Community Colleges and Public Housing in the U.S.

Todayâ€™s article from Forbes.com is a piece by Jill Biden on the important role that community colleges play in the US education system.Â Ms. Biden contends that community colleges are one of Americaâ€™s â€œbest-kept secretsâ€ and that they provide key services for new students, career switchers and English Language Learners.

Ms. Bidenâ€™s article also ties in to the current administrationâ€™s ambitious goals for national graduation rates and educational standards.Â If we, as a country, hope to achieve such high aims, we must not forget one critical population: the 3,000,000 people living in federal and locally-sponsored public housing.

Why, exactly, is this population so important? According to a report by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), 52% of tenants in public housing have not graduated high school, including 16.1% who have less than a 9^th grade education.Â These individuals who are struggling to work their way out of poverty are the perfect candidates for a community college education.Â However, with such a large proportion of these tenants lacking a high school diploma, a comprehensive learning skills curriculum is critical to ensure that these students do not slip through the cracks.Â

Over the years, we here at LifeBound have taught an array of courses through the local housing authority, from English as a Second Language to job skills to resume building. Â We have discovered firsthand the immense need for training in such areas as study skills, problem solving and basic writing techniques are essential for these students.Â Currently our nationâ€™s public schools are evolving beyond teaching a standard test-focused curriculum towards teaching 21^st century skills.Â The education provided through affordable housing in the United States should strive towards these same innovative standards to better prepare individuals for community college, a new career and sustained success in their lives.

Consider Community College

Jill Biden, 08.05.09, 06:00 PM EDT

It’s no longer America’s best-kept secret.

Every year around this time, I am struck by the growing number of college rankings available to prospective college students. While these reports can be helpful, many of them fail to include an option that nearly half of all U.S. undergraduate students choose to pursue–and one I know to be the single best path to opportunity for millions of Americans: community college.

I have been an educator for 28 years, and I have taught in the community college system for more than 16 of them. I don’t have to look any further than my classroom to see the power of community colleges to change lives. For years I have welcomed students to my classroom from many different educational, economic and cultural backgrounds, and seen how the community college system puts them on the same path of opportunity.

I have seen how community colleges fill important gaps: granting two-year degrees, teaching English to immigrants, providing vocational skills training and certification and teaching basic academic skills to those who may not yet be ready to pursue a four-year degree.

It’s also hard to ignore the financial advantages. In today’s challenging economy, community colleges are an increasingly affordable way for students from middle-class families to complete the first two years of a baccalaureate degree before moving on to a four-year university.

From a policy perspective, community colleges make sense; from an economic perspective, they make sense. But I am a teacher, and my experience with community colleges is personal. People sometimes ask me why I choose to teach at one and why I have continued to teach since moving to Washington, D.C. I’m always surprised by the question because there was never a doubt in my mind that I would stay in the classroom. The reason is simple: The students are inspiring.

Improving Classroom Standards

Today’s piece is third in a four-part report by the George Lucas Educational Foundation (yes, that George Lucas) that outlines steps to improving public education in the U.S.Â The report contends that states should avoid ratcheting down education standards to meet the level of their students – instead, they should move their students’ skill level up by any means necessary.

Especially crucial in today’s article is the mention of college dropout rates.Â In New Jersey, more than half of new college students drop out due to the fact that they are not mentally and personally prepared for the challenges that college presents.Â With huge numbers of college students needing remedial classes in order to keep up, this statistic raises an important point: are our current educational standards sufficient to create students who are successful in college and their career?

Clearly, educational standards need to incorporate life skills like problem solving, critical thinking, careful decision making, and financial literacy in order to fully prepare students for higher education.Â But with so much bandwidth focused on preparing students for tests and raising graduation rates, it is crucial to find ways to empower teachers to achieve these goals.

The movement to create national education standards, while still in its infancy, promises exciting new developments for our public schools.Â However, standards can be both a helpful benchmark and also a limiting factor.Â In order to adapt to these new standards, educators must develop the flexibility to make them work for the unique needs of their students.Â Teachers should avoid simply trying to help students meet standards and pass tests- they should be fostering their own creativity by looking for ways to develop 21st century skills, incorporate technology in their curricula and foster emotionally intelligent students prepared for college, career and life.

Education-Stimulus Priority: Improve Classroom Standards

Several states are modeling innovative efforts to determine what children should learn by the end of their senior year.

by Alexandra R. Moses

States aren’t too far behind the curve when it comes to raising standards. That has been part of No Child Left Behind, and 37 states are matching their standards with college and career demands, according to Achieve, a nonprofit group that works with states on standards. And though each state gets to set its own standards, there are some common guidelines for what students should know to be successful after high school.

The Administration’s Requirement

States need tougher guidelines for what students should know in subjects such as math, science, language arts, and history at specific points in their education. That means tougher classes, a broader list of courses, and strengthened graduation requirements.

But the Obama administration also wants all students to be ready for college. For states, that means closing gaps in achievement and making sure English-language learners and special education and low-income students have the same access to education as middle-class and upper-class college-bound kids.

How It Might Look

Federal standards don’t exist, but there’s a push to create a common core of standards that all states could use, says Scott Montgomery of the Council of Chief State School Officers. ACT, the College Board, and Achieve are collaborating on that common core of standards and hope to have much of it done this year, he says.

One recommendation for improving standards includes assessing how well state’s college-prep classes actually prepare students for college. States need to be specific about what’s required. For instance, instead of asking kids to take three years of math, state standards should specify courses such as algebra, geometry, and algebra II, according to the American Diplomacy Project, which works on college readiness.

To help close achievement gaps, schools also need to make accommodations for different learning styles. That might mean longer school days or new curricula that weave reading lessons into all subjects.

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Cash for AP Test Scores: Is This Really the Best Option?

Today’s article from the New York Times focuses on a controversial topic: paying students to excel on tests. The New York-based “Reach” program has had moderate success, with increased numbers of students taking Advanced Placement exams as well as greater numbers of students achieving “4” or “5” scores. Â While it is admirable to encourage students to do well academically and prepare for college, the concept of paying students for their scores on AP exams has several serious shortcomings.

Money talks – but what does it say?

The concept of the Reach program is simple: it connects people who have money (the program’s founders) with people who want money (the students).Â But is handing cash over to teenagers really the best alternative?Â No.

It is important to consider the ultimate goal here: preparing students for college and career. If Reach is trying to encourage students to go to college, why not use the $1,000 to create a scholarship or educational savings account?Â What about a laptop that students could use in their college classes?Â Instead, young students are given the freedom to spend the money as they see fit – and in all likelihood, the money isn’t going straight into a college savings fund.

By handing cash over to students when they meet the expectations set by the AP board, what message is the Reach program sending?Â In my mind, the message is simple and risky: You will be rewarded for meeting expectations.Â In their future careers, students won’t be handed bonuses, promotions or praise for simply meeting expectations.Â Quite the opposite: students need to be taught to exceed expectations consistently – even if they think no one is watching or no reward is expected.Â Â In fact, if future employers perceive these students as “all about the money”, they will be less likely to invest in mentoring and promoting them.

In Program Giving Cash, More Pass AP Tests

By JENNIFER MEDINA

Published: August 4, 2009

A program that offers students up to $1,000 for passing Advanced Placement exams has shown some success, with more students at 31 city high schools earning passing scores, according to officials in charge of the effort.

The program, called Reach, or Rewarding Achievement, involves students at 26 public and 5 Catholic schools with large minority enrollments. The number of students passing A.P. exams at those schools rose this year to 1,240 from 1,161.

The number of tests taken at those schools â€” many students take tests in multiple subjects â€” increased by more than 800, to 5,436, and the number of passing grades by 302, to 1,774. The passing rate edged up slightly, to 33 percent from 32.

The program is one of several local and national experiments using financial incentives to raise student achievement. Another New York City program that pays students for doing well on standardized tests has been underway for two years, but the city has not announced any results.

Although such programs have proliferated in recent years, there has been little evidence of their effectiveness. The results of the privately funded $2 million Reach program are scheduled to be announced Wednesday, and organizers say they are confident the results will help them secure more money.

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Making a Community College Work for You

Today’s featured article from the Chronicle of Higher Education addresses the challenges one community college faces as it scrambles to make room for a record number of incoming students.Â As more and more community colleges face this issue, students attending these institutions will need to deal with a new array of challenges:

Increased class sizes and larger student bodies: A common complaint of students at large colleges is that they feel “lost in the crowd”.Â In order to avoid this, it is up to students to take the initiative to create a smaller network of support in a large institution.Â How? Simply put, by engaging the resources at their disposal: meeting regularly with an advisors, joining co-curricular and extra-curricular activities, taking the time to get to know classmates and making the effort to talk to instructors outside of class.
Strained school resources: As the article notes, many admissions advisors and counselors are dealing with full schedules and dwindling resources.Â Therefore, students need to maximize the time that they are able to spend with these important mentors.Â Preparation is key: students should come up with a list of questions, bring their resume to all meetings and have a solid plan of action each time they meet with an advisor.
A competitive job market: Even though community colleges provide important education and job training opportunities, finding work after school is not guaranteed – especially in this economy.Â Students need to take every opportunity to expand their skills, including internships, networking with professionals in their desired field and staying up to date on the latest sector news and developments.Â As exemplified by the truck driver and the former GM employee mentioned in the article, students need to think of their community college experience as an investment.Â While this investment may not pay off immediately after school, it will undoubtedly increase skill level, earning potential and hireability in the long term.

How a Community College Makes Room

Scrambling to create classrooms as enrollments soar

How a Community College Makes Room 1

By Eric Hoover and Robin Wilson

Baltimore County, Md.

For a long time, nobody knew where the water in the libraryâ€™s basement was coming from, but it was not a pressing concern. After all, most people on the Essex campus of the Community College of Baltimore County had no reason to venture into the buildingâ€™s windowless depths.

That will soon change, however. Administrators expect enrollment in for-credit courses to surge by as much as 20 percent over last fall, and so they have decided that the big, empty space could help ease a serious problem: The college has run out of classrooms.

This summer, workers located the source of the water (a leaking valve). Soon they will build walls, rework the ducts, and convert part of the basement into two classrooms, each with about 24 computers.

“When need dictates, you get creative,” says Sandra L. Kurtinitis, the college’s president.

In Baltimore, as in many places throughout the nation, demand is growing faster than two-year institutions could ever hopeâ€”or affordâ€”to build. This fall’s projected enrollment growth in the college’s for-credit programs follows a 10-percent increase it saw during the last academic year. In total, the college plans to enroll nearly 24,000 students in those programs this fall. An additional 37,000 are expected in its continuing-education courses over the coming academic year, a 9-percent increase over last year.

Cisco’s John Chambers: Learning from Adversity

Today’s article from the New York Times features an interview with Cisco CEO John Chambers. I’d like to take a moment to review and analyze what Chambers believes to be the “secrets” of successful employees:

A Generous Spirit: Chambers mentions both listening skills and mentoring as key elements that he looks for in potential employees.Â Too often, recent college graduates are taught to be self-focused and center in on their own desires and personal career advancement at the expense of their coworkers or employers.Â As Chambers suggests, truly successful employees take the time to listen to the ideas, concerns and desires of their peers, thus fostering substantive and lasting relationships that will continue to serve them throughout their career.Â Additionally,Â wise employees should avoid focusing solely on the classic “What can I gain from this job/assignment/situation?”.Â A self-centered attitude will quickly become apparent to supervisors and peers, making these people less likely to advocate for you and your personal advancement.
Learning from Failure: In these uncertain times, many employees are less willing to take risks and fear of failure is at a peak.Â However, Chambers’ words send a clear message: be willing to take intelligent, calculated risks.Â Additionally, successfully employees must develop an indomitable spirit so that they are able to deal with and learn from failure, rather than to be defined by it.
A Focus on Customer Service and Engagement:Â Just as successful employees have learned to care about individuals other than themselves, successful corporations cannot simply be focused on their bottom line.Â Companies that care about their customers begin by hiring customer-focused, service-oriented employees who are empathetic, creative and passionate about developing new ways to improve the customer experience.

In a Near-Death Event, a Corporate Rite of Passage

This interview with chairman and chief executive of Cisco Systems, was conducted and condensed by Adam Bryant.

Photo: Peter DaSilva for The New York Times

Q. What are the most important leadership lessons youâ€™ve learned?

A. People think of us as a product of our successes. Iâ€™d actually argue that weâ€™re a product of the challenges we faced in life. And how we handled those challenges probably had more to do with what we accomplish in life.

I had an issue with dyslexia before they understood what dyslexia was. One of my teachers, Mrs. Anderson, worked with me and she taught me to look at it almost like a curveball. The ball breaks the same way every time. Once you get used to it, you can handle it pretty well.

And so I went from almost being embarrassed reading in front of a class â€” you lose your place, and I read right to left â€” to the point where I knew I could overcome challenges. I think it also taught me sensitivity toward others.

I learned another lesson from Jack Welch. It was in 1998, and at that time we were one of the most valuable companies in the world. We were the stock of the â€™90s, and I said, â€œJack, what does it take to have a great company?â€ And he said, â€œIt takes major setbacks and overcoming those.â€ I hesitated for a minute, and I said, â€œWell, we did that in â€™93, and then we did it again in â€™97 with the Asian financial crisis.â€ And he said, â€œNo, John. I mean a near-death experience.â€ And I didnâ€™t understand exactly what he meant at that time.

Then in 2001, we had a near-death experience. We went from the most valuable company in the world to a company where they questioned whether the leadership was really effective. And in 2003, he called me up and said, â€œJohn, you now have a great company.â€ I said, â€œJack, it doesnâ€™t feel like it.â€ But he was right. It was something I would have given anything to have avoided, but it did make us a much better company, a much stronger company.