College Bound
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness”. Would President Jefferson, a Unitarian, include women and children, if he had lived today?
Since competition for jobs has become international, our young people must succeed in college and/or post secondary education if they are to have a decent life. All of us have a lot to gain by maintaining a competitive edge in the world. We have an increasing number of college graduates, and more diversity, but we are falling behind internationally. The College Board reports that the U.S. has fallen from first place to 12th among developed nations with adults ages 25 to 34 who have post secondary degrees.
Of our graduating high school students, only half are academically prepared for post secondary education (Greene & Winters, 2005). A recent study of high school juniors and seniors taking the ACT college entrance exam confirms this: only half of the students were ready for college-level reading assignments in core subjects like math, history, science, and English (ACT, 2006) The lack of preparation is apparent in multiple subject areas: of college freshmen taking remedial courses, 35 percent were enrolled in math, 23 percent in writing, and 20 percent in reading (NCES, 2004b).
We spend about $1.4 billion from our taxes to provide remedial education to students most of whom have recently completed high school. Those with poor reading skills are likely to drop out of college.
Here are two school programs that prepare students for college. Hopefully, their preparation is better than average. One is Brockton High in Brockton MA and the other the KIPP Charter Schools with schools in 20 states. If you know of more successes in preparing students for college, please email me.
Brockton High School — Brockton High School is one of our country’s largest high school with 4,400 students. 70% of students are classified as low income, and more than a third speak a language other than English at home. This school is in a district that has high expectations, with a keen academic focus, a strong sense of school spirit, community pride, and a tradition of excellence in academics, arts and athletics. Services offered include Parents Academy workshops, out of school programs, mentoring, tutoring, athletic programs, health programs and other community services, as well as qualified teachers and a curriculum that is open to change
The Brockton High dropout rate was 3.5 percent for 2008-2009 – down from 4.2 percent the previous year. A high percentage of graduates go on to college. Do you know college graduation rates of Brockton High School students?
Kipp Foundation — Two grade school teachers initiated the not-for-profit KIPP Foundation, receiving support from GAP and others. The foundation includes a network of 99 charter schools in 20 states with 27,000 students enrolled for 3 or 4 years in early grades, middle grades, or high school. Each school is a public school with a local Board of Directors. KIPP is dedicated to preparing their students for college. Their graduates in college receive mentoring, tutoring and on-going support as well as some scholarships.
Over 90 percent of KIPP students are African American or Hispanic/Latino, and more than 80 percent are eligible for the federal free or reduced-price meals program. Each school enrolls students in order of application, space permitting, regardless of prior academic record, conduct or socioeconomic background. When the waiting list is longer than the space available, they use a lottery.
Typical school days are from 7 a.m.-5 p.m., with half-days Saturdays, and short summer vacations — resulting in close to 65 percent more classroom time during the year. There are strong incentives for successful performance and appropriate behavior. Many teachers have Masters degrees and 35% are graduates of Teach for America. Their students perform better on standardized tests than others in their school districts. About 80% of KIPP graduates attend college. What do you think?
http://www.collegeboard.org/ 7/22/10
http://www.act.org/research/policymakers/k12.html
http://nces.ed.gov/
http://www.brocktonpublicschools.com/
http://www.kipp.org/faq
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