A new study shows black male athletes are completing college at significantly lower rates. Renee Montagne speaks to Kevin Blackistone, a “Washington Post” sport columnist, to examine this pervasive problem.
RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:
March Madness is dominating the college sports headlines this week. Less noticed is this. Black athletes are dropping out of colleges across the country at alarming rates. That’s according to the Center for the Study of Race and Equity in Education at the University of Pennsylvania. The study calls it a graduation gap and a systemic issue, not just a few scandals at certain schools. With us to talk about these findings is Washington Post columnist Kevin Blackistone. We reached him on Skype. Good morning.
KEVIN BLACKISTONE: Good morning, how are you?
MONTAGNE: Fine, thank you. What is new that you found in this study?
BLACKISTONE: Well, this is Shaun Harper’s study, and he points out that on major college campuses across the country, black males make up less than 3 percent of undergraduate enrollments. Yet, when you look at their numbers or percentages on the revenue-generating sports teams of football and men’s basketball, they make up well into 50 and 60 percent of those teams. So the idea is that they are really there to be part of the revenue-generating working class of athlete on campus and not necessarily there to be part of the educating class as most everyone else is.
MONTAGNE: When you say any other demographic group – in fact, I think the numbers are something like, at those 65 schools, just barely more than half of the black male athletes graduate at all.
BLACKISTONE: Exactly. And what’s really insidious about this is these athletes are supposedly promised at least one thing as remuneration for all their blood and sweat. And that is a college degree, which can be a transformative tool in our society when you talk about upward mobility. And that’s really the troubling part about this.
MONTAGNE: Well, this has been talked about so much, really, in recent years. Why hasn’t it changed?
BLACKISTONE: Well, I think one of the reasons it hasn’t changed is because there’s really no economic pressure to change this. All of the incentive is really on winning and not losing on the field or on the court. Coaches are not necessarily incentivized to graduate players.
MONTAGNE: You know, one last thing – which is worth keeping uppermost in our minds – are the staggering figures, the money that’s involved. Just give us a quick reminder of what we’re talking about here.
BLACKISTONE: Well, we’re talking about a $10 billion contract that NCAA basketball signed with broadcasters several years ago to broadcast all these games that we’re going to love to watch over the next three weeks and that the conference commissioners of the power five conferences in this country, those five guys make on average $2.8 million a year in salary. And then you look at the coaches and the multimillion dollar contracts they have to coach. And you look at the staffs. And then you look at the student fees that go along to support some of the athletic activities at colleges across the country. It’s a whole lot of money. And at the very least, it seems that these black male college athletes, who produce most of this revenue, should get more from it or certainly get the guarantee of their college scholarship so that they have something when they get out of school.
MONTAGNE: Kevin Blackistone teaches sports journalism at the University of Maryland. He is also a sports columnist at The Washington Post. Thank you very much for joining us.
BLACKISTONE: Thank you.
By Melissa Burns
You may be using an iPhone or even several different models of it for years a believe you are pretty good about using it to its full potential. However, there a lot of options and features that are not hidden, but aren’t exactly all that obvious either, and knowing them can considerably improve your experience of using the device, and make this use all the more productive.
1. Creating Shortcuts
If you type a lot using your iPhone, it may be a good idea to optimize the process a little bit. Can you remember any words that you use especially often? If so, you may create shortcuts – combinations of letters that will automatically expand into the necessary words of phrases when you type them in. To do so, go to Settings > General > Keyboard > Shortcuts > Add New Shortcut.
2. Clearing History
Sometimes, due to this or that reason, you have to wipe the history off your iPhone. It may be because constant prompts get all too annoying, or you want to give the phone to somebody else and don’t want them to know what you were up to all this while. However, figuring out how to clear up all your traces on your own may be a bit of pain – that’s why it is better use an online guide on how to clear all history on your iPhone and perform the process step by step.
3. Adding Letters to Your Passcode
Do you think that a passcode comprised of only numbers is not secure enough? You may mix letters in, as well. To do so, go to Settings > General > Passcode Lock and turn off “Simple Passcode”. This time, when you are prompted to change your passcode, you will have the entire keyboard, not just numbers, at your disposal.
4. Use Your iPhone as a Level
Do you know that you had a fully functional level in your pocket all that time? As it turns out, simply swiping left in the in-built Compass app immediately turns it on.
5. Taking Screen Shots
Ever wondered how these screenshots in online iPhone guides are made? There is nothing difficult about it – you simply have to hold the home and the on/off buttons at the same time, and the short of your current screen will be saved into your camera roll.
