Community College Success & Equitable Opportunities

Posted April 26, 2019 | By Cooke Foundation Staff

Executive Director Seppy Basili, Miami Dade College President Eduardo J. Padrón, and other leaders at the college surprise seven students with news of their Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship award.

April 26, 2019 – Here’s our weekly roundup of education news you may have missed. Read recommendations from researchers and advocates on supporting equitable opportunities for advanced students. Also, community colleges are getting more national recognition, but are they receiving enough resources?

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Elementary & Secondary Education:

  • “The justification for gifted education is simple,” states Education Week. “Everything else—from how to define and identify gifted students, particularly those from traditionally underrrepresented groups, to how to serve them and nurture their long-term success—gets complicated.” The article shares findings from four recent studies focused on understanding such strategies.
  • 2019 National Teacher of the Year Rodney Robinson made equity the focus of his interview with CBS This Morning earlier this week. Robinson stated: “I try to treat my students with whatever they need to be successful. Some need more, some need less. But I’m going to be there to give you what you need.”
  • “There are real, systemic factors that fuel the disparity in access to gifted and specialized education,” states Whitney L. Pirtle in The Atlantic. Her commentary cites details sociological findings and the importance of using social capital to advocate for students.

 

Higher Education:

  • A new report from The Century Foundation makes recommendations for funding community colleges, noting that the majority of students at those institutions come from the lower half of the socioeconomic distribution and would benefit from increased resources such as full-time faculty, intensive advising, and generous financial aid.
  • “On a national level, suddenly the value of community colleges, especially in growing and keeping a middle class, is being recognized,” LaGuardia Community College President Gail O. Mellow tells NPR. Mellow also spotlight the success of LaGuardia’s transfer students, who often “make their way successfully into the very most elite colleges in the world.”
  • Financial difficulties are one of the main variables associated with rising anxiety on college campuses, reports the San Francisco Chronicle.
  • “The ability to juggle school, work and the challenges that come with poverty while still succeeding academically and applying to selective institutions should not be met with assumptions that they are unworthy of admission,” states Andrew Martinez in Diverse: Issues in Higher Education.

 

Cooke Foundation Highlights:

  • Announcing the 2019 Cooke Transfer Scholars! These high-achieving community college students will each receive up to $40,000 annually to complete their bachelor’s degrees. Watch some of our favorite reaction videos filmed at the moment students received the news.
  • Register to attend our upcoming webinar with the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) and Front Range Community College on understanding and supporting the successful transfer of community college students to four-year institutions.
  • In the Harvard Law Review, Cooke Scholar Angel E. Sanchez emphasizes that his success has come in spite of prison, not because of it.
  • The Foundation was honored with the Community Partner of the Year Award at the Hispanic Scholarship Fund‘s annual Leaders in Education Awards.
  • The Society for Science & the Public announces this year’s 60 Advocates, who will mentor underrepresented and low-income students and guide them in entering science research competitions. This initiative is funded in part by the Cooke Foundation.

 

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Photo header: Executive Director Seppy Basili, Miami Dade College President Eduardo J. Padrón, and other leaders at the college surprise seven students with news of their Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship award.