What We’re Reading: Week of February 7, 2022
Happy Friday! This week, we’re reading stories on the importance of breaking down silos between K-12, higher education, and workforce, the new California State Seal of Civic Engagement, the importance of social emotional learning for high schoolers, and more. As always, thanks for reading with us!
College and Career Readiness
Why We Must Connect Education and the Future of Work, Carnegie Corporation of New York
A lack of alignment among K–12, higher education, and the world of work threatens to compromise our resilience and success as a country. Education leaders at the Corporation argue that we must redesign our educational systems to reach a broader set of students.
Analysis: School Quality, College and Career Pathways, Tracking — New Ed Surveys Find Surprising Agreement in How Parents & Young People Think, The 74 Million
Two new surveys find parents and young adults are critical of the overall performance of K-12 and postsecondary education and want options beyond the singular “college for all."
Civic Engagement
California offers graduation honor to encourage active civic engagement, EdSource
The State Seal of Civic Engagement recognizes not only that students understand the democratic process but also apply their knowledge to address issues or problems they care deeply about in school or the community.
Dual Enrollment
Early college can be a second chance for struggling students, Higher Ed Dive
Dual enrollment offers a way for postsecondary education to stop replicating inequality. But programs must be built for students from more backgrounds.
High School
More high schoolers are off track to graduate. Here’s how schools can help., Chalkbeat
More ninth graders fell off track to graduate last year as failing grades and absences stacked up, new data from a handful of states show. The data provide more evidence of the difficulties high schoolers have faced while learning during a pandemic. After the first full school year disrupted by COVID, many states saw lower graduation rates for the class of 2021.
Mathematics
A New Calculus for College Admissions: How Policy, Practice, and Perceptions of High School Math Education Limit Equitable Access to College, JustEquations
Through a national survey and a series of interviews, A New Calculus for College Admissions: How Policy, Practice, and Perceptions of High School Math Education Limit Equitable Access to College examines four-year college and university admission policies on high school math course-taking, the often unwritten practices that determine how those policies operate, and the perceptions that influence evaluations of students’ high school records.
Colleges Can Make Calculus a Gateway — Not a Gatekeeper — to STEM Fields, EdSurge
With science and technology jobs expected to grow twice as fast as other occupations over the next decade amid rapidly shifting demographics, creating a robust and diverse pipeline into STEM fields is essential to ensuring U.S. competitiveness and working toward racial equity. But neither will happen unless we address the fundamental gatekeeper to all STEM fields: undergraduate calculus, writes Melodie Baker, National Policy Director for Just Equations.
Student Supports
Why high school students need social emotional learning, K-12 Dive
By integrating social emotional learning (SEL) into students' regular high school routine, they can practice the skills they need for a successful transition to college, or any environment they find themselves in after graduation.