Achieving College Dreams

Achieving College Dreams PDF

Author: Rhona S. Weinstein

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 441

ISBN-13: 0190260904

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Achieving College Dreams: How a University-Charter District Partnership Created an Early College High School tells the story of a remarkable 10-year collaboration between the University of California, Berkeley and Aspire Public Schools to develop and nurture the California College Preparatory Academy. Bridging the two cultures--artfully described as "Pac-Man (the charter district) meets chess (the university)"--the school serves as an exemplar in providing low-income and first-generation college youth with an excellent and equitable education. Framed by a longitudinal lens, findings from community-engaged scholarship, and a diversity of voices from students to superintendents, this book charts the journey from the initial decision to open a school to the high school graduation of its first two classes. The book captures struggle, improvement, and success as it takes readers inside the workings of the partnership, the development of the school, and the spillover of effects across district and university. Confronting the challenge of interweaving rigor and support, its authors explore such critical ingredients as teacher-student advisories; school transition; the home-school divide; building a supportive college-preparatory culture; teaching with depth, relational power, and equity; the forging of an academic identity; and scaling up. At a time of sharply unequal schools, glaring disparities in college readiness, and heightened expectations, Achieving College Dreams uniquely extends the knowledge base about how to better prepare underserved students for college eligibility and success. The book also calls for universities to step up to the plate as partners with districts to ensure both excellence and equity in secondary education for all children.

Achieving College Dreams

Achieving College Dreams PDF

Author: Rhona S. Weinstein

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2016-03-17

Total Pages: 352

ISBN-13: 0190260912

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Achieving College Dreams: How a University-Charter District Partnership Created an Early College High School tells the story of a remarkable 10-year collaboration between the University of California, Berkeley and Aspire Public Schools to develop and nurture the California College Preparatory Academy. Bridging the two cultures--artfully described as "Pac-Man (the charter district) meets chess (the university)"--the school serves as an exemplar in providing low-income and first-generation college youth with an excellent and equitable education. Framed by a longitudinal lens, findings from community-engaged scholarship, and a diversity of voices from students to superintendents, this book charts the journey from the initial decision to open a school to the high school graduation of its first two classes. The book captures struggle, improvement, and success as it takes readers inside the workings of the partnership, the development of the school, and the spillover of effects across district and university. Confronting the challenge of interweaving rigor and support, its authors explore such critical ingredients as teacher-student advisories; school transition; the home-school divide; building a supportive college-preparatory culture; teaching with depth, relational power, and equity; the forging of an academic identity; and scaling up. At a time of sharply unequal schools, glaring disparities in college readiness, and heightened expectations, Achieving College Dreams uniquely extends the knowledge base about how to better prepare underserved students for college eligibility and success. The book also calls for universities to step up to the plate as partners with districts to ensure both excellence and equity in secondary education for all children.

Achieve the College Dream

Achieve the College Dream PDF

Author: Maria Carla Chicuen

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2016-05-19

Total Pages: 182

ISBN-13: 1475827369

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Students with few resources rarely apply to top colleges. Even when they have the academic and extracurricular merits to be admitted to institutions like Harvard, Yale and Princeton, these students usually opt for less selective universities. Many ignore that top colleges are actively seeking outstanding candidates regardless of their economic background. What’s more, a great number of colleges offers generous financial aid to make sure every student can afford to attend. This book is the definitive resource to help high-achieving, low-income students access the best possible college. The author draws from her extensive experience in education to provide advice on important aspects of the path to college such as pursuing a strong high school curriculum, preparing for standardized exams, complementing learning at school, developing leadership, and finding expert help and role models—all through affordable strategies. In the book, the author also guides students through the college application and selection processes, as well as the steps to obtain enough financial aid. From the very first page, the author sheds light on her own journey to college through deeply personal vignettes, demonstrating by example that students with few resources can reach and succeed at the top universities in the United States.

Hold Fast to Dreams

Hold Fast to Dreams PDF

Author: Beth Zasloff

Publisher: New Press, The

Published: 2015-03-03

Total Pages: 225

ISBN-13: 1595589287

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An “invaluable” memoir by a counselor who left the elite private-school world to help poor and working-class kids get into college (Washington Monthly). Winner of the Studs and Ida Terkel Award Joshua Steckel left an elite Manhattan school to serve as the first-ever college guidance counselor at a Brooklyn public high school—and has helped hundreds of disadvantaged kids gain acceptance. But getting in is only one part of the drama. This riveting work of narrative nonfiction follows the lives of ten of Josh’s students as they navigate the vast, obstacle-ridden landscape of college in America, where students for whom the stakes of education are highest find unequal access and inadequate support. Among the students we meet are Mike, who writes his essays from a homeless shelter and is torn between his longing to get away to an idyllic campus and his fear of leaving his family in desperate circumstances; Santiago, a talented, motivated, and undocumented student, who battles bureaucracy and low expectations as he seeks a life outside the low-wage world of manual labor; and Ashley, who pursues her ambition to become a doctor with almost superhuman drive—but then forges a path that challenges received wisdom about the value of an elite liberal arts education. At a time when the idea of “college for all” is hotly debated, this book uncovers, in heartrending detail, the ways the American education system fails in its promise as a ladder to opportunity—yet provides hope in its portrayal of the intelligence, resilience, and everyday heroics of young people whose potential is too often ignored. “A profound examination of the obstacles faced by low-income students . . . and the kinds of reforms needed to make higher education and the upward mobility it promises more accessible.” —Booklist

