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Matthew Lynch published in HBCU's, Higher Education, list, Matthew Lynch

3 Initiatives Designed to Help Minorities Succeed in College

It seems that graduating from high school is no longer the end goal of P-12 learning – earning a college degree has replaced it. By 2018, 60 percent of jobs will require a college degree. On Monday, I wrote about the nationwide average high school graduation rate being 80 percent – which is admirable but also means that at least 1 in 5 kids won’t make it to college classes. When you factor in the high school graduates that bypass college completely, it seems that at some point America’s workforce will simply not be able to meet the demands of its employers. When it comes to minorities who graduate high school and are ready for the rigor of college coursework, numbers are bleak.

A new report from the College of Education at the University of Arizona found that less than 1 in 10 minority high school graduates in the state are adequately prepared for college. Non-minority students are not much better off though, with only 2 in 10 prepared for college after graduating from high school. A rise over the past 15 years in minority students in elementary and high school in state, as well as economic disparities between students of color and their white peers, are cited in the study as drivers behind the high school graduation-college readiness gap.

There are several methods that have been proposed to help minorities have better access to education. Here are just three of them.

  1. College scorecards and higher affordability. In 2014, Obama proposed the implementation of a rating system that would provide the general public with greater details about the total cost, graduation rates and alumni earnings of individual colleges and universities.

The program has since been nixed thanks to opposition from lawmakers and university heads, but the idea was that students choosing schools with higher ratings would have more access to Pell Grants and affordable loan programs. The plan was twofold in nature – first, getting more useful information into the hands of consumers and second, providing better affordability for young people who seek out higher education.

The rising cost of a college degree has been a concern of the Obama administration throughout both terms in the White House. College graduates in 2010 left their schools with an average of $26,000 in debt, leading to higher student loan debt in America than credit card debt. In order to reach his goal of leading the world in percentage of college graduates by 2020, Obama has been vocal about lowering the cost of the college process and providing more targeted, useful programs that address the needs of the economy.

This new “college scorecard” proposal was meant to one more step in that direction. Like public K-12 schools, colleges would be held more accountable by the federal government and would be compared to each other through data that truly matters.

Numerous publications claim to have the perfect formula in place for ranking the “best colleges and universities” based on a variety of factors but none are officially sanctioned by the government. The President’s ranking plan would avoid the fluff of other rating systems and address the core of educational matters: cost, graduation success and chances for achievement in the career that follows. These are the real stats that all students, whether recent high school graduates or those returning to campus for the first time in a few decades, need to make informed decisions.

In terms of minority students, the college ranking plan would have been beneficial. Though minority college student numbers are rising, 61 percent of college students in 2010 were considered Caucasian in comparison to just 14 percent Black students, 13 percent Hispanic students and 6 percent Asian or Pacific Islander students. Based on these statistics alone, minority students are at a disadvantage when it comes to attending and graduating from college. Every student situation is different but the cost of college and accompanying loan interest rates certainly play into the unbalanced collective college population.

This idea will not be implemented, but it’s still easy to see how a rankings system that effectively provides more grant money and more affordable loan options to students will make the dream of a college education a reality to more minorities. As more first-generation minorities attend colleges, choosing schools with high graduation rates (many of which likely have strong guidance policies in place) and good job placement will mean more career successes.

  1. Online class offerings. Each year online learning initiatives become less of a fringe movement and more of an incorporated, and accepted, form of education. More than 6.7 million people took at least one online class in the fall of 2011 and 32 percent of college students now take at least one online course during their matriculation. It is even becoming commonplace for high schools to require all students to take an online class before graduation as a way to prep them for the “real world” of secondary education.

The flexibility and convenience of online learning is well known but what is not as readily talked about is the way distance education promotes diversity of the college population. With less red tape than the traditional college format, online students are able to earn credits while still working full time, maintaining families and dealing with illnesses. Whether students take just one course remotely, or obtain an entire degree, they are able to take on the demands of college life more readily – leading to student population with more variety.

The Babson Survey Research Group recently revealed that while online college student enrollment is on the rise, traditional colleges and universities saw their first drop in enrollment in the ten years the survey has been conducted. This drop is small – less than a tenth of one percent – but its significance is big. A trend toward the educational equality of online curriculum is being realized by students, institutions and employers across the board. The benefits of a college education through quality online initiatives are now becoming more accessible to students that simply cannot commit to the constraints of a traditional campus setting.

  1. Free community college. During his sixth State of the Union address, President Barack Obama spelled out a proposal that would offer two years of community college for free to any student that wanted to take advantage of it. Once enrolled, these students would need to maintain a 2.5 grade-point average, stay enrolled at least half time and be on track to graduate on time to keep receiving the tuition-free access.

This program would, essentially, make the first two years of a college education a basic American right – aligning it with universal access to a K-12 (and even pre-K in some states) education. Of course there would be some requirements for having access to that right and it would not be mandatory, but the basic premise would be the same: free higher education for any American student.

