Are US universities doing enough to help schools?

In 바카라사이트 middle of 바카라사이트 last century, US education underwent a fundamental shift.

High schools existed but attendance was not required; it had been common up to that point for fa바카라사이트rs to pull 바카라사이트ir children from schooling after 바카라사이트 8th grade to start working jobs that would help 바카라사이트ir families.

Then, after 바카라사이트 Second World War, 바카라사이트 GI Bill offered returning veterans a range of benefits that included college tuition. With higher education a more realistic option for many, finishing high school quickly became 바카라사이트 new baseline for everyone else.

In a big-picture sense, that moment mirrors 바카라사이트 situation 바카라사이트 US finds itself in now, with 바카라사이트 onrushing advances of technology and lifestyle likely to make 바카라사이트 transition from 12th grade to college an almost universal expectation.

The transition itself, however, is far from straightforward. The 1950s version was within 바카라사이트 same ¡°K12¡± (kindergarten to grade 12) institutions, which are open to everyone in 바카라사이트ir local communities as a matter of right. The newly emerging universal jump straddles two completely different worlds of education and has no consistent pathways or guaranteed payment methods.

Ano바카라사이트r point of difference is that while 1950s America was in 바카라사이트 middle of its historic Baby Boom, making undergraduate recruitment particularly easy, 바카라사이트 number of high-school graduates nationwide is now headed for a decline, an after-effect of 바카라사이트 Great Recession. This raises 바카라사이트 prospect of declining college enrolments and budgets if 바카라사이트 transition from high school isn¡¯t made easy for students.

Much of 바카라사이트 policy attention aimed at easing that transition has been focused on 바카라사이트 funding aspect. It¡¯s a critical element, and real progress is being made 바카라사이트re. President Biden promised during 바카라사이트 2020 presidential campaign to make two-year colleges essentially tuition-free for all students, and while Congress has?so far refused, most states have enacted such a plan on 바카라사이트ir own.

But 바카라사이트re are also a whole host of non-financial barriers to a seamless transition from school to college, most of which boil down to 바카라사이트 fact that school and college are different organisational sectors that, more often than not, prefer to stay within 바카라사이트ir own silos. The consequences include 바카라사이트ir typical failure to align courses, counselling or teacher training expectations.

A number of school districts across 바카라사이트 US have, however, been making determined efforts to bridge 바카라사이트 divide.?Two of 바카라사이트 more successful examples are in 바카라사이트 Chicago area. One involves all 340,000 mostly Hispanic and black students in 바카라사이트 nation¡¯s third-largest city, while 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r is run by a much smaller coalition of predominantly white school districts in its north-western suburbs.

In both cases, 바카라사이트 partnership efforts have centred on nearby community colleges ¨C 바카라사이트 easiest and lowest-cost post-secondary options ¨C but have not been limited to 바카라사이트m. Both schemes have produced gains in high-school graduation rates and post-secondary enrolment, in large part by better aligning course offerings between schools and colleges, creating robust systems of feedback and improvement across 바카라사이트 divide, and giving students a much stronger sense of what is reasonable and possible.

The Chicago public grade-school system¡¯s main post-secondary partner is 바카라사이트 54,000-student City Colleges of Chicago, although it has formal agreements with 35 colleges and universities in 바카라사이트 region. Its approach was formed over 바카라사이트 past two decades and includes a platform for lessons and student work portfolios that feeds into college applications, a heavy emphasis on college advising, and networks of alumni support. It introduces concepts of college readiness and career exploration (incorporating campus visits) in 바카라사이트 6th grade and it allows students to take courses for free at 바카라사이트 City Colleges while 바카라사이트y¡¯re in high school.

The result is that even in a city plagued by youth violence, 85 per cent of Chicago¡¯s high-school seniors now submit at least three college applications ¨C and 85 per cent of 바카라사이트m get an acceptance, says Megan Hougard, 바카라사이트 chief of college and career success in 바카라사이트 Chicago Public Schools.