6. Responding to Texts without Unlocking the iPhone
Pull down on the message notification and swipe to the left – this will allow you to answer the text without first unlocking your phone. An extremely useful function when your hands are full and every extra movement is uncomfortable.
7. See the Apps that Drain Your Battery the Most
Do you want to know where your battery charge goes? It is pretty simple. Go to Settings > General > Usage > Battery Usage and you will see statistics of which apps cosumed most energy in the last 24 hours.
Things like these, when combined, can really change the way you work with a device – so don’t forgo this opportunity and learn these simple tricks. They will help you in future.
|
|
Early in my career as a budget analyst for the federal Department of Education, I became familiar with national education rankings. Over the years, I have reviewed countless reports. While measures are becoming more sophisticated, most national rankings oversimplify California’s results and mask significant progress.
Today more students than ever are succeeding in rigorous coursework in high school, developing college-level knowledge and skills. In the past several years, California’s high school students have surpassed national averages in pursuit of advanced placement courses, scores on college admission tests and overall preparedness for college. The results are impressive.
San Jose Unified was the first California school district in the late 1990s to set an expectation for all students to complete a college preparatory course load. East Side Union, Morgan Hill, Gilroy and Campbell high school districts now have similar requirements, and others, including Santa Clara Unified, are considering them.
Overall in Santa Clara County, 73 percent of high school students attend schools where their course of study is aligned with the admission requirements for California’s colleges and universities. The percentage of students completing these requirements here, 54 percent, is growing faster than the statewide percentage, now at 42 percent
Another positive trend is underway in advanced placement. These programs challenge students with high standards and enable them to enter college with advanced standing. Advanced placement has grown from 11 courses offered in the 1950s to more than 30 in public schools today. Throughout the nation, there is a concerted effort to ensure more diverse students pursue these classes.
In California, the number taking advanced placement exams has increased by 73 percent since 2005, with nearly 169,000 students in the class of 2015 taking at least one. California ranks fifth nationally in the percentage of that class scoring a 3 or higher on an advanced placement exam.
This is the second year that California students in grades 3-8 and 11 will complete new computer-based tests to measure college readiness. Results from grade to grade will help parents and educators gauge students’ strengths and weaknesses in relation to the state’s new college and career-oriented standards. The University of California, California State University, California Community Colleges and Association of Independent California Colleges endorse the standards and the state’s effort to provide clear and consistent messages about readiness for success.
Providing access to actionable data also is a growing trend. Nearly a quarter of a million California students in the class of 2015 prepared for the SAT by taking the PSAT, up from 133,028 in 2005. PSAT results also help districts identify students for advanced placement classes and eligibility for the National Merit Scholarship Program. Across the nation, districts are working to connect high school students to SAT practice questions online through the Khan Academy.
Participation rates for college admission tests continue to increase, with more than 242,000 California students taking the SAT and more than 122,000 taking the ACT in 2015. Individual scores also are improving. In 2015 California students scored higher in reading, math and writing on the SAT than students in New York, Florida and Texas. The number of California African-American and Latino students meeting the SAT’s college readiness benchmark has increased at a faster pace than in New York and Florida.
California’s colleges and universities are reporting unprecedented numbers of top-notch students applying. This is a signal that students recognize the stronger preparation now required for college and careers. But considerable work remains among educators to ensure access and equity are priorities statewide.
Michael Kirst is president of the California State Board of Education and professor emeritus of education at Stanford University. He wrote this for this newspaper.
|
|
By Jane Hurst
Internet crimes are on the rise, and one of the biggest is identity theft. You don’t even have to go online yourself to be a victim of this crime. Some of the most innocent of transactions can lead to identity theft. As a college student, you are prey to many unscrupulous types who have no problem destroying your credit, and your future. Here are some ways that you can protect yourself from identity theft.
Keep Financial Records at Home – You don’t need to have all of your financial information in your dorm room. If you do have it with you, you are at a high risk for identity theft. Leave this stuff at home. If you need to access the information, give your parents a call and they will arrange for you to get it safely, or fax it to financial institutions if it involves your student loans.
Create Secure Passwords – Creating a password can be a real pain, but it is more important than you may think. Don’t use things in your password that can be easily figured out by someone else, such as your birthday, your school’s name, your pet’s name, etc. Instead, come up with something that you can easily remember, but that has letters, numbers, and symbols. A good way to do this is by creating a sentence that has meaning to you, such as, “I love to eat pizza at 3 a.m.”, and then use the first letter of each word, plus the numbers and periods, so you have, “ILTEPA3.A.”
Stick with One Credit Card – You are a student. You don’t need to have multiple credit cards. If you do apply for many cards, your information is on those applications, and you have no idea who is going to see them. If you must have a credit card, stick with just one, and don’t be tempted by credit offers that sound too good to be true.
Check Your Credit Score – It is important that you know your credit score, and that you check it regularly. You can get do this for free online, and it only takes a few minutes. If you are careful with your finances, but your score is low, this is a clue that someone has been messing with your financial information, and you can nip it in the bud before it gets any worse. Read identity theft protection reviews at No Identity Theft to choose best ID theft protection.
Be Smart about Public WiFi – You are likely going to be using your laptop in any number of places that offer a connection. You need to be extremely careful about what you are doing online when using public WiFi. Do not enter any financial information, and avoid online banking until you have a secure connection.
Don’t Share Info on Social Media – People are way too quick these days to share their personal information on their social media pages. You may think that a post is completely innocent, but a criminal may see something in it that can lead them to your financial accounts, and to steal your identity. Avoid talking about family names, pet names, financial info, and anything else that could help a criminal steal your identity.
Restrict Access to Your Personal Computer – Your roommates, friends, and classmates may ask from time to time to use your personal computer. If possible, don’t let anyone else use your computer. You never know what they may be doing, and if they are doing something illegal, it is you who is going to get into trouble, not them. It is a good idea to make sure that your computer is password restricted, so only you can access it.
Byline:
Jane Hurst has been working in education for over 5 years as a teacher. She loves sharing her knowledge with students, is fascinated about edtech and loves reading, a lot. Follow Jane on Twitter!
Thank you!
By Melissa Burns
Whether you are just starting out at college or are going to graduate this year, you should think carefully about what your future career is going to be. But probably not too carefully – we don’t live in the age of static jobs, so even if you make a wrong choice today, or made it some years before, it is never too late to change the course. Here is the list of careers that are going to be hot in the next decade – so keep an eye on them!
1. Accountants/Auditors
It may not sound very exciting, but the fact is a fact – with the growing number of small businesses, self-employed people and entrepreneurship, the demand for professional accountants that can service a large number of independent businesses is going to grow as well. All these small firms and sole proprietors won’t be able to employ accountants and auditors full-time, and will need somebody to take care of their books and records.
2. App Developers
Programming in general and app development in particular is a job of the future. This market has exploded in the course of the last few years, and ongoing research and development in such spheres as the Internet of Things, smart home systems, artificial intelligence and so on show that what we’ve seen so far is nothing but a tip of an iceberg. If you get a good education in this sphere, you will have no trouble finding a job with any firm from the list of the top iPhone development companies.
3. Registered Nurses
The world’s population is getting older – the percentage of senior citizens, especially in developed countries, is growing steadily, and is going to noticeably change the world economy sooner than one may expect. All this aging population is going to need somebody to take care of them, and the number of registered nurses capable of doing so is already somewhat insufficient, which is reflected in rapidly growing demand for their services.
4. Medical Specialists and Surgeons
Nursing is not the only sector of healthcare that is going to grow. High-end specialist physicians, and especially surgeons, are among the highest-paid jobs today, and this tendency isn’t going to alter any time soon. Their median pay is already very high and is only going to get higher – however, the level of education necessary to land such a job is not easily attainable as well. Not to mention that it requires a considerable initial investment.
5. Veterinarians
Veterinarians do much more than simply treat dogs, cats and other domestic animals (although it is no small feat in its own right). They also inspect livestock, protect public health, keep our food supply from contamination and disease and in general have a far greater impact on our everyday life than one may think. In recent years, scientific advancements in veterinary medicine have created many new jobs, and their number is only going to expand in the years to come.
Of course, having a degree in one of these spheres doesn’t guarantee total job security, but it certainly is going to be higher than in most other areas.
Melissa Burns graduated from the faculty of Journalism of Iowa State University in 2008. Nowadays she is an entrepreneur and independent journalist. Her sphere of interests includes startups, information technologies and how these ones may be implemented.
– See more at: https://collegepuzzle.stanford.edu/?p=5128#sthash.dEoq0Y2N.dpuf
Lumina papers look at lessons of performance funding
Lumina Foundation released a second batch of white papers on performance-based funding in higher education, with a focus on lessons from states that have linked funding to metrics such as on-time graduation and the number of at-risk students who graduate. (Inside Higher Ed)
By Taylor Tomita
As a lot us are just dipping your toes into the college world, there are a plethora of factors that we must take into account throughout our lifetimes in the college realm. Working, frugality, and studying for the next big exam are just three of the many responsibilities for today’s college students – yet skipping out on the research to find what their degree can be applied to is often overlooked.
Many of us have aspirations of owning our own business, but did you know that obtaining a bachelor’s degree in business administration can also put you in the position to pursue a career as a market research analyst or as a human resource representative? There are a handful of career options that come with nearly every degree, and I wanted to outline a few of the key points to keep an eye on with a few of today’s college opportunities.
Medical Majors
Of course, one of the first occupations that comes to mind when we think of a PhD are positions alike surgeon, because it is something we hear rather frequently. While pursuing surgery is a fantastic career opportunity, acquiring a PhD in medicine opens career paths in a variety of medical fields that require little-to-no additional certification. This list outlines these careers with options, such as biomedical engineering or physical therapy, which are just a few of the lesser-known values of acquiring a PhD in the medical field.
Law Majors
At first glance, many individuals are turned away from pursuing law as a career. This is likely due to a noticeable decrease in career opportunities surrounding law surrounding the recession. However, those who have acquired (or are working towards acquiring) these degrees are flourishing. Recently, there has been a rather large influx in various uncommon cases surrounding law. Medical malpractice, and social security cases are becoming more apparent as time goes on, and this has opened a rather large window into various types of careers for today’s individuals holding a degree in law.
Engineering Majors
The world of engineering has thrived over the last decade. As the popularity of oil field occupations grows, seeking an engineering degree can very well put you into the position to become a very wealthy individual. However, as technology continues to grow, there are many additional opportunities throughout the engineering world. These degrees open up possibilities for interested individuals to join the thriving world of robotics, which is growing at an alarming rate at both the industrial and consumer levels.
Journalism Majors
In the past, journalism degrees generally meant you had about two career options – either being a reporter for the local newspaper, or the television. As both of these options are sadly being whittled down with the rise of the internet, many students have stayed away from pursuing journalism careers. This decrease in interest, coupled with a large increase in journalism opportunities, have created a goldmine of career options for journalism majors. Becoming a content producer or a grant writer are now widely sought-after in today’s world
In Summary, it is vital to fully research every opportunity that can be pursued with your chosen college major. You will be surprised with what you find! Thank you for reading!
Author Bio:
Taylor Tomita is an Idaho-based writer for SavvyContent.com who enjoys writing about the education and entrepreneurial worlds. When not writing, you can find Taylor playing in the band Stepbrothers. Find him on Twitter (@trvshlvrd_rr).
By Nat Malkus, Real Clear Education
Students voluntarily sit through a grueling three-hour exam to try to prove that they learned enough in their Advanced Placement course to earn college credit or place out of lower-level college courses.
AP has grown dramatically over the past few decades, doubling the number of test takers between 1996 and 2006, and then doubling again by 2016. The program is run by a private company, the College Board, but it has become the default option for providing advanced coursework in public high schools across the country. As a result, over half a million more kids a year are taking more rigorous classes than were just a dozen years ago.
As the program has grown, however, it’s come under fire from two very different directions. One camp of critics argues AP is expanding too fast, funneling underprepared students to take classes above their level. Others argue that AP isn’t expanding fast enough to provide access tostudents of color and poor students who have low rates of participation. Both of those concerns are reasonable and well-intentioned. But both are off the mark.
Critics in the first camp believe AP’s rigor is being watered down to accommodate program expansion, primarily by allowing too many inadequately prepared students to participate. The most salacious among these critics call AP a “scam” designed to drive profits for the College Board. Such accusations are intuitively plausible, and typically based on anecdotal evidence and critic’s own experiences.
While this might be true in certain schools, it is false across the board. My research examined the test scores public school AP course-takers earned on the independent National Assessment of Educational Progress to take a good look at AP over time.
Between 2000 and 2009, AP participation jumped 35 percent, but participants’ test scores did not show the declines critics predicted. The test scores of graduates that did not participate in AP courses did drop during this period, slightly. That drop suggests AP has expanded by tapping deeper into a reserve of academically prepared students. Despite its limited influence on school programs, the College Board’s quality control efforts, including its AP course audits introduced in 2007, appear to have gained traction. Expanding at scale without sacrificing rigor is the rarest kind of success in public education, and AP is showing just that. Watering down AP may occur in some schools, but it isn’t rampant.
