor’s degrees conferred by for-profit institutions increased even more quickly, to 71,000 from 12,000
Students at for-profit institutions also tend to complete associate degrees faster than students at nonprofit colleges: The average time to completion at a for-profit college is 25.4 months, compared with 32 months at a nonprofit institution.
Almost half of students enrolled at a for-profit college are the first in their family to pursue a higher education, and the same proportion of for-profit-college students come from families with an income below $40,000, according to the Career College Association.

For-profit institutions for all their merits also have their flaws.Â Some scholarsÂ point outÂ that proprietary institutionsÂ are less academically rigorous andÂ offerÂ a narrow range of degree options as compared to community colleges and state institutions.Â Additionally, they have higher default rates on student loans than students at nonprofit colleges.Â The article also cites a reportÂ by the Government Accountability Office thatÂ disclosedÂ shady practicesÂ by some officials at for-profit colleges who’ve helped students pass basic-skills tests or obtain invalid high-school diplomas so they could be eligible for federal aid.Â The Obama administration is reviewing rules that govern for-profit institutions to address these issues.

WhetherÂ enrolling in a for-profit orÂ traditional institution, many students enter college in the United States without the basic academic skills needed to be successful in their coursework. Researchers from the Manhattan Institute Center for Civic Information found that only 32% of students leave high school academically prepared for college (Greene & Foster, 2003). This percentage is even lower among Black and Hispanic students (20% and 16%, respectively).

Bridget Terry Long, an Associate Professor of Education and Economics at Harvard Graduate School of Education, has analyzed this issue, which lies at the intersection of K-12 and higher education. “These staggeringly [dismal] figures are especially disconcerting, because these students are likely to need remediation in college â€“ and far less likely to complete a degree â€“ than classmates who enter with higher levels of skill. Ultimately, not having a college degree means these individuals will have a harder time finding meaningful work in today’s knowledge economy.”

To read the results of her report, visit:

http://www.uknow.gse.harvard.edu/leadership/LP101-407.html

LifeBound’sÂ mission is to fully prepare students for success in the 21st Century starting at theÂ fifth grade level, since middle school is when many students begin to slip academically and behavior patterns are formed that contribute to or detract fromÂ their future success in school and in life.Â To receive review copies of LifeBound’s student success and transition materials, please contact us by calling toll free at 1.877.737.8510, email at contact@lifebound.comÂ or visit us online at www.lifebound.com.

ARTICLE

Chronicle of Higher Education

By Jennifer Gonzalez

Washington

With about two million students in the United States now attending for-profit colleges, a number that is expected to double by 2015, leaders of those institutions say their sector must play a key role if President Obama is to meet his goal of having the world’s highest number of college graduates by 2020.

The institutions are still viewed with skepticism by some consumers and policy makers, but for-profit colleges have grown steadily. Their officials say the colleges’ performance records on enrollment and graduation demonstrate the extent to which they can fulfill America’s higher-education needs.

Â To view the entire article visit

http://bit.ly/3TFUnn

Share this Article with Your Friends:

Transfer Students Less Engaged in Campus Activities, Survey Finds

CAROL’S SUMMARY:

The Chronicle article below reports on the results of a new study, by the National Survey of Student Engagement, known as Nessie, which found that transfer students do not engage in “higher impact” activities such as internships, study abroad or project work with faculty as do “native” students who attend the same school freshmen through senior year. The study also distinguished between two groups: “horizontal” transfer students, who made transfers between four-year colleges; and “vertifical” transfer students who transferred from community colleges to four year institutions. Here’s a sampling of the statistics:

* 62% of native seniors said they participated in internships versus only 49% of horizontal-transfer students and 43% of vertical-transfer students.
* The biggest gap was in study abroad: only 7% of vertical students compared with 15% of the horizontal group; 20% of the native students studied abroad.

The report also stressed the importance of a culminating senior experience that “integrates and synthesize learning within the academic major, provides opportunities to reflect on the overall college experience and may facilitate the transition to life after college.” Experts say we need to place the same emphasis on transfer students that we do on incoming freshmen and to sustain that engagement through all four years of college.

If students today donâ€™t get experience outside of school from a part-time job, one or more internships and volunteer work, they often lack the valuable â€œsoft skillsâ€ that success outside of school requires. In addition to learning about how to do work, follow-up on projects and see things through to completion, students also get exposed to what they do and donâ€™t like which can be valuable for narrowing down career choices. Many students today will need to start in an area that is not their dream job, but if they work with that starting point and develop their skills as well as knowledge, they will likely be moving upwards and onwards to more rewarding work with better pay.

ARTICLE:
Chronicle of Higher Education
Transfer Students Less Engaged in Campus Activities, Survey Finds
By Ben Terris
November 8, 2009

Not all transfer experiences are created equal.

So says the latest National Survey of Student Engagement, which for the first time compared data from students who had made “vertical” transfers, from community colleges to four-year institutions, and students who had made “horizontal” transfers, between four-year colleges.

“It’s important that we look at these two groups as distinct populations,” says Alexander C. McCormick, director of the survey. “After all, they change institutions for very different reasons and should therefore have different experiences.”

