The higher education bubble is coming. Watch out.

I heard someone recently say if you thought the "housing bubble" was tough, wait for the "higher education bubble." It's gonna be worse. This graphic helps explain the situation. (Note: Even though I'd like to see a graphic like this include sources for the data, I do believe that the general message (or messages) in it are true and accurate.)

Go to this link (sorry, I can't paste the full graphic here without it getting chopped off).

First day of school 2011!

So here we are again, back to school. This time it’s strange for me for a couple of reasons. My son, who is my youngest child, is starting his senior year at Ridgewood High School. It’s hard to believe we’re already here. Hard to believe his college applications will be done in a couple of months. And hardest to believe he’ll be going off to college in one year. He is such a different person than my daughter, that the college app and senior process will be much different this time around. Let’s just say things aren’t quite so buttoned up. At the same time, things don't feel so stressful, either.

We did manage to get a few things done this summer. We researched and visited several schools. At the beginning of the summer, his list of potential colleges was around 40. It is now a manageable 11 schools – and that’s how many he will apply to. I think he’s got 2 reach, 3 target/reach, 4 target and 2 safety. Part of the challenge is that he is completely undecided in terms of what he wants to study or what he wants to do with his life. And that’s OK with me – in fact I think it’s great because I don’t think 16 or 17 year olds have the experience or knowledge of themselves or the world to be “deciding” on their careers. So while I’m glad he’s open to a lot of possibilities, it changes the college search process from one focused on finding the school with the perfect program to finding a school with a wide variety of options, where the important thing is he feels comfortable enough to explore.

I appreciate the fact that college is a priority among Ridgewood students – as my daughter used to say, it’s actually cool to be smart at RHS – but I don’t like the constant comparison and “where are you applying” and “what are your SAT scores” that can reach a fever pitch among some/many of the students (and parents). My number one goal with my son (and my daughter in 2007) was to get them to keep their heads down, focus on themselves and what’s right for them, and don’t listen to what everyone else is doing.

As a parent, it can be helpful to hear what others are doing as a way to get ideas, hear advice from those who’ve lived it before and to relieve stress (whew, glad to know all the boys are procrastinators!). But for the students, I think the constant talk and comparison is not helpful. So I try to be a counterbalance to that.

Anyway, the beginning of senior year is an exciting time. Even though I know that at the very end of the process there will be a letting go, I’m looking forward to the experience – the one I’ll be sharing with my son and husband and the one I’ll be sharing with my fellow RHS Class of 2012 parents.

Have a great year, everyone. Here we go!

RHS Class of 2011 College Destinations.

As an RHS parent, I recently received the annual “Senior Survey” from the Guidance Department. It’s a report on post-graduate plans for the Class of 2011. According to the survey of 412 graduating seniors:

90.8% are attending a 4-year college (Last year, it was 88.8%)
4.6% are attending a 2-year college (Last year, it was 4.5%)
42.3% are attending a Public/State college (Last year, it was 40.7%)
57.7% are attending a Private college (Last year, it was 59.3%)
18.4% are attending a college in New Jersey (Last year, it was 21.4%)
9 seniors are attending an Ivy League College (Last year, it was 16 seniors)

College destinations for the top 20% of the Class of 2011:
Amherst College
Bates College
Bentley University
Binghamton University
Boston College
Boston University (2)
Bowdoin College
Brandeis University (2)
Brown University (2)
Bucknell University (2)
Colgate University
College of the Holy Cross
College of William and Mary (3)
Columbia University
Cornell University (4)
Duke University
Emerson College
Fordham University
Georgetown University
Hamilton College (3)
Johns Hopkins University (2)
Lehigh University
Middlebury College (3)
Muhlenberg College
New York University (3)
Northeastern University
Northwestern University
Oberlin College
Penn State
Providence College
Rutgers University (2)
Stevens Institute of Technology
The College of New Jersey (2)
The George Washington University
Tufts University
Tulane University
Universidad Interamericana de Costa Rica
University of California at Los Angeles
University of Chicago
University of Illinois at Urbano-Champaign
University of Maryland, College Park
University of Michigan (5)
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (2)
University of Notre Dame (3)
University of Richmond
University of Southern California
University of Virginia
Vanderbilt University
Vassar College (3)
Washington and Lee University (2)
Wesleyan University (2)
Williams College

Graduating.

