April 3: Education News We're Reading This Week
Read the amazing story of 17-year-old Zakiya James, a junior civil engineering major at Drexel University. The Washington Post shares that early on, Zakiya was discouraged by her middle school math teacher.
California Magazine explains why some first-generation students are often encouraged to attend and simultaneously discouraged from attending college by family members.
According to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle, Stanford University tuition will be waived for families who earn up to $125,000 per year. The number rose from $100,000 just last year, and faimilies earning below $65,000 will receive free room and board as well.
Hear from Kevin Carey on a new vision for the future of online education. This concept of “The University of Everywhere,” he writes in Ed Central, is much less daunting than others for those who question the value of online higher ed.
Yale University is one of a few highly competitive universities that now offer online master’s degrees in certain fields. The Atlantic lists its degree for physicians assistants as one of the revolutionary new programs.
An effort to promote teacher leadership announced by Arne Duncan in March 2014 has been upheld as a vital program by the Secretary of Education. The momentum for Teach to Lead persists despite a lack of funding, writes Education Week.
This week Valerie Strauss asked whether “legacies”—students with family members who also attended that particular school—have an actual advantage in the application process. 25 percent of respondents in a new Kaplan survey noted they have felt pressure to accept legacy applicants who would have otherwise been turned away.
Cooke Foundation Executive Director Harold Levy penned an article this week in the New York Daily News. Many high achieving, low income high school students receive poor quality college counseling, which means that great national potential is being squandered.
The Gifted Education Resource Institute (GERI) in Indiana has received a $200,000 grant from the Cooke Foundation to support a summer program for Native American students at Purdue University.
Inside Indiana Business shares more about Project HOPE+ which will bring 65 6th-12th grade students to take part in the STEM camp at Purdue.
Another grant announcement was picked up by The Stanly News & Press in North Carolina, where Duke’s Talent Identification Program (TIP) serves gifted, low-income elementary school students.
Lastly, the launch of the new Excellence Gap website caught the attention of Education Week, The Washington Post, and UConn Today. The Wall Street Journal also hosted Cooke Foundation Director of Research Jennifer Giancola for a video interview.