Why Parents May Not Know Much About Life at College

If you feel as though you don’t know much about what life is like at your child’s college, there may be a reason.  A recent study conducted by the Brookings Institute discovered that only 1.4 percent of news coverage in this country deals with education.  Of that 1.4 percent, only about 27 percent deals with colleges and universities.  Twenty-seven percent of 1.4 percent isn’t much coverage!

The Brookings study covered the first nine months of 2009, and by comparison found that the 1.4 percent of coverage during this time was twice the amount of coverage in 2008, when it was 0.7 percent.  In addition to the fact that education was covered minimally, this study found that little of the coverage that there was dealt with school reform, teacher quality, curriculum or other educational policies.  In other words, the actual work of the schools was hardly covered.  Topics covered most during the period of this study were the H1N1 flu outbreak, budget problems, and school crime. Coverage of higher education topics centered largely on admission to college and paying for college.  Little coverage had to do with college life, college curriculum or college policies. This study concluded that “education news coverage suffers from problems related both to quantity and to quality.”

It may help college parents to realize that there is a reason why they may feel that they don’t know much about the college world. The information simply isn’t out there. Yes, parents receive information from their student’s school, but that, of course, is filtered by the school.  We receive what the school wants us to hear.  We receive what our students want us to hear.  It is difficult to get objective information.  It is understandable that parents are often nervous about sending their child off to this unknown, or little known, world.

The Brookings Institute’s study, “Invisible: 1.4 Percent Coverage for Education is Not Enough” is interesting reading for any parent who might feel left out of the world of education.  The study offers some explanations for why coverage may be so small; many of which have to do with the changing world of journalism today and the schools’ attitude toward publicity.  It goes on to offer some recommendations for improving the visibility of educational information in the media.  We recommend this study to any parents who are interested in the broader picture regarding education.

You may access the full Brookings Institute’s study here.

On December 2, Senior Brookings Institute Fellows Grover “Russ” Whitehurst and E.J. Dionne, two of the writers of the Brookings study, presented their findings on the implications of education’s significant lack of media coverage. The panel was titled, “No Reader Left Behind: Improving Media Coverage of Education.” Following the presentation, an expert panel discussed how to engender a stronger media focus on education research, school reform, teacher quality and curricular innovations.

You can access video of that panel discussion here.