WAMC: The Best of Our Knowledge # 1013 (2010-02-15)

The Best of Our Knowledge

The Best of Our Knowledge # 1013

(2010-02-15)

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ALBANY,NY (WAMC) - WORLD READ ALOUD DAY COMING MARCH 3RD -

Late last year, a national panel urged federal policy makers to "take a more active role" in promoting adolescent reading and writing. The final report of the Carnegie Corporation of New York's Council on Advancing Adolescent Literacy called for a "literacy revolution" to keep students in school, and ensure they're able to learn what's needed for college and careers.

LitWorld took that challenge to heart. LitWorld is an international nonprofit founded three years ago. LitWorld has just established March 3rd as the first ever World Read Aloud Day. It hopes this effort will impact children and communities on a global scale.

TBOOK speaks with LitWorld Executive Director, Pam Allyn, to learn how our education audience can register and take part in this day.

Glenn Busby reports. (9:49)

**(Attention listeners and program directors. The website mentioned in the above
story for students, teachers, parents, anyone who wants to participate in World
Read Aloud Day or just get more information is: www.LitWorld.org .)**

HIGHER EDUCATION: OPERATING WITHIN THE REALITIES OF THE NEW ECONOMY -

According to a nationwide survey just out, the recession hit this year's college freshmen hard, affecting how students chose a school, as well as their ability to pay for it.

The Cooperative Institutional Research Program at the University of California, Los Angeles, has been doing the survey for 44 years, giving it plenty of comparison data.

Among the surveys findings students were more likely than previous years to have a parent who was unemployed, and less likely to have found a job that might help pay for college.

About two-thirds of incoming students said they had "some" or "major" concerns about their ability to pay for their education. This was at its highest level since 1971. And the number of students taking out loans was also at its highest in the past nine years.

So that's our question today. How are colleges and universities trying to survive, given the realities of today's depressed economy? To get an inside view of that dilemma, TBOOK spoke to the president of one of the most expensive, private, liberal arts colleges in the U.S.

Glenn Busby reports. (9:39)

**(Attention listeners and program directors. The website mentioned at the
conclusion of the above story is: www.skidmore.edu .)**
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