Jan. 29: Education News We're Reading This Week

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Jan. 29, 2016—Here’s our weekly roundup of the biggest news you may have missed. Promoting equity in education was a major topic in conversations about funding both K-12 and higher education this week.

 

Elementary & Secondary Education:

  • In a collaborative piece, The Fordham Institute and the National Association for Gifted Children recommend approaches for identifying gifted learners from diverse backgrounds. Such strategies include universal screening, student portfolio projects and the framework of response to intervention.

  • Acting Secretary of Education John King spoke about educational equity in a series of recent speeches. Coverage by Education Week (paywall) includes some excerpts: “We need to see that as a community we all have a stake in every child.”

  • A new report from The ETS Opportunity Project determines that inequality in life outcomes “contributes to disparities in opportunity for the next generation, setting up a cycle of accelerated advantage or disadvantage.”

 

Higher Education:

  • The Department of Education estimates that last year, high school graduates missed out on as much as $2.7 billion in student aid. MarketWatch reports on how completing the FAFSA opens up options for financial aid.

  • The Hechinger Report compares per-student spending across public and private universities and community colleges, noting that “those absorbing the most students spent less on them.”

  • Total spending on higher education from states “shows a slow but steady increase in state funding over the last few years,” says Inside Higher Ed. State budgets are still being finalized in Pennsylvania and Illinois, where concerns over withholding grant money from qualified students are “getting worse,” states the Illinois Times.

  • Maryland lawmakers are considering ways to provide free community college, according to The Washington Times.

 

Cooke Foundation Highlights:

  • CBS News outlines the widening college wealth gap and The Washington Post headlines: “It should be easier for community college students to transfer to selective private schools.” Both articles reference our recent True Merit report.

  • The Yale Daily News publishes a column by Cooke Scholar Ryan Liu concerning the transfer student experience and admissions and recruitment at elite institutions.

  • Our Young Scholars Program application is now open! High-achieving seventh-grade students with financial need are encouraged to apply for this pre-college scholarship opportunity. Cooke Young Scholars receive individualized advising to set academic goals, guidance on applying to colleges, and funding for summer educational programs, study abroad, internships and school expenses.

 

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