Skip A Grade? Start Kindergarten Early? It's Not So Easy
Experts say that prohibitive state and local school district policies on grade-skipping and acceleration may actually do more harm than good for high-achieving children.
Read MoreCooke Foundation Joins Equal Opportunity Schools $100 Million Initiative to Enroll 100,00 Low-Income Students in AP/IB Classes
The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation announces a partnership with Equal Opportunity Schools and various other organizations and businesses in a collective effort to identify and place 100,000 low-income students and students of color in Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) courses across the country. The Cooke Foundation has pledged a total of $1.5 million.
Read MoreSpending $100 million to break down AP class barriers
Marketplace reports a missing 650,000 low-income students and minorities who would participate in advanced courses if given the opportunity. Equal Opportunity Schools, a non-profit that works with schools to increase opportunities like these, announced a $100 million initiative called "Lead Higher" aimed at getting more students (a goal of 100,000) enrolled in Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate classes. EOS is working with a group of education and business organizations — including the College Board, the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, Tableau Software, the International Baccalaureate Organization and Google.
Read MoreLow-Income Students at Elite Colleges Speak of facing Pressures and Alienation
Harold Levy, executive director of the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, meets with a group of education leaders to discuss increasing access to college for low-income students and the pressures and alienation these students encounter.
Read MoreMandate Gifted Programs
Advocates praise federal initiatives to boost programming for academically gifted, low-income learners in effort to close "excellence gap" in Maryland.
Read MoreTennessee must work to narrow excellence gap
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as "the nation's report card," revealed that the Volunteer State had made the fastest education gains in the entire country in 2013.
Read MoreCan excellence gap in US education be closed?
Harold Levy, executive director of the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, discusses his foundation’s goal to close the “excellence gap” in grades K-12 through scholarships and grants for innovative.initiatives that support high-performing, low-income students.
Read MoreCooke Foundation Awards $500,000 to Elite Public High Schools to Increase Pipeline of Exceptionally Talented Low-Income Students
Selective public high schools in six states willreceive grants totaling $500,000 to prepare academicallytalented, low-income students. Combined, the grants will benefit more than1,500 students in grades 6-12.
Read MoreCollege Counsel for the Poor
According to the Pell Institute, only about 1 in 10 Americans who grew up poor earn college degrees. Thanks to intense counseling from a nonprofit; one Boston College senior ready to join the 11% of Americans like her and earn her degree.
Read MoreNew Prize Rewards Economic Diversity at Colleges
Coverage of the $1 million Cooke Foundation Prize for Equity in Educational Excellence awarded to Vassar College this year. With almost one in four Vassar students who qualify for federal Pell grants, Vassar College is enrolling more low-income students and giving them large scholarships than any other college that has a four-year graduation rate of 75 percent.
Read MoreCooke Foundation awards Vassar College inaugural $1 million prize for supporting high-performing, low-income students
The Cooke Prize for Equity in Educational Excellence is the largest award in the nation recognizing a college making strides in enrolling low-income students and supporting them to successful graduation. Recipient Vassar College will apply the Cooke Prize to programs for lower-income students, “first generation” students (the first in their family to attend college), and undocumented students, so-called “DREAMers.”
Read MoreGeorgia education policies undermine poor kids’ performance, group says
“Georgia’s education policies scored an uninspiring grade from a foundation committed to ending the performance gap between students from low- and high-income households.” Read More…
Read MoreUCONN study: Bright, low-income kids are short changed
Highlights the Equal Talents, Unequal Opportunities report and its key findings, including the disproportionate amount of advanced learning opportunities for wealthier school districts.
Read MoreNew Report from Cooke Foundation Finds State Policies Fail Bright, Low-Income Students
New report from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, Equal Talents, Unequal Opportunities: A Report Card on State Support for Academically Talented Low-Income Students, "grades states on 18 simple indicators representing nine distinct state-level policies and nine specific measures of student outcomes. Not one state receives an A.
Read MoreReport Gives States Poor Grades on Serving Low-Income, Advanced Students
Coverage of the release of the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation’s Equal Talents, Unequal Opportunities: A Report Card on State Support for Academically Talented Low-Income Students. The piece features the foundation’s recommendations, including removing barriers to acceleration for advanced students and ensuring access to advanced educational services.
Read MoreGifted students — especially those who are low-income — aren’t getting the focus they need
Coverage of the release of the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation’s Equal Talents, Unequal Opportunities: A Report Card on State Support for Academically Talented Low-Income Students. The article breaks down many of the underlying data and state policy indicators behind each state ‘grade’.
Read MoreOpinion Journal: School Success
Video: Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Director of Research Jennifer Giancola interview on the necessary state-level interventions to enable talented low-income students to achieve academic excellence.
Read MoreGetting poor kids into the college club: A crucial challenge, lest we squander America’s potential
Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Executive Director and former New York schools chancellor Harold O. Levy discusses the need for specialized college counselors in America's schools, and the importance of identifying and providing advanced learners with the enrichment they need to guide them toward college admission.
Read MoreGroup seeks to close the ‘excellence gap’ in nation’s elite public schools
Coverage from the ‘Closing the Excellence Gap’ summit held in Northern Virginia and attended by principals at the nation’s top selective public high schools to address the excellence gap and discuss how to better serve high-achieving, low-income students.
Read MoreThree Reasons College Matters for Social Mobility
“The wide gaps in college completion rates by family income background is a stark reminder of the deep inequalities in America’s post-secondary education system.” Read More…
Read MoreThe Rich Get Richer — and More Educated
Highlights Pell Institute research that shows wealthy Americans have seen major growth in educational attainment, yet poor Americans struggle to graduate.
Read MoreIndicators of Higher Education Equity in the United States
Report shows that higher education outcomes are highly inequitable across family income groups, and the disparities between these groups are larger now than in the past.
Read MoreSelective High Schools Meet on Recruiting More Low-Income Students
“More than 100 principals from selective high schools across the country are gathered at a conference here to strategize about how to get more high-achieving, low-income students into their specialized programs and persist in college and careers.”
Read MoreIf We Aren't Helping the Poor Smart Kids, What Hope Is There for Others?
Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Executive Director Harold O. Levy writes, “Our failure to help high-ability students from low-income backgrounds fulfill their potential has significant implications for the social mobility of America's lower-income families and the strength of our economy and society as a whole.”
Read MoreCommunity College Students Need More Support to Be Successful, Research Finds
“Recent research highlights the need to provide extra support to community college students, many of whom are low-income, first in their families to attend college, and have limited access to career advice.”
Read MoreNew Initiative Hopes To Connect Qualified Students With College Know-How
Harold O. Levy discusses the need for mentors and counselors to aid high-achieving, low-income high school students in gaining admission to and succeeding at the nation’s top colleges. Levy highlights new online counseling initiative.
Read MoreReaching out with tech
Harold O. Levy discusses new Jack Kent Cooke Foundation technology projects, like research fellowships, online college advising and raising awareness about undermatching.
Read MoreThe Widening Income Achievement Gap
Shares findings that show significant growth in the income achievement gap in the last three decades; highlights causes, solutions, consequences and the role schools can play.
Read MoreNo Rich Child Left Behind
New York Times Opinion piece highlights disparities between grades, standardized test scores, participation in extra-curricular activities, school leadership positions, graduation rates and rates of college enrollment and completion — all favoring the children coming from higher-income families.
Read MoreSmart, Poor Kids Are Applying to the Wrong Colleges
“It turns out that over and above all the other disadvantages one faces growing up poor in America, the majority of high-achieving kids from low-income backgrounds fail to apply to any selective colleges.”
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