Harvard expert on closing the achievement gap to speak at Grand Rapids Community College

GRAND RAPIDS – An expert in closing the academic achievement gap will speak Monday night at Grand Rapids Community College about “Excellence with equity: a social movement for the 21st century.”

On Tuesday, Ronald Ferguson, senior lecturer in education and public policy at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the Harvard Kennedy School, will speak to school administrators, teachers and other staff at the Grand Rapids Public Schools Summer Leadership Institute.

Ferguson’s research and writing has focused on the racial achievement gap, how to improve schools and identifying effective teachers. He is faculty co-chair and director of the Achievement Gap Initiative at Harvard.

The initiative is a university-wide effort established by the Harvard Graduate School of Education to focus on eliminating achievement gaps through academic research, public education, and innovative outreach activities.

The ground-breaking findings that have come from Dr. Ferguson and his colleagues have made an impact across the U.S., and are so relevant right here, right now, in our own community, said Dr. Gilda Gely, GRCC provost and executive vice president for academic and student affairs.

This is information the residents of West Michigan need to hear, from local funders, policy makers and business leadersparticularly those interested in workforce developmentto teachers, administrators and, certainly, parents.

Fergusonm who was recently profiled in The New York Times, is also the creator of the Tripod Project for School Improvement.

“Every setting matters,” Ferguson told the Cleveland Plain Dealer earlier this year about everything in students lives needing to support professional development – home, schools and neighborhood.

The GRCC lecture will be held at 7 p.m. in the Applied Technology Center Auditorium, room 168. It is open to the public.

Ferguson, who is also an economist and Senior Research Associate at the Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy, most recent book is “Toward Excellence with Equity: An emerging vision for closing the achievement gap.”

Were very pleased to be welcoming Dr. Ferguson to Grand Rapids, said Senita Lenear, president of the Grand Rapids Board of Education. His work is at the forefront of research around closing the achievement gap, one of the most pressing issues in public education today.

Secchia family donates $2 million to Aquinas College for scholarships

GRAND RAPIDS Aquinas College’s bid to create 125 new scholarships is getting a $2 million boost from the family of philanthropist and businessman Peter Secchia.

The gift is among the largest Aquinas has received, college leaders said.

Aquinas leaders announced Tuesday that they plan to add 125 family legacy scholarships the scholarships as part of the celebration of the private Catholic Dominican colleges quasquicentennial year.

Nearly a quarter of Aquinas’s 2,300 students are awarded endowed scholarships. When the new scholarships are available is based on a combination of how the gift was made the the donor’s intent. Some will be available in fall 2012, others might not be available for several years.

It is our hope that half of the proceeds will be directed to provide permanent support for Aquinas’ new ‘Study in Rome program, a city dear to our family, Joan Secchia said is a press release issued by the college. It makes us happy to be able to help future students receive a quality education at Aquinas College.

Secchia is long-known for his support of Michigan State University, but Aquinas spokeswoman Meg Derrer said the family have also been friends of Aquinas and have supported programs there for years.

The scholarship goal was announced by Edward Balog, whose tenure as Aquinas president ended on June 30. He has been replaced by Juan Olivarez, who starts at the school full-time on Aug. 15.

Students Say Rankings Aren’t Most Important Factor in College Decision

Once again, social science research is refuting the often-cited myth that U.S. News‘s Best Colleges rankings are the main reason that the average student chooses one school over another. That conclusion comes from UCLA’s just-released “The American Freshman: National Norms Fall 2010,” a highly respected national survey based on the responses of 201,818 students at 279 U.S. colleges and universities.

The UCLA survey asks students to rate which factors were “very important” in influencing their decision to attend a particular college. Incoming fall 2010 freshmen could choose as many of the 22 reasons listed as they wanted. The college rankings finished in 11th place, up from 12th place in last year’s survey. So, at least based on this nationwide sample of freshmen from all types of colleges, students are using the rankings responsibly—as just one factor in the college search process.

These results also serve as a validation of the U.S. News Best Colleges rankings methodology that weights undergraduate academic reputation at 22.5 percent. Prospective students in the UCLA survey rated whether a college has a good academic reputation as being the No. 1 factor that influences their school choice, indicating their belief that a college’s reputation matters a great deal. U.S. News‘s Best Colleges rankings measure the relative reputations of colleges and include this as an important factor.

Below are the 22 reasons for choosing a college that students were offered in the UCLA survey. They are ranked in descending order, based on which factors students said were “very important” in influencing their final selection.

1. College has very good academic reputation (62.0 percent)

2. This college’s graduates get good jobs (53.3 percent)

3. I was offered financial assistance (45.5 percent)

4. A visit to the campus (41.8 percent)

5. The cost of attending this college (41.0 percent)

6. College has a good reputation for social activities (39.5 percent)

7. Wanted to go to a college about this size (38.7 percent)

8. Grads get into good grad/professional schools (32.2 percent)

9. Wanted to live near home (19.0 percent)

10. Information from a website (17.9 percent)

11. Rankings in national magazines (16.7 percent)

12. Parents wanted me to go to this school (13.7 percent)

12. Admitted early decision and/or early action (13.7 percent)

14. Could not afford first choice (12.2 percent)

15. High school counselor advised me (9.6 percent)

16. Not offered aid by first choice (8.9 percent)

17. Athletic department recruited me (8.8 percent)

18. Attracted by religious affiliation/orientation of college (7.3 percent)

19. My teacher advised me (6.0 percent)

19. My relatives wanted me to come here (6.0 percent)

21. Private college counselor advised me (3.5 percent)

22. Ability to take online courses (2.7 percent)

Students Who Graduate Early From High Scool May Get State Payment To Attend College

 

Governor wants to reward early high school grads with college cash By Dan Carden, Norwest Indiana Times Gov. Mitch Daniels wants to pay Indiana high school students who graduate early. The Republican governor said the details of the idea still need to be worked out, but before leaving on an Asian trade mission last week Daniels said he’d like to make early graduation financially rewarding. Daniels said he plans to ask the Indiana General Assembly to “allow those students who can and wish, their own choice, to complete their graduation requirements in less than 12 years and do so, to have the money or much of the money we would have spent on their 12th grade year available to use for the high cost of higher education.”

Tags: Student Aid

State senate passes bill easing junior college transfers to CSU

SACRAMENTO – Community college students would have an easier time transferring into the California State University system under a bill approved by the state Senate.

The Senate on Wednesday unanimously approved legislation that would require community colleges to create degrees guaranteeing students can transfer with the status of junior.

The bill aimed at streamlining the process for transfer students was previously approved by the Assembly. It now heads to the governor’s desk.

Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla of Los Angeles says the current system costs students and schools extra money. He says his bill provides certainty for students trying to get to a four-year college.