Final Report of the
Task Force on Groups
Underrepresented in
Rhode Island
Public Higher Education
Authorized by the Rhode Island Board of
Governors for Higher Education
Convened by the Rhode Island Office of Higher Education in Collaboration
with the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University
Final Report of the
Task Force on Groups
Underrepresented in
Rhode Island
Public Higher Education
Recommendations for Policy-makers and Educators
on Developing Programs and Practices to Improve
the Preparation, Development, and Graduation Rates
of Students from Underrepresented Groups
Prepared by the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University
in collaboration with the Rhode Island Office of Higher Education and
the Rhode Island Board of Governors for Higher Education
Providence, Rhode Island
November 2006
These students are eager to get a college education.
If nothing changes, three out of four of them will not.
What actions will Rhode Island take to make sure that
all these children have the opportunity to prosper?
In a Rhode Island elementary school, students are
identifying their goals in
life and developing an
understanding of the critical role of higher education
in reaching their aspirations: “Yes, I Can” go to
college, the students
proudly declare through
their colorful and creative
posters. One poster reads:
“I can be an eye doctor.” Another contains profiles of several African American professionals
– a doctor, an artist, an athlete, a businessman.
Shea High School’s auditorium in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, is packed to hear a presentation
by the Rhode Island Board of Governors for Higher Education on going to college. It comes
time for questions. A forest of hands springs up. The questions are about how to get a scholarship, how student loans work, how college classes compare to high school work. These
students mean to go to college.
Contents
1
Summary of the Recommendations of the Task Force
3
Introduction: Transforming Hope into Reality
8
Detailed Recommendations
Maximize the Depth and Utilization of Student Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Enhance Pathways to Success . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Increase Access and Affordability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Create a Developmental Education Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Build a College-Bound Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Address the Needs of Adult Learners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
29 Primary Organizational Responsibilities for Recommendations
30 References
32 Appendix A
Task Force Process and Timeline
34 Appendix B
Task Force Membership
37 Appendix C
Innovative Programs in Rhode Island: Addressing the Preparation,
Retention, Support, and Success of Underrepresented Groups of
Students
Summary of the Recommendations of the Task Force
The Rhode Island Office of Higher Education (r i o he), under the auspices of the Rhode
Island Board of Governors for Higher Education, convened a statewide task force to address
the underrepresentation of low-income and minority students in Rhode Island’s public colleges. r i o h e invited the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University to cofacilitate the task force, based on the Institute’s commitment to and expertise in issues of educational excellence and equity at scale. The task force, consisting of a diverse group of leaders
and educators from higher education, state agencies, community-based organizations, school
districts, and research and advocacy organizations across the state, met eight times from October 2005 to September 2006 and identified key recommendations, along with action steps to
be undertaken by the state, the three public colleges, K–12 school districts, and community
partners to create stronger pathways for students to succeed. This section summarizes the recommendations; more detailed recommendations begin on page 8.
Maximize the Depth and Utilization of Student Data
• Implement a statewide data and accountability system that allows for the monitoring of
students through the K–12 system into postsecondary education and employment. This
data system should be designed to facilitate sharing and using student/client data to
define areas of high need, to locate instances of effective practice, and to build systemic
and coordinated partnerships to foster improved student outcomes.
• Use the data to create a statewide map of pathways to college (e.g., support and dualenrollment programs, community activities).
• Identify the pathways most successful in producing students from underrepresented
groups who enroll and persist in postsecondary programs. Use these as “greenhouses” to
incubate and share strong practices. Fund cross-visitation to these programs from groups
of secondary and postsecondary educators.
Enhance Pathways to Success
• Use the data on successful pathways (see previous section) to help districts develop a set
of clear and coherent pathways – including dual enrollment, long-term planning, and
advising – that support success throughout the PK–16 education system. This support
should begin with school districts that are currently working with the Office of Progressive Support and Intervention at the Rhode Island Department of Education.
• Align standards and expectations by creating opportunities for secondary (grades 6–12)
and postsecondary educators to share student work, discuss grading standards, and
develop sequences of courses that result in preparation for college-level work; conduct
summer meetings and opportunities to participate in School Accountability for Learning
and Teaching (s a lt) team visits to middle and high schools.
• Align and scale up the successful practices of community-based organizations – including counseling, English-language instruction, utilizing technology, family services, and
child care – in providing pathways and supports to adult learners that are consistent with
the practices of higher-education institutions.
• Based upon successful models in Rhode Island, improve the content and practicum experiences in K–12 teacher-education programs to focus on teaching strategies required to
meet the needs of low-income students, English-language learners, and students with special education needs.
Increase Access and Affordability
• Provide students and their families with clear statements of total costs (tuition, fees, room
and board, course materials, travel expenses) and financial aid packages.
• Support students and families in developing understandable, full two-year or four-year
financial plans.
• Fund the Rhode Island Higher Education Assistance Authority at the statutory maximum
in the state budget for the next five years and annually evaluate the return on this
increased investment in need-based aid.
Create a Developmental Education Policy
• Develop a systemwide policy that defines and assigns resources to developmental education for PK–16 and adult education.
• Ensure that resulting programs in developmental education include:
– access to comprehensive assessment and placement tools, early interventions, and
appropriate placements for students as early as possible (especially in eleventh and
twelfth grades);
– collaboration among various stakeholders and educational providers to ensure effectiveness of the policy;
– the ability to systematically meet the needs of diverse learners, such as accelerating the
pace of instruction or providing additional assistance to students with limited English
proficiency; and
– sustained professional development opportunities for nondevelopmental education
faculty members and K–12 educators on a periodic basis.
Build a College-Bound Culture
• Support and continue to develop programs and experiences in schools and communities
that help students, their families, and advocates understand the importance of postsecondary education and build a deeper understanding of what it takes to succeed.
• Foster partnerships among various stakeholders, including employers, community organizations, and school districts, to fund and implement postsecondary educational and
workforce development programs.
2
Final Report
Introduction: Transforming Hope into Reality
Only one out of four of Rhode Island’s public school students will earn the college degree to
which they aspire and which is so crucial to their futures. Overwhelmingly, the three in four
who will not earn a degree are likely to be poor,
African American or Latino, recent immigrants
There is a tremendous private benefit to earnwith limited English proficiency, and male. If no
ing a degree, but there is an equally imporaction is taken, for yet another generation the
tant public benefit.
dividing line between those who have the skills
and experiences to prosper and those who do not
––Jack Warner, Rhode Island Commissioner of
will be defined by race, class, and gender. This
Higher Education
division is exactly what the system of PK–16 public education was created to erase.
This report is the work of a statewide task force on underrepresented groups of students in
Rhode Island’s public colleges and university. Its purpose is to provide a blueprint for immediate, concrete, and sustained improvement in the preparation, articulation, and supports that
students and families receive as students strive to earn a college degree. The goal is to ensure
that students – and those who support them – have the resources, information, and relationships to translate their hopes into reality.
The Context for Earning a College Degree in Rhode Island
More than ever before, a college degree is the key to economic opportunity and to making a
difference as a member of one’s family and community. Figure 1 shows the clear impact of educational level on earnings and employment.
Not only will two out of three new jobs require some postsecondary education, but also “the
fastest-growing, best-paying jobs require the highest levels of education” (Jobs for the Future
Unemployment Rate
Median Annual Earnings
2.1%
Doctoral degree
$70,148
1.7%
Professional degree
$67,964
2.9%
Master’s degree
$55,328
3.3%
Bachelor’s degree
$46,800
4.0%
Associate’s degree
$34,944
5.2%
Some college, no degree
$32,344
5.5%
High school graduate
$28,808
8.8% Some high school, no diploma $20,592
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
0
20,000
40,000
60,000
80,000
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 2005
Figure 1. U.S. unemployment rates and median annual salaries in 2003 by level of educational attainment
Task Force on Groups Underrepresented in Rhode Island Public Higher Education
3
2005, p. 2). A student who is the first in his or her family to graduate from college often sets
a pattern that siblings, cousins, children, nieces, and nephews are likely to follow. Their
choices and effort can also send mothers and fathers back to school. Families are profoundly
affected, as are communities. J. B. Schramm, founder of College Summit, one of the nation’s
most innovative and effective college-access programs, puts it this way:
If the teens are well engaged, it shifts the dynamic in that neighborhood. You are never
going to see lasting transformations in low-income communities until there is a critical
mass of college-educated youth in those communities. (Bornstein 2004, pp. 176–177)
In Reclaiming the American Dream, William Bedsworth, Susan Colby, and Joe Doctor (2006,
p. 3) forcefully remind us that
for a country in which education is the premier means for promoting equal opportunity
and social mobility, increasing college access and success for low-income students is a
moral, social, and economic imperative.
It is imperative that public policy and institutional priorities keep the doors of opportunity to
postsecondary education open to all citizens. However, access is necessary but not sufficient –
adequate preparation and the supports needed to persist once in college are also critical elements
of successful completion.
Aspirations versus Reality
Students want to be successful. According to a recent national survey, over 90 percent of all
low-income students expect to attain a college degree (Ad Council 2006). Yet most lowincome students lack the academic skills, financial and social capital, and supports to obtain
a college degree, evidenced by the fact that the PK–16 system in Rhode Island, like most states
in New England and across the nation,
has significant breaks in the educational
Key Facts
pipeline. According to the National Center
• Educational attainment among the working-age
for Public Policy and Higher Education
population (ages 25–64) in Rhode Island:
(2005), of every one hundred ninth-graders
Whites Hispanic/Latinos
in Rhode Island:
Less than a high school credential
13%
49%
• Seventy-two graduate from high school in
Associate’s degree or higher
40%
13%
four years.
• Rhode Island has the highest child-poverty rate in
• Forty enroll in college in the fall term
New England; the state’s urban school districts have
immediately following high school gradunearly 80 percent child-poverty rates.
ation.
• Rhode Island’s urban school districts have large
• Thirty-three return for the second year of
concentrations of English-language learners.
college.
