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The ‘Godfather’ of top charter schools: A tribute to the late Linda Brown
The woman who was arguably one of the most influential U.S. educators in decades died on Christmas day in her home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, at the age of 81, with her fingernails freshly painted bright red — as always. That would be Linda Brown, who tried very hard to remain private, and succeeded. To date, there...
By Richard Whitmire | January 16, 2024
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Q&A: Rocketship Schools’ co-founder reflects on 15 years of empowering parents and the growth of 13 campuses across California
In the fall of 2011, having hurriedly finished The Bee Eater, a book about Michelle Rhee’s tumultuous turn at the helm of D.C. Public Schools (hurriedly because Rhee got the ax when her protector-mayor got voted out of office) I was looking for a really, really fresh approach to public education, especially schools that serve poor...
By Richard Whitmire | April 6, 2023
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When graduating isn’t enough: New KIPP scholarship will help first-gen college grads at risk of being ‘underemployed’
The KIPP charter school network’s announcement of another scholarship program designed to launch their alumni into successful careers — and avoid the underemployment problems of years past — represents the latest mile marker along a steep learning curve. The nation’s largest group of K-12 charter schools said last week that the Ruth and Norman Rales...
By Richard Whitmire | October 19, 2021
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College enrollment continues to plunge, marking the worst single-year decline since 2011
Restaurants and airports may be filling up again as the pandemic eases, but not college campuses. The continued steep drops in college enrollment, especially at community colleges which attract disproportionate numbers of low-income and minority students, are both surprising and worrisome. This spring, overall college enrollment fell by 603,000 students, from 17.5 million to 16.9...
By Richard Whitmire | June 21, 2021
Investigation: Nearly 1,000 Native Children Died in Federal Boarding Schools
Podcast: What a Mentorship Mindset Can Do for Student Motivation
Black and Hispanic Voters Say Democrats Aren’t Focused Enough on K-12 Education
Teen Activist Rhea Maniar on the Power of Abortion to Turn Out Young Voters
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New data: Sharp declines in community college enrollment are being driven by disappearing male students
The latest fall college enrollment figures released this month tell a startling story that alarms educators: The sharp declines at community colleges — far larger than at four-year colleges — are due mostly to disappearing male students. At some community colleges, the losses are minor. At others, however, they are dramatic. At Southwest Tennessee Community...
By Richard Whitmire | December 15, 2020
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KIPP launches first-of-its-kind alumni network to help its 30K graduates with careers, mental health and finances
A first-of-its-kind alumni network for K-12 KIPP charter school graduates launches today, drawing on its unique national alumni base of 30,000 students that’s expected to grow to 80,000 by 2025. The National KIPP Alumni Network offers both alum-to-alum support as well as outside professional guidance. The three external players in the network programs, financed by California-based Crankstart...
By Richard Whitmire | October 14, 2020
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How the Common App, the College Advising Corps and an AI chatbot are saving the college dreams of low-income students during the pandemic
Last spring, college adviser Anthony Scales took on some extra duties that put him on the front lines of an effort to rescue the college dreams of tens of thousands of students — an effort best described by a cliche: They’re building it while flying it. At the high-poverty, all-minority Sumner High School in St....
By Richard Whitmire | September 16, 2020
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Whitmire: The wave of higher ed shutdowns threatens American’s progress in getting low-income, first-generation students to and through college
Just weeks ago, Brandy Caldwell was finishing up her senior year at Boston’s Brandeis University when she got the notice: The coronavirus was forcing a campus shutdown in two days. For most students, that meant a hasty packing up and a quick car trip home to their parents. But for Caldwell, 22, it wasn’t that...
By Richard Whitmire | April 8, 2020
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Inside the quest for better data about how many high school graduates, particularly students from low-income neighborhoods, are going on to achieve college degrees
School districts in high-income neighborhoods assume almost all their graduates will succeed in college. But often, their alumni fall short of expectations. Districts serving students in low-income neighborhoods cite their success in enrolling more students in college. But the number of their students who actually persist to earn degrees can be dismayingly low as well....
By Richard Whitmire | February 10, 2020
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Expanding the community college to university pipeline: Why more elite schools like UCLA are embracing transfers and the 15,000 students graduating each year with 3.7 GPAs
This is an excerpt from the new Richard Whitmire book The B.A. Breakthrough: How Ending Diploma Disparities Can Change the Face of America. See more excerpts, profiles, commentaries, videos and additional data behind the book at The74Million.org/Breakthrough. Standing outside a lecture hall on a hot August Tuesday here at the University of California, Los Angeles,...
By Richard Whitmire | April 9, 2019