Celebrating school counselors and community colleges
February 2, 2018 – Here’s our weekly roundup of education news you may have missed. K-12 coverage celebrates National School Counselor Week, while higher ed discusses the missions of community colleges and public flagship universities.
The 2018 Cooke Young Scholars Program application is open! This selective five-year, pre-college scholarship provides high-performing 7th grade students with comprehensive academic and college advising, as well as financial support for high school, summer programs, internships, and other learning enrichment opportunities. Apply now! The deadline is March 21, 2018.
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Elementary & Secondary Education:
- Kirsten Perry was awarded School Counselor of the Year at the American School Counselor Association’s (ASCA) annual celebration. One of her students, Christine Burton, writes Mrs. Perry a thank-you note on the Reach Higher blog.
- Former Secretary of Education John B. King Jr. spoke about school budget cuts on Comedy Central’s The Opposition with Jordan Klepper.
Higher Education:
- An analysis from The Hechinger Report finds that a large number of public flagship universities enroll “disproportionately few African-American and Latino students” in comparison to their state high school graduates.
- Despite trends to go digital, textbooks continue to be an expensive cost for students.The Atlantic and Inside Higher Ed each report on the issue.
- Carl J. Strikwerda describes the “essential” benefits that community colleges provide in a commentary for The Chronicle of Higher Education.
- According to The Wall Street Journal, many elite colleges have admissions staff “divvy up individual applications” to shave time off of the reading process. “Critics say a fragmented reading provides little insight into candidates’ nuanced applications,” since essays, transcripts, and recommendations can all be assigned to different readers.
Cooke Foundation Highlights:
- “When high-achieving or high-potential poor and minority students have less access to gifted education than their peers, the existence of such programs may actually worsen inequalities,” states Chester Finn in a piece for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute. The Cooke Foundation’s research on the Excellence Gap is mentioned here, as well as in a related column by Jonathan Plucker for the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC).
- Cooke Young Scholar Aurora Blue Brasher-Rues and her father perform on Music Makers with Ted Hammig. A recording of their performance can be streamed here.