Daily Lumina News 010920

From lack of internet service to college preparation, students who live in rural areas of the country often face a number of barriers getting to and through post-high school training and education.
But the rural-student issue is gaining momentum. More colleges are beginning to consider their rural students as a separate demographic group—and consciously devising services such as internships, "small-town" student orientations, special tutoring, and other support efforts for those whose high schools lacked some key academic resources.

A state program that recruits and trains classroom aides, food service workers, and bus drivers—who are already on campus and invested in local schools—is helping California combat its teacher shortage.
The California Classified School Employee Teacher Credentialing Program has assisted in transforming 299 school employees into teachers—with thousands more in the pipeline—according to a new report from the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing.

Online education provider edX is creating a new pathway to undergraduate online degrees with the launch of two programs called MicroBachelors. The programs specifically target the 36 million Americans with some college but no degree.
Two institutions began MicroBachelors programs this week: an Information Technology Career Framework offered by Western Governors University and a Computer Science Fundamentals program offered by New York University.

At some point in his life, Steven Hurst made a poor decision that landed him in Sheriff Michael Atkinson’s jail in Walton County, Florida. Hurst's actions resulted in him becoming another statistic making up more than 2 million people who are incarcerated in the United States.
At first glance, Hurst blends in well with the other inmates. But there is something different about Hurst: an unlocked potential that goes unnoticed until given the opportunity to be released.