Cooke Chronicle: Feb. 17, 2017

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Feb. 17, 2017 – Here’s our weekly roundup of education news you may have missed. College-level courses in high school present challenges and opportunities for school districts. Strong academic programming, community college transfer success, and changes to DACA were also popular topics this week.

 

Elementary & Secondary Education:

  • The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) ended subsidies that covered exam fees for low-income students enrolled in Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) courses. In The Washington Post, Jay Mathews says these changes are “blindsiding teachers and students”.
  • To complement the state’s tuition-free community college programs, school districts in Tennessee are working to prepare their high school graduates for college through initiatives including dual enrollment courses, reports EdSurge.
  • The New York Times spotlights Cooke Foundation grantee Bridge to Enter Advanced Mathematics (BEAM), following how its extracurricular math programs help talented, underrepresented students build confidence and a love for math.

 

Higher Education:

  • With a possible end to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and concerns over how student data might be used, MarketWatch reports that many undocumented high school seniors are “hesitant” to complete the college application process this year.
  • Arkansas joins the growing list of states considering tuition-free community college programs. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette outlines details of the proposal.
  • LINK Unlimited Scholars describes how maintaining high expectations, elements of socio-emotional learning, and other best practices have helped evolve its comprehensive programs supporting Chicago’s economically disadvantaged African-American students.

 

Cooke Foundation Highlights:

  • This week, we announced the award of $350,000 in academic grants to Duke TIP, Society for Science & the Public, and the Telluride Association. Read more about how these organizations will use our grants to provide academic enrichment opportunities for outstanding low-income students.
  • Cooke Scholar Katie Curran, founder of nonprofit Project Next Generation, is featured in People Magazine after winning the Diana Award.
  • The Yale Daily News speaks with Cooke Scholar Sean Moore about his experiences as a transfer student at the university. Cooke Scholar Maria de Abreu Pineda also speaks about the transfer experience and women in STEM during her interview on Life & Living with Joanna Gagis.

 

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