All posts by Mary Stegmeir

Admitted writer/editor Mary Stegmeir welcomes additional comments and story ideas at mstegmeir@nacacnet.org.

NACAC Members Offer Advice to College-Bound Students

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It may be summertime, but the search process continues for college-bound teens.

From visiting campuses to taking time to reflect on academic interests, the summer months provide an opportunity for students to refine their college lists.

Three NACAC members recently shared their insights into the process at a Bates College (ME) alumni event.

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ICYMI: NACAC Addresses Trump Travel Ban

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“Extremely disappointing” are the words NACAC used to describe Tuesday’s Supreme Court decision to uphold President Trump’s travel ban.

In a statement released to the press, the association expressed concern that the 5-4 decision would allow for discrimination against individuals based solely on their nationality and/or religion. Three earlier iterations of the ban — which prohibited travelers from several majority-Muslim countries from entering the US — had previously been struck down by lower courts.

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Study Shows Impressive Academic Gains Among English Language Learners

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National achievement data released this month included an unexpected bright spot.

A study published by Education Researcher shows that current and former English Language Learners in grades four and eight have made impressive gains in math and reading over the last 15 years, improving at a rate that was two to three times faster than their monolingual peers.

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Do You Know When to Nudge? Watch Our Facebook Live Broadcast with Ben Castleman

In recent years, we’ve learned more about successful strategies for boosting college access and academic success.

But for many schools, communities, and colleges, bringing those interventions to students has proven challenging, researcher Ben Castleman said Tuesday during a NACAC Facebook Live broadcast.

A new guide— Nudges, Norms, and New Solutions — seeks to fill that gap. The resource is available free of charge and offers step-by-step advice to help educators increase college access, help students file for financial aid, and stay on track academically.

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Survey: Americans Think US Higher Education System Must Change

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Americans believe in the power of higher education, but most say that colleges aren’t functioning the way they should.

According to a recent survey of 1,600 US adults commissioned by the Washington, DC-based New America think tank:

  • Seventy-five percent of Americans say that it is easier to be successful with a college degree.
  • But only a quarter of those surveyed agree that the higher education system “is functioning just fine the way it is.”

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#NACACreads: Book Club Examines Racism in America

Beverly Daniel Tatum’s classic book —Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? — is chock-full of hard truths.

And when participants in Monday’s #NACACreads chat gathered online to discuss the bestseller, they confronted many of those realities and shared ideas for how to make things better for the students they serve.

“Prejudice is one of the inescapable consequences of living in a racist society. Cultural racism — the cultural images and messages that affirm the assumed superiority of Whites and the assumed inferiority of people of color — is like smog in the air,” Tatum writes in the book, revised in 2017. “Sometimes it is so thick it is visible, other times it is less apparent, but always, day in and out, we are breathing it in.

“None of us would introduce ourselves as ‘smog breathers’ (and most of us don’t want to be described as prejudiced),” she added. “But if we live in a smoggy place, how can we avoid breathing the air?”

Counselors and admission professionals from across the country joined in the discussion. Here are highlights from the hour-long chat.

Continue reading #NACACreads: Book Club Examines Racism in America