College Spark E-Newsletter
 
SAVE THE DATES
 
NCAN Conference
 
October 11-13, 2010

Washington D.C.
Join college access practitioners, researchers, and policy-makers to network and learn more about important college access and success issues.
 
GEAR UP Northwest Regional Conference 
 
October 24-26, 2010

Vancouver, WA
Join college access program staff, teachers, counselors, and policy-makers, to celebrate student and program successes, learn about best practices, and collaborate with colleagues.
 
Opportunities to learn more about Race, Pedagogy, and Multicultural Education
 
 
 
October 28-30, 2010
University of Puget Sound
Tacoma, WA
 
 
October 30, 2010
North Seattle Community College
Seattle, WA 
 September 14, 2010
 
Announcing the 2011 Call for Proposals

Our Community Grants Program is now accepting Letters of Interest from nonprofit organizations and educational institutions in Washington state!  
 
The focus areas for our 2011 Community Grants are
  • enhancing college readiness for low-income middle and high school students, and
  • increasing the number of low-income students who successfully complete their degree programs.
Learn more and download the 2011 Request for Proposal 
 
Please note: College Spark now uses an online grant application. The Letter of Interest must be completed online then printed and two hard copies sent to College Spark by October 14, 2010.

Questions? Contact bob@collegespark.org.  
Tools to Assess Program Impact
Interested in developing a stronger system for evaluating the impact of your program? Three tools that can help:
  • A new toolkit from The Pell Institute offers practical steps and strategies for developing an evaluation plan that will help you determine the effectiveness of program practices and make them even better.
  • Wondering what happens to your students after they leave your program?  The Student Clearinghouse can help you track students' progress through college. Go to studentclearinghouse.org to register for a Clearinghouse workshop in Walla Walla (9/20) or Spokane (9/21).
  • A new, free website now allows you to track the college going patterns of students from a particular school or district in Washington. The data provided at collegetracking.com is brought to you by the BERC Group and can be disaggregated by race or two-year and four-year college enrollment trends.
Degree Completion Providers Meeting 
 
In May 2010 College Spark invited past and present college retention and degree completion grantees to share best practices and hear what a national research firm, MDRC, is  learning about how to improve college student success.  A follow up meeting will be scheduled in spring 2011.
New Site to Match Students to Scholarships 
 
www.TheWashBoard.org is a new, free, web-based scholarship clearinghouse that matches Washington scholarship seekers with Washington scholarship providers.  In one step, students search and apply for multiple scholarships specific to their academic interests, college or university, or by other criteria.

To learn more contact Mary Beth Lambert at: mblcommunications@comcast.net
Want to get involved in a like-minded coalition?
Join the Washington College Access Network to stay informed of local resources & opportunities, or the Excellent Schools Now Coalition to work with a diverse group of education stakeholders dedicated to meaningful education reform.
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