Identifying and Enrolling Talented Students
March 2, 2018 – Here’s our weekly roundup of education news you may have missed. Inequities and gifted identification are the subjects of K-12 coverage. Higher education focuses on supporting students from low-income, first-generation, and foster care backgrounds.
The 2018 Cooke Young Scholars Program application is open! This selective five-year, pre-college scholarship provides high-performing 7th grade students with comprehensive academic and college advising, as well as financial support for high school, summer programs, internships, and other learning enrichment opportunities. Apply now! The deadline is March 21, 2018.
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Elementary & Secondary Education:
- “Children in low-poverty schools are more than twice as likely to participate in gifted programs as their peers in high-poverty schools,” states Dr. Lillian M. Lowery in The 74. “And across high-, medium-, and even low-poverty schools, students of color are drastically underrepresented in such programs.”
- On The High Flyer blog, Christopher Yaluma writes: “Research has shown that low-income, Hispanic, and African American students are often overlooked and referred for gifted screening at a lower rate than their high-income, Asian, and white peers.”
Higher Education:
- The Wall Street Journal describes how Princeton University and other elite institutions are focused on enrolling more students from first-generation and low-income (FGLI) backgrounds. The university recently hosted the inaugural FGLI Consortium conference with funding from the Cooke Foundation.
- A new study finds that “parents’ affluence can significantly boost their children’s college and employment prospects. But it also demonstrates that the working class rely on resources — programs for low-income students, advisers, tutors — touted by institutions that may not be accessible or affordable.” Inside Higher Ed provides a summary of the report.
- In The Conversation, Michigan State University Associate Professor of Social Work John R. Seita describes how campus-based support, emergency funds, and other emerging practices can support college success for students who’ve been in foster care.
- When financial aid packages don’t cover basic needs, students must rely on a patchwork of emergency grants and other services, says U.S. News & World Report.
Cooke Foundation Highlights:
- In Nukde, Anastassia Goidina interviews fellow Cooke Scholar Jerry D. Mathes II about his experiences fighting fires, exploring Antarctica, teaching martial arts, and earning an MFA in fiction writing.
- Cooke Scholar Matthew Ramsdal shares about his transition from community college to the University of Houston in The Paper Magazine.
- Lucy Marcil is a pediatrician, a social entrepreneur, a TED Fellow, and a Cooke Scholar. She’s taken a lesson learned from her time in the Peace Corps and applied it to her work with StreetCred, the financial services nonprofit she co-founded. Learn more about Lucy’s story and how to collaborate with StreetCred on the Cooke Foundation blog.