Many students miss out on federal financial aid

An analysis by FinAid shows that:

"An estimated 2.3 million students would have qualified for the Pell
Grant in 2007-08 but did not submit the Free Application for Federal
Student Aid (FAFSA), missing out on thousands of dollars of student
financial aid. Of these, 1.1 million students probably would have
qualified for a full Pell Grant."

Most of the students who miss out on Pell grants appear to be in community colleges.

Report pans most campus-based efforts to increase student retention

A new report by the Project on Academic Success takes an unvarnished look at the success of campus-based programs to increase student retention and graduation. The Project is led by Don Hossler, a dean and professor of educational leadership at the University of Indiana, whose overview appears online at the College Board's College Connection site.

Hossler says that "the Project on Academic Success at Indiana University School of Education ... found that most campus-based programmatic efforts to increase student persistence are poorly planned, inadequately staffed, underfunded and — unsurprisingly — ineffective. Similarly, other studies have found that many community college students either never enroll in or do not complete remedial education courses and — again, unsurprisingly — that most remedial students who are admitted never graduate."

The full report is available here.

Reports indicate strategies to increase minority students graduation rate do work

Some colleges or individual academic programs demonstrate success in graduating minority students at levels comparable to white students. Education Sector's report, "Graduation Rate Watch: Making Minority Student Success a Priority," provides graduation rate data on a wide range of institutions and discusses success stories such as Florida State University where black students graduate at a higher rate than white students.

A recent paper by three faculty at the University of Pennsylvania identified practices in undergraduate programs that increased the likelihood that their graduates would succeed in Ph.D. programs -- even at different institutions. They attribute success to "close relationships of faculty and students, exposure to research, programs where you could have lunch with faculty, (and) exposure to the faculty way of life."

New England's intertwined economic, demographic and educational challenges

The Nellie Mae Education Foundation published a thorough analysis of how New England's demographic and educational trend lines pose serious challenges for our economic future.

"What It Takes to Succeed in the 21st Century -- and How New Englanders are Faring" discusses the region's slow population growth, the concentration of growth in populations with traditionally lower educational attainment, aging of the population and economic disparity by racial and ethnic groups. The report calls for a higher public profile to the educational challenges as a critical driver of the needed change in policy and practice.

Southern Connecticut State University's First Year Experience program shows good results

Southern Connecticut State University revamped its First Year Experience (FYE) program which places freshmen in small learning communities with 20 fellow students and includes a course on academic inquiry. SCSU's Office of Assessment found an increase in both GPA and return for sophomore year for students in the FYE program. This is now mandatory for all freshmen.

British leader's take on our educational challenges

Michael Barber was a senior advisor to Prime Minister Tony Blair. I heard him speak at an Achieve meeting during the fall of 2008.

In a short piece published by WestEd, Barber shares his view on our past success, present challenge and future response to our declining competitive posture in educational attainment.

Here's just one quote:

"This slippage is not the result of a lack of investment, which remains relatively high in the U.S. Rather it reflects -- to use hard economic terms -- a lack of productivity.... In international comparisons of the achievement of younger children, the United States does relatively well, which, given its wealth, is what one would expect. The problem is that, as they get older, American children make less progress each year than children in the best performing countries. We're not just talking about poor kids in poor neighborhoods; we're talking about most kids in most neighborhoods."

Creating an Engaged Partnership between K-12 Education and Higher Education in Curriculum Development for Secondary Schools

For years, state departments of education have reached out to the higher education world for support in the development of curriculum for secondary schools. However, these relationships may not have risen to the level of an engaged partnership across faculty, institutions and systems that intentionally seeks to achieve broader population goals in terms of college readiness within a state or region.

There are many variations on what the relationship across K-12 education and higher education might be, but here are two hypothetical alternatives to help illustrate the type of relationship that is needed.

Version A

The state department of education engages curriculum consultants to provide expertise and manage a process to engage others in curriculum development. Representatives from institutions of higher education are invited to participate in the process. These representatives are drawn from leaders within the discipline, such as department chairs or officers of professional associations. There is no formal contact with institutional or system leadership and the faculty participants are presumed to be “speaking for” the higher education world.

Version B

The state department of education and their outside consultants work with the state department of higher education to engage the state’s higher education community across the full range of potential partners. This would include both content experts, faculty who teach developmental courses, faculty within the discipline at issue and institutional and system leaders. The institutional and system leaders involved fully recognize that they are participating as representatives of their organizations and not just as interested and knowledgeable individuals.