• For every 100 male graduates from public colleges in
• Twenty-three graduate from college within
Rhode Island, there are 133 female graduates.
six years.
Sources: McWalters 2006; NEBHE 2006; Education Trust 2006;
RIBGHE, n.d.
4
Final Report
In Rhode Island and across the United States, family income is perhaps the best predictor of
a student’s likelihood of college graduation: in the United States, if a family has an annual
income of over $90,000, the student’s chances of having a college degree by age twenty-four
are 50 percent, compared with 5 percent if the student’s family has an income of less than
$35,000. Equally troubling is the fact that many of the best-prepared and highest-achieving
minority and low-income students struggle financially and academically in college and are not
graduating on time, if at all.
The fundamental hope of families is that their children will have more opportunities in life
than they, themselves, had. In the knowledge-based global economy, education is the key that
unlocks gates to these opportunities. However, if current patterns in New England remain
unchanged, this generation of college-age young people will have a lower educational attainment rate than that of the previous generation. Stakeholders of every level must work to ensure
that this prediction does not become reality.
Underrepresentation: A Systemic Problem
The problem of the underrepresentation of poor and minority students entering and completing postsecondary education in Rhode Island does not suddenly spring up in twelfth grade or
at the transition between two-year and four-year programs. The problem is created systematically throughout the PK–16 grades. Currently, within that system, suburban districts are performing well and urban districts – which enroll over 40 percent of all students in Rhode Island
– are performing below the state average. (Figure 2 shows some of the differences in characteristics between suburban and urban districts.) For example, with the exception of Classical
Mobility rate
English-language
learners
Dropout rate
Free and reduced
lunch
80%
Source: Rhode Island Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (McWalters 2006)
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Suburban
Urban Ring
Urban Districts
Figure 2. Characteristics of Rhode Island districts
Task Force on Groups Underrepresented in Rhode Island Public Higher Education
5
High School, every Providence high school was identified as in need of improvement under
the No Child Left Behind Act and, in the summer of 2006, the Providence superintendent
reassigned eleven middle school principals and vice principals to jump-start positive change in
the district’s persistently low-performing middle schools. Particularly in the urban districts
such as Providence, but also in urban, suburban, and rural districts across the state, students
perform quite well on basic skills tests but are less successful on tests of higher-order skills such
as mathematics problem solving, writing, and reading for analysis and interpretation – the
exact skills that are most important for postsecondary coursework.
The fact that these gaps are not closing is due, in large part, to the inequitable distribution of
resources (funds, facilities, qualified educators) to rich and poor communities and the
significant variation that exists across these school districts in terms of expectations, academic
standards, and graduation requirements.
Lack of Preparation for College-Level Work
The disparities outlined above create a striking mismatch between the current highereducation system and the actual needs of students from underrepresented groups. Institutions
of higher education – both public and private – accept students who are dramatically underprepared to do college-level work. Students then spend considerable resources (hope, time,
and dollars) prior to accruing college-level skills and significant course credit. And, all too frequently, the academic and support programs that best serve these students (counseling, remedial and developmental education) are relegated to a secondary status on college campuses.
Developmental education courses, in particular, often receive less than adequate resources,
staffing, accountability, and support.
Across the PK–16 system in Rhode Island, there is a troubling lack of attention to long-term
preparation for college (e.g., academic goal-setting, financial planning, support for families
and students who are first-time college students). Further, despite some notable exceptions,
too often there is little to no collaboration across the critical transitions within the PK–16
pathway (e.g., elementary to middle school, eighth grade to ninth grade, and high school to
postsecondary), resulting in significant numbers of students who are underprepared and
unaware of their lack of preparation. Teachers lead overcrowded classrooms, often with a
majority of students who are underdeveloped academically. Consequently, in many schools the
response is to create temporary solutions such as avoiding assigned texts because many students are not reading at grade level. These conditions act to deepen, rather than address, the
problem of underrepresentation in higher education.
Charge and Membership of the Task Force on Underrepresented
Groups
The Rhode Island Office of Higher Education (r i o h e), operating under the authority of the
Rhode Island Board of Governors for Higher Education (r i b g h e), convened the Task Force
on Groups Underrepresented in Rhode Island Public Higher Education. Underrepresented
6
Final Report
groups included – but were not limited to – minority, male, immigrant, and low-income students. The task force was equally committed to young and adult students alike and identified
recommendations and action steps aimed at the particular circumstances of both populations.
The task force met in working groups or as a full body nine times from October 2005 through
September 2006 (see Appendix A for a more detailed description of the task force process and
a timeline of the meetings).
The task force was made up of a diverse group of leaders and educators from organizations
across the state, including all three public institutions of higher education, state agencies,
community-based organizations (c b o s), school districts, and research and advocacy organizations (see Appendix B for a complete membership roster). The task force was co-chaired
by Dr. Nancy Carriuolo, deputy commissioner and chief academic officer of r i o he, and
Dr. Warren Simmons, executive director of the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at
Brown University.
The Task Force examined national best practices in order to develop a set of concrete and feasible policy recommendations intended to increase rates of preparation, entrance, persistence,
and graduation among the groups that are currently underrepresented in Rhode Island’s public institutions of higher education. The policy recommendations will be reported to the Governor’s PK–16 Council. Examples of some of the best national practices are highlighted
throughout this report, and Appendix C contains a summary of best practices in Rhode Island
identified by the task force.
The task force’s work is part of a growing statewide PK–16 network of efforts to increase the
numbers of high school students who earn a baccalaureate degree – r i b g h e ’s main goal. A
major component of these efforts is to set benchmarks and devise strategies to ensure that all
students can meet the new high school proficiency standards that must be met by all graduating Rhode Island high school seniors in the class of 2008 – now only two years away. This
PK–16 network of efforts also includes three other advisory committees to the PK–16 Council, on English/language arts, science, and mathematics. These committees engaged in the vital
process of designing and articulating expectations in reading, writing, science, and mathematics for students entering public higher education.
Task Force on Groups Underrepresented in Rhode Island Public Higher Education
7
Detailed Recommendations
Families and their children from every circumstance aspire to college and its benefits. Many
dedicated Rhode Island educators and projects work to make that possible. But what families
and their children deserve and need is a fair, reliable system of educational opportunity as a
foundation – and a high-quality set of supports to help them persist in the face of challenges.
The recommendations of the task force are designed to help create those opportunities and
supports. In the words of Nicholas Lemann (2000, p. 348):
The chief aim of school should be not to sort people, but to teach as many people as possible as well as possible, equipping them for both work and citizenship. Those who like
to think of American life as a great race should think of that race as beginning, not ending, when school has been completed.
Maximize the Depth and Utilization of Student Data
• Implement a statewide data and accountability system that allows for the monitoring of students through the K–12 system into postsecondary education and
employment. This data system should be designed to facilitate sharing and using
student/client data to define areas of high need, to locate instances of effective
practice, and to build systemic and coordinated partnerships to foster improved
student outcomes.
• Use the data to create a statewide map of pathways to college (e.g., support and
dual-enrollment programs, community activities).
• Identify the pathways most successful in producing students from underrepresented groups who enroll and persist in postsecondary programs. Use these as
“greenhouses” to incubate and share strong practices. Fund cross-visitation to
these programs from groups of secondary and postsecondary educators.
The Need
A recent article in Education Week describes the lack of cohesiveness that exists across school
district, municipal, and state data systems:
District data systems typically won’t reveal . . . whether children are homeless or living in
a foster home. They won’t disclose if children have been exposed to lead paint or whether
their mothers dropped out of school. For those kinds of data, researchers usually have to
turn to different databases from different [city or state] agencies. (Viadero 2006)
If the power of various data sets can be marshaled, policy-makers and educators will have a
much fuller picture of individual students and cohorts of students. Take, for instance, a student who drops out of high school in the ninth grade, reenrolls at an alternative public school
for a semester, then elects to study for the g e d through a separate program, receives her g e d ,
and enrolls in a certificate program at the community college. The current data system cannot
accurately track this student’s complete educational experience. Instead, data on student out-
8
Final Report
comes is individualized and collected anecdotally when students keep in touch with their
teachers and program directors as they transition to postsecondary education. These personal
communications should be supplemented by a
robust data system to identify outcomes for all stuI was born in the Dominican Republic. We
dents. An effective data system will also support
came here when I was young, and I didn’t
educational institutions and educational service
know any English when we came. But by
providers in evaluating the effectiveness of their
programs.
about fourth grade, maybe fifth, I could do
A statewide map will identify the location of
strong practices (the systems and supports that
best serve low-income and minority students) and
the locations that are most in need of improvement. After identifying the “where,” the data will
help unpack the “why” in order to learn from the
strong practices to build the capacity of the systems that need improvement. Therefore, the data
system services multiple purposes over time and is
dynamic, in order to meet the changing needs of
multiple stakeholders.
The Foundation to Build Upon in Rhode
Island
school in English. I had really good teachers –
and a librarian near my house – who helped
me. My high school history has been a little
hectic, not much of a pattern. I’m a junior
and I’ve gone to four different schools. My
family always moved a lot. A lot of companies
go out of business, then new ones come into
business and people become unemployed. We
moved [to another state] but when we got
there, we saw that it wasn’t much better, so we
came back to Rhode Island. When I got back,
they didn’t have any room at the high school
I went to first, so I went to another.
Rhode Island has a foundation in place to allow
for an exemplary unified data system: the Rhode
Island Department of Education, with support
––High school junior, urban school district
from other state agencies and partners, is piloting
in Rhode Island
a unique student identifier number for each student enrolled in public school districts in the state. r i o h e recently contracted with the
National Student Clearinghouse to track the enrollment of high school graduates into postsecondary institutions, and the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training is linking
with r i o h e to allow tracking of employment and wage information. Furthermore, the Providence Plan – through a wide partnership of public, private, government, community, and
academic organizations – collects and manages a data warehouse that combines education,
health, income, housing, and public safety indicators. Data are accessible to the public, serving as a powerful example of the ways in which expertise and information can support community engagement.
