Here are some new resources and news for the field of higher education.
Envision Postsecondary Data: Information on postsecondary labor market outcomes is becoming increasingly important for students, educators, institution leaders, and policymakers in a rapidly changing economy. A paper series released on Envisioning the National Postsecondary Data Infrastructure provides recommendations to strengthen data needed to improve student success, including federal and state policy reforms that would leverage employment data to measure post-college labor market outcomes.
Determining a student’s place: More community colleges are moving away from relying on placement exams alone to figure out whether incoming students need remediation. But using multiple measures, such as high school GPAs, also comes with challenges. See Education Commission of the States’ recent blog post on multiple measures. (Inside Higher Ed, May 26)
The Condition of Education 2016: The National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) has a mandate to report to Congress on the condition of education by June 1 of each year. The Condition of Education 2016 summarizes important developments and trends in education using the latest available data. The 2016 report presents 43 key indicators on the status and condition of education and are grouped under four main areas: (1) population characteristics, (2) participation in education, (3) elementary and secondary education, and (4) postsecondary education. Also included in the report are 3 Spotlight indicators that provide a more in-depth look at some of the data.
The Transfer Playbook: Essential Practices for Two- and Four-Year Colleges. This document is a practical guide to designing and implementing a key set of practices that will help community colleges and their four-year college partners improve transfer outcomes. The guide is based on the practices of six sets of community colleges and universities that together serve transfer students well. (Source: Community College Research Center)
Dual Enrollment: Low-income high schoolers to get grants for college courses. For the first time, thousands of low-income high-school students in nearly two dozen states will soon be able to get federal grants to take college courses for credit, part of a program the Obama administration plans to begin this summer. (Associated Press, May 16).
Career Pathways: Building on the federal partnership to promote the use of career pathways created in April 2012 between the U.S. Departments of Labor, Education, and Health and Human Services, 12 federal agencies came together to release a joint letter around shared definitions and goals for career pathway systems.
High schools with low college-going rates will get extra counselors under new Tennessee initiative. Thirty high schools with low college-going rates will get extra counselors under state’s newest Drive to 55 initiative. The program provides college counselors to 30 schools whose students attend college at a rate lower than the state average. (Chalkbeat Tennessee, May 19).