Arguably this plan helps everyone in the long run. More Americans with access to a college education means a stronger economy and less college debt means more money in the pockets of college graduates that they can then pump back into that economy. Proponents of the plan say that it will particularly help minorities when it comes to college attendance because it removes the cost barrier that tends to discourage these groups from enrolling.

What do you think are some other initiatives that will help make more individuals from minority groups ready for college?

Click here to read all our posts concerning the Achievement Gap.

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Matthew Lynch published in EdTech & Innovation, Parental Involvement, Teachers

Parental Involvement: Strengthening Communication is the Key

The Information Age has brought with it a lot more options for communication, but in the process has fragmented it. Teachers now have more avenues than ever when it comes to connecting with parents, but all of this communication can be overwhelming. Between emails, Facebook group pages, text messages, phone calls and send-home flyers, information can be easily lost in translation between educators and parents – and students are the ones who then suffer.

Each piece of communication is an attempt to reach parents and keep them updated on what is going on in the classroom and what their kids are learning, but instead it all collectively just becomes challenging and confusing.

What if parental involvement could be streamlined and reach parents in ways that work best for them?  A central location where information, messages, files and photos could live and be easily accessible to parents, teachers and admins from anywhere? This is exactly what ParentSquare delivers,  an innovative two-way communication and collaboration platform purpose-built for educators and parents.

How ParentSquare Works

ParentSquare is a simple to use, private communication platform that streamlines communication via web, email, text or mobile app. The easy-to-use interface offers two-way messaging, file and photo sharing, event and volunteer sign-up and more. With tabs for messages, events, people, photos, files and other options, parents can log into one system and have all the information they need. In short, ParentSquare makes school-to-home messaging simple, empowering parents to take a more active role in the academic success of their kids. Some of the standout features of ParentSquare include:

  • Two-way messaging
  • Text, email, web and mobile apps ensure schools reach every parent
  • Collaboration tools
  • Safe place to store photos – Unlimited photo upload and parents can see and download the full resolution pictures
  • Family-friendly features – easy to sign up to volunteer/bring classroom supply, ask a question, share photos and calendar
  • In addition to classroom communication, Parents can join and interact with school groups like fundraising committees or ELAC.
  • An instant Spanish translation option, removing this language barrier in homes where it may otherwise prevent parents from being completely in the know regarding their kids’ academics.
  • A people directory that gives contact information for important figures at the school and allows for messaging them within the platform
  • Statistics – A dashboard that shows who receives, reads and engages in the messages.

How it Helps Teachers and Administrators

The ParentSquare platform increases efficiency and strengthens communication in schools by:

  • Cutting costs. Forget daily reminders that need to be printed out and placed in folders. ParentSquare makes it all digital.
  • Reducing teacher stress. One message can be input into the ParentSquare system and then distributed a number of ways, including web, text, email and mobile apps. Messages can also be scheduled in advance helping teachers plan their week in advance.
  • Increasing parental involvement. Using the ParentSquare platform to sign up volunteers or ask for needed items in the classroom assures that no school need falls between the cracks of missed communication.

When it comes to fragmented school-to-home communication, there can be a lot left to chance. ParentSquare combines messaging functions into one simple platform and offers collaboration tools that encourage greater parental involvement in the schools that use it. Knowledge truly is power – and ParentSquare allows parents to have more of it through an effective system that ensures stronger lines of communication.

For more information on how ParentSquare works, visit ParentSquare.com.

Read all of our posts about EdTech and Innovation by clicking here. 

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Matthew Lynch published in Higher Education

Will a college education guarantee higher wages?

The Obama Administration’s College Scorecard is kind of the gift that continues to give. It gives prospective students, and their parents, the ability to compare schools without having to fully visit too many colleges.

Another fantastic win from the scorecard is that we are provided with an idea of how well students do financially after they’ve graduated.

According to an article via Hamptonroads.com, the scorecard “tracks salaries 10 years after the freshman year.” The good news? Student salaries used for the purpose of the article range from $34,000 to $56,000. The bad news? Salaries all depend on a student’s major.

But that’s not really bad news as someone with a degree in finance is likely to make more than a student who chooses a career path in journalism.

The economy also plays a major role in determining one’s salary. Some companies constrict employment, increase employee production, and fail to produce salary increases because of how tight its bottom line becomes due to the state of the economy.

Even with those deciding factors, college graduates still make more than that of those with just high school diplomas. Most companies still prefer a college graduate compared to someone who just has a G.E.D. or high school diploma. A college degree won’t guarantee that you are wealthy, but it should help you live a more comfortable life than if you didn’t have it at all. Now if we could just get the pursuit of those college degrees to be a little more affordable in the first place, we’d really have something.

That statistic isn’t likely to change anytime soon, and students should still strive for a college education to maximize their lifetime earning potential.

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Matthew Lynch published in Diversity, list, Matthew Lynch, Policy & Reform, Teachers

3 Easy Ways to End the High School Dropout Crisis

Recent high school dropout rates appear to be on the decline. But the numbers are still too high to stomach, especially with all of the alternative options high school students now have to finish their diplomas outside traditional classroom settings. At this juncture in U.S. K-12 progress, the dropout rate should be so small that it’s barely even worth mentioning.