Design Principles
• Information such as each student’s enrollment history, course taking, achievement data,
and social services received over time (within privacy regulations); student-level transcript
information, including information on courses completed and grades earned; and student-level college-readiness test scores, graduation, and dropout data.
Task Force on Groups Underrepresented in Rhode Island Public Higher Education
9
• The ability to link individual students’ test records from year to year to measure academic
growth, using the New England Common Assessment Program (n e c a p ) system as well
as data on students who have completed the g e d .
Action Steps
• Study best practices from other states, such as California and Tennessee.
• Develop an estimated budget.
• Match student records between the PK–12 and higher-education systems to make it possible for institutions to set targets and monitor progress toward these goals over time.
An Example of Innovative Practice
The school district and community partners in Hamilton County (Chattanooga), Tennessee,
utilize data from the National Student Clearinghouse to track the enrollment and success of
the district’s high school graduates at two- and four-year colleges and universities across the
country each year. Last fall, the local newspaper included on its front page a map, like the one
shown in Figure 3, based on data showing where graduates from 2004 and 2005 were enrolled
in college.
Hamilton County is developing a cutting-edge student-identifier system based around a set of
“circuit breakers” intended to warn school and district leaders when a student or group of students are underperforming on state tests, grade-point averages, and in gateway courses such as
algebra. Collecting and utilizing data in a timely way provides school leaders with an “early
warning system” to identify and support at-risk students.
Figure 3: Colleges and universities attended by Hamilton County public school graduates – class of
2004 and class of 2005
10
Final Report
Enhance Pathways to Success
• Use the data on successful pathways (see recommendations in previous section,
on page 8), to help districts develop a set of clear and coherent pathways – including dual enrollment, long-term planning, and advising – that support success
throughout the PK–16 education system. This support should begin with school
districts that are currently working with the Office of Progressive Support and
Intervention at the Rhode Island Department of Education.
• Align standards and expectations by creating opportunities for secondary (grades
6–12) and postsecondary educators to share student work, discuss grading standards, and develop sequences of courses that result in preparation for collegelevel work; conduct summer meetings and opportunities to participate in School
Accountability for Learning and Teaching (s a lt) team visits to middle and high
schools.
• Align and scale up the successful practices of community-based organizations –
including counseling, English-language instruction, utilizing technology, family
services, and child care – in providing pathways and supports to adult learners
that are consistent with the practices of higher-education institutions.
• Based upon successful models in Rhode Island, improve the content and
practicum experiences in K–12 teacher-education programs to focus on teaching
strategies required to meet the needs of low-income students, English-language
learners, and students with special education needs.
The Need
High expectations must be accompanied by a
I wanted to go back to school, to better myself
continuum of supports – academic, cultural,
and build my job skills, but I needed a prosocio-emotional, and financial – to ensure that
gram that was flexible enough to let me work
students are well prepared for college and, once
and take care of my children. My other responenrolled, can succeed. Curricula and supports
sibilities didn’t disappear just because classes
across the PK–16 system must be well aligned and
educators must be able to implement them. For
were in session.
this reason, the task force urges the state to continue to invest in teacher preparation and profes––Community College of Rhode Island graduate
sional development and to stress the vertical articulation across elementary, middle, and high school standards.
Dual enrollment is one of the most powerful strategies to align high school and college learning, allowing high school students to take college-level courses (usually during their junior and
senior years of high school).
Dual enrollment can better prepare high school students for college by exposing them
early to the academic demands of postsecondary education and, if designed appropriately,
be a powerful academic motivator for young people who did not previously envisage
themselves in college. (Jobs for the Future 2006b, p. 1)
Task Force on Groups Underrepresented in Rhode Island Public Higher Education
11
According to a recent study commissioned by the Governor’s PK–16 Council to examine the
quality and quantity of dual enrollment programs in Rhode Island:
Dual enrollment is not currently designed to promote PK–16 goals, to increase the rates
of college degree attainment, nor does it encourage participation by the state’s lowincome students, a segment of its young population that must be included in any effort
to increase the overall viability of its workforce and economy. (Jobs for the Future 2006b,
p. 4).
The majority of dual-enrollment courses are taken by students from upper-income families
across Rhode Island. Therefore, dual enrollment should be expanded to provide opportunities
for low-income students and students from other underrepresented groups to benefit.
The Foundation to Build Upon in Rhode Island
In recent years, the State of Rhode Island, in sustained partnership with its educational, business, and community leaders, has undertaken significant reforms in all levels of public education. These reforms include the development of a new high school diploma system with
proficiency standards and innovative forms of assessment, as well as increased levels of articulation and alignment across the PK–16 system.
Beginning with the graduating class of 2008 (the freshman class entering in 2004), courses
required for high school graduation in Rhode Island include a minimum of twenty Carnegie
units of college preparatory courses, including four in English/language arts and four in mathematics, with all courses aligned with standards at the state level (English/language arts, mathematics, and science) or district level (social studies, arts, technology). The new diploma system, Graduation by Proficiency, includes additional measures of proficiency, which require
that every high school student must complete an applied-learning experience embedded in his
or her coursework. The Graduation by Proficiency model is designed to incorporate meaningful, high-quality content with authentic application of that new knowledge.
The high school assessment system comprises a number performance measures: electronic
portfolios, Certificates of Initial Mastery, senior projects, and local and state assessment based
on Grade Span Expectations. To ensure that students are prepared for the demands of the
twenty-first-century economy, current state assessments in English/language arts and mathematics are designed to measure performance with respect to the proficiency standards designed
by the National Center for Education and the Economy. The Grade Span Expectations help
educators identify what will be included on the n e c a p .
Academic development and access programs
Strong academic development and access programs exist across Rhode Island, including the
Rhode Island Children’s Crusade, Dorcas Place, Rhode Island Scholars, the Rhode Island
Educational Opportunity Center and Access to Opportunity at the Community College of
Rhode Island, Upward Bound and the Preparatory Enrollment Program at Rhode Island College, and Talent Development at the University of Rhode Island. The practices of the Dorcas
12
Final Report
Place College Preparatory Program have been particularly effective in helping adult learners to
obtain a g e d and postsecondary credit. Also, regional networks such as College Ready New
England, led by the New England Board of Higher Education, are addressing the issues of college access, preparation, and affordability in New England. (See Appendix C for a complete
description of local best practices and programs.)
Teacher preparation and professional development
Efforts are already under way across the PK–16 system to rethink and improve teacher preparation, certification, and professional development in order to meet the needs of a diverse student population. Rhode Island Teacher
Education Renewal (r i t e r ) is a partnership program among the eight teacherI fell behind in math when my family moved. We
preparation programs in Rhode Island, the
were studying addition, but in my new school they
arts and sciences faculties at the eight public
were already studying multiplying. I had no clue
and private institutions of higher education,
but I kept getting passed all the way into high
three school districts (urban and suburban),
school. Algebra was out of the question. In eleventh
and the relevant state agencies. The project
places special emphasis on improv i n g
and twelfth grade I had a teacher who saw someinstructional strategies for low-income stuthing in us. I got straight Fs, but an A in her class.
dents, English-language learners, and stuShe respected us; she trusted us; she expected a lot
dents with special education needs. The
from us. We had Socratic seminars; we read some
project holds as a fundamental goal the
great literature that made sense in our world. I
commitment to build the cultural
proficiency of educators through the develcould do it and do it well. I would skip other classes,
opment of teaching skills that best serve stugo to English, and then leave. I fell short of credits
dents with diverse needs. The r i t er projto graduate. I enrolled in an Adult Education Cenect has established a model for collaboration
ter. I went to classes during the day, working on a
among K–12 educators, administrators, and
computer program with science and different things.
higher-education faculty to increase articulation and alignment of learning standards
For the most part, I just went in the room and studin core subject areas. Also, structures are
ied hard. I got my G E D . I got my first steady job. I
being implemented to develop school-based
felt competent.
support programs for new teachers.
The r i t er partners are also developing a
––Community College of Rhode Island student
certification program for nontraditional
educators in high-needs areas (e.g., mathematics, science, and special education). Johnson & Wales University and the Met Center have
been successful in developing similar teacher-certification programs.
Design Principles
• Better articulation, both locally and statewide, between education entities, levels, opportunities, and supports.
Task Force on Groups Underrepresented in Rhode Island Public Higher Education
13
• Flexible financial aid regulations and procedures for part-time students, particularly for
adult learners who may be coming to higher education from the workforce as part-time
or full-time students.
• Attention to child-care needs, flexible scheduling (evening and weekend classes), and
other structural supports.
• Additional and adequate experiential education opportunities (internships, partnerships)
that provide connections to real life.
Action Steps
• Identify grant-funded opportunities (e.g., National Science Foundation, National
Endowment for the Humanities, U.S. Department of Education) to build and sustain
articulation initiatives.
• Identify grant-funded opportunities that build pathway programs (e.g., dual enrollment).
These opportunities will also build the capacity of a group of educators to function as
professional development leaders within each institution and across the entire system.
• Ensure that the student-funded dual-enrollment model is not a barrier for low-income
students by developing scholarships (funded by the state and institutionally based) and
negotiated rates with public colleges. Such a transition should also increase the number
of courses taught on college campuses (as opposed to in the students’ high schools), thus
exposing students to college and boosting their levels of comfort and confidence in the
college academic experience.
An Example of Innovative Practice
The Gateway to College (g tc ) program of Portland (Oregon) Community College is a dualenrollment program designed for students who have dropped out of high school or are on the
verge of dropping out – students for whom the traditional school setting is not working. Students work toward a high school diploma, while also accumulating credits toward an associate’s degree, a transfer degree, or a certificate program. Courses are taught on the community
college campus by college instructors. The courses are rigorous and demanding; extensive
efforts are made at the institutional level to align courses to secondary and postsecondary
expectations. Students take courses in small cohorts through the first year of the program and
student-support staff play a critical role as both teachers (of a college study-skills course) and
as advisors.
