What We’re Reading: Week of September 20, 2021

Happy Friday! In this week’s What We’re Reading, we share articles covering how school districts successfully navigated the COVID-19 pandemic, a new fund proposed to support students as they persist through higher education, changes to the College Board CSS Profile, and more. Thanks for reading with us!

Have a story you think the Linked Learning field should read? Reach out to me at ava@linkedlearning.org!

COVID-19

What do school districts credit for successful pandemic pivots?, K-12 Dive
New research from Next Generation Learning Challenges examines what school districts did to successfully pivot due to the COVID-19 pandemic, finding those that did so most effectively had existing practices in place prior to closures, and that many attributed positive school cultures and strong relationships to their success.

Higher Education

Getting More Students Through — Not Just To — College, EdSurge
A proposed College Completion Fund is designed to provide services for people who may benefit from extra support as they pursue a postsecondary degree, including students from low-income families, students with disabilities, those who are the first in their families to attend college, and racial minorities.

Expanding Local Community College Transfer Pathways, Inside Higher Ed
In a recently published brief, Inside Higher Ed explores the supply of qualified community college students located locally, students they call “transfer-ready.” Specifically, the report focuses on private institutions with graduation rates consistently above 70 percent, as those are the institutions where the disparities in community college transfer enrollment are most pronounced.

College Board announces easier CSS Profile, plus a 'lighter, shorter' version, Higher Ed Dive
Students from families earning up to $100,000 will now be able to freely apply to the College Board's CSS Profile, a tool used by some 300 colleges to award students institutional financial aid packages.

Practice

4 ways to bring joy back to math after a year of virtual learning, K-12 Dive
Helping students shake off negative math identities and discover how math concepts are related are some of the strategies being promoted.