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Did you catch the SPARK opening event? Check out the recording and learn about all the amazing resources coming this fall!
Dive into new data-driven insights! In the past month, the SPARK Collaborative has published the following briefs, reports, and fact sheets – check them out! |
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From Today’s Students Coalition: “Elevate Your Voice” Virtual Workshop Series Join Today’s Students Coalition for three enriching one-hour virtual workshops designed exclusively for parenting students (November 8, 15, and 22). Discover the art of storytelling to create a lasting impact on education policy. This is your chance to translate your unique experiences into a compelling narrative that resonates with policymakers and influences change. |
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Conference Submission Deadline: JFF Horizons Jobs for the Future is accepting proposals for their signature annual Horizons event, which will take place in New Orleans on June 10–11, 2025. Submissions will be accepted through November 8, 2024. |
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Webinar: Parenting Student Support Trellis Strategies’ Fall 2023 Financial Wellness Survey results show that more than one in five students is a parent. The parenting student identity has become more visible across postsecondary institutions; although, the support for this student population varies vastly at institutions. In this discussion on November 13, 12:00–1:00 PM Central, Theresa Anderson from the Urban Institute, Allyson Cornett from Trellis Strategies, and Renee Ryberg from Child Trends will talk about the state of parenting student support across the nation. |
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Presentation at the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) Conference: “Education Pathways for Parents: Issues and Support Strategies” This panel, on November 22 at 10:15 AM Eastern at National Harbor, MD, will feature presenters from the Urban Institute, Child Trends, the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, Generation Hope, and ECMC Foundation. |
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Scholarship Opportunity: The ANSWER Scholarship The ANSWER Scholarship provides college scholarships, mentoring and professional development to moms in Mecklenburg and 11 surrounding counties in the Carolinas. Applications are accepted November 1 - March 1. |
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Insights and Resources from the Field |
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From SPARK: Financial Well-Being of Parents Pursuing Postsecondary Education Hot off the presses, this new report uses 2020 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS) data to document student parents' living expenses, the resources student parents leverage to attend postsecondary education, and the gaps student parents face between their expenses and their resources. Co-authored by two STAR fellows, Rebecca Schreiber and Sheron Gittens, this report shares critical insights on student parents’ finances! |
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From the Urban Institute: Rubric for the Authentic Engagement of Student Parents This rubric was developed by a group of student parents who contributed insights from their lived experiences to create understanding about student parent leadership in their fields. Ensuring shared power, student parent inclusion, belonging, and leadership in projects is a form of social justice. Any organization, program, or initiative aiming to impact student parents can use this rubric as a self-assessment tool to authentically engage student parents (or parenting students) in their processes. It provides tangible ideas for how an organization could ensure student parent success in initiatives and allows organizations or projects to assess themselves and their project over time. |
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From Believe in Students: #RealCollege Curriculum At least 4 million college students are struggling to learn and succeed because they lack sufficient food, safe housing, childcare options, transportation, access to healthcare and other unmet basic needs. These barriers can make it difficult for students to stay enrolled and engaged academically. The #RealCollege Curriculum is making sure every professor, staff member, and administrator knows how to help. Check out the free courses and resources. |
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From The California Alliance for Student Parent Success: From Insight to Action: Enhancing Data for Student Parent Success (webinar recording) To build off of the momentum from Student Parent Month, The California Alliance for Student Parent Success hosted a webinar to explore key findings from new research and strategies for enhancing data practices in support of student parents and their families. |
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Student Parents in the Media |
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From Working Nation: Behind the Push to Make College Campuses More Family-Friendly This article highlights new research from Child Trends that is turning a spotlight on how some colleges are looking at ways to adapt their campus environments to better support Latino student parents and boost degree completion. The conclusion is that these initiatives can be used to eventually help all student parents around the country. |
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From Inside Higher Ed: Report: Understanding Student Parents Using Data New research from the California Alliance for Student Parent Success uses state data to understand the experiences of parenting students in higher education and opportunities to better serve them. |
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Do You Identify as a Black Student Parent? Nina Owolabi, a doctoral candidate at the University of Illinois, is recruiting for her dissertation study. She wants to understand the lived experiences of Black student parents who attend/ed community college during the ongoing pandemic. Participants will be asked to complete a brief survey, a 60-90-minute interview, a journal entry, and a follow-up interview. Participants can receive up to three $15 gift cards. Scan the QR Code on this flyer or contact Nina for more information. |
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Are you looking for ideas from across the field? Recruiting for a study? Seeking subjects to interview for a news article? Let us know and we’ll spread the word! |
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SPARK Collaborative Updates |
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We’ve been busy developing new resources to provide the field with an updated data-based understanding of student parents. In the past month, we’ve released: |
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The Institute for Women’s Policy Research recently published a blog post highlighting SPARK’s recent series of publications resulting from a collaboration between the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, the Urban Institute, Child Trends, and two STAR fellows. The publications from this collaborative effort use data from the 2020 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study to shed light on the demographics of student parents, where they predominantly attend college, their enrollment patterns, and much more. |
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We close out by celebrating that one of our SPARK working board members, Kate Westaby is a newly minted PhD! Dr. Westaby defended her dissertation, entitled “Resisting Punishment Across Ecological Levels via Participatory Action Research: A Multimethod Study of Young Parents in Postsecondary Education” on October 14. Please join us in congratulating Kate! |
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We continue to celebrate the passage of the Greater Accessibility, Information, Notice, and Support (GAINS) for Student Parents Act in California (AB 2458)! Thanks to the tireless work of The California Alliance for Student Parent Success for making this happen! Learn more. |
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Colleges keep doing great things to uplift student parents on campus!
What are you doing at your college? We’d love to elevate you in the newsletter! Email us at spark@studentparentaction.org! |
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The Student-Parent Action through Research Knowledge (SPARK) Collaborative aims to collaboratively build evidence and make the case for policy change to support pregnant and parenting students so that they can meet their education and life goals. The SPARK Collaborative is stewarded by a working board with membership from the Urban Institute, The Pregnant Scholar, Child Trends, and Skills and Training in Action Research (STAR) Fellows.
Our goal is to share information from and with a broad audience. Inclusion in this newsletter does not imply endorsement by the SPARK Collaborative or any of its organizational partners. |
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