Students struggle with the instabilities of their life circumstances: 7 percent of students live
independently, 5 percent are raising children, and half work (most work more than twenty
hours per week).
Many of the students are older and have been out of school for more than one year. One student says:
I came here from Africa when I was sixteen. I was very behind in my schooling, so I was
always put with other students who were much younger than me. I felt like I had very
little chance of succeeding. My mom began exploring my different options, and a friend
14
Final Report
told her about the g tc program. I barely got in, but it is going very well! The g tc program is a good fit for me. I feel like the staff listens to me and supports me. You feel a
connection to both your teachers and the other students. I have access to the same
resources as other college students, such as the mathematics lab and extra tutoring. This
program has really built my self-esteem.
Increase Access and Affordability
• Provide students and their families with clear statements of total costs (tuition, fees,
room and board, course materials, travel expenses) and financial aid packages.
• Support students and families in developing understandable, full two-year or
four-year financial plans.
• Encourage institutions to design work-study opportunities for twenty hours per
week in conjunction with a ten-hour educational program in order to allow Family Independence Plan (F I P) welfare beneficiaries access to postsecondary education programs.
• Fund the Rhode Island Higher Education Assistance Authority at the statutory
maximum in the state budget for the next five years, and annually evaluate the
return on this investment in need-based aid.
The Need
State and federal financial aid has not kept
[My parents] did not want to take any loans out for
pace with increases in tuition and fees
me because I am the baby of the family, and my
over the last decade, and grants are being
brother and sister dropped out of college, they never
replaced by loans, placing a heavy
finished and they have a lot of loan bills to pay so they
financial burden on low- and mediumdid not want to take the responsibility for me. . . .
income families. In the 2005 annual
national report card on higher education
But in high school my guidance counselor and I had
(n c p ph e 2005), Rhode Island received
a mentor help me fill out my financial aid papers.
high marks for enrollment and completion rates, but received a failing grade in
––From In Their Own Voices: Conversations with College Students
from Underrepresented Populations, by Jamie E. Scurry
affordability. The net college cost (which
equals tuition, room, and board minus
financial aid) for students from low- and middle-income families to attend four-year colleges
and universities is equal to 52 percent of their income. These families earn, on average, $21,000
each year. As families attempt to budget appropriately for the costs of a student’s postsecondary education, it is important to have a clear picture of the total cost – not just tuition –
over the full four years (or longer, if part-time enrollment is expected). Providing only a firstyear aid package is inadequate because grants are often eliminated or reduced – and replaced
by loans – in later years.
Stakeholders across the PK–16 system must work hard to dispel the widespread presumption
that what helps upper- and middle-class students and families plan for college helps all families who aspire to that same goal. For example, many low-income students and families are
Task Force on Groups Underrepresented in Rhode Island Public Higher Education
15
hesitant to take out loans to pay for college and often overestimate the actual costs of college.
And, as a recent research report identifying financial barriers and perceptions among Latino
students found,
Translation of financial aid information should not presume knowledge of U.S. financial
aid concepts such as government guaranteed loans, grants and scholarships. Basic college
financial aid literacy in English and Spanish should be the basis of any college financial
aid information effort. (Zarate & Pachon 2006, p. 1)
The Foundation to Build Upon in Rhode Island
The Rhode Island Higher Education Assistance Authority is leading the development of a
college-access Web portal that will function as a primary, well-publicized point of contact for
information and supports regarding college admissions requirements, financial aid, and scholarships. The Web portal is intended to meet the needs of students and partners in student success (family members, community organizations, guidance counselors, and others).
At the national level, the secretary of education’s Commission on the Future of Higher Education urges a simplification of the financial aid process, pointing out that for most families,
completing the federal government’s Free Application for Federal Student Aid (fa f s a ) is a
more complicated and arduous process than filing a federal tax return. If enacted, a streamlined and simplified financial aid process at the federal level will result in students and
families learning their financial aid qualifications earlier in the year before expected college
enrollment.
Nonprofit organizations in Rhode Island, such as the Rhode Island Children’s Crusade, have
a wealth of knowledge and experience regarding unmet need and the specific concerns of
underrepresented students and their families. This knowledge, in conjunction with the knowledge of the financial aid officers of the three Rhode Island public colleges, can be brought to
bear to design a pilot program of last-dollar scholarships and advising based upon proven programs.
Design Principles
• Educational programs are most effective for adult students who have young children
when coursework can be completed near their places of employment and when child care
is readily available.
• Institutions should provide information and counseling regarding the impacts of various
choices that students have to make (e.g., working full-time or part-time, relying on credit
cards, taking courses in the summer, living on-campus, relying too heavily on student
loans).
Action Steps
• In addition to the yearly financial aid award, institutions should provide a financial aid/
debt forecast, estimating financial aid and debt obligations over the life of the program.
16
Final Report
• Institutions should also provide an academic forecast that details the number of developmental courses needed before beginning core graduation requirements and the impact of
those courses on the expected number of years in college and on financial aid concerns.
• A state-based incentive should be put in place to encourage institutions to increase the
number of students accepting work-study employment opportunities.
• Institutions should be encouraged to design work-study opportunities for twenty hours
per week in conjunction with a ten-hour educational program. This will allow f i p welfare recipients access to postsecondary education programs.
• The state should explore avenues to stabilize funding streams so institutions can make
decisions earlier in the year regarding the allocation of financial aid resources. The state
should also explore contracts and partnerships with student-loan agencies to provide lowinterest loans that do not require credit approval or co-signers.
• The philanthropic community should pilot a program of last-dollar scholarships (to cover
at least 30 percent of the student’s annual unmet financial need for college) coupled with
financial aid advising, beginning with the high school senior class of 2007. The funders
should implement an evaluation to determine the effectiveness of the program for firstgeneration college students and estimate the cost of taking the program to scale.
Examples of Innovative Practice
Debt forecasting
Bowdoin College (a private liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine) develops a four-year written financial plan “specific to the assets and borrowing options available to each family.” The
financial aid staff reevaluates family finances each spring to ensure that the demonstrated need
continues to be met each school year.
Last-dollar scholarships
Boston acc e s s works to support every high school graduate in the Boston Public Schools
on the path to college by providing financial information and resources necessary to pursue
higher education. acc e s s provides one-on-one financial aid advising in all Boston’s public
high schools and throughout the community. If their full financial need has not been met, students may be eligible for an acc e s s “last-dollar” scholarship. Last-dollar scholarships are
designed to fill this final gap, after all other sources of aid have been tapped. The scholarships
average $800 in the first year and $1,300 in subsequent years (and are renewable every year for
five years). acc e s s leaders have found that if the last-dollar scholarship can cover 30 percent
of the student’s unmet need, students can compensate for the remaining 70 percent. The large
majority of acc e s s scholars are the first in their families to attend college.
The success of the acc e s s program can be attributed to its unique role in the college-going
process: providing financial aid advising and, when necessary, a last-dollar scholarship. Guidance counselors at each high school retain the primary role of supporting students through the
college application process. ac c e ss identified a need and continues to adapt its programs to
most effectively meet this need (currently, emphasizing and expanding the advising role).
Task Force on Groups Underrepresented in Rhode Island Public Higher Education
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acc e ss was established as a program of the Boston Plan for Excellence with a multimilliondollar endowment, and awards approximately $600,000 in scholarships annually. In 2006, the
program received a $450,000 line-item allocation in the Massachusetts state budget to fund
scholarships.
Investing in programs for low-income adults
In 1997, Washington State inaugurated WorkFirst, the state’s welfare-to-work program based
on the 1996 federal Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (ta n f ) welfare reform legislation. The goals of the program are to increase the number of welfare recipients entering
employment with above-average entry-level wages, to increase job placements for welfare parents with limited English proficiency, and to increase job placements and wage progression for
other low-income parents. As a primary component of the WorkFirst program, the state’s
community and technical college system created training programs to provide participants
with pre-employment and job training to help them gain skills and advance economically. The
work-study program is specifically for welfare recipients and creates work-study positions on
campus for twenty hours per week, along with a ten-credit-hour course load, which is permissible under the ta n f work requirements. A related twelve-month program allows welfare
recipients to attend a community or technical college program in “high wage/high demand”
fields such as information technology and health care.
Create a Developmental Education Policy
• Develop a systemwide policy that defines and assigns resources to developmental education for PK–16 and adult education.
• Ensure that resulting programs in developmental education include:
– access to comprehensive assessment and placement tools, early interventions,
and appropriate placements for students as early as possible (especially in
eleventh and twelfth grade);
– collaboration among various stakeholders and educational providers to ensure
effectiveness of the policy;
– the ability to systematically meet the needs of diverse learners, such as accelerating the pace of instruction or providing additional assistance to students
with limited English proficiency; and
– sustained professional development opportunities for faculty members and
K–12 educators on a periodic basis.
The Need
Most of developmental education is not remedial, because in an effective developmental system students are building knowledge upon previous material rather than “relearning” old
material. Or, in the case of foreign students, the material may be new to the students. Developmental education, therefore, promotes the “cognitive and affective growth of all postsecondary learners, at all levels of the learning continuum. Developmental education is sensitive
18
Final Report
and responsive to individual differences and special needs among learners” (n a de 2001).
Developmental education includes all forms of learning assistance, such as tutoring, mentoring, and supplemental instruction; personal, academic, and career counseling; academic advising; and coursework.
