College Planning

Can Universities Have a ‘Normal’ Fall If International Students Can’t Get to Campus?Though universities are hopeful that the vaccine rollout will return a sense of normalcy to the fall semester, a question remains about international students whose plans were curtailed by the pandemic. Will they make it to campus in time? Experts say that while students have been exempted from coronavirus-related travel restrictions, overseas U.S. consulate shutdowns and backlogs could leave them waiting for their visas until September. “Remember they’re not just processing visas for new students in the 2021-2022 academic year, but also our freshman class for last year. We’ve been told that once a consulate is up and fully operational, it’ll be several months before they work through the backlog,” says Sar...

What civics education should really look like— How do we navigate tensions between the powers and limits of federal, state, local and tribal governments to protect collective well-being, as well as the rights of people to assert their individual rights? This can include issues such as wearing a mask during a pandemic or requiring that children or adults be vaccinated. Published at Fri, 14 May 2021 10:00:52 +0000 Article source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2021/05/14/what-civics-education-should-really-look-like/

Alabama Lifts a Nearly Three-Decade Ban on Yoga in Public Schools For the first time in nearly three decades, Alabama will allow yoga to be taught in its public schools, but the ancient practice will be missing some of its hallmarks: Teachers will be barred from saying the traditional salutation “namaste” and using Sanskrit names for poses. Chanting is forbidden. And the sound of “om,” one of the most popular mantras associated with the practice, which combines breathing exercises and stretches, is a no-no. The changes follow the signing of a bill on Thursday by Gov. Kay Ivey, a Republican, overriding a 1993 ban on yoga instruction in public schools by the state’s Board of Education. Some conservative groups had called for the prohibition to be preserved, contending that the practice of y...

Bucknell Investigating ‘Horrific’ Harassment of L.G.B.T.Q. Students Officials at Bucknell University have ordered an investigation into what they described as a “horrific” episode of harassment targeting residents at a house for L.G.B.T.Q. students on its campus in Lewisburg, Pa., last week. In a letter to students, the university said a group of men “harassed and intimidated” residents of Fran’s House, an affinity house for L.G.B.T.Q. students, and tried to break into the building on Thursday night. In interviews, residents said they were terrified and traumatized by the episode. “It is clear from multiple accounts that the students violated the physical space and, far more importantly, the residents’ sense of place and security,” the university’s president, its provost and an associate ...

Twenty-six studies point to more play for young childrenWhat if one of the answers to reducing inequality and addressing mental health concerns among young children is as simple as providing more opportunities to play? A growing body of research and several experts are making the case for play to boost the well-being of young children as the pandemic drags on—even as concerns over lost learning time and the pressure to catch kids up grow stronger. Play is so powerful, according to a recent report by the LEGO Foundation, that it can be used as a possible intervention to close achievement gaps between children ages 3 to 6. The report looked at 26 studies of play from 18 countries. It found that in disadvantaged communities, including those in Bangladesh, Rwanda and Ethiopia, children showed ...

Writing About Overcoming Obstacles in College AdmissionsMay 13, 2021 One need not overcome significant obstacles in life to earn admission to elite universities. If my child hasn’t overcome significant obstacles in life, she really has nothing to write about — certainly nothing that will set her apart, right? Wrong. It’s a common refrain we hear from folks who are not our clients. They seem to be under the assumption that young people need to overcome significant obstacles in their childhood or young adulthood to distinguish themselves in the elite college admissions process. The presumption is, of course, false. While, yes, there are college applicants who build windmills out of spare bicycle parts in their villages in Malawi to harness the wind to power their villages and, yes, there...

Announcing the 8th Annual ED Games Expo: June 1 to 5, 2021A Free All-Virtual Showcase of Game-Changing Innovations in EdTechdeveloped through ED and Programs Across Government The ED Games Expo is an annual showcase of game-changing innovations in education technology (EdTech) developed through programs at the Department of Education (ED) and across the federal government. Since 2013, the Expo has been an in-person event at venues across Washington, D.C. Because of the COVID-19 national emergency, the 2021 ED Games Expo is moving online, from June 1 – 5, for an entirely virtual experience. Hosting virtually provides the unique opportunity to engage a national audience and to present content mindful of the pandemic and useful for educational programming in the summer and going forward.   E...

