Many four year colleges are hard-pressed in these economic times to find ways to increase their revenues amidst state budget cuts and dwindling enrollments from students who are choosing more economically priced community colleges. In the article below, many colleges are trying to “close†students and parents ahead of time through advanced payment plans. This may pay the college less over the long haul, but it ensures student attendance and commits students to that school for the course of their degree programs unless something goes really wrong.
Gossip Girls and Boys Get Lessons in Empathy
CAROL’S SUMMARY: Spoiled behavior among young adults has long been a problem, but schools are tackling those problems first-hand by developing programs and classes to teach students empathy. LifeBound publishes a book and a program called People Smarts for Teenagers, which focuses on teaching students what Daniel Goleman terms “emotional intelligence.” Goleman argues that your EQ is more important than your IQ in college, career and life. People Smarts—and EQ—is all about how you understand and manage yourself, relate to and work with others, and handle life disappointments and setbacks. These qualities go into someone’s personal grist—and those are some of the greatest indicators of life success.
ARTICLE:
By WINNIE HU
Published: April 4, 2009
SCARSDALE, N.Y. — The privileged teenagers at Scarsdale Middle School are learning to be nicer this year, whether they like it or not.
Readers’ Comments
English classes discuss whether Friar Laurence was empathetic to Romeo and Juliet. Research projects involve interviews with octogenarians and a survey of local wheelchair ramps to help students identify with the elderly and the disabled. A new club invites students to share snacks and board games after school with four autistic classmates who are in separate classes during the day.
Visit www.nytimes.com to view this entire article
Community Colleges Anticipate Boom in Baby-Boomer Students
Students over 50 will be hitting college campuses this year at record rates. What does that mean for colleges and what does that mean for the students themselves?
High school dropouts cost US $319B over lifetime
CAROL’S SUMMARY: Virginia Governor, Bob Wise, says that the high school drop-outs in the class of 2008 will cost the nation $319 billion over their lifetime in lost or low wages, health-care and prison costs. Currently, 30% of all high students totaling 1.2 million, do not graduate from high school. For minority students, that number is a staggering 50%.
So, what can we do to start early and often to prevent this alarming trend from continuing? For one thing, we need to have a level playing field for minority students and at-risk students who may not have the resources at home to succeed. Schools featuring advisory classes can focus on the emotional, social and academic development of every child. The organization I founded, LifeBound, has books and resources to help every student discover their gifts, talents and abilities as well as their educational passion. Beginning in fifth grade, we need to emphasize success and transition so that we can prepare students for success—not failure or even average performance—in the global world they are about to enter.
ARTICLE:
ATLANTA (AP) — High school dropouts from the class of 2008 will cost the country $319 billion over their lifetime, former West Virginia Gov. Bob Wise said during a panel discussion Thursday.
That number includes the income the students will have lost because of a lack of education and what they’ll cost taxpayers in publicly funded healthcare, prison stays and other services.
“The first group affected when a student drops out of high school is the student themselves, but there’s another group affected as well,” Wise told the room full of teens from across the country. “It’s the rest of us. It’s you, me, all of us.”
Visit www.edweek.org for the entire article
The Complicated Task of Simplifying Student Aid
The FAFSA form, which is how students and families apply for financial aid, is a long cumbersome form which baffles and stymies many families. Nationally, 8 million people fail to file the FAFSA form. As the article below indicates, many people feel that this form is longer and more complex than the 1040.
So, what can be done to make this form more simple and straight-forward for people to complete? Many ideas are being considered including linking this to tax information. Along with privacy issues, opponents argue that by the time that tax information would be considered, it is two year old. It seems like whatever is done to streamline this process, more disadvantaged populations will gain access to Higher Education. Currently, only 7% attend college from the lowest socioeconomic realms representing the most “at-risk” populations, while 60% of students attend college from the middle to upper class population. While the latter may not be at-risk economically, they are often at-risk emotionally and socially as they begin college. No matter what, a shorter FAFSA would provide more access for all and less family stress in considering how to get in to and pay for college.
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ARTICLE:
The U.S. Education Department examines 2 ways to make it easier for families to apply
By KELLY FIELD
The first time Kathy Peterson saw the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, the six-page form that the government uses to assess student need, she felt overwhelmed.
“I just kept going from one screen to the next, wondering, ‘When is this going to end?'” said Ms. Peterson, an office manager for a telecommunications trade association, whose son will attend Old Dominion University in the fall.
She says she spent at least 20 hours completing the electronic form, 20 times as long as the government estimates it should take.
Ms. Peterson was one of the persistent ones. Each year more than 40 percent of college students, nearly eight million, fail to file a Fafsa, even though most of them would be eligible for aid, according to the U.S. Education Department. The agency doesn’t know how many students start the process and give up, or how many never even begin because they’re intimidated by the form’s length and bureaucratic language.
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Get Smart
CAROL’S SUMMARY: Is IQ hereditary or environmental? Is there any correlation between intelligence and creativity or genius? As the article below suggests, if IQ differences are indeed largely environmental, what might eliminate group disparities? IQ tests which traditionally measure “fluid†intelligence(the ability to abstractly reason) and “crystallized†intelligence (knowledge) don’t always correlate to skills, abilities and outcomes. What role do habits of success like conscientiousness and perseverance play in raising intelligence and the ability to actually accomplish things—in the words of Howard Gardner, “ to make things happenâ€? What programs can schools put in place to level the playing field and help all kids learn more and do more, regardless of their economic background?
As Title 1 programs strive to be more effective at helping at-risk populations, these questions are crucial to figure out the best programs to propel kids forward with the global skills needed to be successful in our interdependent world. Measurements which can provide hard data will be essential in evaluating progress and determining next steps.
ARTICLE:
By JIM HOLT
Published: March 27, 2009
Success in life depends on intelligence, which is measured by I.Q. tests. Intelligence is mostly a matter of heredity, as we know from studies of identical twins reared apart. Since I.Q. differences between individuals are mainly genetic, the same must be true for I.Q. differences between groups. So the I.Q. ranking of racial/ethnic groups — Ashkenazi Jews on top, followed by East Asians, whites in general, and then blacks — is fixed by nature, not culture. Social programs that seek to raise I.Q. are bound to be futile. Cognitive inequalities, being written in the genes, are here to stay, and so are the social inequalities that arise from them.
To view this entire article visit www.nytimes.com
Our Students Need More Practice in Actual Thinking
CAROL’S SUMMARY: To be ready for the challenges of the global world, students need to have highly developed critical and creative thinking skills, problem-solving and decision-making to name a few. The trouble is, the standardized testing pattern rarely promotes critical and creative thinking.
How can you as a parent promote critical and creative thinking skills at
home?
* Ask questions of your child. Question-asking is one of the most prized
skills and helps you as a parent to be a coach for your child as they grow
older and need more complex thinking skills at their disposal.
* Do creative and different things together as a family. Spend time asking your
kids what they would do in the world if they could do anything–get them to
think big. Whatever they share, ask them to come up with small steps that could move them closer to their big dream. As much as possible, spend time at home imagining, creating and sharing your vision.
* Ask what else. If your child suffers a disappointment or a setback, ask what other good can come from that door closing. What will this setback
do to provide a stepping stone to a new experience?
The more you demonstrate thoughtful, probing and interesting behaviors with
your child, the more they will see critical and creative thinking first-hand
from you.
ARTICLE:
By ROB JENKINS
During a recent meeting of a committee charged with reviewing my state’s higher-education core curriculum, a committee member asked, “Do students really need two math courses?”
In a word, yes.
Admittedly, as an undergraduate English major, I may have asked the same question myself a time or two. And certainly it’s true that, in the nearly three decades since I sweated through pre-calculus, I’ve never once had to factor an equation — nor, frankly, do I remember how. (Just ask my teenagers, who’ve occasionally been misguided enough to ask me for help with their algebra homework.)
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Report Shows Steep Gains by Students From Abroad
All children bring unique backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives to the classroom. ELL students’ diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds can offer many advantages for the entire classroom by bringing a different perspective about the world based on their customs and beliefs. One way schools can help boost English profiency among ELL students is to learn who they are and value their uniqueness. When the experiences and perspectives of ELL students can be seen as a resource and used for instruction, the whole class benefits. Here are questions to consider:
Discipline of Military Redirects Dropouts
CAROL’S SUMMARY: There is a new spotlight on programs like the Job Corps, YouthBuild, and Youth Challenge after President Obama’s insistence that every student graduate high school and aim for some form of higher education. These programs help dropouts earn their G.E.D. and develop career training. They are also a way for dropouts to learn about themselves, their wherewithal and their aspirations beyond the military.
Questions to consider:
1. Does your community have a program for at-risk or dropout students?
2. What do these programs offer that schools don’t?
3. In what ways can we reach more students before they become inclined to drop out?
4. Who are the military role models that these new recruits have to look up to in their new line of work?
ARTICLE:
By ERIK ECKHOLM
Published: March 7, 2009
FORT GORDON, Ga. — By his own account, Donte’ A. Dungey had no motivation in high school, sleeping through classes and sometimes showing up only for the free lunch to reduce the burden on his mother, who was struggling with nine other children. Held back three times and scheduled to enter the 10th grade at nearly 18, he knew that “high school just wasn’t going to work for me,†he said.
But he was also ready to change. More than five months ago, Mr. Dungey took up residence in a program for dropouts called Youth Challenge, run by the National Guard, that is proving effective at using military atmosphere and discipline to turn around at-risk teenagers.
Visit www.nytimes.com for the entire article
In Shifting Era of Admissions, Colleges Sweat
CAROL’S SUMMARY: Colleges are altering their admissions guidelines in an effort to attract and keep more students in this difficult economy. Faculty, advisors, tutors and college support staff will have to gear up to work with students who may be underprepared for college academically, emotionally or socially. What burden will that have for colleges and how will they deal with that added responsibility of size and readiness?
Questions to consider:
1. Has the economy affected your college selection?
2. How can you benefit from the changes in admissions?
3. How can colleges maintain high standards while admitting less prepared students?
4. What do colleges need to do to help the 2.5 million students remediated for math in this country and the 1.5 remediated for English?
ARTICLE:
March 8, 2009
By KATE ZERNIKE
As colleges weigh this year’s round of applications, high school seniors are not the only anxious ones.
Just as nervously, colleges — facing a financial landscape they have never seen before — are trying to figure out how many students to accept, and how many students will accept them.
Typically, they rely on statistical models to predict which students will take them up on their offers to attend. But this year, with the economy turning parents and students into bargain hunters, demographics changing and unexpected jolts in the price of gas and the number of applications, they have little faith on those models.
Visit www.nytimes.com for the entire article