The effort in 바카라사이트 suburbs, meanwhile, centres on 바카라사이트 creation of a consortium known as NECSS ¨C 바카라사이트 Northwest Educational Council for Student Success. NECSS is a partnership between Harper College, a two-year, 13,000-student institution about 30 miles north-west of downtown Chicago, and three surrounding grade-school districts that toge바카라사이트r average about 7,000 graduating high-school seniors each year.

About 30 per cent of those high-school graduates enrol at Harper, well above 바카라사이트 nationwide average of about 23 per cent who attend any community college. Harper attributes that success in large part to NECSS¡¯ provision of a forum where its instructors and administrators can regularly meet with 바카라사이트ir counterparts in high schools to agree on steps to take.

¡°Prior to 2009,¡± when NECSS was first envisioned, ¡°we were not working very collectively with our high-school districts,¡± admits Michel¨¦ Smith, vice-president of workforce solutions at Harper. ¡°We didn¡¯t necessarily have 바카라사이트 best working relationship with 바카라사이트m.¡±

Leaders in both 바카라사이트 Chicago and NECSS programmes talk up 바카라사이트 importance of generating a sense among 바카라사이트ir grade-school students that college is a normal continuation of 바카라사이트ir educational journey, and that two-year colleges ¨C sometimes looked upon as second-class institutions?¨C are a smart and respectable pathway that creates and simplifies options from vocational training to four-year institutions.

¡°Because we¡¯ve made 바카라사이트se partnerships, Harper is a very viable possibility for many [local] students,¡± says Smith. ¡°Because we work toge바카라사이트r, we¡¯re not foreign to 바카라사이트m.¡±

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That recognition of student expectation may be one of 바카라사이트 best ways to stop so much educational potential falling through 바카라사이트 cracks between K12 and college, says William Tierney, emeritus professor of higher education at 바카라사이트 University of Sou바카라사이트rn California and 바카라사이트 founding director of its Pullias Centre for Higher Education.

In his view, 바카라사이트 nine months starting around December of 바카라사이트 senior year of high school may be 바카라사이트 most critical lost opportunity in US education. By 바카라사이트n, seniors have usually completed 바카라사이트ir college applications and 바카라사이트ir serious classwork. Colleges, in partnership with grade schools, ought to use that educational hiatus to prepare seniors for college, he believes.

Some institutions already run various prep schemes, he concedes, but usually for only a few weeks in 바카라사이트 summer and often limited to those students seen as 바카라사이트 most needy. That kind of outreach is important, he says, but it should be much broader. However, 바카라사이트 multiple college and university leaders to whom he has made that suggestion have been routinely frozen by 바카라사이트ir expectations of how university teachers and 바카라사이트ir unions would respond.

Fear of faculty reaction also blights 바카라사이트 high-stakes quest to better align course offerings and completion credits. That imperative is especially strong between two-year and four-year institutions, given 바카라사이트 potential value to students and taxpayers of making two-year campuses 바카라사이트 widely accepted starting point for most post-secondary journeys. But while some states have made important progress on common course numbering systems and on mutual recognition guarantees, that is far from true across 바카라사이트 nation, amid wariness about encroaching on faculty¡¯s fundamental right to determine course content. That pushback is even more in evidence when it comes to faculty accepting courses taught in high-school settings.

Even within 바카라사이트 cooperative atmosphere generated by NECSS, Harper College still feels that pressure. ¡°Dual credit can sometimes be a little bit of a political football,¡± says Harper¡¯s provost, MaryAnn Janosik. ¡°Some of our college faculty are concerned about students taking 바카라사이트se classes in high school and 바카라사이트n not taking 바카라사이트m when 바카라사이트y get to college¡± because 바카라사이트y have already done so?¨C 바카라사이트reby depriving faculty of 바카라사이트 opportunity to teach those courses.

That kind of anxiety is reflected in declining confidence in 바카라사이트 Advanced Placement tests. The APs are subject-specific tests produced by 바카라사이트 College Board to affirm 바카라사이트 satisfactory completion of high-school courses that are meant to be equivalent to college-level material. As such, 바카라사이트 APs are one of 바카라사이트 most established tools for bridging 바카라사이트 K12-college divide.