Heading up to New Hampshire early tomorrow for my daughter's graduation from UNH. Cannot believe how fast these four years went. She'll be graduating with honors, with a BA in Psychology with a minor in Education, and she'll be returning in the Fall to complete her Master's in Education and do her student teaching. (Then she'll probably start her teaching career in NH or Massachusetts.) She's talked about one single career goal for her entire life -- to become a teacher. She's a natural and it's so exciting to see her getting close to that goal. A year or so ago she called in a panic --she was hearing about the politics and trashing of teachers by the governor of New Jersey. "Why am I even becoming a teacher, if everybody hates them...I should find something else to do." Of course, on second thought, there is nothing else she has ever wanted to do, so changing really isn't an option. Truly, she doesn't care about the benefits and the contracts and even the evaluations or whatever. She just wants to get in a classroom and start teaching. The fact is, whatever the rules are when she starts, whatever the contributions to health care, etc., that will be her (and other new teachers') "new normal."

Anyway, we're proud that she's graduating with honors. She has said many times that she felt extremely well-prepared for college, when she got there with her Ridgewood education. I hear this from other college students as well, and apparently the high school HSA had some students visit the last HSA meeting to talk about how they transitioned to college. It's good to know.

So I probably won't be posting for a few days, unless I get inspired and also have a little free time in-between various ceremonies and dinners and such. Have a great weekend!

Ridgewood students & parents take note: relax on the college angst!

Love, loved this column from Mitch Albom, which ran in today's Bergen Record.

Favorite part: "[Today] Gandhi would be put on a waiting list."

Most scary part: "A New York City woman who [is] suing a private preschool academy for putting her 4-year-old daughter with younger kids and therefore affecting her chances at an Ivy League education. Never mind that all 4-year-olds should be covered in orange paint. This mom is already thinking about the day you seniors are about to face. And she's terrified."

Please read and take heart. As the mother of an RHS junior, I appreciate the reminder:

Dear High School Seniors,

I know you weren't expecting a commencement address. It's still March, and you haven't even gotten to throw up at the prom yet.

But you are at a crossroads. In a matter of days, you will get letters from colleges you applied to. Some will be thick. You will like those. Some will be thin. You won't like those so much.

I am here to say: Don't fret if that letter is thin. You will survive. You may even prosper.

It seems incredibly hard to get into colleges these days. You wouldn't think so, given what they charge. You can run an airport on their room and board bills.

Yet last year, places like Princeton and Brown had nearly 20% increases in applicants from the year before. The University of Chicago jumped 42%. You'd think they were giving away diplomas, instead of asking for your house, your keys and your firstborn.

But even worse than the financial burden on your parents is the implied standards they are setting for you kids. Today, excellence isn't enough. Gandhi would be put on a waiting list.

When we were applying to college, you needed good grades, a decent test score and one teacher willing to forget the time you pulled the fire alarm and write you a recommendation.

Today, you need to cure cancer.

Preferably before your junior year.

The mythical cream of the crop?

As an uncle to 15 nieces and nephews, I have been seeing my share of these applications. I have to say, I don't know how you do it.

First of all, when do you have the time? Your nightly homework is as much as we got the entire ninth grade.

And the application itself? Some universities use the "common app," which permits millions of kids to stuff their credentials into the same essay question.

But let's talk about those questions. They ask you to write about an experience that changed or influenced you. And instead of writing what really comes to mind (a first kiss after soccer practice), you feel compelled to write about saving manatees from extinction off the gulf coast. Even if you never did save manatees. Because you heard about some kid who actually did save manatees, and he also carried 100 pairs of pajamas to victims of Hurricane Katrina, and he also plays jazz bass (upright) and in his spare time finished a sequel to "Catcher in the Rye."

Oh, and he scored 36 on his ACT.

I'm not sure such über-students really exist. But people talk about them. You hear about them getting in to Harvard, Princeton, Stanford. So much so, that good, intelligent, ambitious kids don't even want to apply to those places, because they don't feel "special" enough. It's as if schools today put out a vibe: "What, you don't know how to reconstruct a hydraulics system? You should have studied harder - in grade school."

Never too young for the fast track?

So it was no surprise this past week to read of a New York City woman who is suing a private preschool academy for putting her 4-year-old daughter with younger kids and therefore affecting her chances at an Ivy League education. Never mind that all 4-year-olds should be covered in orange paint. This mom is already thinking about the day you seniors are about to face. And she's terrified.

Well, relax. Because here's the thing: When you get older, you realize college doesn't make you, you make college. Many an Ivy Leaguer is now lying on a couch, and many a community college grad is running a profitable company.

Ironically, just as elite universities have become so precious in their selection, they are being debunked as the only way to success. The Internet has changed everything about information flow.

Remember Matt Damon's character in "Good Will Hunting" who taunts a Harvard student by saying in 50 years he'll realize he "dropped a hundred and fifty grand on a (bleeping) education you coulda got for a dollar fifty in late charges at the public library"?

Of course, you don't remember. You were 4 years old. But there was truth in those words, more today than ever.

So believe in yourself. You can springboard from any decent school. Open those mailboxes. And if choice No.1 doesn't come through, just remember, even Michael Jordan watched two players picked ahead of him in the NBA draft.

What's that? ... Who's Michael Jordan?

Thank you, and good day.

Race to Nowhere to be shown again Feb. 28; Producer will lead post-screening discussion

Nearly 600 Ridgewood parents turned out in December to view and discuss the educational documentary film, RACE TO NOWHERE. Additionally, the film was shown to the entire faculty at Ridgewood High School. The film’s producer, Vicki Abeles, followed the strong response from our community and has planned a visit to Ridgewood to continue the dialog. On February 28th at 7:00 PM at the Benjamin Franklin Auditorium, Vicki Abeles will host a screening of RACE TO NOWHERE and lead a discussion. All members of the community are invited, but according to a recent email from the RHS HSA, Ms. Abeles is most interested in hearing from RHS students. Parents are asked to encourage their teen children to attend.

Personally, I think the parents who most need to attend the screening are parents of elementary school children. The attitudes and practices that are criticized or questioned by the film are attitudes and practices that begin when children are in elementary school. By the time our kids are in high school, frankly, the damage has been done. (That's not to say certain aspects can't be "undone." It's never too late to chill out!)

Following is additional background on the film, from promotional materials:

Vicki Abeles, a concerned mother turned filmmaker, in RACE TO NOWHERE, aims her camera at the high-stakes, high-pressure culture that has invaded schools and the lives of children, creating unhealthy, disengaged and stressed-out youth. Featuring the stories of young people in all types of communities who have been pushed to the brink, educators who are burned out and worried that students aren’t developing the skills they need, and parents who are trying to do what’s best for their kids, RACE TO NOWHERE is a call to action to challenge current assumptions on how best to prepare the youth of America to become healthy, bright, and contributing citizens.

RACE TO NOWHERE examines what is happening to students as a result of current policies and practices that focus on testing, performance and competition rather than meaningful teaching and learning. The film gives voice to those who are most affected by education policies – the students and teachers themselves. The film empowers everyone to get involved and take ownership of what’s happening in our schools and communities.

Admission is free of charge.

New grading system at RHS

The following information was emailed to parents by Principal Jack Lorenz. As a parent who has gone through 6 years of high school grades, I do think this will result in more accurate and consistent grades. I have some other thoughts, too, following Mr. Lorenz' letter:

[Email from Mr. Lorenz:]
We are in the process of implementing our Skyward student information system and Skyward Grade Book. In preparation for this implementation our faculty through the Curriculum Steering Committee examined the old grading patterns system and reached consensus on a revised grading system.

Parents and students have frequently requested that we include plus and minus grades for each quarter. Students, parents, and the Curriculum Steering Committee requested that we use a percentage grade to arrive at semester and yearlong grades. The system we have adopted provides students and parents with a more accurate picture of student achievement.

Since we are implementing these changes across all grades, the playing field is level and no one has an advantage over another student. The final grade in a semester course will be determined by averaging the two quarters with the mid-term counting no more than twenty (20%) per cent of the 2nd quarter guide. The final grade for a year long course will be the average of four (4) quarters with the final examination counting no more than twenty percent (20%) of the fourth quarter guide. Letter grades will be assigned as follows:


A 93–100
A - 90–92
B + 87–89
B 83–86
B - 80–82
C + 77–79
C 73–76
C - 70–72
D + 67–69
D 63–66
D - 60–62
E* 0–59

For example, a student who receives a 91 percent, 86 percent, 82 percent and 88 percent for quarter grades would have an average of 86.7 percent which would result in a B+ for this final grade. We are confident that this system of grading will yield a positive result for our students.

John A. Lorenz, Principal

***

I have spoken with some fellow RHS parents who were concerned about the implications of this mid-high-school-career change for some students. They are worried about how Ridgewood graduates' grades will appear to college admissions officials. In speaking with several administrators, I learned the following:

First, with the new system, GPAs are just as likely to go up slightly as they are to go down. In terms of individual grades, many students who would have received a B under the old system will now receive a B+.

In terms of how Ridgewood’s GPAs will look to college admissions offices, it’s hard to predict. Over the past 15-20 years, there have been as many as four grading systems at RHS and for each system I'm sure there was a contingency of parents/teachers who were opposed to the system. At one point, colleges were surveyed about their view of high school grading systems and the fact is they do not care -- they have to make sense out of literally thousands of systems -- some numerical, some letter, some narrative, some weighted, some unweighted -- but all in all they recalculate using their own system to standardize for all so they can make decisions in a systematic way. Apparently, colleges are more interested in decile ranges than GPAs created by various different systems.

The good news is that RHS has been known for grading fairly and with integrity and not all schools have such a reputation since grade inflation is rampant in this country. No matter the system, our students should be evaluated fairly.

If I can share the way I’m personally looking at this issue: I am glad to know that my son’s grades will now be more mathematically accurate. I hope it moves him up in cases where he is on the fence, but even if it moves him down, at least it will have been fairly reached.

*On a side note, whatever happened to the good old "F"?

The week ahead: the natives are getting restless.

Some random thoughts for a Sunday night:

Things are starting to pick up a little speed this week. Tomorrow the District's new teachers will begin their three-day orientation process at the Ed Center. Board members will meet them over coffee and such before their program begins. I always think how exciting it must be to begin teaching in Ridgewood. The mood is always so upbeat and positive. Great way to start my week! (I can't remember how many new teachers will be starting tomorrow...I'll report back with that info later.)

Work on the athletic fields will get back underway tomorrow and I'll be interested to see how the under-construction fields look after today's ridiculous amount of rain. I drove by late tonight and Stevens appeared to be free of standing water. (It was dark, so visibility wasn't great.) The Stadium field was a big lake earlier in the evening, and still had quite a bit of water all around the perimeter by 11 p.m. Of course, we've known all along that there will continue to be flooding at the fields. Flooding is inevitable. What's important -- and what's supposed to be improved -- is the drainage after the floods. So...tomorrow will be interesting.

Also this week, I'll be accompanying my daughter back to New Hampshire to help her move in for her senior year at UNH. Pretty speechless on that one -- cannot believe she is a senior. And she submitted her application for Graduate School today...if she gets accepted into the program, she'll be able to get her Master's in 2012 and begin teaching. She still wants to be a teacher, but the future looks a little scary to students currently in teacher education programs. I just tell her to keep her head down and work hard on becoming the best teacher she can be...the economics and politics and such will work themselves out (I hope) while she's studying. I've also told her to keep an open mind...she may want to start her teaching career somewhere other than New Jersey.

Interesting story in the New York Times today about "redshirting" kindergartners. Redshirting is the practice of starting kids later so that they will be among the older children in their class, throughout their entire K-12 education. I've heard of some super sports-minded parents doing this now and then (honestly, how do you know your son will want to play football 10 years from now?), but apparently now it is becoming much more common with girls and boys. Read the full article here.

Have a great week!

Post-graduate plans for the RHS Class of 2010.

Last night I had the honor of participating in the Senior Awards Ceremony at RHS. What an impressive group of students (and what a generous community in giving scholarships!).

Based on a survey of all 420 graduating seniors:

88.6% are attending a 4-year college (Last year, it was 88.0%)
4.5% are attending a 2-year college (Last year, it was 7.9%)
40.8% are attending a Public/State college (Last year, it was 40.1%)
59.2% are attending a Private college (Last year, it was 59.9%)
21.6% are attending a college in New Jersey (Last year, it was 22.1%)
16 seniors will be attending an Ivy League College (Last year, it was 12 seniors)

College destinations for the top 20% of the Class of 2010:

American University
Amherst College
Bard College
Boston College (2)
Boston University (3)
Bowdoin College (2)
Brown University
Carnegie Mellon University
Colgate University (2)
College of William and Mary
Columbia University (3)
Connecticut College
Cornell University (4)
Dartmouth College (2)
Drexel University
Fordham University (2)
George Washington University (3)
Georgetown University
Hamilton College (3)
Johns Hopkins University (2)
Lehigh University
Loyola University (2)
McGill University (2)
Middlebury College
New York Institute of Technology
New York University
Northwestern University (2)
Pratt Institute
Rice University
Ringling College of Art and Design
Rutgers University
Skidmore College (3)
The College of New Jersey (3)
Towson University
Tufts University (3)
Tulane University
University of Colorado at Boulder
University of Michigan (2)
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
University of Pennsylvania (2)
University of Richmond (4)
University of Rochester
University of Vermont (2)
University of Virginia (2)
Vanderbilt University
Vassar College
Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Polytechnic Institute
Wake Forest University
Washington and Lee University
Wesleyan University
Williams College

Congratulations and all the best to the Class of 2010 and their parents!

No more AP classes?

The high-performing Scarsdale district eliminated AP classes and guess what? The sky didn't fall and the world didn't end. The students' college acceptance rates at top colleges remained consistent. Perhaps the students actually learned more (and were assessed more accurately). The only thing we know for sure happened is that the College Board, with its ridiculous over-influence on our schools, received less revenue from Scarsdale parents. So what's not to like?

Read the NY Times article here.

Measuring Student Potential/Goodbye to SATs?

The New York Times and other media recently reported on a commission report calling for less emphasis on SATs. Read the article by clicking here. What do you think?

I'm sort of mixed on this. I'm all for less focus on the SATs. But the commission's suggestion -- that colleges instead require admissions exams more closely tied to high school curriculum and achievement -- seems to miss the point. It just replaces the one big SAT (which in this day and age is basically a huge moneymaking business) with several subject tests. It doesn't address the problem of relying on standardized tests to make predictions about students' future potential. You can read the letters on both sides by clicking here. I'm curious how Ridgewood parents feel about this...and how do you feel about RHS attempting to more "authentically" assess student achievement. Any thoughts?

Class of 2008 College Destinations

I love seeing the list of college destinations for the previous year's graduating class from RHS. I'm always struck by the variety of schools...it's very encouraging, and proof that there is a good fit for everyone. There are many highly respected colleges and universities on this list. Best of luck to the Class of 08!

Alfred University 1
Allegheny College 1
American University 7
Amherst College 1
Appalachian State University 1
Arizona State University 1
Auburn University 1
Bard College 3
Barnard College 2
Bates College 2
Bergen Community College 21
Binghamton University 1
Boston College 2
Boston University 3
Bowdoin College 1
Broward Community College 1
Brown University 1
Bryant University 2
Bucknell University 4
California State University, Sacramento 1
Carleton University 1
Carnegie Mellon University 3
Centenary College 1
Champlian College 1
Christopher Newport University 1
Claremont McKenna College 1
Clark University 2
Colby College 1
Colgate University 2
College of the Holy Cross 2
Colorado State University 1
Columbia University 3
Cornell University 7
Curry College 1
Dartmouth College 1
Dean College 1
Dickinson College 1
Drew University 1
Drexel University 2
East Stroudsburg University 2
Elmira College 1
Elon University 2
Emerson College 1
Fairfield University 4
Fairleigh Dickenson University 3
Florida Atlantic University 1
Fordham University 2
Franklin and Marshall College 1
Georgetown University 3
Georgia Institute of Technology 1
Gettysburg College 2
Hartwick College 1
Harvard University 2
Haverford College 1
Hobart and William Smith Colleges 2
Hofstra University 3
Indiana University at Bloomington 4
Iona College 1
Ithaca College 2
Jacksonville University 1
James Madison University 2
John Jay College 1
Johns Hopkins University 2
Johnson &Wales University 1
Kean University 1
Keystone College 1
Laboratory Institute of Merchandising 1
Lafayette College 1
Lehigh University 4
Lock Haven University 1
Long Island University, Brooklyn 1
Loyola College in Maryland 2
Loyola Marymount University 1
Marist College 4
Marymount College 1
Marymount Manhattan College 1
Massachusetts Institute of Technology 1
McDaniel College 1
McGill University 1
Miami University, Oxford 2
Middlebury College 2
Mitchell College 1
Monmouth University 1
Montclair State University 6
Moravian College 1
Mount Ida College 1
Muhlenberg College 5
New Jersey Institute of Technology 3
New York University 6
Northeastern University 5
Nova Southeastern University 1
Oberlin College 1
Ohio Wesleyan University 1
Pace University, New York City 1
Pace University, Pleasanton 2
Penns State University, Altoona 1
Penn State University 5
Pomona College 1
Princeton University 2
Providence College 3
Purchase College 2
Quinnipiac University 6
Ramapo College of New Jersey 2
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 2
Rider University 1
Roger Williams University 1
Rowan University 2
Rutgers 17
Sacred Heart University 1
Saint Joseph’s University 1
Salve Regina University 1
Sarah Lawrence College 1
Savannah College of Art and Design 1
School of Visual Arts 1
Seton Hall University 4
Skidmore College 1
Sophia University 1
Southern Methodisdt University 1
Springfield College 1
St. John’s University 5
Stevens Institute of Technology 1
Stonehill College 2
SUNY College at Cortland 1
Susquehanna University 7
Swarthmore College 1
Syracuse University 5
Temple University 2
The Catholic University 2
The College of New Jersey 3
The Evergreen State College 1
The George Washington University 6
The University of Scranton 1
Towson University 1
Trinity University 1
Tufts University 3
Union College 2
United States Military Academy 1
University of Central Florida 2
University of Colorado at Boulder 3
University of Connecticut 5
University of Delaware 4
University of Florida 1
University of Hartford 1
University of Maryland 4
University of Massachusetts, Amherst 4
University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth 1
University of New Haven 1
University of Notre Dame 2
University of Pennsylvania 1
University of Rhode Island 4
University of Richmond 2
University of South Carolina 1
University of Southern California 3
University of Vermont 2
University of Washington 1
University of Wisconsin, Madison 2
Vanderbilt University 1
Vassar College 1
Villanova University 4
Wagner College 1
Washington University in St. Louis 1
Wellesley College 1
Whitman College 1
William Paterson University 13
Williams College 2
Wittenberg University 1
Yale University 1