Posts published in November, 2014

Building Grades 9-14 Career Pathways For Students

From Jobs For The Future:
In collaboration with state leads from across the Pathways to Prosperity Network, the JFF team recently published a policy report, State Strategies for Sustaining and Scaling Grades 9-14 Career Pathways: Toward a Policy Set for Pathways to Prosperity. This report provides a comprehensive overview of the state-level policies and actions that support the Pathways to Prosperity work, as well as concrete examples of how the Pathways key implementation levers are put into practice across the network.

In providing exemplars of how different states and regions are building grades 9-14 career pathways in their respective political, educational, and economic contexts, the paper reaffirms Pathways to Prosperity as a highly versatile model that can be championed by a wide range of stakeholders and implemented with funding streams and legislation, both big and small, old and new.

Report Advocates Major Overhaul Of Role And Effectiveness Of College Boards of Trustees

Governance
Boards putting higher education at risk
Inattentive college and university governing boards are putting American higher education at risk, according to a new set of guidelines for trustees issued by the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges

Source: (ECS)

How To Teach Effectively On Line

Tracing Successful Online Teaching in Higher Education: Voices of Exemplary Online Teachers
by Evrim Baran, Ana-Paula Correia & Ann Thompson  for Teachers College Record
This article presents a multiple-case study that investigated six different cases of exemplary online teachers and their teaching contexts within a large research university. The findings reveal common exemplary online teaching practices and suggest recommendations for supporting and nurturing successful online teaching in higher education institutions.

Deep Analysis Of The New Gainful Employment Rule For Colleges To Receive Federal Money

The U.S. Department of Education released the final version of its Gainful Employment rule, freshly rewritten to try and avoid being thrown out by another judge. Ben Miller tells us what’s changed since the draft rule released in March, how the final rule will affect which programs fail the test, and what the debt-to-earnings rate that the rule relies on will mean for college dropouts.

edcentr.al/gainful-programs

Accreditation Hinders Launch Of New Post secondary Institutions

Big Drop In College Enrollment : What To Do About It

From College Board

If you have been skeptical about American demographic changes and the resulting decline in college enrollment, review the latest United States Census Bureau statistics. Released Sept. 24, 2014, the report shows a historic drop in college enrollments:

These decreases follow a period of significant growth between 2006 and 2011 when the number of enrolled students climbed by more than 3.2 million. Many have theorized that the slow economy drove students back to the classroom in an environment where jobs were scarce.

While the headlines are arresting, it’s worth spending time reviewing the details:

These shifts should not come as a surprise. In their 2013 edition of Knocking at the College Door, the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education reiterated their long-standing prediction that a decrease in high school graduates will result in stiffer competition for recent high school graduates.

How to Cope with Changing Demographics

While the trends are sobering, there are glimmers of positive news. The past year saw a continued increase in the percentage of students from recent graduating classes going on to college. This increase in college-going rates will not, on its own, offset declining enrollments, but it does point the way to strategies you can employ on your campus: