<p>I have ordered Levine's book having read an earlier essay of his. Very interesting mix of books. Scroll down to see brief reviews of each book.</p>
<p>That's a fascinating essay/book review. Thanks for posting it.</p>
<p>There's a strong case that if affirmative action is to be practiced in higher education, it should be based on class.</p>
<p>Really good article, but it's from the New York Review of Books, not the New York Times Book Review. People associated with either would be horrified at the confusion.</p>
<p>Thanks for posting this article, idad. The take-home passage for me:</p>
<p>
[quote]
What explains the scarcity of low-income students at America's selective colleges? The short answer is that very few apply. As William Bowen, Martin Kurzweil, and Eugene Tobin write in their book Equity and Excellence in American Higher Education, students from low-income families tend early in life to fall behind in "cognitive skills, motivation, expectations...and practical knowledge about the college admissions process."[3] Most lose hope of attending a top college long before the competition formally begins.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>If that is so, recruiting efforts, more financial aid will not really fix the problem. It lies in k-12 schools, in dysfunctional families and neighborhoods, in the disparity between classes. It is a social problem as much as an educational problem.</p>
<p>There was a really good show on NPR about some inner city, low SES schools that were showing great results by getting parents involved (which happened by home visits and showing interest in and respect for the parents), extending the school day and the school year and teachers and administrators holding high expectations for the students. Gee, that makes sense.</p>
<p>
[QUOTE]
It lies in k-12 schools,
[/QUOTE]
Excellent point.</p>
<p>Many schools have summer transition programs, but they can only make up for one or two missed classes. It's a band-aid...one that fits some kids, but is too little for others.</p>
<p>Our low-income scholarship program (we call it AccessUVA) staff started visiting middle schools for this reason. We were finding places where great kids who had been placed into math tracks in 6-8th grade that prevented them from getting even pre-calculus in senior year. The hope is that by making schools and parents aware of the ripple effect of the tracking, we'll see more students encouraged to take on the more challenging coursework.</p>
<p>The scholarship money is not going to make all kids successful. The right academic prep is crucial.</p>
<p>I agree that there is still crucial work to be done to improve K-12 schooling for most young people in the United States. In fact, that is what most of my community involvement through volunteer work is about. Some countries of the world expect seventh graders--including below-average seventh-graders--to learn algebra as part of compulsory schooling, and those students mostly succeed. Much more could be said about this subject, but I'll say it to the members of my state legislature.</p>
<p>I've been heralding the message in Post #4 for some time. (Not trying to steal the thunder, merely reminding people that the educational foundations are complex & by no means limited to teachers -- let alone to "bridge" & other late-recruitment programs. This came up in the 'Steve Jobs' thread, among other threads.)</p>
<p>When schools <em>are</em> in a position to help turn things around despite organic social obstacles, they tend to be one of 2 kinds: the networked schools such as KIPP and Aspire -- which operate via charter funding, or individual charter schools. Such schools indeed feature the pattern that bethie mentioned having been discussed on NPR. It is the only way to reverse what by 9th grade can appear as an inevitable downward spiral. Such schools provide the atmosphere of expectations & saturation of learning & resources that middle class kids take for granted in their own homes.</p>
<p>And yes, regarding the mention of middle school. This is a pivotal moment, being the last opportunity to prepare adequately for high school. The mastery at this level is so important, even for kids form good homes. You can imagine why it becomes Emergency Preventative Surgery for students who cannot rely on a home atmosphere of support & competence.</p>
<p>Gordon Winston at Williams found there were almost three times as may low-income students well-qualified to attend the prestige private colleges as are actually attending them. The reason they aren't there doesn't have anything to do with their lack of academic preparation. </p>
<p>But I hardly think of it as any kind of national tragedy that they may be attending Berkeley or UCLA or Berea rather than Princeton, Brown, or Amherst. If the prestige privates are less economically diverse than they were 25 years, as the article demonstrates, it's their loss, and has virtually no impact on the education of the nation.</p>
<p>I worry much, much more about qualified applicants being unable to attend state universities because of finances.</p>
<p>"If the prestige privates are less economically diverse than they were 25 years, as the article demonstrates, it's their loss, and has virtually no impact on the education of the nation."</p>
<p>Agree with you completely on this mini, but of course it is still a tragedy and loss to te nation that there are not 6x or 8x that are qualified and heading to Berkeley and Cal.</p>
<p>I've said before and will say again - we won't have better students until we have better families. We loose way too many of these kids by middle school and at that point the gap just widens. Why do we loose them? Too many kids not getting proper medical care and nutrition early on, too many kids from broken homes or homes that never had a father present, too many kids just plain not getting enough lap time, story time, and real play time.</p>
<p>The things these kids don't get and need when they are growing up cost this country untold billions treasure and heartache later on.</p>