To view this entire article visit www.chronicle.com

Share this Article with Your Friends:

The Greatest Generation (of Networkers)

CAROL’S SUMMARY:

As the debate continues on the pros and cons of media multitasking, the article below offers a balanced perspective:

“This generation has a gift for multitasking, and because they’ve integrated technology into their lives, their ability to remain connected to each other will serve them and their employers well. Others contend that these hyper-socializers are serial time-wasters, that the bonds between them are shallow, and that their face-to-face interpersonal skills are poor.”

What does the research show? According to this article:

“Young workers spend more time than older workers socializing via their devices or entertaining themselves online. In a 2008 survey for Salary.com, 53% of those under age 24 said this was their primary “time wasting” activity while at work, compared to just 34% for those between ages 41 and 65. Online social networking while at work hampers business productivity, according to a new study by Nucleus Research. Almost two-thirds of those with Facebook accounts access them at their workplaces, the study found, which translates to a 1.5% loss of total employee productivity across an organization.

A study this year by psychology students at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Ga., found that the more time young people spend on Facebook, the more likely they are to have lower grades and weaker study habits. Heavy Facebook users show signs of being more gregarious, but they are also more likely to be anxious, hostile or depressed. (Doctors, meanwhile, are now blaming addictions to “night texting” for disturbing the sleep patterns of teens.)”

In his book, OUTLIERS, Malcom Gladwell explores the work of Dr. Alan Schoenfeld, a math professor at Berkeley, who studied and videotaped countless students working on math problems. What he found, is that successful students were willing to take up to twenty minutes or more trying to figure out a problem through persisting, experimenting, reviewing the issues, trying a new tact, thinking out loud and simply not giving up. Success, according to Schoenfeld, is a function of persistence and not quittingâ€”a willingness to work for twenty-two minutes when most people would give up after thirty seconds. This principal applies to any area of learning or school work. Only with mastery can the time to do tasks be shortened.

How much is texting promoting the instant gratification tendency which flies in the face of working twenty-two minutes on something whether it is math, or putting together a model airplane, sewing a dress or fixing a broken lamp? How much are our students willing to take the time to work towards mastery and to what extent might a preponderance of social networking threaten studentsâ€™ ability to do quality work, follow-through and gain real understanding?

ARTICLE:
The Greatest Generation (of Networkers)
by Jeffrey Zaslow
Wall Street Journal

A 17-year-old boy, caught sending text messages in class, was recently sent to the vice principal’s office at Millwood High School in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

The vice principal, Steve Gallagher, told the boy he needed to focus on the teacher, not his cellphone. The boy listened politely and nodded, and that’s when Mr. Gallagher noticed the student’s fingers moving on his lap.

He was texting while being reprimanded for texting.

“It was a subconscious act,” says Mr. Gallagher, who took the phone away. “Young people today are connected socially from the moment they open their eyes in the morning until they close their eyes at night. It’s compulsive.”

To view this entire article visit www.online.wsj.com

Share this Article with Your Friends:

Federal Researchers Find Lower Standards in Schools

CAROL’S SUMMARY:

In the first of its kind study by the U.S. Department of Education, results revealed that almost one-third of states have lowered their profieciency standards in reading and math in order to comply with the No Child Left Behind law.Â As the New York Times article below reports, 15 states lowered theirÂ standards in either reading or math from 2005 to 2007, whileÂ three states, Maine, Oklahoma and Wyoming, lowered standards in “both subjects at both grade levels,” the study said.

Note:Â Researchers compared the results of state tests and the National Assessment of Educational Progress in 2005 and 2007, identifying a score on the national assessment that was equivalent to each stateâ€™s definition of proficiency. To see these state by state comparison’s click on the imbedded link titled, “Score Discrepanices.”

In response to these results, U. S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan said, “â€œAt a time when we should be raising standards to compete in the global economy, more states are lowering the bar than raising it,â€Â and added,Â â€œWeâ€™re lying to our children.â€Â The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, Louis Fabrizio,Â described the dilemma: â€œWhen you set standards, do you want to show success under N.C.L.B. by having higher percentages of students at proficiency, in which case youâ€™ll set lower standards?â€ Mr. Fabrizio asked. â€œOr do you want to do the right thing for kids, by setting them higher so theyâ€™re comparable with our global competitors?â€

In theÂ 21st century, new forcesâ€”cultural, political, environmental, and economicâ€”are sweeping the world, causing AmericansÂ to reexamine the role of their country within these new global complexities.Â NoÂ entity needs to respond more effectively to these changes than our nation’s schools.Â We need to find new waysÂ to challenge students by helping them clarify their ideas, discover their talents, and maximize their possibilities.

What should all U.S. students be expected to know and understand about the world?

What skills and attitudes will our students need to confront future problems, which most assuredly will be global in scope?

What do scholars from the international relations disciplines and experienced practitioners of global education believe students should know, and how can these insights best be incorporated into the existing standards?

ARTICLE

New York Times

by Sam Dillon

A new federal study shows that nearly a third of the states lowered their academic proficiency standards in recent years, a step that helps schools stay ahead of sanctions under the No Child Left Behind law. But lowering standards also confuses parents about how childrenâ€™s achievement compares with those in other states and countries.

To view the entire article visit

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/30/education/30educ.html

Share this Article with Your Friends: