Category Archives: Academic Performance

Report: Balancing Work and Learning is a Struggle for Low-Income Students

Nearly 70 percent of college students work while enrolled in school, but the types of jobs they hold and the hours they work vary based on their socioeconomic status, according to a recent report from Georgetown University’s Center for Education and the Workforce (CEW).

“When they choose to work…higher-income students have access to the best jobs and work experience, such as internships and assistantships,” according to a CEW press release. “Low-income students are more likely than higher-income students to work in food service, sales, and administrative support jobs while enrolled. Work experience in these jobs provides basic life skills like conscientiousness and teamwork, but does not provide the deeper technical and general skills that foreshadow good career entry-level jobs.”

And in many cases, the demands of these positions exacerbate the challenges students face in the classroom.

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Advocates Spread the Word About Afterschool Meal Program

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Have you heard about the federal government’s Afterschool Meal Program?

Advocates in Texas are trying to get more schools and community organizations in their state to participate in the initiative, which is available to qualifying schools across the nation. Experts say the program is under-used, despite its power to provide low-income students with a free meal at the end of every school day.

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NACAC Member Sounds Off About the Importance of GPA

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High school students have a lot of questions about the college admission process.

Amariyah Callender, a rising senior in the Atlanta area, decided to go straight to the source to get hers answered.

Callender interviewed NACAC member Latrina Fisher, associate director of admissions at Spelman College (GA), in a new podcast for VOXatl. She admitted to starting her senior year off with a 2.9 GPA and asked Fisher how much she needed to be stressing about the final numbers.

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Low-Income Families Play a Powerful Role in the Success of Their Students

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Financial assistance is crucial to the academic success of low-income college students, but according to new research, family support may be even more influential.

A study published recently in Research in Higher Education showed that students with a strong familial cheering section did better at navigating college life and classes.

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Stop the Spread of Math Anxiety

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Educators have long-known that math anxiety can affect student performance, but the underlying source of that apprehension may surprise you.

“Math anxiety can develop in the very early grades, often because of the negative messages about math that children pick up from the adults in their lives,” according to Karyn Lewis, a senior researcher at Education Northwest. “…Research shows that teachers unintentionally transmit their own attitudes about math to their students. This means teachers who have math anxiety can pass it on to their students, which can impact students’ math performance.”

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Engagement Key to Retaining Non-Traditional College Students

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Determining which returning adult students are at risk of dropping out of college is a complex process, according to results from a recent national survey.

Common data points — such as demographics, choice of major, and hours devoted to studying — can’t reliably predict whether a nontraditional student will struggle to complete their degree.

As it turns out, the most dependable factor for identifying at-risk non-traditional students is the extent to which they make effective connections to their college, a factor that can be difficult to measure. After all, the very students who are most in danger of dropping out often have limited contact with professors, peers, and college staff, according to a recent report from Barnes & Noble College Insights — a division of the bookseller that produces quantitative and qualitative research related to higher education.

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Study: Economic Factors Influence College Graduation Rates

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Money talks. It’s an old adage, but it rings true even when it comes to college graduation rates.

A new study from Oregon State University found that both the socioeconomic status of a college’s student body and the school’s own revenue and expenditures are significant predictors in whether first-time students will complete their degree and graduate within six years.

Researchers focused solely on four-year broad access institutions, which are colleges and universities that accept 80 percent or more of their applicants.

“For those students, resources really matter, in a way that is different from the population as a whole,” Gloria Crisp, the study’s lead author, said. “That finding is consistent with the persistent inequities in college completion rates for these underserved populations.”

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Study: Sleep Patterns Affect Academic Performance

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Late night study sessions may seem like a good idea to students looking to boost their grades, but new research suggests sticking with a consistent sleep schedule may be a better long-term strategy.

The study, published earlier this month by Scientific Reports, found that college students who did not go to bed and wake up at similar times each day were more likely to have lower GPAs.

Irregular sleep patterns upend students’ natural body clocks and can leave them feeling jet-lagged, a condition that ultimately undermines their performance in the classroom, Dr. Charles Czeisler, one of the study’s authors, told CNN.

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