Daily Lumina News 020921

New research emerging from a recent project led by the National Association of System Heads provides some useful insights into how, even during the enormous challenges of this pandemic moment, we can assure both equity and quality as we seek to grow the number of people with learning beyond high school.
In the report, “High-Impact Practices and Gains in Student Learning,” researchers examine the impact of several years of work on scaling more equitable access to high-impact educational practices—and how the reported learning gains from these practices are large and significant for all students. This includes students over the age of 25 and Black, Hispanic, and Native American students.

In a regular school year, Carrie Harlow’s work as a counselor in a career and education outreach program takes her all over Vermont. She holds financial aid application sessions in computer labs and conference rooms, meets with students in cafeterias and offices, and leads groups of high schoolers on excursions to tour college campuses.
This year, she has been forced to compress all these interactions into video or phone calls. Harlow is not alone. It’s been a strange time for college admissions across the board. Faced with high school seniors anxious for answers, college counselors and admissions deans are using creative solutions to provide them.

For at least the last decade, the U.S. Department of Education has disproportionately selected students from majority Black and Latino neighborhoods to provide further proof that the information on their financial aid application is accurate, according to an analysis of federal data by The Washington Post.
It is a seemingly innocuous request, one meant to reduce fraud and improper payments. But like any government audit, the verification process can be a time-consuming, invasive experience primarily visited on poorer students.

With the pandemic keeping many college students out of the classroom and off campus, some college presidents are asking a familiar question: How can we be student-centered if we don’t even know what’s going on with our students?
A behavioral science expert and a community college leader share insight on designing quality programs and interventions that support students online.