Let’s look at ways to reduce the high school dropout rate to insignificance, once and for all.

  1. Get the business community involved. High school dropouts have a real economic impact. We can’t deny this. In fact, the nation as a whole will miss out on an estimated $154 billion in income over the lifetimes of the dropouts from the Class of 2011.

From a business perspective, this is a missed opportunity. There is money to be made and an economic boost is possible – but only if these students stick around long enough to obtain a high school diploma, and potentially seek out college opportunities. Georgia is a great example of a state that has taken advantage of the business community to help improve graduation rates. Areas like Atlanta Metro have some of the strongest business leaders in the nation, and school officials have begun to call on them for guidance and funding when it comes to improving graduation rates.

The report Building a Grad Nation 2012 found that between 2002 and 2010, Georgia showed high school graduation rate improvement from 61 to 68 percent, in part because of involvement from the business community. In that eight-year span, the number of “dropout factories” (schools with 60 percent or lower graduation rates) fell from 1,634 to 1,550. Making graduation numbers an issue of economic stability, and having backup from business leaders, is just one step toward reducing dropout numbers.

  1. Provide support outside of the classroom. Risk factors for dropouts include coming from low-income or single-parent families. Teachers simply cannot address the academic and emotional needs of every student within normal class time, so programs need to be in place for students who are at risk for dropping out. A pilot program in San Antonio called Communities in Schools has set out to accomplish this through offering on-campus counseling services for students on the fence about dropping out. The program offers a listening ear for whatever the students may need to talk about, from lack of food or anxiety about family financial woes. Of the students in the program in the 2012 – 2013 school year, 97 percent obtained a high school diploma instead of dropping out. While students can certainly talk about their studies, the main point of the program is not academic. It is simply a support system to encourage students who may be facing life obstacles to keep pushing forward to finish high school. These programs are often what students need to feel accountability toward the community as a whole and also worthiness for a high school diploma.
  2. Promote earlier education for everybody. Much of the attack on the dropout rate happens when teens are already at a crossroads. In truth, the learning and social experiences they have from birth influence their attitudes about education, society and their own lives. Perhaps the dip in dropout rates in the past four decades hinges on another statistic: from 1980 to 2000, the number of four-year-old children in the U.S. enrolled in preschool programs rose from half to over two-thirds. Pre-K learning is only an academic right (free of charge) in 40 states and in 2012, total funding for these programs was slashed by $548 million. Instead of putting money where it belongs – upfront, at the beginning of a K-12 career – lawmakers could be contributing to a higher dropout rate, and economic cost, in future decades.

It’s time to stop making the high school dropout issue something that is confronted in the moment. Prevention, as early as pre-K learning, is a long-term solution.

Can you think of any innovative ways to reduce the high school dropout rates?

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Matthew Lynch published in Higher Education

Should higher education be bundled, or unbundled?

A guest column by Chris Mayer

Editor’s Note: This piece originally appeared on the Association of American Colleges & Universities.

Higher education today faces many challenges, including lower than desired completion rates, the high cost and resulting debt associated with attaining a degree, and low educational quality that leaves many graduates unprepared for the workforce and employers disappointed with their abilities.

One approach to these challenges currently receiving a lot of attention is the “unbundling” of college degrees, in which students complete only those courses or develop those skills needed to acquire competencies for employment.

At the same time that unbundling college degrees is gaining momentum, many campuses are bundling curricula even more tightly in order to integrate learning and provide students with a more coherent experience. These efforts are underway to help students make intentional connections between different disciplines and experiences, which will enable them to bring a broad range of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and frameworks to bear on the complex problems they face as students and will face as employees and citizens. Bundled education promotes success in today’s world, as the issues and problems people encounter are too complex to be addressed with one discipline or a set of discrete technical skills. The Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching are supporters of bundled education. AAC&U’s LEAP Challenge pushes for all college and universities to engage their students with assignments that require them to integrate their learning from across disciplines to address real-world challenges.

While advocates of unbundled and bundled education both make strong cases for their approaches, it is essential that unbundled education not be considered a substitute for or equivalent to bundled education.

The promise of unbundled education is that it provides students the option to select and complete courses based on the competencies they need to acquire and succeed in particular jobs— without the debt associated with attaining a degree. Completion rates for unbundled courses would likely be higher than completion rates for traditional degrees, which require several years of progressively advanced work to complete, and the quality of many unbundled courses could be high since they narrowly focus on promoting a specific competency. It should be noted, however, that there has been some criticism of the quality of these courses. This will have to be addressed if unbundled education is to be a viable option.

On the other hand, those working to bundle education are seeking to create coherence for students by integrating learning across curricula and, in many cases, cocurricular experiences. The goal is for students to no longer view courses and experiences as discrete events; instead, integrated curricula connect courses and experiences and seek to develop students’ ability to employ multiple disciplinary perspectives and skills. Integrated curricula require students to remember and practice what they previously learned and to apply their skills and knowledge in new contexts. To accomplish this, integrative curricula are often organized around themes or problems, or they may focus on progressively more advanced development of skills like communication or critical thinking. Some institutions are developing interdisciplinary majors and attempting to reduce or even eliminate disciplinary boundaries through organizational restructuring. Arizona State University’s aspiration to “fuse intellectual disciplines“ is one example.

Another advantage of bundled education cited by its advocates is that it is best suited to address employers’ dissatisfaction with college graduates’ abilities. Numerous surveys highlight this dissatisfaction or identify the most essential employee skills required for the workforce. Communication, teamwork, and problem solving are usually at or near the top of lists of skills valued by employers and, as noted above, bundled education promotes these skills by integrating opportunities for students to develop them across curricular and co-curricular programs. Surveys conducted by AAC&U and the National Association of Colleges highlight employers’ views on these skills.

What role, then, should unbundled education play in higher education? Low completion rates, high costs, and low quality are all serious issues; however, it is important to understand the limitations of unbundled education compared to what a degree can offer, especially a degree that integrates learning. These limitations suggest that the two approaches (bundled and unbundled education) reflect a difference in kind rather than a difference in degree (no pun intended), and this distinction should be kept in mind when considering the future role of unbundled education.

Unbundled education views students as consumers and curriculum designers. Students determine what competencies they need to achieve their employment goals. They then find courses that promote these competencies, enroll in these courses, and complete them. Students repeat these steps until they are employable. Employees might complete additional unbundled courses to assist with a job change, make promotion more likely, or in response to identified weakness.

This places a lot of responsibility on students to determine what they need from their education, and it is difficult to imagine many being able to put together a coherent curricular plan. Even those who have this ability, or have assistance, will need to be able to design a curriculum that addresses their needs in an economically efficient manner based on a very accurate assessment of their needs for a job they do not yet have. Furthermore, given the rate of change in today’s technology-driven global economy, there is no guarantee these jobs will require the same skills, or even exist in the same form, by the time students’ complete their coursework.

Advocates for bundled education agree with employers about the importance of skills such as communication, problem solving, and teamwork, which is why many institutions already have student learning goals aligned with these skills, and why they are turning to bundled education to better promote them. Therefore, advocates for unbundled education will have to demonstrate how well a single course promotes the skills necessary for employment compared to a curriculum and cocurriculum that are integrated and designed to support student attainment of the same skills.

Unbundled education seems too narrowly focused given that the work environment is not unbundled: employees address problems, work in teams, and communicate in complex and messy contexts. These contexts often require employees to draw on knowledge and skills from multiple disciplines and experiences, which enables them to recognize nuance and successfully address problems they encounter. This seems to make a single, or even multiple, problem-solving or communication courses insufficient preparation for the workforce. Employees with degrees will have foundational knowledge, disciplinary skills, and problem-solving experience that employees who completed only unbundled courses will not have.

Even if advocates of unbundled education are right, much will be lost if significant numbers of students forgo bundled degrees. In addition to preparing students for the workforce, bundled education develops informed citizens and educated people who have encountered some of the most significant ideas of the past, present, and future; it also prepares and (hopefully) inspires them to continue learning. While specific skill training may prepare students for their current jobs, a bundled education prepares students for jobs that do not yet exist.

Although there is still a lot of work to be done to refine integrated curricula and demonstrate their value, these efforts have the potential to help students become even better communicators, thinkers, and team members who bring rich perspectives and diverse skills to the workforce and their communities.

Both bundled and unbundled will likely have a role in the future of higher education; however, it is important to be realistic about what each can achieve. Even if unbundled education is a helpful innovation, it should not be seen as a replacement for the bundled curricula offered by traditional college degree programs.

___

Chris Mayer is the associate dean for Strategy, Policy, and Assessment and Academy Professor of Philosophy at the United States Military Academy in West Point, NY. You can find him on Twitter at @ChrisMayer_WP.

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Matthew Lynch published in list, Matthew Lynch, Policy & Reform

3 Ideas to Consider about Corporal Punishment in Schools

It’s difficult to believe in this day and age that we still have some schools around the nation that are using corporal punishment as a form of discipline. 19 states allow corporal punishment in schools. Such punishment usually includes a spanking of some kind, typically done with a wooden paddle. Although not allowed in the majority of states, it is reported that there are over 200,000 children who are victims of it each year around the country. It’s difficult to imagine that so many children are going home throughout the school year with welts, bruises, and broken vessels, as punishment for something they did in school.