What we’ve lost and what we’ve learnedThere is much to account for when it comes to what our children have lost in this last year: connections to their peers, the myriad social interactions that animate a school every day, important milestone experiences such as attending grade-level promotions and proms, hours immersed in a setting surrounded by books and academic references, as well as the people many have lost across their communities to covid-19. The mental health of our students, their families and all who work in education cannot be sidelined here, either. Published at Tue, 11 May 2021 16:49:40 +0000 Article source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2021/05/11/whats-weve-lost-and-what-weve-learned/

‘The Bomber Mafia’, Original Audiobooks, and Teaching as a Team SportThe Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War by Malcolm Gladwell Published in April of 2021. We - those of us in higher education - should be paying attention to The Bomber Mafia. But not for the usual reasons that we pay attention to a new book. Books matter in higher education. More than any other industry, academia is built on ideas. Part of the reason that ideas - and hence books - matter so much in higher education is that we are both consumers and creators. Higher education is in the knowledge-making business. We are also in the teaching, learning, and credentialing business - and in some nodes, all those functions come together. So books matter to higher education. The book...

2 Oklahoma Boys Pulled From Class for ‘Black Lives Matter’ T-Shirts Two brothers, 8 and 5, were removed from their Oklahoma elementary school classrooms this past week and made to wait out the school day in a front office for wearing T-shirts that read “Black Lives Matter,” according to the boys’ mother. The superintendent of the Ardmore, Okla., school district where the brothers, Bentlee and Rodney Herbert, attend different schools had previously told their mother, Jordan Herbert, that politics would “not be allowed at school,” Ms. Herbert recalled on Friday. The American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma has called the incident a violation of the students’ First Amendment rights. On April 30, Bentlee, who is in the third grade, went to class at Charles Evans Elementary in a Black Lives ...

New higher education literacies for a sustainable futureGLOBAL As the world becomes more interconnected and interdependent, nations face increasing pressure to improve their political, economic, social, technological and environmental infrastructures in order to compete in an increasingly globalised world.Within this context, perhaps the most fundamental and important component of any nation in the 21st century is its educational system. As societies become more complex – economically, socially, technologically and otherwise – so must their educational systems.To this end, nations have responded by creating diverse educational systems that now consist of many different types of educational institutions, including trade schools, technical colleges, community colleges, liberal arts colleg...

How to take advantage of college admission changes during COVID-19No matter when COVID-19 finally disappears, the college admission practices that changed due to the pandemic, will not completely disappear. In a recent webinar, I discussed how the pandemic has impacted college admissions in significant ways and how families can take advantage of these changes going forward. [embedded content] COVID-19 and College Admissions Here are some COVID-19 developments that you should know about: 1.  The vast majority of colleges and universities are now test-optional. That includes more than 90% of all highly selective and elite schools. 2. Because two-year-old tax returns are used when completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid and the CSS Profile, many a family’s financial informatio...

Researching whether a college will closeFor most colleges and universities, competing for high school seniors has been a cutthroat Hunger Games exercise for many years. Before the pandemic hit, the majority of colleges were failing to meet their freshmen admission goals every year. At the start of the pandemic, some respected higher-ed observers predicted that many colleges would close by the summer, but that hasn’t happened. So far, most schools are still open for business. Whether this will last, remains an open question. Whatever happens, it makes sense to do your own research on whether colleges on your child’s list are financially stable. Resources to evaluate a college’s financial health To help you with that task, I’m sharing some new and old resources that attempt to divine how fin...

8 Tips For Freshman Year In College: Make The Best Out Of It!The first day of college can be nerve wrecking for many students. So, today we are going to be giving out some of the best tips for freshman year in college that will help you out throughout the year. So, get ready to enter into a whole new world with endless possibilities and a vision of a bright future. Every student would have big hopes and dreams about their college. The journey so far would have been a memorable one. But hey, gear up to find much more in your college. Are you ready? Without further ado, let’s jump right into it! 8 Tips For Freshman Year in College Does the word college resonate with the word fear for you? Knock that fear and anxiety out of your system because you’re a freshman and have the potential to be an...