A study done for Achieve, Inc., showed that, nationally, over 60 percent of college professors
think that students do not comprehend complex reading materials, struggle to think analytically, write poorly, and lack the necessary study habits to be successful in college (Peter D. Hart
Research Associates/Public Opinion Strategies 2005). Accurate student placement and access
to a high-quality continuum of developmental
education services create an environment in which
Nationally, over 60 percent of college profesrigorous standards can be set and high expectasors think that students do not comprehend
tions of college readiness can be met. High school
complex reading materials, struggle to think
graduation requirements and content standards
must be aligned with college-readiness expectaanalytically, write poorly, and lack the necestions. Similarly, competency on the g e d must
sary study habits to be successful in college.
reflect the new standards and expectations of the
Rhode Island high school diploma system. Such
alignment should, in the long term, raise the level of academic and language proficiencies of
students of all ages entering the public colleges, particularly the community college.
A systemwide developmental education policy will add visibility, support, and resources to
developmental education programs, which should then eliminate much of the stigma that is
currently attached to such programs by students and educators. Further, the new policy will
increase institutional and personal accountability and responsibility, thus eliminating the
revolving door experienced by many traditional and adult students.
The Foundation to Build Upon in Rhode Island
There now exists an opportunity to embed developmental education supports earlier, as the
Rhode Island state assessments are offered in eleventh grade rather than twelfth grade. High
school students will be better positioned to significantly improve their identified areas of
academic weakness in twelfth grade and increase the likelihood of success in their first year of
college.
In addition to the state assessment results, other diagnostic measures are available to determine
college readiness. Some Rhode Island school districts are piloting use of the Accuplacer test –
the test that is used to place students in core subject areas at the Community College of Rhode
Island (cc r i ) – in tenth and eleventh grade. Guidance counselors and administrators use the
Accuplacer test results to advise students about course selection and areas in need of improvement and to advise educators about improved alignment to postsecondary expectations in
reading, writing, and mathematics.
The high school diploma acknowledges the completion of a rigorous K–12 curriculum. In
constructing the PK–16 continuum, Rhode Island has many accomplishments on which to
Task Force on Groups Underrepresented in Rhode Island Public Higher Education
19
build in the areas of alignment and high expectations, including the new grade-span expectations, proficiency-based graduation requirements, and individualized learning programs.
Developmental educators served on the PK–16 English language arts, mathematics, and science advisory committees that set college-ready expectations. Developmental exit standards
are being aligned to college entrance standards. Rhode Island has been a forerunner in this
work.
Design Principles
• Ongoing, consistent, and meaningful communication supports and mechanisms (advising, counseling, teaching) that ensure constant and steady contact with students. These
services should be available in students’ communities, at night, on weekends, and in other
creative manners that allow for maximum participation.
• Assessments and mandatory enrollment in developmental education, when necessary, for
all students. Assessments and supports should be informed by a deep knowledge and
understanding of remedial development and academic recovery.
• Transparency in course-taking pathways and sequences that are linked to assessments so
students can accurately answer the question: “What courses prepare me for my future
goals?”
• Investment of time, fiscal resources, and human resources in professional development of
K–12 educators, higher-education faculty, adult-literacy providers, and student-support
staff.
• Help for institutions to become accountable for quality instruction for students with
developmental and remedial needs.
• Development of a core of dedicated, trained developmental educators. The best developmental educators choose to teach developmental education and have training in the field.
They should also be qualified to teach college-level classes and regularly do so. The Kellogg Institute for Developmental Educators in North Carolina has, for over two decades,
been a nationally recognized summer training institute for developmental education faculty. The National Association for Developmental Education and the Learning Assistance
Association of New England also provide affordable professional development opportunities, and professional publications such as the Journal of Developmental Education provide access to relevant research and best practices.
Action Steps
• The state, school districts, and institutions of higher education should determine the viability and budget implications of offering joint faculty appointments for educators at secondary schools and the community college in order to reduce the number of part-time
educators and to support students in successfully navigating the transition from secondary to postsecondary education.
• Survey department heads and faculty regarding the availability of and access to teaching
and learning professional development opportunities, then study the results at the system
level to determine appropriate solutions to the gaps that exist.
20
Final Report
• Identify faculty interested in developmental educator training. Provide incentives for faculty who express interest in this training.
• Develop statewide annual learning institutes for PK–16 educators to emphasize the areas
critical to students’ postsecondary success, such as critical reading, persuasive writing,
problem solving, analytical reasoning, study habits, and time management.
• With support from the Rhode Island Department of Education, create opportunities for
groups of educators from urban districts to observe postsecondary developmental education programs, such as the learning lab at cc r i .
• r i o h e, in consultation with higher education administrators and educational leaders,
will gather data and then draft a developmental education policy.
Examples of Innovative Practice
Partnerships to accelerate learning opportunities
The College Now program is a partnership between the City University of New York (c u n y)
and the New York City public schools. An array of programs provides curricular options to
students, including non-credit developmental college courses, credit-earning college courses,
high school courses, and workshops to prepare for the state assessment tests. The programs
emphasize advanced academic work that prepares students for college, rather than simply
meeting minimum remediation requirements to earn college admission. All of the programs
are free to participants, most of whom are high school juniors and seniors.
The non-credit developmental courses are intended to function as a bridge to college-level
work and college enrollment. These courses are taught by college faculty or by high school
teachers who are hired as adjunct faculty through the colleges. The classes take place outside
of normal school hours (in the late afternoon or on weekends) and are held at either the high
school or on the college campus.
High school teachers and college faculty often collaborate on course design. In one instance,
such collaboration resulted in a high school social studies course for English-language learners
that reflected the high school standards and grade-level expectations, while also building college skills such as note taking, research, and writing.
College Now is fast becoming a primary vehicle for high school graduates moving on to a
c u n y four-year college (either immediately upon high school graduation or after attending a
c u n y community college), and the first-year retention rate is higher for College Now students than for comparable students who are not participants in the program. Among College
Now alumni entering c u n y in the fall of 2003, the retention rates were 87.9 percent at senior colleges, 78.7 percent at comprehensive colleges, and 76.4 percent at community colleges,
compared to 81.8 percent, 70.4 percent, and 66.5 percent, respectively, for New York public
high school graduates who did not participate in College Now.
Task Force on Groups Underrepresented in Rhode Island Public Higher Education
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Strengthening teaching and learning at the system level
The University of Michigan established the first university-wide teaching and learning center
in 1962. The Center for Research on Learning and Teaching provides university faculty and
graduate student instructors a comprehensive set of services to improve learning and create an
academic culture in which students and faculty from diverse backgrounds can be successful.
The Center offers customized services for departments and schools within the university, consultations with individual faculty and graduate student instructors (including videotaping and
critiquing individual courses), support for the integration of technology, and midterm student
feedback sessions. The Center’s staff work with faculty members to review curricula and plan
and evaluate curricular changes. The staff also collaborate with faculty members to design student surveys for individual courses, academic units, and satellite campuses. Multicultural education lies at the heart of the Center’s work and, in recent years, the Center has conducted and
sponsored seminars and workshops to build pedagogical skills for teaching diverse students
and building cultural proficiency.
In supporting curricular reform and new academic programs that value high-quality teaching,
the Center also seeks strategic partnerships with other institutions, foundations, and agencies
to attract funds and technical expertise to build teaching and learning capacity. The Center
awards prizes for exemplary teaching and grants to support innovative practices and professional growth.
The Center’s staff has a variety of backgrounds and expertise (e.g., secondary and postsecondary teaching experience, graduate work in a range of disciplines, curriculum design,
instructional technology, evaluation, and multicultural education). University faculty members serve on the Center’s board and as research fellows.
Build a College-Bound Culture
• Support and continue to develop programs and experiences in schools and communities that help students, their families, and advocates understand the importance of postsecondary education and build a deeper understanding of what it
takes to succeed.
• Foster partnerships among various stakeholders, including employers, community organizations, and school districts, to fund and implement educational and
workforce development programs.
The Need
Far too many students, especially students who would be the first in their families to attend
college, do not think of themselves as “college bound.” Schools, families, community organizations, peers, employers, and institutions of higher education each have unique contributions
to make as students identify life goals, postsecondary options, and the pathways to achieve
these goals. Schools cannot – due to staff and time limitations – and should not be the sole
mechanism to support the college-going aspirations of students, especially because there are
22
Final Report
already community-based organizations successfully serving in this capacity. Collaboration and
partnership are paramount to maximize the spread
and effectiveness of these efforts.
Early awareness of postsecondary options and
requirements matters a great deal; raising awareness must begin well in advance of high school.
Financial planning workshops for students and
families can be offered for eighth-graders and their
families to assist them in identifying the expected
cost of college and to begin long-term planning to
meet the cost. Information sessions regarding the
benefits of subsidized student loans, the availability of scholarships, and other related issues should
be offered in schools and in communities. Dr.
Michael Lomax, president and c e o of the United
Negro College Fund, writes,
My mom, especially, was proactive about getting us the best. You couldn’t ask for help
[with schoolwork] at home because my parents only did high school and both of them
were always working. Because they are immigrants, they couldn’t really play that role. But
every single day my mom would ask me,
“What are you getting for your grades?” or
“How are you doing in school?” She only had
high school but she always pushed me to do
better, always told me I could do better.
––College student who grew up in Providence
Student expectations about college . . . start at home and in the community. As early as
elementary and middle school, long before students are thinking about careers, the adults
in their lives need to treat college aspirations as a given, not an option, for whatever career
they may ultimately choose. (Bedsworth, Colby & Doctor 2006).
In short, earlier is better, both to set goals and to address specific issues. For instance, options
are available to students who are undocumented immigrants, if they are proactive. But if they
wait until twelfth grade, it may be too late to enroll immediately in college with any sort of
financial aid.
Programs are often most effective when structured for students to learn from their peers. College Summit, an exemplary national college preparatory and access program, hosts intensive
writing workshops for low-income students. At the beginning of the session, the
facilitator/writing coach asks each student to write on a flip chart at least one major obstacle
he or she is facing, or has overcome, in meeting college goals. According to one writing coach,
What comes up often is “Family.” . . . “My father says I’m not smart enough for college.”