Spankings themselves, as well as corporal punishment, are controversial topics at best. There is a lot of evidence and research that has pointed to the fact that spanking as a form of punishment, at any age, can be problematic. We as a society need to be aware of this research, especially when it comes to it still being allowed in the schools of 19 of our states. Here are some of the most troubling aspects of corporal punishment in schools:

  1. Research indicates that children who are disciplined with spanking go on to have more mental illness as adults. Spanking has been linked to children becoming adults who not only have mental health issues, but also experience more depression, and have problems with substance abuse.
  2. Spanking children has also been shown to make them become adults who are more aggressive, antisocial, and who go on to abuse their own spouse and children.
  3. As a nation, we are concerned with our high school dropout rates. This makes me wonder how many adults would want to continue showing up at their jobs if they knew they would be paddled if they didn’t perform their jobs correctly. Perhaps if students were not being paddled, they may hang in there a while longer and take to their studies a little better.

Corporal punishment may be under attack, but until we outlaw it from every state in the country, we will have the problems associated with it each year. And those problems, as we have discussed, are far reaching and long lasting. They impact us as a society long after the child has completed their schooling.

While the Supreme Court allows corporal punishment in whatever states and school districts have it legally on the books, this is a matter of ethics. We as a nation need to do what is right by the next generation. By the looks of it, if corporal punishment continues in the 19 states it is currently allowed in, we will be raising a lot of children who may go on to have mental illnesses, be more aggressive, abuse their spouses, and have addiction problems.

Once they are adults, society can point the finger at them and say that it’s their own fault, and they have created the problems in their life by the choices they have made. But if we can agree that the writing is on the wall, and the potential long term impact is there, then we may need to start pointing a few fingers at the schools, as they are using a form of punishment that experts agree goes on to create more unwanted behavior.

Now is the time for parents around the nation, especially those who live in states where corporal punishment is still allowed, to take a stand. It’s time that we focus on more peaceful and less harmful ways to teach the children of the nation right from wrong. Getting rid of the paddles in the schools of this nation is a great place to start.

 

 

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Matthew Lynch published in Education Leadership, Matthew Lynch

Empowering Leadership Behavior in Schools: Lessons Learned from the Business Sector

Empowering leadership behavior includes encouraging of self-reward systems, self-leadership, opportunity awareness, participation in goal setting, and independent behavior by followers and group members. In other words, it’s all about helping followers take ownership of their positions, toward the greater good of the organization. And, as studies have shown, the effects are often positive and far-reaching

Empowering leaders, through positive emotional support and encouragement, increases  motivation and confidence among subordinates as they set out to accomplish their individual and organizational goals. Therefore, empowering leadership can be quite useful, particularly as a behavioral tactic for entrepreneurs, who must gain commitment from those they work with in order to compete against bigger, more established, and resource-rich enterprises.

Additionally, empowering leadership behavior in entrepreneurs is crucial in dynamic environments. Entrepreneurs attempting to lead their ventures toward higher growth while operating in ever-changing conditions can benefit from adopting an  empowering leadership style. It is an effective way to distribute leadership throughout the management team. This enhances the shaping of emerging strategy, which harnesses the individual talents of each team member that are most relevant to the current situation.

However, there are some negative effects that come with empowering leadership, which are often left out of leadership literature. One of the disadvantages of empowering diverse teams is that it can be counterproductive. Empowering leadership can cause incompatibility among certain innovative enterprises.

In addition, empowered management teams tend to seek out too much information before making decisions. They may also attempt to follow too many opportunities, without refining a single business concept to establish a solid basis in the market. These challenges more often occur in experienced firms with diverse top management teams.

Diverse teams can be quite effective at considering multiple alternatives and making sense of challenging situations, but they are much slower to reach agreement on decisions. Different perspectives within top management teams can produce conflict, slowing the decision-making process.

We can conclude that empowering management teams can provide greater opportunity for conflicts to emerge. Conflicts among team members are likely to be particularly damaging to ventures operating in dynamic environments, where decision-making must be speedy in order to take advantage of the brief windows of opportunity . Entrepreneurs should be cautious about when and where to empower their management teams.

In fast-changing environments, empowerment reduces the new enterprise’s performance, causing the relationship between the  management team’s diversity and the new venture’s performance to become increasingly negative. In more stable industry environments, this kind of empowerment leadership behavior is more likely to have a positive effect on the performance of new ventures with non-uniform top management teams . This is because the information available is clearer and there is more time available for planning.

Stable environments allow the empowered top management teams to spend more time considering what alternative strategies are available, and exploring the potential for various innovative activities, since total agreement is not urgent. As a result, there is generally less conflict within empowered diverse teams operating in stable environments.

School leaders seeking effectiveness should learn from entrepreneurs, and particularly those from start-ups in fast-moving industries, which tend to be highly creative. They should strive to create environments in which positive ideas are encouraged, and in which there is ample opportunity for those ideas to be put in place.

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Matthew Lynch published in Education Leadership

How to Motivate Your K-12 Students to Pursue College Early

**The Edvocate is pleased to publish guest posts as way to fuel important conversations surrounding P-20 education in America. The opinions contained within guest posts are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of The Edvocate or Dr. Matthew Lynch.**

A guest column by Anica Oaks

Both parents and teachers know just how difficult it can be to motivate children to do anything that they don’t want to do, and this includes aggressively pursuing their education. The average child would rather spend time with their friends instead of tackling additional schoolwork, but a little extra work while they are younger could positively impact their lives forever. Parents that would like their child to enter into college early will need to find effective methods for creating a motivated and driven student.