Key differences between versions A and B

Both versions will provide the curriculum developers with access to subject matter expertise. Version B is an intentional effort to go beyond the need for expertise and meet the following equally critical needs:

Increase curricular alignment across the disciplines as students move from high schools to colleges within the same state or region

Capture the knowledge of faculty working with students in developmental courses which are the frontline of our struggle with the challenge of college readiness

Engage campus and system leaders, as well as the state department of higher education, in order to involve those who are accountable to elected leaders for population level goals such as college readiness and educational attainment

National survey of efforts to improve high school to college transition

"Preparing High School Students for Successful Transitions to Post-secondary Education and Employment" is a very thorough review of both policy and programmatic initiatives around the country to improve college readiness of high school graduates and increase their chances of earning a post-secondary degree or other credential. It was published by the National High School Center.

The report discusses dual credit programs (such as dual enrollment and middle college high schools), tech prep, career academies and issues around alignment of curriculum and instruction, student support services and teacher professional development.

Using targets for improvement in policy planning

The Center for Law and Social Policy frequently publishes about financial access issues in post-secondary education. This report is not specific to higher education, but it is an interesting disucssion on the value of using numerical targets for improvement in public policy plans.

Improving outcomes for community college students on academic probation

MDRC has released an evaluation of a program at a large community college in southern California that experimented with mandatory assignment to a "College Success" course for students on academic probation. The study shows positive results compared to the previous model of offering the course on a voluntary basis. It is worth noting that this analysis was based on random assignment to an experimental group and a control group. This is very rare in educational program evaluation and makes for much more reliable results.

"Middle skill" workers and community colleges

Brookings report on "The Future of Middle-Skill Jobs" predicts that the demand for middle-skill workers will remain strong, especially compared to the supply of appropriately skilled and/or educated people. "Middle-skilled" jobs are those that typically require more than a high school diploma but not necessarily a four year degree. These jobs include engineering technicians, dental hygienists, respiratory therapists, electricians, and more. Community colleges are the largest supplier of degree and certificate programs serving this segment of the labor market.

"New Economy Index" values education in state rankings

The 2007 State New Economy Index ranks the 50 states on a variety of factors to assess how well they are doing in competing in the global economy. Connecticut ranks 6th in the overall score. We are at the top in the individual scores that measure education levels and the number of "knowledge jobs" but fare much worse in other areas such as entrepreneurial activity. Education issues (both for higher education and local schools) are discussed throughout the report.

Quantifying the value of educational attainment on a regional basis

A recent study by Federal Reserve economists from their New York bank finds that a 1 percent change in educational attainment level in a metropolitan region is worth about 2.3% difference in regional economic activity (as measured by gross domestic product).

In Connecticut that's worth about $5 billion per year on a statewide basis. On a regional basis it adds up to $1.8 billion in lower Fairfield County and $1.6 billion in greater Hartford.

The benefit of engaging new community college students

I have seen several reports that stress the importance of engaging new students both academically and socially when they first arrive at college. This report from the Community College Survey of Student Engagement summarizes a national survey of community college students on their experiences during their first months and shares success stories from colleges around the country. The report explores the connection between this engagement and college success, especially for students who need remediation in math and English.

Success stories in bringing adults back to college

Bridges to Opportunity for Underprepared Adults looks at different approaches to improving the effectiveness of community colleges -- at both the campus and system level -- in serving returning adults who need a range of basic skills education, remedial instruction and "college coursework in academic subjects and in career fields." The focus is on helping adults return to post-secondary education to increase their employability in "middle skill jobs." The report includes case studies from Ohio, Louisiana and Washington.

Redefining college readiness

This is the best discussion I have seen yet of what we mean by the term "college readiness." Published by the Educational Policy Improvement Center it summarizes the traditional definition grounded in grades, courses passed, test scores and actual performance in college but moves on to discuss the necessary cognitive strategies (analysis, inquisitiveness, problem-solving etc.) academic knowledge and skills (writing, research, math etc.) and contextual knowledge (understanding the college search and application process) required to be truly "college ready."

In just two pages (pp 18-19) the report sets forth its own definition of "college readiness" including general characteristics and example performances. When my 8th grade daughter asked me what it takes to get into college, I actually gave her this part of the report to read. It made sense to her and helped her understand some of the activities and practices in her middle school.

The report closes with a discussion of how we might measure for their definition of "college readiness" and what schools and students can do in order to increase the likelihood of graduating ready for college.

Why the blog?

The "educational imperative" is shorthand for the hypothesis that no other factor drives a national, state or regional economy as much as the educational attainment level of the population. Other factors (such as transportation, taxes, or economic development policies) have an impact but are not as important. For example, a highly educated workforce will draw economic activity even in congested regions (see NYC, LA, Tokyo, London) but an easy commute will not increase income levels in a region with a low skill workforce.

In my job as Commissioner of Higher Education for the State of Connecticut, I come across countless studies, research papers, "best practices," data analysis and other interesting information that relates to strategies to increase educational attainment. This blog represents my effort to organize all of this knowledge and share it with others.