Cooke Chronicle: Jan. 6, 2017
Jan. 6, 2017 – Here’s our weekly roundup of education news you may have missed. Free college and supporting the nation’s low-income college students dominate the headlines this week. Several organizations and experts make additional policy recommendations for the new administration and education leaders.
Elementary & Secondary Education:
- Just in time for the new year, New America releases its Education Agenda 2017 for the incoming administration, state education leaders, and members of Congress.
- In the New York Daily News, Executive Director Harold O. Levy and Cornell Assistant Professor Jordan Matsudaira call for the expansion of free summer school programs as a means to improve educational outcomes.
Higher Education:
- In The Washington Post, Stephen M. Smith and Morton Sherman share three recommendations for strengthening college admissions and completion for low-income students.
- New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s proposes a free college tuition plan for students from families in the state earning up to $125,000. Secretary of Education John B. King Jr. applauds the move, but the announcement draws some criticism. In Inside Higher Ed, Robert Samuels points out that “tuition accounts for only about a quarter of the real cost of going to a public college or university in New York.”
- State budget cuts have been “taking a greater toll on colleges and universities such as Chicago State that serve low-income and nonwhite students, while flagships that enroll larger proportions of whites from higher-income families have been less affected,” says The Hechinger Report.
- “Selective private universities are often hesitant to accept community college students as transfers,” states MTV News in a piece addressing the stigmas of “settling” to start a two-year school. The Chronicle of Higher Education outlines five strategies for improving the transfer from community college to four-year degree.
Cooke Foundation Highlights:
- The Cooke Foundation’s “True Merit” report is listed among Education Week’s top ten education research of 2016.
- The Edvocate lists several higher education issues educators should consider, including improving campus socioeconomic diversity.
- Two additional opinion pieces from our executive director are published. For Fox News, Levy explains how a bipartisan commitment to invest in an educated workforce is “the most effective jobs program.” His commentary in Education Week highlights the need for universal gifted screening and appropriate academic placement for every student.
Social Media Spotlight:
Two Cooke Scholars, Santiagio Tobar Potes and David Guirgis, are chosen for the student advisory board of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Better Make Room initiative.