Gail Berson, dean of admission and student aid at Wheaton College and chair of the 2008 Regional Forum Program Planning Committee, hands out a Patriots’ shirt. New England held a Super Bowl party to kick off the forum.

Gail Berson, dean of admission and student aid at Wheaton College, kicked things off at the 2008 New England Regional Forum’s Opening Session, which was followed by a social hour and a Super Sunday Tailgate Buffet.  If the city of Boston was somewhat subdued due to an unexpected Super Bowl upset, Forum attendees sustained a lively mood as educators from around the area gathered to discuss the future of education.

At the Feb. 4 breakfast, College Board President Gaston Caperton gave an address that focused on the state of education in the United States. He noted that out of 2,636 questions during the presidential debates, only 99 were about education. “Education in America is not getting the attention it needs for the health of this country,” Caperton said, adding that we need to
have a long-term view of education and understand that “25 years of good planning equals
good education.”

Linda Darling-Hammond provided an inspirational speech titled “What Matters Most: Teaching for America’s Future.” She said, “People look to New England for the definition of educational excellence” and reminded attendees that Massachusetts established the first common school system. One of the challenges the United States faces is determining how to provide an excellent education to kids at a young age. As Darling-Hammond said, “It affects all of us — how every child is educated.…Equity brings them excellence.”

Walter Clark from Roxbury Community College prompted a highly engaging conversation regarding undocumented students in the United States. This session focused on the numerous challenges undocumented students, their parents and educators face during the college application and acceptance process. While there are many undocumented students who are ready and willing to go to college, they are unable to do so because of their status. Although Congress has been presented with legislation to solve this problem — such as the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act — a resolution has not been provided. In New England, laws have been passed to assist undocumented students, but previous governors have vetoed the bills. With approximately 1.7 million undocumented immigrants under the age of 18, many participants felt that the time to act is now.

Academic Assembly Meeting
NERO is the only region of the College Board that has an Academic Advising Committee. Several members of the College Board presented, including Brian O’Reilly from the SAT® Program, Tom Matts from AP® and Karen Lott from the New England Regional Office. The Advisory Panel on Student Concerns, a focus group of students that provides feedback to the College Board on its programs, was also represented. Some of the highlights included the announcement that ExxonMobil would be providing funding in various states over the next six years to provide professional development to counselors.

David Adams’ presentation, “The Key Ingredients for College Success: The College Readiness System,” focused on establishing a pathway to ensure that students are receiving a rigorous education. This should start as early as possible to ensure that students have all of the tools they need to prepare for college. As Adams noted, many kids are “college eligible, not college ready.” A 2000 MetLife survey found that when asked, 71 percent of secondary school students said they planned to attend college, 52 percent of parents expected their children to go to college but only 32 percent of teachers thought their students would go to college. The goals of the College Readiness System are to help those students who want to go to college get there and make sure that they have all of the tools they need to stay there.

James Washington Jr., chair, director of admissions at Dartmouth College and chair of the New England Regional Assembly
	Karl M. Furstenberg of Dartmouth College and Alice Purington formerly of Phillips Academy, recipients of the Edward B. Wall Award in Admissions and Counseling

B. Lynn Frazier, a reading and language arts consultant at Windham High School in Willimantic, Conn., is the New England Region’s 2008 recipient of one of six College Board Bob Costas Grants for the Teaching of Writing. The grants recognize extraordinary teachers who use innovative methods to inspire their students to write.

Frazier began a poetry unit focusing on memoirs a few years ago. Her group of students, the self-named Young Poets, responded with passion and skill, performing their work in a local café and publishing it online. “Writing has helped them stay in school, strive for academic success, heal and even make wiser decisions,” she said. Frazier was chosen as one of 150 Freedom Writers Teachers by Erin Gruwell. Her students now participate in Gruwell’s national program that encourages disadvantaged young people to write about the adversity they have faced in their lives. With this grant, Frazier plans to publish a second book of her students’ poetry and organize a weeklong celebration called “Think and Be Heard: Celebrating Strengths and Creativity,” which will include a poetry slam and a presentation by one of the original Freedom Writers.

The College Board created the grants in 2006 to support teachers and to thank Bob Costas, the Emmy Award-winning broadcaster and author, for his generous public service work on behalf of the National Commission on Writing. Each winner receives an award of $3,000. Frazier was honored at the New England Regional Forum on Feb. 4 at the Sheraton Boston Hotel.
Visit www.collegeboard.com/costasgrants for more information about the grants.

Financial aid administrators from across New England took advantage of the 23rd annual Tax Return Workshop, hosted by the New England Regional Office, Jan. 31-Feb. 1.
                                              
About 60 financial aid professionals came to the Sheraton Boston Hotel to review commonly
used tax forms and learn more about how families’ income tax forms affect the financial aid application process.

Participants heard tips about various tax forms and discussed case studies with an expert panel that included Linda Dagradi of the College Board; certified financial planner Scott Kahan; Frank Resnick, former controller and chief financial officer at Central Connecticut State University; and Duane Quinn of American Student Assistance, a national guarantor of student loans.

“As costs increase and need-based aid becomes more essential to supporting the goals of equity and access, I think that any professional development and training that the College Board provides will contribute to the ability of aid administrators to equitably distribute limited resources,” said Dagradi. “This is particularly true for institutions that use the institutional methodology that the College Board Financial Aid Services division supports.”

The workshop included reviews of where to find information on both basic and complex
tax forms. This training enhances administrators’ ability to verify data and resolve conflicts efficiently, she said.

The sessions also offered information about business-related tax and income flow issues. Participants learned how to use the data to support the determination of a family’s financial ability to contribute to college costs.

Beyond interpreting the data, the financial aid administrators discussed strategies for talking with prospective students and their families about the collection and review of income information.