No Child Left Inside (NCLI)

Nada Djordjevich — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 17:26:44 +0000

Will NCLB go Green? Many of us grew up with high quality environmental education programs, but those programs are at risk from state and federal budget cuts and from the ways in which No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has been interpreted. With the pending re-authorization of NCLB, a coalition of environmental educators, business leaders, and congressman have added language to NCLB to both preserve and enhance environmental education and access. The NCLI legislation includes funding to train teachers to deliver environmental education and utilize the local environment as an extension of the classroom; creates incentives for states to develop Environmental Literacy Plans; encourages school systems to make time and resources available for environmental education and to integrate environmental education across core subject areas. For some the increase in children’s ”nature deficit disorder,” a phrase made popular by Richard Louv’s 2005 book is sufficient to warrant increased environmental access and curriculum. For others, the studies of cross-over benefits of environmental education for improving critical thinking, motivation, and subject area performance indicate that environmental education may be an important and overlooked way to diminish the achievement gap. With this legislation pending, we suggest you visit the NCLI coalition site to learn more.

“Need Aware” College Admissions Policies

Nada Djordjevich — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 22:39:59 +0000

With the college acceptance season in high gear, here is some food for thought. According to Measuring Up, a report card produced by The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, in 2006 every state had improved with regard to the percent of youth academically prepared for college. However there have not been equal gains in attendance at four-year colleges, and unfortunately, “Family income remains the best predictor of who will go to college and what college they will attend.” In 2006, 43 states “flunked” the college affordability, which measures access to college by family income and includes tuition costs minus grants (excluding athletic scholarships) for two and four year colleges as well as private institutions and professional schools. And unfortunately, college affordability rates will likely decline as more private colleges institute “need aware” policies. As a recent New York Times article, “Paying in Full as the Ticket Into Colleges” (March 31) indicated, many colleges are looking more favorably at students from families in higher income brackets. The methods that they are using to evaluate students for admission include not only whether they’re applying for financial aid, but income predictions based on zip codes and parents’ background. The dean of admissions and financial aid at Lawrence University in Wisconsin describes wealthier students in this way: “They shine a little brighter.” We only hope this won’t be the case for long.

gandablog.com » Nada Djordjevich

No Child Left Inside (NCLI)

“Need Aware” College Admissions Policies