June 24: Education News We're Reading This Week

Posted June 24, 2016 | By Cooke Foundation Staff

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June 24, 2016 – Here’s our weekly roundup of education news you may have missed. Following the Supreme Court’s affirmative action decision, we share recommendations for promoting diversity in higher education. New findings show how college-level courses benefit low-income students.

 

Elementary & Secondary Education:

  • Only one-third of low-income students at IB schools take an IB course. But when they do, rates of high school graduation, college-going, and persistence through their freshman year all increase, says The Hechinger Report in its coverage of a new study.

  • USA Today summarizes the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s 2016 “Kids Count Data Book,” which evaluates each state on factors of education, health, and poverty to rate the best places to be a kid.

 

Higher Education:

  • “The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the use of race in some admissions decisions, but it doesn’t mean all colleges are free to employ the practice [of affirmative action],” writes The Atlantic. The article uses our new issue brief, Opening College Doors to Equal Educational Opportunity, to explain alternatives to affirmative action.

  • “First-generation students are especially vulnerable to dropout during their first year of college,” notes Brookings, and shares its findings of the efficiency of a peer mentor program piloted at American University.

  • Colleges and universities hope predicative analytics will help them identify students at risk of dropping out, but The Baltimore Sun says the practice has some concerned about privacy.

  • Although the government offers $130 billion of financial aid to college students, the number of students filling out the FAFSA is waning. The Washington Post examines why.

 

Cooke Foundation Highlights:

  • Cooke Scholar Jesus Rodriguez, who immigrated to the United States right before starting high school, describes his educational journey in Medium. Jesus also answered student questions about college during a Twitter takeover for Better Make Room; a summary of his advice in available on Storify.

  • SuChin Pak’s recent Open Account podcast features discussions on immigration and financial assimilation with Cooke Scholar Daniel Alejandro Leon-Davis.

  • We announced the names of all 75 recipients of our Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship and a new video featuring the three new Cooke Scholars from Miami Dade College. Montgomery College also created a video of their surprise announcement to Luis Rosales.

  • Executive Director Harold O. Levy discussed education policy as a panelist at The New York Times Higher Ed Leaders Forum and in an opinion piece for the publication.