Recent studies have shown that community colleges have large amounts of students who drop out, which costs billions of federal and state dollars. Many students drop out midway during their studies and never attain their degrees, and whatever portion of their education is financed comes from financial aid. Ultimately, federal, state, and taxpayer money is going to waste.
Several solutions have been offered by the American Institute of Research to ameliorate the situation. For instance, colleges need to focus on ensuring that first-year students enroll for the following year. The majority of colleges have widened and lowered their admission standards, yet nothing is being done to retain first-year students. Another solution is regarding college funding. Colleges should be funded and budgeted according to their performance rate, meaning that retention and graduation rates should be correlated with federal and state funding for the college.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology has developed a new, free interactive learning platform that can lead to certification. MIT has dubbed the online initiative MITx, which will allow anyone access to course content of undergraduate and graduate subjects taught at the institute.
Although MIT has been offering access to courses for the past 10 years, MITx will be more technologically advanced. MITx will offer accessibility to a global online community, online laboratories and self-assessment tools. The platform will also allow students to learn at their own pace. Most importantly, individuals who use MITx can earn a certificate from MIT. The opportunity to earn a credential separates MIT’s online learning initiatives from all other universities. While the access is free, the credential will come at an “affordable” charge.
MIT President Susan Hockfield said, “MIT has long believed that anyone in the world with the motivation and ability to engage MIT coursework should have the opportunity to attain the best MIT-based educational experience that Internet technology enables.”
As class sizes across the nation continue to grow, the debate for smaller classes compared to larger classes continues. Recently on a CNN segment, Leonie Haimson, founder and executive director of Class Size Matters, advocated the importance of smaller classes and its benefits. Justin Snider, an advising dean at Columbia U., opposed her and discussed the attempts of class size reduction in Florida and California, which resulted in very minute positive outcomes.
Haimson underscored that class size is most important for young children, where attentive and one-on-one learning is critical for early stage development. Smaller classes are also essential for high school students, who currently are not graduating with the necessary skills to enter and excel at the college-level. Rather, they must enroll in remedial classes –reviewing and learning topics that should have been learned in high school. Furthermore, she stated, “When you look at class size, our class sizes are somewhere in the middle or the top of the other industrialized countries.” She also said that any student reduction makes a difference, which would increase learning for every student.
On the other hand, Snider focused on the class size reduction policy instituted in the Florida and California education system. He stated that in 1996 a $20 million investment was made, yet it “didn’t lead to improved achievement”. Additionally, class size reduction only makes a difference with large numbers. The cutback of one or two students does not have a measurable effect. He believes that the student-to-teacher ratio has dropped, because of increasing number of professionals involved in a class, so there is no need for smaller classes.
What do you think?
A deeper and detailed view of both sides of the debate can be found below.
There is overwhelming evidence depicting the correlation between the socioeconomic background of students and their academic merit. Yet, policymakers continue to overlook the issue. Helen F. Ladd, a professor at Duke U., addresses in her article, “Education and Poverty: Confronting the Evidence”, how poverty adversely affects student learning.
Former policies created to raise educational standards have not targeted the economic disadvantage many students are facing. Former President, George W. Bush’s policy, No Child Left Behind focused on raising the academic achievement bar, and ensuring that all schools push to reach that level. But what about students who live in poverty? Policies such as this do not directly address the academic achievement gap between disadvantaged and advantaged families.
Instead of tackling the issue of poverty in the United States, Ladd advocates ideas of policymakers creating and providing disadvantaged students with social support, enrichment services, and allowing them further access to good schools – schools that are known for their quality of principals, teachers, internal policies, and practices. This will directly assist disadvantaged students attain higher academic standards, and it will help abolish the disparity in educational standards.
Narconon Riverbend is a non-profit rehabilitation center for drug and alcohol users in Denham Springs, La., where 10 of their students have graduated just in time for the holidays.
The graduates explained that while being home for the holidays is the best gift one could receive, there is also a lot of pressure to drink at that time of year. Executive Director of Narconon, Cathy Steiner, recognizes the pressure around the holidays but says, “We're so glad our graduates have the program under their belt and the life skills needed to handle this time of year.”
The graduates could not be more pleased with their experience at Narconon Riverbend and all of them seem to agree that going there was the best choice they have ever made.
T.H. made this very clear when he said, “This program has given me my life back. Narconon really is a New Life Retreat. Not only have I conquered my drug addiction, I have regained many of the skills I lost while using drugs. I have also learned many new skills, such as the ability to confront, control, and communicate... I owe my life to this place. I now have what it takes to live a happy and successful life."
The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree is a world-wide symbol of the holidays in New York City. The tree, traditionally a Norway Spruce, is illuminated by 30,000 environmentally friendly LED lights on five miles of wire, and crowned by a Swarovski crystal star. Tens of thousands crowd the sidewalks for the event and hundreds of millions watch the Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony broadcast live across the globe.
