Counseling Program Improved Needy Students' College Options, Study Finds

Low-income students who were coached and tutored by a nonprofit group during their last two years of high school were more likely to enroll in four-year colleges and to end up in more-selective institutions, according to the results of a study.  [Click to read the original article in the Chronicle of Higher Education.]

The study focused on College Possible, a group based in St. Paul that uses AmeriCorps mentors, most of them recent college graduates, to prepare students for college.  The study drew on a trial involving 238 students in eight high schools in Minneapolis and St. Paul, 134 of whom were randomly selected for admission to the after-school program.

College Possible mentors assist students with SAT and ACT preparation, advise them on college admissions and financial aid, and help them with the transition to college.  Interventions such as sending students text messages about steps needed to prepare for college or providing them with customized college information have been found to affect their choice of whether and where to enroll.

College Possible's founder, Jim McCorkell, said that finding is important because low-income students are more likely to "undermatch," or to end up at colleges that don't challenge them."  While 73 percent of upper-income American teenagers go on to earn a college degree, only 8 percent of low-income students do, the report says.  After participating in the program, students set their goals higher, enrolling in four-year rather than two-year colleges and shifting from less-selective to more-selective institutions, the study found. For instance, among students in the control group, 34 percent enrolled in four-year colleges and 30 percent in two-year colleges. For those who received the extra support, 45 percent enrolled in four-year colleges and 19 percent in two-year institutions.

Best Education Practice: College Visit for High School Students with Disabilities

Access College Today Program.  Wichita State University (KS) (approved Promising Practice  9/25/13)  Taken from the abstract:  "The Access College Today program provides students with disabilities, in their junior or senior year of high school, a customized field trip to Wichita State University where they learn what they need to do for successful transition from high school to a postsecondary institution with special attention to the needs of students with their needs.  This approach is unique among the common campus tour offered by most colleges for similar students.  The goals of the ACT program: 1) expose high school students with disabilities to a four-year university, 2) learn what is required to be admitted to college, 3) learn about financial resources available to eligible students for college, 4) learn of services available to them at the university based on their needs as a student with a disability, and 5) meet current or former college students and learn of their experiences at college."  [Click on this web link to download the education practice.]

Rate of "Disconnected Youth" Increased to 5.8 Million 16-to-24 Year-Olds

Three of the 16 indicators that make up the Opportunity Index relate to education, but the one indicator of those 16 that most closely correlates with a state's or community's overall Opportunity Index score is the one that measures the proportion of what the index calls "disconnected youth"—people ages 16 to 24 who are neither in school nor employed. For the 2013 index, the researchers found 5.8 million "disconnected" 16- to 24-year-olds, out of a total number of 39.7 million. That's 14.6 percent, a slight increase from the 14.5 percent reported in the 2011 index. In 10 of the country's 25 largest metropolitan areas, the proportion of young people considered "disconnected youth" exceeded the national average.

That measure "has a larger impact on a community's opportunity score than any other," says Mark Edwards, executive director of Opportunity Nation.  Reducing that proportion is "one of the biggest levers to increase opportunity," says Mr. Edwards.  Some of the disconnected youth have dropped out of high school, some are unemployed high-school graduates, and some are victims of a dysfunctional foster-care situation, says Mr. Edwards.

[Click here to read the rest of the story at the Chronicle of Higher Education website.]

Voices of TRiO Students at the Univ. of Texas at San Antonio

The University of Texas at San Antonio hosts seven of the federally-funded TRiO programs. Listen to the stories of the students that participate in them why they are important and how it makes a difference for them, their families, and communities.

Best Education Practice: College Tutor Training and Professional Development Activities

Tutor Training and Professional Development.  Wichita State University (KS)  (approved Promising Practice 9/25/13)   Taken from the abstract:  "Peer tutoring has become a familiar tool that many schools utilize to reinforce classroom teaching and increase student success.   For this reason, the Student Support Services (SSS) Project at Wichita State University (WSU) has implemented a Tutor Training and professional development program to assist new and returning tutors to develop strategies to support learning and enhance academic performance and improve the tutoring process to establish, implement, and maintain a comprehensive and quality tutor-training program."  [Click on this web link to download the education practice.]

Tactics That Engage Community-College Students Get Few Takers, Study Finds

"Most community colleges have begun using a suite of expert-approved strategies to get more students to graduation. But those programs are often just window dressing, as relatively few students participate in them.  Read more: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/10/17/community-college-completion-strategies-lack-scale-report-finds#ixzz2hzE3Mnqe  at Inside Higher Ed

That’s the central finding of a new report from the Center for Community College Student Engagement. And Kay McClenney, the center’s director, places blame for the shallow adoption of “high impact” completion practices squarely on colleges and their leaders, rather than on students.  “Requiring students to take part in activities likely to enhance their success is a step community colleges can readily take,” McClenney said in a written statement. “They just need to decide to do it.”  The study draws from three national surveys that seek to measure student engagement at community colleges that collectively account for 80 percent of the sector’s enrollment. One is the center’s flagship survey -- the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE)....The 13 strategies include the use of academic goal-setting, student orientation, tutoring, accelerated remedial education tracks and student success courses (see box for full list). While experts and faculty members might not agree on whether all of the practices work well, there is an emerging body of evidence that they help boost completion rates.

For example, 84 percent of two-year colleges offer student success courses, which are designed to help new students navigate college and get off to a good start. The courses are particularly helpful to large numbers of lower-income, first-generation college students who attend community college, and who rarely get the support of family members who know the skinny on how college works.  Yet only 20 percent of surveyed students took a success courses during their first term, according to the report.  The other 12 practices showed similar gaps between being offered and being used. Take tutoring, which has obvious benefits to struggling students. Fully 99 percent of the surveyed colleges offer some form of tutoring, but the report found that only 27 percent of students had taken advantage of it during the current academic year."

Asking students to volunteer for service will not work.  They don[t want to face stigma for doing so, they don[t have time for activities that conflict with their two or three part time jobs they have to pay for tuition, and for all the others commitments in their life.  The solution is Universal Design for Learning where essential services and support are built directly into classes and required for all students. 

Best Education Practice: McWrite Scholarly Writing Skill Seminar Series

McWrite:  Developing Scholarly Writinig Skills.  Wichita State University (KS)  (approved Promising Practice 10/15/13)  Taken from the abstract:  "The McWrite model for developing scholarly writing skills was developed at Wichita State University to help students with difficulty mastering the mechanics of writing (punctuation, grammar, sentence structure, paragraph development) and scholarly writing required for graduate studies.  According to Schumacher and Gradwohl-Nash (1991), three purposes of writing are fostering understanding, changing conceptions. and developing thinking skills.  This is consistent with Piaget’s theory of cognitive development (1958).  All participants of the Wichita State University TRiO McNair Scholars Program participate in monthly, hour-long group sessions to develop increased competency in these three essential skills.  McWrite benefits students in all areas of their academics, fostering increased confidence in their writing abilities, and success in graduate school.  A unique feature of the McWrite program is the sustained and systematic approach to development of writing skills for all McNair Scholars, regardless of previous academic success.  This program is part of the core of the TRiO McNair program rather than an optional activity with limited attention".  [Click on this web link to download the education practice.]