The second camp is rightly concerned with AP participation gaps by student race and class. While AP’s expansion has increased participation across race groups, the gaps are persistent and enormous. For instance, 7 in 10 Asian public high school graduates earned AP course credits in 2013, compared to 4 of 10 white graduates and less than 3 in 10 black graduates. Race gaps are also pronounced in how many AP courses students take. In 2009, Asian graduates with AP credit had taken an average of four different courses, compared to three courses for white graduates and fewer for Black and Hispanic graduates.
Critics complain that these gaps are due to unequal access. But the fact is that about 90 percent of public high school students attend a school that offers AP. What’s more, those percentages hardly differ by students race, meaning simply expanding AP to all schools is an inadequate solution for closing race-based participation gaps. Critics also assert that these gaps stem from bias, explicit or implicit, within schools. Such bias no doubt exists in some schools, and the College Board has taken steps, like its AP Potential program, to mitigate its effects on participation for underserved students. However important it is to identify and stamp out that bias, it’s insufficient to explain the racial and class gaps in AP participation.
Focusing heavily on bias risks letting the bigger culprit off the hook. Across states, schools, and subjects, large and widespread achievement gaps by race are evident from Kindergarten through graduation. Those persistent achievement gaps are comparable to AP participation gaps. Dismantling bias in AP admissions at the point students arrive in high school can only do so much while glaring achievement gaps persist through early grades. These gaps are a major failing in American education, but not in Advanced Placement.
In fact, AP might be the single happiest education story of the century. AP’s dramatic growth has made it an indispensable part of public education, but the real feat has been maintaining quality at scale. AP programs have substantially increased access to advanced coursework for all public school students, and the College Board has made that access possible by taking concrete steps to maintain program quality and increase access to underserved students. The challenges and participation gaps that critics highlight remain, but they stem from the longstanding legacy of American public education, not from the rapidly expanding upstart that’s improving it.
Nat Malkus is a research fellow in education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, where he specializes in K–12 education.
By
Colleen Flaherty, Inside Higher Ed
General education programs at their best impart to undergraduates basic knowledge in — or at least exposure to — a variety of disciplines, and provide some sense of how to study and live in a thoughtful way. Their iterations on different campuses are also supposed to embody the values of a particular institution. But how often do they meet that mark? Two institutions concerned that their general education programs were somehow falling short — Harvard and Duke Universities — have initiated the massive undertaking of reform.
At both institutions, a major concern is that students don’t have much sense of what general education is supposed to be accomplishing — a concern at many colleges nationally. Arecent survey of provosts by the Association of American Colleges and Universities, for example, found that while many institutions were moving beyond basic distribution requirements in their general education designs, just 9 percent of respondents said they believed all students were aware of their desired learning outcomes.
Varying Visions of Gen Ed at Harvard
Harvard’s revamped program, which was recently approved by its Faculty of Arts and Sciences, aims to honor the various ways in which professors think about a liberal arts education, and increase student buy-in.
“While many students and faculty highlight the success of specific gen-ed courses, the gen-ed program at Harvard has not yet established a clear and consistent identity among our students and faculty,” reads a Harvard program review committee’s interim report from 2015. “Moreover, despite its prominence in every student’s curricular experience, it plays no defining role in the identity of Harvard College. Most students agree that a well-executed gen-ed program would be valuable, but they are confused about the goals and purposes of the current program.”
Faculty members, by contrast, “are more divided about the value of gen ed, some preferring a straight distribution requirement instead,” the report continues. “But these results are tenuous in both cases, since much of our discussion with students and faculty revealed confusion about what a general-education requirement aims to be and how it differs from a distribution requirement. … Confusion about this distinction at Harvard stems from the fact that in practice our program is a chimera: it has the head of a gen-ed requirement with the body of a distribution requirement.”
Harvard’s only had three general-education programs in its history, and the current program was adopted in 2009. The university didn’t plan to create a new program so soon (and arguably still hasn’t) but found significant flaws in the first five-year review. Interviews with hundreds of faculty members and students revealed that there was little enthusiasm about the program.
| Susan Dynarski, New York Times, University of Michigan
|
The Associated Press The United States has a dropout crisis. Sixty percent of people go to college these days, but just half of the college students graduate with a bachelor’s degree. Some people earn a shorter, two-year associate’s degree. But more than a quarter of those who start college drop out with no credential.
Read Full Article ››
|