  • Give Them Tangible Benefits

It is difficult for  younger child to grasp exactly why higher education is so important, and even teenagers might not understand how entering into college early will benefit them. Parents need to get creative and find ways to show their child exactly what their hard work will do. This might include speaking with a specialist in an interesting field or visiting local college campuses.

  • Start When They Are Younger

Parents that start this process early will find that there is much less stress on their family. Children that grow up assuming they will be entering into college at a younger age will not be shocked by a larger workload as they continue to thrive.

  • Find the Right Environment

The average public school does not have the resources to push advanced and gifted children very far. This is why it is important to seek out a school that actually inspires children with classes and programs that they might not have access to otherwise. College prep schools like the International School of MN are unique in the fact that they train children to start thinking like university students.

  • Encourage Diverse Activities

STEM schools and careers are more important than ever, but children must have a diverse background if they would like to enter into college early. At a very young age, children should be encouraged to explore any subject that they find interesting. From musical instruments to poetry, these subjects will create a well-rounded student.

  • Find the Right Friends

Parents will never have full control over who their child is friends with, but it is important that peer pressure is not holding your child back. Peer pressure does have the benefit of motivating students to an extent, but it rarely inspires greatness. Finding like-minded families will promote excellence in and out of the classroom.

Every parent wants what is best for their child, and this is why it is so important to promote autonomous students who want to be successful for the right reasons.

_____________

Anica is a professional content and copywriter who graduated from the University of San Francisco. She loves dogs, the ocean, and anything outdoor-related. She was raised in a big family, so she’s used to putting things to a vote. Also, cartwheels are her specialty. You can connect with Anica here. Anica writes on behalf of the International School of MN, with education opportunities for students from early childhood through high school.

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Matthew Lynch published in HBCU's

Will a degree from an HBCU cover student loan debt?

According to a new report, the starting salary for a new college graduate from an HBCU may not be enough to cover student loan debt.

By way of an article on Chron.com, the class of 2015 is projected to have about $35,000 in student loan debt upon graduation. That’s $7,000 more than what the class of 2013 will owe.

Of course in order to pay back the loan, students have to have jobs that will afford them that opportunity.

So to look at how debt and income will factor into the financial success that students may have post graduation, Edsmart.org found that some students who attend HBCU’s may struggle economically. It is a recipe for disaster when students can’t afford college when they start, OR afford to pay it back when they graduate.

The report shows that the average starting salary for new graduates out of Bethune-Cookman University comes in at just $38,700. That’s just $3,000 more than the average debt that students may carry, but the in-state tuition and fees for BCU is a reasonable $14,410.

It gets even better if students attend Florida A&M University. Tuition for in-state students is just $5,785, $17,725 for out-of-state, and students project to make a little over $42,300 after graduation.

Other schools where students can expect to earn more include Xavier University, Howard University, Hampton University, and Tennessee State University.

While the salaries vary, and so will the debt per student, knowing that your earning potential fresh out of college may hover around $50,000 per year may take the sting away form having to pay the government back for your education.

Read all of our posts about HBCUs by clicking here.

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Matthew Lynch published in Higher Education, Matthew Lynch

Higher Accountability for College Dropout Rates

There are a lot of metrics in place that gauge the effectiveness of P-12 schooling in the U.S. and shine a particularly bright light on public schools, particularly when they are failing students. Dropout rates are just one of the factors taken into account when these numbers are calculated and tend to weigh heavily on the schools and districts who have low percentages. The same does not seem to be true once the high school years pass though. Compared to P-12 institutions, colleges and universities seemingly get a pass when it comes to college dropout rates – perhaps because in the past, higher education was considered more of a privilege and less of a right. A college dropout was simply walking away from the assumed higher quality of life that came with the degree, but still had opportunity to excel without it.

That’s not the case anymore. As of 2013, 17.5 million students were enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities.  More than ever, colleges and universities have a responsibility to not simply admit students, but ensure they are guided properly to graduation. In other words, institutions of higher education should not be able to just take their student’s money and say “good luck.” They should provide the tools necessary for students to successfully achieve a college education and anticipate the issues that could prevent that.

Authors Ben Miller and Phuong Ly discussed the issue of the U.S. colleges with the worst graduation rates in their book College Dropout Factories. Within the pages, the authors encouraged educators at all levels to acknowledge that colleges and universities should share responsibility for successful or failing graduation rates, and that the institutions with the worst rates should be shut down. Perhaps the most terrifying suggestion in the book (for colleges and universities) was that public institutions with low graduation rates would be subjected to reduced state funding.

