Success of Early College Programs

One trend during the past few years has been a increased number of alternatives for students---charter schools, and alternative schools. Perhaps one of the most successful has been the early college movement. Early college programs are most often located on community college campuses and students learn college-level content and early college credit. Early college graduates earn an average of 36 college credits for free which is a substantial part of the credit needed for a Bachelor's or Associate's degree.

Early college programs are very successful. A new report from Jobs for the Future (funded by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation) looked at early college programs and found that 93% of early college students graduate high school and 76% immediately enroll in college. Both indicators are far better than national public school data.

Early college programs serve many underserved students. More than half of student are from low-income families and more than 77% from minority families. What's most noteworthy is that early college programs prove that all students can be successful at college-level work regardless of their background.

More information about this report on early college programs can be found at the Jobs for the Future website and at the Jobs for the Future blog.

Assuring Greater Diversity in Honors/AP Classes

One of the most persistent issues in American education, and one of the least discussed, is how to address issue of lack of diversity in accelerated, honors and AP classes. While we talk a lot about the achievement gap, we rarely look at how admission to these classes does not reflect the ethnic and gender diversity present in ours schools. The College Board reports (2012) that while increasing numbers of high school students enroll in AP classes, the admissions/enrollment gap persists.

A recent column in edutopia examined how accepted practices in many school perpetuate these gaps. The gap may be the result of the criteria used for admission to high-level classes. It may be a misperception among students and their families that these classes are for certain kinds of students. Regardless, the admission gap continues despite our knowledge that there is no inherent "ability" gap because of one's gender or ethnicity.

In her blog tweenteacher.com Heather Wolpert-Gawron, a middle school teacher describes the plan her school developed to address the need for more diversity in honors classes. She provides a candid, but thoughtful analysis of the issues involved in addressing this issue. Her post ends with the question we all should be asking---what do you plan to do about this issue in your school?

Evidence Linking Small Schools and Student Achievement

For the past decade there's been a growing movement to create small learning communities and small schools with the belief that they will positively impact student achievement and school climate. Most Oregon GEAR UP schools are relatively small and will be interested in the findings of an Oregon initiative funded by The Gates Foundation and the Meyer Memorial Trust.

The Oregon Small Schools Initiative (OSSI) reported in their initial evaluation that small schools have a positive impact on student success and that "despite high rates of poverty and other barriers to success, . . . small school students generally perform as well as or better than non [small school] students." The report also said that "students enrolled at a small school for multiple grades will, on average, have better outcomes" than those there for fewer years. The complete report is available at http://www.e3smallschools.org/documents/Statewideoverviewreport_FINAL4_8_10.pdf.

The Oregon Small Schools Initiative provides many resources to support improvement and work with your community to improve student learning. Check our the things that they offer. I'd like to hear from you about your experience with small schools.