Education and Class

• The Education Optimists: First, Do Your Homework

  Excellent essay on affordability, college success, and the shortsightedness of policymakers’ solutions for both.

  tags: social class, access

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

According to a new poll by the New York Times/CBS News, reported in today’s New York Times,

Joblessness has wreaked financial and emotional havoc on the lives of many of those out of work, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll of unemployed adults, causing major life changes, mental health issues and trouble maintaining even basic necessities.

I’ve read and heard little about how school are helping children to understand what is happening to their parents,  how they’re trying to articulate for children the reasons for becoming educated in uncertain times, how they are teaching children to be deeply proud of  struggling parents.

I’ve read and heard little about how schools are now explaining that reward does not always go  to those who have worked very hard.

These would seem to be essential lessons in this changing world.

The Center for Student Opportunity has launched a new blog, Opportunity Scholars,  written by ten first-generation college students in their freshman year of college.

These voices are much too rarely heard.

Should be interesting to follow.

• In Job Hunt, College Degree Can’t Close Racial Gap – NYTimes.com

  “But there is ample evidence that racial inequities remain when it comes to employment. Black joblessness has long far outstripped that of whites. And strikingly, the disparity for the first 10 months of this year, as the recession has dragged on, has been even more pronounced for those with college degrees, compared with those without. Education, it seems, does not level the playing field — in fact, it appears to have made it more uneven.”

  tags: Social class

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

• In Manhattan, Preparing for Kindergarten Admission Test – NYTimes.com

  “Test preparation has long been a big business catering to students taking SATs and admissions exams for law, medical and other graduate schools. But the new clientele is quite a bit younger: 3- and 4-year-olds whose parents hope that a little assistance — costing upward of $1,000 for several sessions — will help them win coveted spots in the city’s gifted and talented public kindergarten classes. “

  tags: social class

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.