September 9: Education News We're Reading This Week
September 9, 2016 – Here’s our weekly roundup of education news you may have missed. College admissions and transfer can be more difficult for students from low-income families. And year-round schooling might be less transformative than you think.
Elementary & Secondary Education:
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Year-round schooling does not increase standardized testing scores or offset the disparities between low- and high-income students, says Business Insider. The Century Foundation’s Richard Kahlenberg is quoted to explain that the different calendar “doesn’t get at that issue of making sure that low-income students, when they’re not in school, have lots of opportunities for enrichment.”
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Secretary of Education John King speaks with NPR about the department’s latest rules to make school funding more equal.
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Scientific American describes the how talent search organizations identify and nurture young, bright students while noting criticism of the “gifted” label, and how such measures may have “shortfalls … especially in poor and rural districts.”
Higher Education:
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A study released last week by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research finds that “campus child care centers have been closing across the country.” In 2015, only 49 percent of public four-year institutions and 44 percent of community colleges provided campus child care. According to the report, nearly 70 percent of student parents are also low-income.
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“The college decision-making process, while complicated for all families, is often disproportionately complex for those in the lowest income groups,” writes the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.
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Cooke Scholar Ben Castleman describes how school leaders can strengthen communication with students and families for Brookings. In Education Post, Castleman explains how Up Next, the text messaging initiative led by First Lady Michelle Obama’s Better Make Room campaign, can help guide students to and through college.
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Inside Higher Ed examines some of the barriers students face in transferring from community college to four-year institutions, such as earning credits at a slower pace and confusing transfer pathways. Community College Daily reports on how improved advising structures can support student success.
Cooke Foundation Highlights:
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We are honored to be receiving Arts Philanthropy Award from the Arts Council of Fairfax County. Details about the 2016 Arts Awards event and tickets are available here.
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Listen to Cooke Scholar Itzel Amacalli Tejeda speak with John Hockenberry on “The Takeaway” about learning English while at El Paso Community College. With our Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship, Itzel is now attending University of Texas in El Paso and researching new antibiotics as a lab intern.
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The Swellesley Report profiles Cooke Scholar Stacy Okada’s academic recognitions and her recent transfer from community college to the University of Massachusetts Boston to study biochemistry.
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Our Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship application is currently open. Community college students who are determined to complete their bachelor’s degree can apply now for up to $40,000 per year, along with opportunities for study abroad, internship stipends, graduate school funding and more! Start your application.