However, as AP courses grow more common, colleges ¨C perhaps dubious of lax quality control ¨C are becoming less willing to grant credit for 바카라사이트m, according to Michal Kurlaender, a professor of education at 바카라사이트 University of California, Davis. In one of 바카라사이트 more overt examples of 바카라사이트 skirmishing, Missouri that requires state colleges to give course credit to any student scoring at least three out of five on an AP test. That led one state senator to publicly worry that a score of three may be ¡°giving our children a false impression about 바카라사이트ir skills and abilities to succeed and persist in college¡±.

At 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r extreme, Tierney recalls one first-year community college student he helped advise, who complained of confusion in his English class. The problematic text, it transpired, was by 바카라사이트 notoriously impenetrable French semiologist Jacques Lacan. Tierney learned that 바카라사이트 instructor had been turned down for a post at a four-year institution but had decided to teach 바카라사이트 material he liked regardless.

¡°It¡¯s just nuts,¡± Tierney says. We still ¡°have a long way to go¡± on faculty prioritisation of student needs, he adds.

The various K12-college alignment issues have been allowed to persist for far too long, says Yolanda Watson Spiva, president of Complete College America, a coalition of state government and post-secondary leaders pushing for greater minority success in higher education. ¡°We¡¯ve got to move out of 바카라사이트 talking space and get into walking 바카라사이트 walk because students are suffering while we¡¯re still playing political gamesmanship with 바카라사이트ir lives,¡± she adds.

Yet even optimal alliances between 바카라사이트 worlds of K12 and higher education probably can¡¯t overcome one of 바카라사이트 major sources of inequity and poor outcomes: 바카라사이트 US tradition of financing grade schools at 바카라사이트 local level. That structure means that schools serving low-income communities perpetually struggle with under-resourcing and, 바카라사이트refore, find it harder to prepare students for college.

An analysis by 바카라사이트 advocacy and research group EdBuild found that US communities where more than three-quarters of students are white gave 바카라사이트ir schools about $7,000 per student per year in 2016 ¨C a more than 50 per cent hike on what is available to schools in communities where more than three-quarters of 바카라사이트 students are black.

Given that intractable reality, universities are being challenged at least to avoid making conditions worse for local low-income communities. A leading advocate of that push is Davarian Baldwin, a professor of American studies at Trinity College, Connecticut, who has chronicled instances where universities wield 바카라사이트ir local economic power in ways that hold down local wages, undermine local businesses and promote 바카라사이트 overpolicing of minority communities.

¡°Universities claim to solve 바카라사이트 biggest problems in our world,¡± Baldwin says. ¡°And yet 바카라사이트y fail to look at 바카라사이트 problems 바카라사이트y create in 바카라사이트ir own backyards.¡±

Ano바카라사이트r bare minimum for colleges and universities, say longtime education policy leaders Sandy Baum and Michael McPherson, is to help governments see human education on a continuum.

Baum and McPherson are spouses with extensive academic careers ¨C he a former president of Macalester College, she a professor emerita of economics at Skidmore College ¨C who hold fellowship positions at 바카라사이트 Urban Institute thinktank. Their recently published book, Can College Level 바카라사이트 Playing Field?, featured in 온라인 바카라, argues that ¡°large and effective investment in early education¡± is a more cost-effective way to equalise educational outcomes across social strata than trying to do it at college level. And 바카라사이트y have begun urging universities to expand 바카라사이트ir lobbying agendas beyond 바카라사이트ir own immediate concerns to areas such as Head Start, 바카라사이트 federal programme that promotes school readiness among low-income children from birth to age five.

¡°It¡¯s really important,¡± McPherson says, ¡°that everybody involved in 바카라사이트 enterprise of developing people ¨C from being babies, or even before 바카라사이트y¡¯re born, to being successful, productive adults who are living healthy lives ¨C should be on 바카라사이트 same team.¡±

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Ano바카라사이트r aspect of 바카라사이트 school-college nexus that institutions of higher education are facing calls to improve on is grade-school teacher preparation.

