A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

America goes back to School

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Information
Secretary Riley's Press Release AGBTS 98
Model Programs/Best Practices
Five Key Areas in Education
Key facts on family
Partner's Activity Kit 1998
Co-chairs and Steering Committee Members
America Goes Back to School

Helping students "think college early"
and prepare for careers

Information and Facts
More and more jobs--particularly those involving technology--require at least some postsecondary education, making the opportunity to go to college more important than ever for American families and their children. President Clinton, Vice President Gore and Secretary Riley have worked hard to help students and families pay the costs of postsecondary education. Now we have to make sure that all students know they can go to college and that all students prepare for college by taking the right courses, starting with algebra in the eighth grade, and continuing with a full sequence of college prep courses in high school, including trigonometry, physics, chemistry and Advanced Placement, tech-prep and School-to-Work courses. Everyone who works hard can go to college!

  • Right now in many parts of America there is a serious shortage of workers for jobs in technology.
  • Fifteen years ago, the typical college graduate earned 38 percent more than a high school graduate; as of 1995, that advantage had increased to 81 percent.
  • In 1995, 83 percent of high school graduates from high-income families went directly on to college, compared with 34 percent from low-income families.
Ideas for and Examples of Events and Partnerships


Build a school-college-community partnership to improve student achievement. Colleges and universities can be a great source of assistance to help improve student achievement and to encourage students to go on to college. The University of California, Berkeley, for example, has established the Berkeley Pledge, connecting college students and faculty with elementary, middle and high schools with high numbers of minority and low-income students. The university provides one-on-one and group activities for students and training and support for teachers in such areas as reading and math.

School-community collaborative. Project GRAD (Graduation Really Achieves Dreams) is a school-community partnership to increase the numbers of inner-city Houston youth continuing on to college. Project GRAD is a not-for-profit organization working with 24 elementary, middle and high schools and over 17,000 children. The focus during the early grades is on reading and math, and in high school on dropout prevention and college enrollment. For more information visit http://www.thenationalcenter.org/.

Host a "Think College Early" day for middle and high school students. Invite area colleges to send representatives to talk with students. Counselors and college representatives can hold workshops for both students and their parents on how to select a school, how to apply, and what financial aid is available. Invite middle and high school alumni back to talk about the choices they made after graduating from high school--what careers they've pursued and what kind of education they needed. Take a look at the new "Think College Early" Web site at www.ed.gov/thinkcollege/early/ with information especially for middle school students and other helpful information for parents, teachers, counselors, and the community.

Career Fair. The St. Louis, Missouri, Public Schools has worked with a local business advisory committee to hold an annual career fair for the last 15 years. Each year, over 12,000 youngsters will see presentations from local business people connecting what is learned in school with the world of work. Students also receive one-on-one counseling on the importance of learning math, science and technology, staying in school, and going to college.

Launch a mentor, job shadowing, and internship program. Kicked off at the beginning of the school year, these programs can be a safety net for students having trouble in school. Starting in elementary school, a student can benefit from an adult mentor who serves as a role model and gives the student the special attention needed to develop confidence in one's own abilities. In middle school, students can participate in job shadowing, spending a day in the workplace with a mentor to see what people do in different jobs. By sharing their experiences with one another, students can learn a lot about their options for the future. At the high school level, students can gain practical workplace skills and a greater understanding of their career options through internships.

National Groundhog Job Shadow Day. On February 2, 1998, 125,000 students across the country shadowed television meteorologists, political leaders, computer programmers, doctors, and workers from hundreds of other professions in order to experience the workplace firsthand. For more information about Groundhog Job Shadow Day and starting a job shadowing program, visit www.jobshadow.org or call the National School-to-Work Office Learning Center at 1-800-251-7236.

Resources to Help
The following publications and additional information about financial aid for college are available free of charge from the U.S. Department of Education by calling 1-800-4-FEDAID.

For the following publications call 1-877-4ED-PUBS or look on the Internet at www.ed.gov.

The following publication is available by calling the National Library of Education at 1-800-424-1616.

Current, New and Proposed Resources from the U.S. Department of Education Call 1-800-USA LEARN for more information on any of the following programs.

1-800-USA-LEARN