By Kajsa Larson and Mark Neikirk for The Conversation.
Broadcast version by Nadia Ramlagan for Kentucky News Connection

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. -- College students at Northern Kentucky University (NKU) are participating in a program that allows them to give away thousands of dollars in grants to local nonprofits, and a new study shows those students are more likely to graduate.

Researchers found among 500 students who took the philanthropy class when they were sophomores, 58% went on to graduate versus 24% overall.

Kajsa Larson, associate professor of Spanish and faculty coordinator for the Mayerson Student Philanthropy Project classes at NKU, said community engagement makes the topics studied in the classroom real and relevant.

"I think that the incorporation of student philanthropy in the class makes students more engaged," Larson contended. "And we've seen that in our own students and our own classrooms, but the data also reflects that."

The program is the brainchild of former NKU president James Votruba and Neal Mayerson, a psychotherapist, businessman and philanthropist. The money NKU students give away comes primarily from individual and foundation donors.

Mark Neikirk, executive director of the Scripps Howard Center for Civic Engagement at NKU said the program began in the fall of 2000 with only a few classes. Now, about fifteen classes participate a semester.

Typically, each class awards $2000 at the end of the course. He explained hands-on philanthropy helps students make connections between their studies and real-world implications.

"In various measures of student success, adding philanthropy amplifies student performance and amplifies their likelihood to stay and graduate," Neikirk asserted.

Neikirk added more than 82% of the students surveyed at the end of their Mayerson class said the philanthropy component had a positive impact on their sense of personal responsibility to their community.

Kajsa Larson and Mark Neikirk wrote this article for The Conversation.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.


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BOSTON - Educators, parents and union leaders say Massachusetts needs a major overhaul of its standardized testing for students.

The most recent MCAS results - the state's annual standardized test - show more students performing worse in math and English compared with the year before the pandemic, and disparities remain between Black and Latino students and their white peers.

Merrie Najimy, president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, said these results don't accurately reflect students' abilities, but rather how much a community's school system has been under-resourced and under-funded.

"MCAS results reduce non-white students to merely a deficit or an achievement gap," she said, "rather than allowing educators to understand and align their teaching with the rich cultural wealth that students and their families possess."

She said a bill now in the General Assembly would remove MCAS as a graduation requirement and develop a new framework for assessing students and schools. It also would create a grant program for communities to develop evaluations, and suspend current accountability requirements for MCAS performance until schools are fully funded.

Music educator Deb Gesualdo, president of the Malden Education Association, said it's a big problem that passing the MCAS is a requirement for high school graduation, especially for low-income students, English learners and students who have Individualized Education Plans - or even test anxiety.

"As teachers, we have to differentiate the way we teach," she said. "We don't teach every student the same way, and yet we are forced to give an MCAS exam that treats every student pretty much the same."

Gesualdo echoed the importance of an approach that takes students' diverse backgrounds and learning styles into account. She added that the test has been in place for more than 20 years, and said she thinks updates are overdue.

PIERRE, S.D. - While South Dakota hits the reset button on updating social studies standards for schools, tribal groups opposed to the plans say they'll keep pushing for inclusion.

This week, Gov. Kristi Noem asked the state's Department of Education to delay implementing the standards for up to one year. The latest version of the plan has seen public backlash over removing several references to Oceti Sakowin history and culture, among other topics.

Sarah White, director of education equity at NDN Collective and lead facilitator for the South Dakota Education Equity Coalition, said a long pause isn't exactly a sigh of relief. She said she feels it allows the state to "kick the can down the road" rather than address a lack of Native American teachings.

"This was another clear evasion of responsibility," she said, "for Indigenous students, for inclusion, for anything of that nature."

White said it falls in line with Noem's past actions, including shifting the Office of Indian Education to the Department of Tribal Relations. The coalition will pursue legislation to move those duties back to the education department, and press for a fair process for developing curriculum. The proposal also was criticized by far-right groups, who argued conservative voices were silenced.

White said what's happening in South Dakota is part of a broader and long-standing failure to tell a more robust story of Native American history in classrooms.

"We haven't, as a nation, admitted or even faced the truth of what happened with Indigenous people," she said.

In neighboring Montana, state officials face a lawsuit over claims the curriculum there about Native American history fails to meet constitutional requirements. In South Dakota, Noem's order for a delay didn't specify what exactly prompted the action, but said more public input is needed. The plan, released in August, differed from a draft proposal put together by a working group earlier in the summer.

AUSTIN, Texas - A new national survey of community and technical colleges highlights the importance of job-focused education and training.

It finds 35% of students at these schools are taking non-credit courses that lead to industry certifications and credentials. That's a change from students who used to stick with academic courses designed to transfer to a four year school.

Tamar Jacoby - president of Opportunity America, the group that did the survey - said community and technical colleges offer students, whether they're 18 or 48, an affordable pathway to a career.

"Community college students can be job-focused or not job focused,' said Jacoby. "They can be learning welding or nursing or they can be learning liberal arts and sociology."

Texas' Commissioner of Higher Education Harrison Keller says many students enrolled in non-credit programs later pursue four year degrees, but on average, only 20% of community colleges allow students to leverage non-credit learning for college credit.

According to the survey, of the nation's 10.5 million community college students, about three quarters are older than 25.

Last week, the Austin Community College District announced a new partnership with Toyota Motor North America, called "Technician Training and Education Network," to begin next fall. It's designed to provide a pipeline to careers with Toyota and Lexus.

Chauncy Lennon, vice president for learning and work at Lumina Foundation, said the next challenge is getting more American businesses to cross-promote innovation.

"Get industries to come together and better identify their shared skill needs," said Lennon. "And then, signal those over to the community-college system."

A survey question about partnerships between community colleges and local employers found that only about 36% of employer partners offer workplace-based learning opportunities.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.