Won’t Lose This Dream

Won’t Lose This Dream PDF

Author: Andrew Gumbel

Publisher: The New Press

Published: 2020-08-25

Total Pages: 337

ISBN-13: 1620974711

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The extraordinary story of how Georgia State University tore up the rulebook for educating lower-income students "Georgia State . . . has been reimagined—amid a moral awakening and a raft of data-driven experimentation—as one of the South's more innovative engines of social mobility." —The New York Times Won’t Lose This Dream is the inspiring story of a public university that has blazed an extraordinary trail for lower-income and first-generation students in downtown Atlanta, the birthplace of the civil rights movement. Over the past decade Georgia State University has upended the conventional wisdom that large numbers of students are doomed to fail simply because of their economic background or the color of their skin. Instead, it has harnessed the power of big data to identify and remove the obstacles that previously stopped them from graduating and completely transformed their prospects. A student from a mediocre high school working two jobs to make ends meet is now no less likely to succeed than a child of wealth and privilege—an earth-shaking achievement that is reverberating across every college campus in the country. With unique access to the key players and drawing on his skills as an investigative reporter, Andrew Gumbel delivers a thrilling, blow-by-blow account of a long battle to determine whether universities exist for their students or vice versa. The story is told through the visionary leaders who overcame fierce resistance to tear up the rules of their own institution and through the many remarkable students whose resilience and determination, often against daunting odds, inspired the work at every stage. Their success shows how the promise of social advancement through talent and hard work, the essence of the American dream, can be rekindled even in an age of deep inequalities and divisive politics.

College Shortcuts: the Shortcut to Getting Accepted Into Your Dream College

College Shortcuts: the Shortcut to Getting Accepted Into Your Dream College PDF

Author: Neha Gupta

Publisher:

Published: 2018-07-20

Total Pages: 100

ISBN-13: 9781723147470

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College Shortcuts is aimed to help bring the consciousness back to college admissions. All day, I hear about competitiveness, stress, anxiety, and frustration and yelling in homes around the world over this. And, frankly, I disagree with this method. What if you could get in consciously....Knowing the universe has your back? What if you surrendered a bit and knew that the world is here to support you, and that having a team can help you and your family get through this in a relaxed and strategic way?In this book, I am going to literally walk you through exactly how to help your child from building a college list, all the way to submitting applications. Just a quick disclaimer, this book is NOT guaranteed to get you into a top college. The truth is that the level of success for children is highly related to their own work, and while I have been an incredible coach and mentor to help mold and shape children's lives around the world, I will tell you that the relationship I have with students is highly dependent on the child itself.This book is written for both adults and teenagers - but I typically write in a style that is directed towards the teenager - so please keep this in mind if you are a parent. Many parents read this book - and I want you to read it first and hand it over to your teenager afterwards. I know that getting into college is a family decision and a very important one - and I take this very seriously.

Paying the Price

Paying the Price PDF

Author: Sara Goldrick-Rab

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2016-09-01

Total Pages: 382

ISBN-13: 022640448X

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A “bracing and well-argued” study of America’s college debt crisis—“necessary reading for anyone concerned about the fate of American higher education” (Kirkus). College is far too expensive for many people today, and the confusing mix of federal, state, institutional, and private financial aid leaves countless students without the resources they need to pay for it. In Paying the Price, education scholar Sara Goldrick-Rab reveals the devastating effect of these shortfalls. Goldrick-Rab examines a study of 3,000 students who used the support of federal aid and Pell Grants to enroll in public colleges and universities in Wisconsin in 2008. Half the students in the study left college without a degree, while less than 20 percent finished within five years. The cause of their problems, time and again, was lack of money. Unable to afford tuition, books, and living expenses, they worked too many hours at outside jobs, dropped classes, took time off to save money, and even went without adequate food or housing. In many heartbreaking cases, they simply left school—not with a degree, but with crippling debt. Goldrick-Rab combines that data with devastating stories of six individual students, whose struggles make clear the human and financial costs of our convoluted financial aid policies. In the final section of the book, Goldrick-Rab offers a range of possible solutions, from technical improvements to the financial aid application process, to a bold, public sector–focused “first degree free” program. "Honestly one of the most exciting books I've read, because [Goldrick-Rab has] solutions. It's a manual that I'd recommend to anyone out there, if you're a parent, if you're a teacher, if you're a student."—Trevor Noah, The Daily Show

Realizing the College Dream with Autism Or Asperger Syndrome

Realizing the College Dream with Autism Or Asperger Syndrome PDF

Author: Ann Palmer

Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 178

ISBN-13: 1843108011

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Palmer advises parents and professionals how to prepare the student for the transition from school and home life to a new environment and educational challenge, and how to support them through potential problems such as academic pressure, living away from home, social integration and appropriate levels of participation in college.