Or “Money.” “We can’t afford it.” “Self-esteem.” They never believed that they were good
enough. “Schoolwork.” They messed up in the first two years of high school and one year
of doing well is not going to make a difference. When it’s all up, you hear kids say: “I
have that one too.” The sheet gets filled up and they see that other kids are struggling
with the same things. The kids coach each other – which is so much more powerful than
when it comes from an adult. The walls come down. (Bornstein 2004, p. 162)
Task Force on Groups Underrepresented in Rhode Island Public Higher Education
23
The Foundation to Build Upon in Rhode Island
Many programs and services in Rhode Island are especially strong in knowing the communities they serve – for example, low-income adults, students who are recent immigrants, or firstgeneration college-goers – and knowing the specific strategies that can best keep these students
on the path to college. The Rhode Island Higher Education Assistance Authority, r i b g he,
r i o h e, Dorcas Place, the Rhode Island Children’s Crusade, College Visions at AS220, and
other statewide and community-based programs meet students and their families where they
are and provide invaluable academic, technical, and social supports in navigating college
preparation, financing, and success.
Secondary and postsecondary institutions can learn a great deal from the strengths and challenges faced by the Met Center – a network of six small public high schools in Providence and
a national model in rigorous applied-learning opportunities – in identifying and partnering
with businesses and other organizations to give students engaging internship opportunities
that are aligned to academic standards and expectations. Business leaders have served as active
members of the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Panel on Mathematics and Science Education in
developing strategies to improve educational outcomes in the high-tech economy, creating
opportunities for students to gain knowledge in engineering, computer science, and other
high-demand fields.
Design Principles
Building partnerships, building capacity, and supporting community-based providers
When designed and implemented well, these experiences and programs build the social and
cultural capital of students and families. To maximize access and equity, these experiences and
programs should be provided in a range of settings and by a diverse set of providers.
Community-based programming
• Community-based organizations are usually the most successful mechanism to reach students and families early (in elementary and middle school). In this early phase, the program should:
– feature activities that build the knowledge base of students and families regarding the
importance of postsecondary education;
– provide multiple access points to important information, including academic and
graduation requirements, true college costs, and available extended learning opportunities (e.g., art classes, drama, sports clubs, and debate teams).
• As students enter high school or as adults consider educational opportunities, an array of
programs and experiences are intended to build a comfort level with the college experience (social, financial, being away from home, working, and attending school) and
specific challenges faced by individual students and families:
– Mentorship and internship opportunities
– Financial planning
24
Final Report
– Visits to colleges to build a comfort level
– Standardized tests: tutoring and test preparation
– Support throughout the entire college application process
School-based programming
• Schools should create multidisciplinary learning opportunities for students that include
community-based field research projects to unpack the importance of higher education;
students build skills through interviewing family members and others in their communities who have graduated from college.
• Every high school in Rhode Island should set aside at least one class period each school
year for presentations regarding college planning and costs. Administrators and educators
should embed the material covered into the curriculum. For example, in mathematics
class, students can research the expected cost of college and learn financial-planning skills.
Parents and family members can be active partners in these courses.
Action Steps
• Identify a continuum of supports; interview a range of successful students from underrepresented groups for their insights regarding the programs and supports that made the
largest difference at various stages of their educational lives. This project could be undertaken by a teacher-education program at the University of Rhode Island or Rhode Island
College in partnership with a group of urban high schools.
• Identify state and philanthropic funding to disseminate the best school-based courses that
address the issues of college preparation, access, financing, and school culture.
• Conduct a scan of the business community to identify the organizations that currently
provide formal and informal internship or mentorship opportunities.
– Identify each program’s reach (number of students from underrepresented groups
served).
– Assess the current and potential connections to new state learning standards.
– Determine geographic areas and content areas (e.g., mathematics or science) that
require additional opportunities.
• Follow up on the results of the scan:
– Collaborate with business partners to improve and scale up existing programs.
– Identify new partnerships with the business community at the state, district, and local
levels.
Examples of Innovative Practice
Community-based programming
East Harlem Tutorial Program in East Harlem, New York, is a community- and family-based
organization that offers a wide range of educational and support programs for students and
families, including:
Task Force on Groups Underrepresented in Rhode Island Public Higher Education
25
• Individual and group tutoring programs for youth ages six to nineteen in the afternoons,
evenings, and weekends.
• Intake interviews for each student, including input from parents and school teachers.
• Student profiles developed with measurable goals and objectives.
• Additional tutoring sessions in research skills, art, technology, computer skills, homework
help, and s at preparation.
• The College & Career Readiness program, offering workshops and seminars to prepare
students for postsecondary education and to develop career goals. Guest speakers and
staff lead the weekly workshops on topics ranging from goal setting, resume writing, consequences of individual choices, and stereotypes. Students also take part in cultural and
educational field trips, as well as annual college tours for high school juniors and seniors.
• Partnerships with businesses and other nonprofit organizations such as an off-site mentoring program in collaboration with a local investment management firm, which emphasizes college and career choices and skill building.
Education and workforce development
One of Chicago’s recent success stories is a job-training program that the city developed in a
partnership with Ford Motor Company’s renovation in the South Side of the city. The Illinois
Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity supported the initiative with a multimillion-dollar Employment Training Investment Program (e t i p ) grant, which will provide
funds for specialized training to more than
8,500 existing employees and 500 new
I really want to be a nurse. I really wish I didn’t
workers in a variety of technical fields,
have to worry all on my own about my twelfthincluding calibration software, robotics,
welding, and safety. The e t i p reimburses
grade internship. I wish there was [an internship
companies for up to 50 percent of the cost
program] in place or somebody to kind of help me
of training its employees. As a result of this
out with this. Instead, I’m spending a lot of time
public-private collaboration, Ford will gain
doing this for myself. [I went to] an interview for a
upgrades to the quality of its labor force
summer job at St. Joseph’s, possibly turning into an
and improve its manufacturing flexibility,
while workers will benefit by acquiring speinternship in my senior year. I met with another
cialized skills that will give them a leg up in
lady who is in charge of all the outpatient clinics,
the highly competitive automobile labor
and she told me about the St. Joseph’s School of
market.
Nursing. She told me about the scholarships and
about how money and things for schools and job
placements after graduation would work out. She
gave me a brochure and all that, so I made a connection for my future.
––High school senior, urban school district in Rhode Island
26
Final Report
Address the Needs of Adult
Learners
Adults seeking to enroll in college face a
number of unique issues. The following recommendations are targeted to the specific
needs of adult learners in underrepresented
populations.
Provide Information and Increase Access
• Conduct ongoing public-awareness campaigns to encourage low-income adults
to enroll in college.
• Promote programs such as the Rhode Island Educational Opportunity Center as
a resource for information on college admissions and financial aid application
assistance for low-income adults.
• Encourage institutions to organize college tours specifically for adults.
• Provide intensive support services in the community and on the campuses for
adults seeking to enroll in college.
• Provide career-counseling and career-planning services for adults who are unemployed and underemployed to promote higher education.
Improve Institutional Supports and Structures
• Customize orientation for adults at the institutions.
• Provide ongoing, intensive, and comprehensive student services and support to
eliminate institutional, situational, and dispositional barriers.
• Provide ongoing workshops on study-skills, time-management, and other topics
as identified by adult students.
• Provide additional child-care services on campuses. Child-care and transportation
services should be available at nontraditional hours.
• Provide college work-study opportunities at the college and offsite in the community at nontraditional hours.
• Support concurrent enrollment in developmental education and credit courses for
adult learners.
• Promote a flexible academic calendar (evening and weekends) for working adults.
• Provide tutoring and mentoring services, and academic advising specifically for
adults.
• Expand distance-education delivery systems, especially distance education for
place-bound adults.
• Track low-income, first-generation, and adult Pell recipients in the institutions’
databases to track persistence and graduation rates. Provide data annually on student outcomes to r i b g he.
Strengthen Pathways to Success
• Work with r i d e to provide credential analysis and certification for immigrants
who were enrolled in college (many also have degrees) in their countries of origin.
• Explore the public institutions’ ability to provide credit for prior knowledge and
skills if such experiential learning can be assessed to demonstrate college-level
outcomes.
• Increase state funding for adult literacy services to act as a feeder system in
Task Force on Groups Underrepresented in Rhode Island Public Higher Education
27
increasing the numbers of g e d graduates enrolling in postsecondary education.
• Fund Bridge-to-College programs for adults (use a cohort model).
• Work with employers where demand is high for skilled employees to create
sector-specific career pathways.
• Provide taxpayer support for employers that provide educational services onsite.
• Encourage adults to enroll in the Joint Admissions Agreement.
• Provide transfer assistance to adults enrolled in c cr i.
• Partner with community-based organizations to offer reading, mathematics, and
writing institutes to decrease need for remediation.
Articulate and Align Academic Content and Standards
• Align Adult Secondary Education programs/instruction to College-Readiness
Standards.
• Adopt a learner-centered approach. Chunk up courses in order to accelerate the
pace of instruction and provide intermediate credentials and certificates.
• Contextualize course content with occupational focus.
• Adopt a competency-based curriculum.
Increase Strategic Public and Private Investments
• Set up special financial aid funds that are need-based for adults who are working
and for adults who are Pell-eligible who can only take one college course per
semester.
• Work with employers to develop tuition-reimbursement programs for employees
going to college.
• Advocate with the Department of Human Services to allow Family Independence
Program beneficiaries to attend college and allow college work-study jobs of
more than twenty hours per week to count toward work-participation rates.
28
Final Report
Primary Organizational Responsibilities for Recommendations
Recommendation
Organization with primary
responsibility for implementation*
Maximize the depth and uses of student data.
RIDE, RIBGHE
Enhance pathways to success (including dual
enrollment) for traditional and adult students.
RIDE, RIBGHE, CBOs (Dorcas Place)
Increase access and affordability:
Provide early and ongoing information to ALL
potential higher-education students.
RIBGHE, RIDE, DLT, CBOs, RIHEAA, NEBHE
Provide a clear long-term financial aid estimate
for each student.
