Innovative Rural Education & Affordable College

Posted September 7, 2018 | By Cooke Foundation Staff


September 7, 2018 – Here’s our weekly roundup of education news you may have missed. Promising rural education programs are discussed in high school and higher ed. Textbook prices, tuition-free college, and summer melt are other trending topics.

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Elementary & Secondary Education:

  • Students who attended a residential summer AP Physics program conducted by Mississippi State University and the Global Teaching Project “achieved dramatic gains in substantive understanding of course content.” In 2017, the Foundation’s $200,000 Rural Talent Initiative program grant helped support the development and implementation of the blended online curriculum used in the course.
  • The Free Lance-Star reports that in Virginia, College Advising Corps partner high schools see an increased college enrollment rate. The organization’s near-peer advisers support school counselors with large caseloads in helping students understand their options for higher education.

 

Higher Education:

  • Does free college help students from low-income families? In The Chronicle of Higher Education, Sara Goldrick-Rab and Michelle Miller-Adams dispute a perspective reported in Inside Higher Education.
  • “The phenomenon known as ‘summer melt,’ which sidetracks an estimated 10 percent or more of college plans nationwide, hits teenagers from low-income families harder than others,” states The Washington Post.
  • “Growing up in an education desert thus not only makes it harder to attend college, but also means there are fewer opportunities for upward mobility in your hometown even if you do graduate,” writes Washington Monthly in a feature about innovation in rural higher education.
  • Axios reports that many students have to make difficult choices, including skipping meals or taking fewer classes, as a result of high textbook prices.

 

Cooke Foundation Highlights:

  • Our College Scholarship Program is currently accepting applications from exceptionally promising high school seniors with financial need. Next week, community college students will be able to apply for our Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship. Both programs provide up to $40,000 per year, in addition to educational advising and access to the Cooke Scholar community. If you work with students, sign up for our Counselor Newsletter to stay updated on scholarship opportunities!
  • Loudoun County Public Schools shares news of a $200,000 Academic Enrichment Grant from the Cooke Foundation, which will be used to support and expand the Edge Academy program. Edge Academy engages high-achieving students in an intensive exploration of STEM content with the goal of developing them into thinkers, communicators, creators, and contributors.
  • Cooke Young Scholar Charlotte Marckx will headline the Prince George’s Philharmonic‘s October 13 concert.

 

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