Reflection 8: Resources for reporting a solutions story
During this week’s class, we explored solutions journalism, which is what it sounds like — covering responses to problems, not just the problems themselves. To me, solutions journalism gives a complete story. It goes a step beyond just reporting what’s wrong. Solutions journalism is hopeful.
My task is to research and pitch an idea for my own solutions journalism piece. Stay tuned…
The Pitch
This story covers the problem of graduation rate disparities for ethnic and racial minority students on college campuses based on data collected by the National Center for Education Statistics. The story would examine graduation rate trends at Oakland University and provide solutions and efforts for OU to shrink the graduation rate gap on its campus
First things first, I’d have to figure out my sources. What data supports this topic and how can we find out more about the problem at OU?
The Sources
Data resources
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)
The NCES provides data for national graduation rate trends broken down by race and ethnicity.
The Education Trust: Graduation Rates Don’t Tell the Full Story: Racial Gaps in College Success Are Larger Than We Think
The Education Trust reports on data from the NCES.
For example, the website says: “This data shows that slightly more than half of Black and Latino (51.5%) students earned a degree after six years, compared with nearly 70% of White students. That’s a graduation rate gap of roughly 18 percentage points.”
College Graduation Rates: Behind the Numbers
Provides an overview of the national databases used to calculate graduation rate information
OU Office of Institutional Research and Assessment
Degrees awarded by demographic
Resources for research on unique problems faced by minority students
Primary sources
Talk to President Dr. Ora Hirsch Pescovitz
What efforts are the administrators making toward addressing graduation rate disparities?
Contact Dr. David Schwartz, Psychologist and Director of the OU Counseling Center
How is the OU Counseling Center making efforts to bridge the gap in mental health disparities among minority students?
Interview minority students from a variety of fields
Understanding the issue is the first step. Now that the foundation of the problem is decided, what solutions can the article include?
The Solution Ideas
More grant and scholarship opportunities for minority students
More frequent advising with a larger team of advisors
Increasing awareness and amount of counselling services to help with mental health
The Story (‘s beginning)
Addressing Graduation Rate Disparities Among Racial and Ethnic Minorities on Oakland University’s Campus
What the university can do to bridge the gap
National trends show that ethnic and racial minorities have lower graduation rates from 4-year degree-granting universities.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the 6-year graduation rate for first-time, full-time undergraduate students seeking their bachelor’s degree at a 4-year university in fall 2010 was 74% for Asian students, 64% for white students, 60% for students of two or more races, 54% for Hispanic students, 51% for Pacific Islander students, 40% for Black students and 39% for American Indian/Alaska Native students.
In data collected by the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment at Oakland University (OU). Out of all the degrees and certificates that were awarded by OU during 2019-2020, the majority of students were white (3,451).
Two hundred and ninety-one students were Black or African American, 225 students were Asian, 151 students were Hispanic or Latino, 137 students were multiple races, 14 were American Indian or Alaska Native and five students were Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander.