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Learning a language, college gift cards, early admission, absenteeism, OSU

Education Roundup

On this year’s application, the University of Chicago included the essay question, “Where is Waldo?” Huh? A new trend has more colleges offering up unusual essay prompts so to as to gain a better insight into candidates’ personalities and, perhaps, to better avoid paid coaching, parent-written essays and plagiarism. Another fun one, from Brandeis University in Boston, asks, “A package arrives at your door. After seeing the contents you know it’s going to be the best day of your life. What’s inside and how do you spend your day?” Consider adding prompts like these to your dinner table conversation with your children throughout their schooling to encourage creative thinking and introspection, or pick up Table Topics (which has some doozies) at one of the many stores in Sonoma where it is sold.

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I came across some cool and unusual tips for students working on learning a second language, particularly if you or your student is feeling stuck at a plateau in language acquisition. 1) Listen to radio broadcasts, movies or audio books in the target language. You can frequently find a free Internet radio station in your target language at radio-locator.com. Try having the language on in the background all the time. 2) There are some great, free foreign language instruction sites to check out, including Babbel at babbel.com/mobile and Busuu at busuu.com/enc. 3) Visuals speed up learning on any subject. Try placing note cards on household objects in your home to remind you of key vocabulary. 4) Sign up for Voxy (voxy.com) and the site will send you news snippets in your target language, edited to your language level. 5) Finally, because your goal is to think in your target language, try setting your computer’s default language to your target language – as well as your phone and your TV at home. Set as many electronic devices as possible to your target language and you’ll be forced to think in it. Setting your search engine’s default language could have a huge impact on your language acquisition.

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The book creator at redjumper.net/bookcreator/ lets you create beautiful books that can be shared with friends and family in its iBookstore and read on your iPad. Writing a short story or producing a memoir of a trip can be a great creative exercise for students.

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The New York Times recently ran a chart of early admission statistics for incoming college freshman (current high school seniors). You can see (school by school) any advantage of applying in the early round of applications, rather than waiting till the regular deadline. Read the complete list here nytimes.com/interactive/2012/12/20/education/choice-early-admission-chart-2013.html

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Two new companies are offering gift cards that can be used toward a college education. GradSave and Kiva have systems in place that let you make direct donations to a child’s 529 college savings plan. The gift cards are catching on as alternatives to traditional holiday gifts. The physical gift cards come with redemption codes that recipients enter online to transfer the money.

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Absenteeism is a hot topic in school reform as students who are frequently absent have an almost impossible time staying on grade level. Woodland Star recently explained the two key issues of absenteeism well in its parent newsletter:

• “Regular and consistent classroom attendance is important for each child because the majority of the daily lessons are presented orally and as a group interaction. A student who is frequently absent will find it difficult to make up work or fully understand the material. In addition, the class loses its rhythm and momentum. Consistent attendance is very important to your child’s success, and to the unity and success of the class.”

• “Every absence also causes a funding penalty, negatively impacting the school budget with a loss of approximately $35 per day per absent student.(A public school’s) yearly budget is based on regular attendance. The financial health of the school supports your child’s educational opportunities. (But bear in mind, Woodland Star and the Sonoma Charter school are the only schools in our district getting ADA money because Sonoma is a “Basic Aid” district.)”

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Education to Employment is a new report by McKinsey & Company that examines the paradox of widespread youth unemployment and jobs left vacant due to a lack of qualified applicants. The report analyzed 100 skills training programs in 25 countries. They found that part of the problem is poor communication and coordination between employers and education providers (regarding the skills needed). The crux of the problem – fewer than half of employees believe that new graduates are adequately prepared for entry-level positions – whereas 72 percent of colleges believe that their students are prepared.

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UniversityNow, an online higher education provider, has partnered with Santa Rosa Junior College to design courses to help better prepare students for college level work. A selection of students who need more preparation in the areas of math, reading and writing will be allowed to take as many of these courses as they can complete in one year at no cost. Additionally, students who have earned an associate degree in business from Santa Rosa Junior College, but who cannot enroll at a four-year state institution due to capacity constraints, will be provided scholarships to attend schools operated by UniversityNow. This opportunity will provide a pathway for Santa Rosa graduates to complete the last two years of their bachelor’s degree program online. The beauty of the initiative is the expanded options it provides for non-traditional students. Whether or not it is successful will be independently evaluated and documented.

Teachers rarely have free time to idly browse web resources, but I came across a great list (also useful for parents) of the 100 best Web resources for teachers. Perhaps you can share it with your child’s teacher? onlinemastersineducation.org/teaching-resources

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One reason that I write a lot about SAT and ACT prep classes and sources online is that there is a proven link between students’ scores on these tests and the amount of merit aid they will receive from selective colleges. Students who score in the top 10 percent of test-takers – about 2000 out of 2400 on the SAT or a 28 out of 36 on the ACT – can be offered merit scholarships as large as $20,000 a year at many colleges. You can calculate the impact of higher scores yourself. At Seattle Pacific University, for example, a student with a 3.75-grade-point-average and a combined score of 1110 on the SAT math and reading sections qualifies for a $10,000-a-year scholarship. But if that student were able to score 100 points higher, the scholarship would increase to $12,000, netting the student an additional $8,000 over four years of college. If you are curious about a specific college, go to its Net College Calculator and input the student’s profile information, then change nothing but their SAT or ACT score, and watch scholarship offers increase as the score rises. 

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Females represent 50 percent of the American population, but only 24 percent of the STEM workforce, according to the Association for Women in Science. STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and math. The Huffington Post has created a new STEM mentorship initiative, connecting high-school and college-age girls with an interest in science and engineering to female leaders in these fields. Girls ages 14-21 can apply now through Jan. 31. Mentors are also needed. Email STEM@huffingtonpost.com for more information.

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Oregon State University has announced its scholastic honor roll for the fall term, broken out by its students’ hometowns. From Sonoma: with a 3.5 GPA or higher: Kalen R. Ergas, freshman, applied visual arts; Joshua E. Heiser, sophomore, pre-mechanical engineering; Raymond J. Mellinger, sophomore, exercise and sport science; Gabriella H. Morrongiello, freshman, liberal studies. When we have space available, I am happy to run honor roll names.

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I have a favor to ask, as we ring in the New Year today. Please take a moment to email me at ourschools@sonomanews.com and let me know what aspects of this column you find most interesting and useful. I always have more content than I can fit in and I would like to tailor what topics I cover to what our readers find most interesting. For those of you who frequently send me notes and story ideas, thank you and keep them coming.