RIBGHE, CCRI, RIC, URI
Significantly increase need-based aid to lowincome students.
RIBGHE, RIHEAA, CCRI, RIC, URI
Create a systemwide developmental education
policy and focus on professional development.
RIOHE, CCRI, RIC, URI
Build a college-bound culture through school-,
community-, and workplace-based programs
and partnerships.
Student-serving community organizations,
college-access programs, employers, adulteducation providers
Address the specific needs of adult learners in
underrepresented populations.
Adult-serving community organizations,
college-access programs, employers, adulteducation providers
*Key:
CBOs
Community-based organizations
DLT
Department of Labor and Training
RIBGHE
Rhode Island Board of Governors for Higher Education
RIDE
Rhode Island Department of Education
RIHEAA
Rhode Island Higher Education Assistance Authority
RIOHE
Rhode Island Office of Higher Education
NEBHE
New England Board of Higher Education
CCRI
Community College of Rhode Island
RIC
Rhode Island College
URI
University of Rhode Island
Task Force on Groups Underrepresented in Rhode Island Public Higher Education
29
References
Ad Council. 2006. College Access: Results from a Survey of Low-Income Parents and LowIncome Teens. PowerPoint presentation. Available online at
<www.inpathways.net/ad%20council.pdf>.
Adelman, Clifford. 2006. The Toolbox Revisited: Paths to Degree Completion from High School
through College. U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: U.S. g p o .
Bedsworth, William, Susan Colby, and Joe Doctor. 2006. Reclaiming the American Dream.
San Francisco: The Bridgespan Group. Available online at
<www.bridgespangroup.org/p d f /ReclaimingtheAmerican%20DreamWhitePaper.pdf>.
Bornstein, David. 2004. How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New
Ideas. New York: Oxford University Press.
Conley, David. 2005. College Knowledge: What It Really Takes for Students to Succeed and
What We Can Do to Get Them Ready. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
The Education Trust. 2006. College Results Online. Washington, DC: Education Trust. Available online at <www.collegeresults.org>.
Harvard Family Research Project. 2006. Complementary Learning Overview. Available online
at <http://gseweb.harvard.edu/hfrp/projects/complementary-learning.html>.
Jobs for the Future. 2006a. Adult Learners in Higher Education: Barriers to Success and Strategies to Improve Results. Boston: j f f .
_____. 2006b. Dual Enrollment in Rhode Island: Opportunities for State Policy. Boston: j f f .
Available online at <www.jff.org>.
_____. 2005. Education and Skills for the 21st Century: An Agenda for Action. Boston: j f f .
Available online at<www.jff.org>.
Kirst, Michael, and Andrea Venezia. 2006. Improving College Readiness and Success for All
Students: A Joint Responsibility Between K-12 and Postsecondary Education. A National
Dialogue: The Secretary of Education’s Commission on the Future of Higher Education.
Issue Paper. U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: U.S. g p o . Available
online at <www.ed.gov/about/bdscomm/list/hiedfuture/reports/kirst-venezia.pdf>.
Lemann, Nicholas. 2000. The Big Test: The Secret History of the American Meritocracy, 1st rev.
pbk. ed. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.
Long, Bridget T., and Eric P. Bettinger. Forthcoming. “Institutional Responses to Reduce
Inequalities in College Outcomes: Remedial and Developmental Courses in Higher
Education.” In Economic Inequality and Higher Education: Access, Persistence, and Success,
edited by Stacy Dickert-Conlin and Ross Rubenstein. New York: Russell Sage
Foundation.
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Final Report
McWalters, Peter. 2006. “School Improvement in Rhode Island: The Data, the Outlook, the
Policy Implications.” Presentation to the Governor’s PK–16 Council, January 12, 2006.
National Association for Developmental Education. 2001. Definition of Developmental Education. Available online at <www.nade.net/A1.%20de_definition.htm>.
National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. 2005. Measuring Up 2005: The
National Report on Higher Education. San Jose, CA: n c p p h e .
_____. 2004. Measuring Up 2004: The National Report on Higher Education. San Jose, CA:
ncpphe.
New England Board of Higher Education. 2006. College Ready New England: Leadership
Goals and Policy Objectives White Paper. Available online at
<www.nebhe.org/info/pdf/programs/c r n e /White_Paper.pdf>.
Peter D. Hart Research Associates/Public Opinion Strategies. 2005. Rising to the Challenge:
Are High School Graduates Prepared for College and Work? A Study of Recent High School
Graduates, College Instructors, and Employers. Washington, DC: Achieve, Inc. Available
online at <http://achieve.org/files/pollreport_0.pdf>.
Rhode Island Board of Governors for Higher Education. n.d. Rhode Island Higher Education
Facts. Available online at <www.ribghe.org/publications.htm>.
Rhode Island Governor’s Adult Literacy Task Force. 2004. Adult Basic Education in Rhode
Island: Survey Results. Available online at <www.ripolicy.org/literacy/Survey/index.htm>.
Scurry, Jamie E. 2004. In Their Own Voices: Conversations with College Students from Underrepresented Populations. The Futures Project: Policy for Higher Education in a Changing
World. Providence, RI: Brown University. Available online at
<www.futuresproject.org/publications/In_Their_Own_Voices.pdf>.
U.S. Department of Education. 2006. A Test of Leadership: Charting the Future of U.S.
Higher Education. Washington, DC: U.S. g p o .
U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2005. Occupation Outlook Survey,
2004–05. Washington, DC: U.S. g p o .
Venezia, Andrea, Michael Kirst, and Anthony Antonio. 2003. Betraying the College Dream:
How Disconnected K–12 and Postsecondary Education Systems Undermine Student Aspirations. Stanford, CA: Stanford Institute for Higher Education Research.
Viadero, Debra. 2006. “Project Eyes Diverse Data Sets for Insight on Children,” Education
Week (October 4).
Zarate, Maria Estela, and Harry P. Pachon. 2006. Perceptions of College Financial Aid among
California Latino Youth. The Tomas Rivera Policy Institute Policy Brief (June). Available
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Task Force on Groups Underrepresented in Rhode Island Public Higher Education
31
a p p en d ix A
Task Force Process and Timeline
Our Process
The Rhode Island Office of Higher Education (r i o he), under the auspices of the Rhode
Island Board of Governors for Higher Education, convened a statewide task force to address
the underrepresentation of low-income and minority students in Rhode Island’s public colleges. r i o h e invited the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University to cofacilitate the task force, based on the Institute’s commitment to and expertise in issues of educational excellence and equity at scale. The task force was co-chaired by Nancy Carriuolo,
deputy commissioner and chief academic officer of r i o h e, and Warren Simmons, executive
director of the Annenberg Institute, and consisted of a diverse group of leaders and educators
from higher education, state agencies, community-based organizations, school districts, and
research and advocacy organizations across the state.
The task force first met on October 26, 2005, and had nine meetings over the next eleven
months. The full task force met for the first two meetings to determine the goals and primary
areas of emphasis necessary to accomplish its charge.
The task force then split into three working groups:
• Access and Affordability
• Retention and Success
• Transitions and PK–16 Pathways
Each working group researched and read widely to identify best practices, drawing on their
own members’ expertise and on local and national networks. At the February 2006 meeting
of the task force, each working group reported its draft design principles and recommendations to the group. The full task force reconvened for the remainder of the meetings to discuss
and refine the recommendations.
When appropriate, the task force invited other stakeholders to attend task force meetings and
provide valuable feedback. The task force is indebted to several people – most notably, staff
from the Rhode Island Department of Education, the Rhode Island Department of Labor and
Training, and the New England Board of Higher Education – for their willingness to support
the work of the task force. The recommendations are much stronger because of their contributions and valuable feedback.
32
Final Report
Timeline
2005
2006
October
First meeting of the task force
November
Full task force meeting
December
Full task force meeting
January
Working group meetings
February
Full task force meeting
March
Working groups reported design principles and major themes back to
full task force
June
August
Task force developed drafts and revised recommendations, conducted
interviews with students and additional research as needed
September
Final meeting of the task force
October
Final report delivered to r i o he
Late Fall
Report presented to the Governor’s PK–16 Council
Task Force on Groups Underrepresented in Rhode Island Public Higher Education
33
a p p en d ix B
Task Force Membership
Co-chairs
Nancy Carriuolo
Deputy Commissioner and Chief Academic Officer
Rhode Island Office of Higher Education
Warren Simmons
Executive Director
Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University
Commissioner of Higher Education
Jack R. Warner
Commissioner
Rhode Island Office of Higher Education
Members
Marvin Abney
Executive Assistant to the Commissioner for Equity and Access
Rhode Island Department of Education
Mariam Boyajian
Director, Upward Bound
Rhode Island College
Joe Costa
Director, Student Support Services
Rhode Island College
Stephanie Cruz
Assistant Director, Rhode Island Educational Opportunity Center
Community College of Rhode Island
Brenda Dann-Messier
President/C E O
Dorcas Place
Robert Delaney
Director of Special Projects, Office of Lifelong Learning
Community College of Rhode Island
34
Final Report
Philomena Fayanjuola
Director, Rhode Island Educational Opportunity Center
Community College of Rhode Island
Leslie Gell
Program Director, Lifelong Learning
Community College of Rhode Island
Jose Gonzalez
Director, Equity and Access
Providence School Department
Mary Harrison
Executive Director
Rhode Island Children’s Crusade
Emorcia Hill
Senior Director, Excellence Through Diversity
New England Board of Higher Education
Sharon Hoffman
Director, Rhode Island Scholars
The Education Partnership
Bill Hurry
Executive Director
Rhode Island Higher Education Assistance Authority
Gail Mance-Rios
Deputy Director
Rhode Island Higher Education Assistance Authority
Simon Moore
Director, College Visions
AS220
Inglish Morgan-Gardner
Director of Multicultural Scholarship Programs/Assistant Dean
Providence College
Sandra Powell
Assistant Director of Workforce Development
Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training
Sarah Rockett
Academic Advisor, University College
University of Rhode Island
Task Force on Groups Underrepresented in Rhode Island Public Higher Education
35
Jamie Scurry
Director, Teacher Education/Residency Program
The m et School
Neil Severance
Program Associate
Rhode Island Foundation
Phil Sisson
(Formerly) Dean of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences
Community College of Rhode Island
Cheryl Tutalo
Principal, West Warwick High School
West Warwick School District
Gerald Williams
Director, Talent Development
University of Rhode Island
The work of the task force was supported by:
Dennie Palmer Wolf
Director, Opportunity and Accountability
Annenberg Institute for School Reform
Michael Kubiak
Research Associate
Annenberg Institute for School Reform
Hal Smith
(Formerly) Senior Research Associate
Annenberg Institute for School Reform
Deanna Velletri
Executive Assistant, Academic and Student Affairs
Rhode Island Office of Higher Education
36
Final Report
appendix C
Innovative Programs in Rhode Island:
Addressing the Preparation, Retention, Support, and
Success of Underrepresented Groups of Students
For each recommendation in this report, the task force identified innovative practices and
models from which there is much to learn in successfully addressing the multifaceted, yet
interconnected factors that contribute to the underrepresentation of particular groups of students in higher education. While the task force recognized the importance of identifying programs, policies, and practices across the country, there is also a great deal to learn from and
build upon here at home.
