Cooke Chronicle: Dec. 23, 2016
Dec. 23, 2016 – Here’s our weekly roundup of education news you may have missed. Education research provides strategies for socioeconomic equity in the K-12 years, and higher ed experts call for continued improvements to admissions and financial aid.
Note: The Cooke Chronicle will be on hiatus next week, and our next publication will be sent Jan. 6, 2017. Happy holidays and our warmest wishes for the New Year!
Elementary & Secondary Education:
-
School counselors play an important role in advising students through completing high school and continuing to college. Education Week describes how several states are focusing their resources on providing more substantial school counseling.
-
Edutopia recaps this year’s education research. Among the 15 notable findings: all students benefit from racially diverse schools; student homelessness is rising; and suspensions are cut in half when teachers are encouraged to use positive approaches to discipline.
-
An issue brief from The White House’s Council of Economic Advisers notes that “public investments in children are lowest before age 5, precisely when many parents have the least ability to invest themselves.” The CEA documents the economic challenges for families and concludes that “much work remains to ensure all children receive the care, education, and economic opportunities they deserve.”
Higher Education:
-
“Higher education is supposed to promote opportunity and social mobility. But does it fulfill that role?” The Chronicle of Higher Education (paywall) examines this question is a series of articles compiled into one collection.
-
In The New York Times, Frank Bruni’s latest column explains how early decision “significantly disadvantages” low-income students in admissions to selective colleges and universities. Executive Director Harold O. Levy is quoted in the piece, which also mentions our “True Merit” report.
-
Many higher education institutions are reexamining their admissions processes to give more weight to students who provide important family contributions, such as working and providing afterschool care to siblings. The Atlantic reports on these changes, and a piece from Forbes calls for elite universities to ensure they support low-income students after enrollment as well.
Cooke Foundation Highlights:
-
Over the past few months, education leaders have taken a variety of steps to close the Excellence Gap faced by high-achieving students with financial need. Executive Director Harold O. Levy is quoted in The Christian Science Monitor discussing this “extraordinary moment” in education.
-
In an interview with ABC7 in Washington, D.C., Cooke Scholar Yasmine Arrington celebrates the first graduating class of ScholarCHIPS, an organization she founded to provide scholarships to children of incarcerated parents.
-
In his latest opinion piece published by CNN, our executive director describes how insufficient school funding is causing American students to fall behind students in other nations.