July 2008

Newly Redesigned College Access Marketing Website
Pathways is pleased to unveil the new www.collegeaccessmarketing.org. This updated version of the popular site contains many new resources, tools, and materials for anyone interested in social marketing to increase college access and college-going behaviors. The site provides information for the novice and the seasoned outreach and marketing professional, and encourages submissions from practitioners in the field. Special thanks go out to the website managing partner Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) for the hard work put into this phenomenal undertaking.

New Items Added to the Online Research Library on College Access and Success
Pathways’ Online Library has more than 300 new additions! You can view the latest submissions here or go to the main library page to search by keyword. If you have a resource that you would like to see added to the PCN Online Library or the College Planning Resources Directory, please email us at pathways@teri.org.

Pathways Publishes Latest College Access Marketing Brief: Achieving College Access Goals: The Relevance of New Media in Reaching First-Generation and Low-Income Teens
This brief highlights research on the use of new media by first-generation and low-income teens and introduces ways college access programs and campaigns can utilize new media and technology to communicate to this target audience. It also includes a list of new media terms and their definitions.
[Read the brief]

Pathways Leadership Attends Spellings Summit
Former Pathways' Director and Senior Advisor for TERI, Ann Coles, attended this month's Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings final higher education summit. A Test of Leadership: Commitment to Advance Post Secondary Education for All Americans was a two-day invitational summit that brought together 150 college leaders, state officials, policy experts, and other experts in the field of college access to discuss the restructuring of the financial aid system in order to increase the number of Americans who attend and graduate from college.

Pathways to present at National College Access Network Annual Conference
The National College Access Network (NCAN) has selected five presentations submitted on behalf of the Pathways to College Network for its Annual Conference to be held in Houston, TX in September:

• Effective Tools for Evaluating College Outreach Programs
• SPIDO (State Policy Inventory Database Online): An Easy Way to Access Information on State Higher Education Policy
• Promise Lost: College-Qualified Students Who Don’t Attend College
• On the Cutting Edge of College Access: The All New CollegeAccessMarketing.org
• Linking to Students: Strategically Using New Media & Technology in College Access Efforts

For more infomation on the conference, please see the article below under Upcoming Partner Conferences.

Catalog of Effective and Innovative Programs and Practices Supporting College- and Career-Readiness in Development
The American Youth Policy Forum is collecting research studies, reports, and evaluations of effective and innovative programs and practices supporting college- and career-readiness for all students, particularly at-risk youth. The final catalog will showcase school-based and out-of-school approaches—such as college-prep and career-focused school reform models, dropout prevention and recovery programs, and 13th year transition programs—that have evaluative data on positive outcomes related to heightened student achievement and attainment levels. For additional information and to submit material, contact Sarah Hooker at shooker@aypf.org.

New Kids2College Curriculum
The Sallie Mae Fund has released a new Kids2College (K2C) curriculum and invites local schools, colleges, and community groups interested in participating in the early college awareness program to apply for training sessions available this summer and fall. K2C exposes low-income and minority sixth-graders to the value and accessibility of a higher education. It is based on partnerships with local community groups, schools and districts, and colleges and universities. For more information, visit www.kids2college.org.

Employment Opportunties at Partner Organizations
NCAN will be transitioning its headquarters to Washington, DC, and the organization is seeking to fill three Washington-based positions: Assistant Director, Director of Member Services, and Executive Assistant. For more information or to obtain position information, please visit www.collegeaccess.org.

The National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) seeks a content project manager for its Research and Public Policy Department. The project manager will be responsible for managing and cultivating content for the association’s knowledge center, drafting original educational content for the association, assisting with association project development, and analyzing and summarizing data to assist with development of educational products and services. For the full job description, please see the Inside Higher Education ad.

Upcoming Partner Organization Conferences
The State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO) will hold its annual SHEEO Higher Education Policy Conference (formerly known as the SHEEO Professional Development Conference) August 12 -15 in San Diego, CA. This meeting provides a forum for collaborative discussion and networking for state-level academic, finance, government relations and communications officers, and others to discuss, share, and learn about how major higher education policy issues are being addressed at the state and national levels. Information on registration and hotel reservations is available at hepc.sheeo.org/.

The Council for Opportunity in Education’s annual conference, “The Competitiveness Imperative” is September 17-20, in Washington, D.C. Thematic strands include "Management of Educational Opportunity Programs and TRIO;" "Effective Practices in STEM—Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math;" "Effective Retention Initiatives;" and "Research that Matters." For additional information, visit www.coenet.us/ecm/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Annual_Conference.

NCAN will be holding its annual conference on September 22 - 24 in Houston, Texas. Join college access practitioners, researchers, and policy-makers this fall in Houston to network with colleagues, participate in professional development workshops, and learn more about important issues in college access and success. For more information, or to register visit www.collegeaccess.org.

38^th Annual Survey Report on State-Sponsored Student Financial Aid
The annual report on student financial aid from the National Association of State Student Grant and Aid Programs (NASSGAP) is now available. Data show that states were awarded 10 percent more student financial aid (all types) in 2006-2007 than in the previous year. Comprehensive state-by-state tables show break-downs such as total grant and non-grant, need and non-need aid, and changes over one-, five-, and ten-year periods in aid awarded. In addition, NASSGAP provides an online Query Tool, through which visitors can register, access the tool, and save data.
[Access the Query Tool]
[Read the report]

Career Academies: Long-Term Impacts on Labor Market Outcomes, Educational Attainment, and Transitions to Adulthood
Career Academies reports on a 15-year random assignment study of Career Academies in nine urban high schools around the country. Conducted by MDRC, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization, the study followed students from the time they entered high school until eight years after their scheduled graduation. More than 80 percent of students in the sample are black or Hispanic.
[Read the report]

Early & Often: Designing a Comprehensive System of Financial Aid Information
The Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance released a new report on providing early financial aid information to students and families. This report presents a systematic way to develop an early information delivery program and describes how a program can integrate a method of delivering financial aid information into an existing intervention. In addition to the long report, a 10-page abridged version is available to help users navigate the full report.
[Read the report]

Lost in Transition: Building a Better Path from School to College and Careers
SREB looks at student transitions in this report that synthesizes information from 15 state education forums, identifies key barriers and policy issues, and recommends a number of key actions for states to take to improve student transitions from high school to postsecondary education and careers.
[Read the report]

Reach Higher, America: Overcoming Crisis in the U.S. Workforce
The National Commission on Adult Literacy’s final report recommends enacting a comprehensive new Adult Education and Economic Growth Act, a new domestic “Marshall Plan” that would overhaul and expand adult education and workforce skills training at national and state levels. The report states that between 88 and 90 million adults aren’t prepared to meet the demands of today’s global economy or secure a family sustaining wage job. Of these adults who have at least one educational barrier to economic success, 18 million Americans don’t have a high school diploma, 51 million haven’t gone to college, and 18 million aren’t proficient in their English language and literacy skills.
[Read the report]

Parent Expectations and Planning for College: Statistical Analysis Report
The National Center for Education Statistics’ new report draws on data from the 2003 National Household Education Surveys Program Parent and Family Involvement Survey to examine characteristics associated with the educational expectations parents had for their children and the postsecondary education planning practices families and schools engaged in. Among the findings are high parental expectations—approximately nine out of every 10 students (91 percent) in grades 6 through 12 had parents who expected them to continue their education beyond high school. However, only about one-third of students had parents who perceived that their child's school did very well at providing information to help their child plan for postsecondary education. Results are disaggregated by several student characteristics, including race/ethnicity, and family characteristics such as household income.
[Read the report]

On Ramp to College: A State Policymaker’s Guide to Dual Enrollment
Jobs for the Future's new report shows how dual enrollment can serve as an “on ramp” to postsecondary education for students who are otherwise unlikely to attend college. The report also highlights examples of successful state-wide dual enrollment efforts and provides a step-by-step plan for policymakers to create successful programs and policies and to assess their current approaches. On Ramp to College also guides state officials in how to provide a wide range of students with equal access to dual enrollment and make it part of a continuous system for grades 9-16.
[Read the report]