Rhode Island was the first state in the country to develop a statewide early intervention (beginning in third grade) and scholarship program – the Rhode Island Children’s Crusade – and is
home to award-winning programs in adult literacy, workforce training, and first-generation
recruitment and retention. Rhode Island is fortunate to have several strong and innovative
programs of its own – through the public institutions of higher education, community-based
organizations, employers, state agencies, and other partners.
Dorcas Place
Dorcas Place provides adults with a wide range of comprehensive educational programs in
workplace literacy, college preparation (in partnership with c c r i), and adult basic education
and literacy development. In order to provide flexible opportunities, Dorcas Place established
a Learning Resource Center that includes a New Student Center where students can drop in
at their convenience and receive instructional services, one-on-one or in small groups, with
staff and tutors. All students have access to individualized counseling services. The day, afternoon, and evening programs, together, serve more than six hundred low-income adults each
year.
Rhode Island Children’s Crusade
The Crusade’s programs begin with students in the third grade and provide a continuum of
programs to keep students on the path to college. The Crusade specifically targets the students
most at risk of dropping out, enrolling approximately five hundred students per year from elementary schools in Central Falls, Newport, Pawtucket, Providence, and Woonsocket – Rhode
Island’s cities with the highest concentrations of low-income and immigrant populations.
Alone and in partnership with several youth-serving organizations, the Crusade provides a
wide range of services and programs in four core areas: academic enrichment, personal/social
development, career awareness and exploration, and postsecondary preparation.
Task Force on Groups Underrepresented in Rhode Island Public Higher Education
37
Rhode Island Scholars
An initiative of the Education Partnership, Rhode Island Scholars is a unique business-led
initiative motivating students to take a specified high school course of study that, if completed, has been found to increase college retention. The program currently enrolls 4,500
Rhode Island students in grades 9 through 11. The U.S. Department of Education recognizes
the course of study as fulfillment of the “academic rigor” eligibility requirements for the newly
established Academic Competitiveness Grants, and the Rhode Island Department of Education includes Rhode Island Scholars as one criterion for students demonstrating academic
rigor. The Academic Competitiveness Grants represent the sole Pell grant expansion in recent
years and can provide Pell-eligible students with increased financial aid for college, upon the
completion of a rigorous high school curriculum.
College Ready New England
Led by the New England Board of Higher Education and supported by the Nellie Mae Education Foundation, College Ready New England is an alliance of leaders in all six New England states from the fields of PK–16 education, business, and government. The alliance is
focused on developing strategies to increase the economic competitiveness and vitality of the
region and its citizens through expanded college access and success, particularly among lowincome and minority students and first-generation college-goers. College Ready New England
will assist the six states in gathering data to measure progress toward the identified goals and
in pursuing PK–16 policies and programs to increase preparation, access, and graduation. The
initiative also seeks to educate both the general public and key decision-makers across the
region about the importance of these issues.
Community College of Rhode Island
Access to Opportunity
Access to Opportunity is a t r i o program for students who are low-income, disabled, or of
the first generation in their families to attend college. The program offers a range of support
services, including advising in the areas of academics, financial aid, and transfer options.
Tutoring and skill-building courses are also important components of the program. The program aims to ensure that students improve their academic skills, remain in college, and graduate and/or transfer to a four-year institution. Acceptance is on a first-come, first-served basis.
Rhode Island Educational Opportunity Center
The Rhode Island Educational Opportunity Center (r i e oc) provides information and support about education and financial aid opportunities to adults who are considering returning
to college. The counselors, many of whom are bilingual, provide career counseling, assessment
and program-referral support, admissions advice, help with the financial aid application
process and scholarship searches, referral to social services agencies, and community outreach.
38
Final Report
r i e o c is a t r io program and all services are provided free of charge. The main office is
located at the Community College of Rhode Island (c c r i) Liston Campus (Providence) and
is open seven days a week and in the evenings on weekdays. r i e oc services are also available
at all cc r i campuses, netwo rkri offices, and in other community locations across the state.
Rhode Island College
Preparatory Enrollment Program
A limited number of recent graduates from Rhode Island high schools who have the ability
and potential to succeed in college with appropriate academic support services, but who do
not meet the College’s criteria for regular admission, may be selected to participate in the
Preparatory Enrollment Program (pe p). Preference is given to low-income students who are
first-generation college students and to students with disabilities evidencing academic need.
pe p is designed to assist students who have underdeveloped academic skills, inadequate or
inappropriate curricula in high school, lower-than-average standardized-test scores, etc.
The program consists of two academic phases intended to prepare participants fully for the
college-level work they will face at r i c . The first phase begins in the spring prior to enrollment. pep students come to the campus one evening a week for six weeks to attend classes in
study skills and to meet with their Student Support Services counselor. The second phase,
which occurs during the summer, consists of seven weeks of intensive academic study. The students live on campus in residence halls while taking classes in writing and mathematics, as well
as one freshman-level course for college credit. Class sizes are small, and individual and group
tutoring sessions are frequent. Tutors live in the residence halls with the students, so that academic assistance is always nearby. College facilities, such as the library and computer laboratories, are completely open to pep students. Upon successful completion of both the spring
and summer components, pe p students enroll as freshmen and have full access to the college’s
Student Support Services program.
Upward Bound
Upward Bound is designed to give low-income, potential first-generation college students the
skills and motivation necessary to complete high school and graduate from a postsecondary
program. The six participating public high schools – Central, Hope, and Mount Pleasant
high schools in Providence; Central Falls High School; East Providence High School; and Shea
High School in Pawtucket – are located within an eight-mile radius of r i c , thus providing
students with easy access to the campus and its facilities. The Upward Bound program simulates the college experience through a six-week residential component each summer (with college preparatory courses in mathematics, science, English, and foreign language) and through
weekly Saturday courses on the r i c campus during the school year (from October through
May). Students receive intensive academic and career counseling, tutoring, standardized-test
preparation, and support services. Meetings and workshops with parents and cultural programs are important elements of the program.
Task Force on Groups Underrepresented in Rhode Island Public Higher Education
39
The most recent program evaluation revealed that over the past nineteen years, graduates of
the program have a 99 percent college acceptance rate, a 98 percent enrollment rate, and a 77
percent college graduation rate.
University of Rhode Island: Talent Development
Talent Development is a recruitment and retention program designed for Rhode Island high
school graduates of color and from disadvantaged backgrounds who do not meet the admission requirements of u r i. The program works with its community of students from preadmission through graduation. The graduation rate for Talent Development students is generally on a par with that of the university overall.
Talent Development prepares students for rigorous college coursework through the Prep Program in the senior year of high school and the Pre-Matriculation Program in the summer. Students also have their own academic advisors to support their academic growth and to provide
assistance with financial aid and other issues that arise. The Pre-Matriculation Program consists of a six-week residential program at the Kingston campus, during which students engage
in one week of intensive writing, computer, and study skills coursework, followed by five
weeks of university two-credit courses augmented by daily tutorials and a writing program.
Completion of the Pre-Matriculation Program is a prerequisite for participation in the Talent
Development Program. Talent Development also offers a fall Pre-Matriculation Program for
custodial parents, independent students, and students with personal circumstances that prevent them from attending the summer program.
Rhode Island Board of Governors for Higher Education and
Rhode Island Office of Higher Education
r i b g he and r i o h e, since 2003, have offered one-hour preparing-for-college presentations
in schools, boys and girls clubs, foster homes, and other host sites where students and/or parents congregate. The free-of-charge presentations are offered in partnership with the Rhode
Island Higher Education Assistance Authority and the Children’s Crusade. Students are given
information regarding finances and academics. They also hear motivational remarks from outstanding community leaders who grew up in immigrant families. Judge Frank Caprio, chair
of r i b g he, is one such speaker.
40
Final Report
Two adult students – both alumni of college preparatory
programs at Dorcas Place Adult and Family Learning
Center – celebrate their graduation from the Community
College of Rhode Island.
The Annenberg Institute for School Reform is a national policyresearch and reform-support organization based at Brown
University that focuses on improving conditions and outcomes in
urban schools, especially those serving disadvantaged children.
The Institute works through partnerships with school districts and school reform networks
and in collaboration with national and local organizations skilled in educational research, policy, and effective practices to offer an array of tools and strategies to help districts strengthen
their local capacity to provide and sustain high-quality education for all students.
Rhode Island Board of Governors for Higher Education
Rhode Island Office of Higher Education
301 Promenade Street
Providence, RI 02908
Telephone: 401.222.6560
Web site: www.ribghe.org