Posts published in September, 2013
Signaling Postsecondary Policies In The Rust Belt
Paradoxes in Policy Practice: Signaling Postsecondary Pathways in the Rust Belt
This article examines the types of policy signals that local Rust Belt communities are trying to develop to both improve postsecondary attendance of young people and retain young people in their home communities as they choose career pathways. Three cases-“Steeltown,” “Milltown,” and “Railtown”-were chosen using a comparative case study design intended for the purpose of explanation building. Three specific signaling strategies were most often used to address individual and community policy needs in these Pennsylvania communities: achievement, alignment, and awareness.
Source:Teachers College Record
Better Data Needed For Qbama College Ratings
Ed Money Watch
When President Obama announced last month in a major policy speech at the University at Buffalo that he intends to rate universities and colleges, he was met with a barrage of questions from policymakers, researchers, students, families, and schools. Everyone wanted to know what a system that rated institutions of higher education might look like, and what metrics the Department of Education might use to score colleges. Full Article
Useful Site For New Community College Research
This University of Texas site provides numerous new studies on effective college policies and practices to enhance community college student engagement and completion.
Here is the direct link:
newest issue of Engagement Matters,
“Nudging’ Students To Complete College
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College Credits In High School Increasing
College Costs Drive Record Number of High School Kids to Start Early
A record number of students are getting a head start on college credits while in high school, cutting costs, and speeding toward degrees as quickly as possible. In addition to taking AP tests or dual enrollment courses, students are receiving college credit for life experiences, or skipping their senior years to attend early colleges. Some 1.3 million students took dual enrollment classes in 2010-11, according to federal data — a 67% increase since 2003. (Hechinger Report, 09/05/13)
Large State Cuts Help Cause Tuition Increases
Despite some recent tuition freezes, public universities continue to suffer from significant spending cuts by their own states. The cuts are seen as the primary driver of tuition inflation. Between 2007 and 2012, 15 states experienced declines in higher-education funding of nearly 30% or more, according to a SHEEO report. Since the recession, 48 states have cut appropriations while just two have increased funding. (USA Today, 09/03/13)
College Leaders Question Data Exists For Obama Ratings Of Colleges
DO THE DATA EXIST TO MAKE A COLLEGE RATING SYSTEM WORK?
We support data analysis and we support transparency, but it is hard to imagine that you can develop a rating or a ranking of institutions on the basis of an extensive amount of data, and right now the data available [are] seriously limited,” says Molly Broad, president of the American Council on Education, which lobbies Congress on behalf of higher education. What higher education is more likely to support, Broad says, is the president’s push for more experimentation. Many institutions have just begun to adopt online learning as a cheaper way to deliver instruction. Three-year degree programs are rare. The administration wants to earmark at least $500 million for innovative programs and new approaches to instruction. The piece ran on NPR’s All Things Considered.
Why State Performance Funding For Colleges Will Not Work
A recent study explores the reasons Indiana, Ohio, and Tennessee pursued performance funding in higher education. While each state has been praised for its proactive stance to improve student and institutional outcomes, the study finds that the state-level policies do not sufficiently account for the unintended impacts of performance funding, including compliance costs, adulteration of quality, and perverse incentives to focus only on the activities that state legislatures have prioritized. (Community College Research Center
Critique Of College For All Philosophy
This article was in the American Prospect, and provides a historical perspective .
http://prospect.org/article/when-giving-it-old-college-try-fails