The book was written based on findings from Washington Monthly that ranked the U.S. schools with the lowest six-year graduation rates among colleges and universities, including public ones like the University of the District of Columbia (8%), Haskell Indian Nations University (9%), Oglala Lakota College (11%), Texas Southern University (13%) and Chicago State University (13%). These stats were published in 2010 so they are not the most current available but a quick scan of the University of the District Columbia’s official page shows graduation rate numbers through the end of the 2003 – 2004 school year. The past nine years are nowhere to be found. The school boasts 51.2 percent underrepresented minorities in the study body, including 47 percent that are Black – but what good are those numbers if these students are not actually benefitting from their time in college because they receive no degree?

In the case of Chicago State University, the latest statistics show some improvement from the 2010 ones. The six-year graduation rate is up to 21 percent – but the transfer-out rate is nearly 30 percent. The school has 92 percent underrepresented minorities that attend – 86 percent who are black and 70 percent who are female – but again, what good does any of that do if these traditionally disadvantaged students are not graduating?

In all cases of college dropout factories, the P-12 institutions chalk up a victory on their end. They graduated the students and also saw them accepted into a college. What happens after that is between the students and their higher education choices.

This, to me, is a problem. The accountability for student success extends beyond the years that they are in P-12 classrooms. Graduation from high school, and acceptance into college, should never be the final goal of P-12 educators. That is not a victory. That is only halftime.

As far as the colleges and universities are concerned, higher accountability should be demanded from educators, students, parents and really any Americans that want the best economy and highest-educated population. Public institutions, in particular, should be subject to restructuring or take over if dropout rates are too high. The lack of delivery on the college degree dream at many of these schools is appalling, frankly, and has gone on long enough.

What do you think an accountability system for colleges should look like when it comes to dropout rates?

 

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Matthew Lynch published in Higher Education, Matthew Lynch

Diverse Conversations: 5 Questions For Securing the Perfect Internship

You may think that the cold of winter is too early to start thinking about summer internships, but the competition for placement is already heating up. Companies have already begun accepting applications for summer, and as a result, students vying for top spots need to start preparing now. This can be easier said than done, as students have more choices, but also greater competition.

For this week’s installment of “Diverse Conversations,” I interviewed L.J. Brock, Vice President, Talent Acquisition and People Infrastructure at Red Hat. L.J. and I discussed Red Hat’s internship program and the 5 questions he says all interns should ask to increase their options and make sure they secure the best opportunity to drive their future.

Q: How has today’s young workforce changed from the workforce of, for example, 10 years ago?

A: The workforce of today, as a whole, has the same attitude that the startup workforce had 10 years ago. There’s a lot of confidence and willingness to take chances. People want to make their marks at a company and be recognized for the amount of work they put in and I think jobseekers are looking for a job they care about, doing work that excites them, at a company whose mission they can believe in. It’s really competitive, especially in the technology industry. The stigma of moving from job to job is gone and people don’t feel they have to pay their dues in order to move up. Everyone is looking for, and finding, what they want, now.

Q: Is there any particular type of environment that college graduates expect when they enter the workforce? For example, do they expect companies to be open to their ideas, or is it just a matter of “come in and do your job?”

A: The main things that attract people, including college graduates, to Red Hat are our environment and culture. The ability to make an impact and see that impact on day one is paramount and I think a lot of these jobseekers are over the idea of “just doing a job” and going home. They want to influence. They want to be recognized. And they want to do this on a grand scale, no matter their title and time in the job. Red Hat has always operated as a meritocracy – your ideas really matter here and the best ideas will rise to the top. It’s how we work in developing software and it’s how our company moves forward– through our people, their hard work, and their ideas.

Q: What should the ultimate goal of the internship be? Gain knowledge? Get a better idea of what the working world is like? Get a job at the company you’re interning at?

A: When it comes to our internship program, we treat these students as peers. We’ve been operating this program for over 10 years and while the size and scope has certainly grown, the idea of how it works has stayed the same. The goal, of course, is to find young talent and get them in the door. We show them the opportunities that Red Hat offers and they’re given the chance to come in and experience our culture and to work on projects that matter. There’s no benefit in having these intelligent people come in and work on imaginary problems or push papers around– we want them solving real problems and getting real experience they can use no matter where they end up. We want them to make an impact. The ultimate goal is to have them continue on with Red Hat, but it takes a lot of initiative, a cultural fit, and the ability to adapt to change. We love the idea of hiring interns because they already understand our mission and what it takes to succeed at Red Hat.

Q: Can you provide some background on Red Hat’s internship program?

A: Our internship program has been around for over 10 years and keeps growing in size and to new geographies. We work to identify the best and brightest college students, usually in their junior or senior years, and bring them in to work on various teams across Red Hat. We’ve had interns in engineering, finance, human resources, marketing, legal, design, and customer support in the past, and we work to expose them to other areas of the organization for a multi-disciplinary look into what it is to be a Red Hatter. They get hands-on meetings with our executives and participate in many activities geared toward giving them the full Red Hat experience in just a few short months.

Q: Why is it important for applicants to start applying to internships so early in the year? And, how has this process changed over the past several years?