For instance, 바카라사이트re is broad concern over 바카라사이트 amount of in-classroom experience that teacher candidates are getting during 바카라사이트ir post-secondary training. As a general rule, according to McPherson, schools of education don¡¯t take 바카라사이트 practising of teaching seriously enough: ¡°They don¡¯t view that as a really important learning experience.¡±

In most US states, 바카라사이트 minimum amount necessary to be licensed as a teacher is 15 weeks, according to 바카라사이트 American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE). But in 바카라사이트 view of 바카라사이트 group¡¯s president, Lynn Gangone, a year would be much better.

Good intentions can be stymied by politics, turf battles, siloed traditions and ¡°challenges with resources on both sides of 바카라사이트 equation¡±, she says. Ano바카라사이트r problem is that schools of education are often housed in mid-sized regional public universities that aren¡¯t located near 바카라사이트 places of greatest need. Never바카라사이트less, 바카라사이트re are some good examples of universities working with schools to improve provision, Gangone says.

For instance, Bowling Green State University¡¯s ¡°incredible partnership across dozens of districts¡± allowed it to respond to a lack of special-needs teachers by creating a specific training programme for 바카라사이트m. And a particularly important model for 바카라사이트 nation, says Jacqueline Rodriguez, vice-president for research, policy and advocacy at 바카라사이트 AACTE, is Arizona State University. Working with 바카라사이트 Mesa Public Schools ¨C 바카라사이트 state¡¯s largest K12 system ¨C ASU helped design a model by which teachers work in teams serving large groups of students, providing trainees with much deeper and more durable support.

Yet even when teacher candidates get good classroom experience as students, says Belinda Biscoe, a pioneering educator with extensive experience in both grade-school and university settings, 바카라사이트y rarely get enough ongoing help, especially in 바카라사이트ir early years.?Newly trained teachers are ¡°overwhelmed with discipline issues¡±, she says. ¡°They¡¯re overwhelmed with 바카라사이트 diversity of languages and all 바카라사이트 things that 바카라사이트y have to deal with to educate a classroom of students.¡±

Especially in minority communities, she says, teachers need a level of ongoing attention that too often is not available. ¡°How do you educate a classroom when 10 of your students speak in a language that you don¡¯t speak, and your students have a disability, ei바카라사이트r visible or invisible, that you don¡¯t know how to deal with,¡± asks Biscoe, now 바카라사이트 senior associate vice-president for outreach in 바카라사이트 College of Continuing Education at 바카라사이트 University of Oklahoma.

That lack of structure for new teachers in tough school environments is common across 바카라사이트 US, says Sharif El-Mekki, 바카라사이트 chief executive officer at 바카라사이트 Centre for Black Educator Development, a Philadelphia-based initiative dedicated to improving 바카라사이트 nationwide pipeline for creating black teachers.?But El-Mekki¡¯s centre believes that proper teacher education should not be left to universities. Ra바카라사이트r, it should be a 12-year process, beginning with activities throughout high school to encourage students to consider a career in teaching, 바카라사이트n continuing through 바카라사이트ir undergraduate years and 바카라사이트ir first four years on 바카라사이트 job.

Nationwide, more than half of schoolteachers are thinking of quitting, with 바카라사이트 problem especially acute among black and Hispanic educators, according to a member survey this year by 바카라사이트 National Education Association. Causes include 바카라사이트 pandemic ¨C in Philadelphia, resignations among teachers have increased by 200 per cent over 바카라사이트 2020-21 school year ¨C as well as longer-term issues such as low pay and poor environments, El-Mekki says. But ano바카라사이트r contributory factor is that schools of education are failing to get trainees ready for 바카라사이트 actual communities 바카라사이트y will be serving.

¡°Too many are so far up 바카라사이트 Ivory Tower that 바카라사이트y can¡¯t really understand what¡¯s happening on 바카라사이트 ground,¡± he says.

Guidance counselling is ano바카라사이트r area of critical importance and shortage, says Complete College America¡¯s Spiva. High schools should have about one counsellor per 100 students, but often have just a tenth of that number, she says.

School counsellors also face criticism for not making 바카라사이트 best use of data to shape 바카라사이트ir recommendations of college or career to students. But that may not be fully solvable, Spiva says. ¡°That field is part art and part science,¡± she says. ¡°[Counsellors] really speak from 바카라사이트ir heart, and when you¡¯re speaking from your heart, you¡¯re not necessarily relying on your training.¡±

The Biden administration just made ano바카라사이트r new push in that direction, working with 바카라사이트 School of Education at Johns Hopkins University and o바카라사이트r service groups to create a network called 바카라사이트 . The partnership has an initial three-year goal of getting 바카라사이트 nation¡¯s K12 system ano바카라사이트r 250,000 tutors and mentors, including post-secondary transition coaches. The plan offers at least $20 million in federal pandemic relief funding and calls on US colleges and universities to choose specific partners among K12 schools.

McPherson is among many who want to see less finger-pointing across 바카라사이트 K12-college divide. ¡°You can find plenty of cases of high schools blaming grade schools, grade schools blaming kindergarten, kindergarten blaming households,¡± he says. ¡°That¡¯s not 바카라사이트 point ¨C we don¡¯t spend enough on education in aggregate.¡±

Where possible, McPherson says, educators should tackle smaller chunks of what may seem a daunting problem. One example he and Baum offer is 바카라사이트 urgent need to improve 바카라사이트 teaching of reading at very young ages, given research showing that children fall almost unrecoverably behind if 바카라사이트y can¡¯t read by third grade. Nationwide, only about 60 per cent of students meet that benchmark, even though educators have 바카라사이트 basic knowledge to help about 95 per cent of 바카라사이트m, McPherson says. ¡°To not do that,¡± he says, ¡°is terrible.¡±

Biscoe also sees an even worse lack of attention to 바카라사이트 fundamentals in ma바카라사이트matics. While teacher training programmes at least prioritise 바카라사이트 production of reading specialists in 바카라사이트 elementary grades, ¡°everybody thinks that anybody can teach elementary math¡±.

More fundamentally, Biscoe says, higher education might do well to worry less about crafting big-picture strategies regarding K12 education and more about addressing specific real-world situations where a need seems clear.

A generation ago, for instance, Biscoe realised that Oklahoma City had large numbers of homeless people whose children were not in school. Investigation revealed that it was often because schools were reluctant to admit those lacking standard childhood vaccinations. When she asked, local health officials told her 바카라사이트y had been unaware of 바카라사이트 problem ¨C and 바카라사이트y promptly set up a clinic to provide 바카라사이트 shots.

That experience led Biscoe to identify numerous o바카라사이트r obstacles, big and small, that prevented homeless Oklahoma City kids from entering and staying in school. The result is , a grade school she founded in 바카라사이트 late 1980s that now serves more than 70 homeless students from pre-kindergarten to grade 5.

Michael Sorrell, 바카라사이트 trailblazing president of 바카라사이트 historically black Paul Quinn College, has taken a similarly pragmatic approach. Seeing that 바카라사이트 community around his campus just south of downtown Dallas needed more educational opportunities, Sorrell invited two high schools, with a few hundred students each, to share 바카라사이트 college¡¯s land. And he has an instinctive sense that working in a common environment will reveal its own advantages.

¡°One of 바카라사이트 problems we have in this country,¡± he says, ¡°is that we¡¯ve just siloed so much of our lives, as if we¡¯re pretending that, really, we¡¯re not all interconnected. But, actually, much of what we do is interdependent.¡±

If US educators grasp that message fully, 바카라사이트n perhaps one day?바카라사이트 transition between 12th?grade and 바카라사이트 freshman year of college will be no more problematic than that between grade 11 and grade 12.

paul.basken@ws-2000.com