Printer-friendly versionSome of the News Fit to Print
THE NEW MATH ON CAMPUS
Women have represented about 57 percent of enrollments at American colleges since at least 2000, according to a recent report by the American Council on Education. Researchers there cite several reasons: women tend to have higher grades; men tend to drop out in disproportionate numbers; and female enrollment skews higher among older students, low-income students, and black and Hispanic students. In terms of academic advancement, this is hardly the worst news for women — hoist a mug for female achievement. And certainly, women are primarily in college not because they are looking for men, but because they want to earn a degree. The article is in The New York Times.
ONE IN THREE COLORADO STUDENTS NEEDS REMEDIATION
About one in three first-year college students needs remedial help in at least one core subject, according to an annual report by the Colorado Commission for Higher Education. Remediation rates haven't changed much over the past few years, but state officials are confident that a new system in place to align Colorado's K-12 schools with higher education will begin to show results. Overall, 52.7 percent of recent Colorado high school graduates who enrolled in two-year colleges in Colorado in fall 2008 needed remedial help in math, reading or writing. Nearly 17 percent needed help in each of those subjects. Nineteen percent of first-year students attending four-year colleges in Colorado needed remedial help in at least one of those subjects. Math — or college-level algebra — is the most problematic subject for first-year college students. Nearly 41 percent of students in two-year colleges needed help getting up to speed in math; about 16 percent in four-year schools needed help. The article is in the Denver Post.
ARNE DUNCAN: DON’T TEACH TO THE TEST
Public schools in the United States need to try to spark creative thinking in children and move away from curriculums that just teach to standardized tests, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan told nearly 200 people gathered Monday at the Emerging Issues Forum at the Raleigh Convention Center. "We want to give every child a chance to discover their genius, what they're best at," Duncan said. Otherwise, Duncan said, the nation won't be able to keep up with technology advances being made in other countries. He also took aim at the emphasis on standardized testing as part of President George W. Bush's "No Child Left Behind" program. The article is in the Raleigh News and Observer.
STATES RETHINK POLICIES ON BOARD CERTIFIED TEACHERS
Since the nation plunged into economic turmoil, a handful of states have scaled back pay bonuses and subsidies for teachers who earn certification through the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. But factors other than the economy have also played into the cuts, too. Officials in Georgia, for instance, contend that the state wants to turn its teacher-quality focus toward output-based measures of teacher effectiveness, rather than credentials.Both phenomena are leading some experts to urge districts, teacher associations, and the NBPTS itself to think strategically about how to structure incentives so that board-certified teachers’ expertise is used effectively in school systems, and thus recognized by a wider cross section of stakeholders. The premium article is in Education Week.
WANT A DEGREE? GET IT IN THREE
Mount Olive College has figured out a way to save its students a cool $22,000: get them a degree in three years. The small private college of 800 students in Wayne County is the first in North Carolina to latch onto a burgeoning national trend toward the three-year bachelor's degree. It is an idea spurred by necessity: with more college students and their families struggling to pay tuition bills, universities have looked for ways to deliver their product more quickly and affordably. The three-year model has gained momentum in the past year, with a handful of small, private colleges unveiling programs of late. The article is in the Raleigh News and Observer.
ANYTHING BUT STUDYING
The latest snapshot of how University of California students spend their time suggests sleep and socializing were far more important than classes and studying to the average undergraduate there. But that was two years ago, before institutions and families plunged into economic turmoil, and things may have changed. In a survey conducted on all nine of the university’s undergraduate campuses in the spring of 2008 and completed by 63,600 students, students on average reported getting six-and-a-half hours of sleep each night and spending 41 hours a week on social and leisure activities.Meanwhile, students said they spent a little more than 28 hours each week combined on class and homework.
Released Tuesday by the Berkeley-based Center for Studies in Higher Education (CSHE), the University of California Undergraduate Experience Survey (UCUES), "Engaged Learning in a Public Research University," documents a moment in time when a major public university system was on the cusp of the economic instability, budget cuts and tuition hikes of the last two years. The article is in Inside Higher Ed.
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