A: There’s not just a huge amount of competition out there for talent, but also for jobs and internships. Students should get the earliest possible jump on an internship to give themselves the longest period of time to find the right fit. The job they may want will not be there forever, so getting in early is key. We’re looking to fill these open jobs and if we don’t know about the candidate and their abilities, there’s no guarantee. Job fairs also take place early in the school year and that’s another great way to find out about what is offered and for the students to, in some cases, meet the person hiring for specific roles. This has changed somewhat over the years as internships are no longer an add-on for a company’s strategy. It’s become an integral key in how they find and hire talent.

Q: In a past interview I conducted with Dr. Lynn C. Owens, Associate Professor of Communication, William Peace University, Raleigh, NC, she reported that research shows students are not as prepared as they should be for the workforce. How can initiatives like Red Hat’s internship program help shift those statistics?

A: Knowledge is power, but experience is what gets you hired. Red Hat believes that the key to having a young workforce succeed is to get them the experience they need as soon as possible. And that’s real-world experience. Internships should be all about learning how to take your knowledge and apply it in a professional setting. Internships are also about making yourself an asset to employers, so we hope that as internships as a whole become more serious and focused, we will see some of these statistics around preparedness improve.

Q: So, you mention there are 5 questions all intern applicants should consider if they make it to an in-person interview. What are those questions and why are they important?

A: Always remember that you’re not the only one being questioned. The employer is also being interviewed by you, so find out as much about the job as they are finding out about you:

1) What kinds of projects would I be working on? Make sure this internship aligns with your career goals and builds on the knowledge and skills you’ve already gained. If there’s not a clear set of goals for your time at the company, that may be a red flag that you should look elsewhere.

2) What would a typical day look like? This will help you decide whether the environment and work is for you. Internships run the gamut from major learning opportunities to extreme grunt work. Know what you’re getting into.

3) Are there regular activities for the interns outside of normal work? Many companies, including Red Hat, have a full-fledged intern program that include activities such as volunteering, seminars, ballgames, cook-outs, and the like. These can be valuable in meeting new people, executives, and other hiring managers from around the company.

4) What do you like most about working here? Learning about the company’s culture and work experience can help you determine whether it’s a good fit for you.

5) Have you stayed in contact with previous interns? Ideally, the employer can reference past interns that now work there full time. In addition, it’s a good sign if that individual can think of interns who have moved on to interesting roles within the company or in other highly regarded companies.

We would like to thank L.J. Brock for taking the time to speak to us.

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Matthew Lynch published in EdTech & Innovation

Moving Beyond the “Cool” Factor in Mobile Learning

Note: The following post comes to us courtesy of Mike Broderick, Co-Founder & CEO, Turning Technologies.

According to a Pew Internet survey on mobile device use, 35% of Americans age 16 and up own a tablet. K-12 districts, universities and corporate learning programs are also driving the tablet trend, with some purchasing iPads and other tablets to replace textbooks and expand education capabilities with the hardware students already use to communicate and access entertainment. But the experiment doesn’t always proceed as planned.

A plan to distribute iPads to more than 30,000 Los Angeles students hit a speed bump last year when students figured out how to disable security features that were supposed to keep them off social media sites. A school official observed that problems were inevitable because the iPad program was “rushed” and “ill thought out.” And that seems to be a common theme: Too many educators are rushing to join the tablet trend because such programs are considered “cool” or “cutting edge,” when what they should really aim for is measurable benefits.

Fortunately, there are strategic ways to use mobile technology in the education space – it just requires a focus on using technology to drive positive outcomes rather than fixating on the hardware. Educators – whether in K-12, higher education or the corporate training space – need to ask the right question: Does the use of this technology improve outcomes?

To get the best results with an iPad, educators can pair the hardware with software that has a proven track record of success in deepening learner engagement. For example, interactive software that is currently on the market can enable teachers to embed questions directly into presentations, poll students in real time and instantly chart responses. This enables teachers to gauge students’ grasp of the material in the classroom, letting educators know when it’s okay to move on to the next topic and when more time is needed to go over the material.

Software solutions can also enable students to replicate virtually any action they can produce on paper on a touchscreen, such as labeling display items, moving featured graphics around and responding to essay questions. But with a tablet, students’ work can be instantly uploaded, stored and viewed, giving it a key advantage over paper. With the right software solutions, educators can significantly expand capabilities while increasing student engagement.

Better student engagement and expanded capabilities are reason enough for educators to look for the right software package, but data is another important factor to keep in mind. By generating and analyzing data – both in the context of a particular classroom session or assignment as well as aggregate data across the wider program – educators can identify what’s working and what’s not and adjust their strategies accordingly.

Tablets are quickly becoming an essential part of the everyday life and a prominent feature on the education landscape. But to make mobile devices an effective part of the learning process, educators must ensure that they pair their new hardware with effective software assets. By finding the right combination, educators can achieve greater levels of student engagement, significantly expand capabilities and generate incredibly valuable data. And that’s truly cool.

Read all of our posts about EdTech and Innovation by clicking here. 

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