U.S. Department of Education
Rod Paige
Secretary
Office for Civil Rights
Kenneth L. Marcus
Delegated the Authority of Assistant Secretary for
Civil Rights
February 2004
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The data included in this document was compiled from a variety of sources, including third- party data sources external to the Department. The third-party data sources include, for example, interviews with school and university officials, reports supplied by schools and universities, reports of other federal agencies, state data reports, published research and other "outside" sources. These sources are cited throughout the report. The Department did not independently verify the accuracy of the data derived from third-party sources.
In addition to statistical data derived from third-party sources, this document also includes references to the statements, views, or opinions of third parties. The views expressed therein do not necessarily represent the positions or policies of the Department and no official endorsement by the Department is or should be inferred.
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
OFFICE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS
OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY
February 2004
Leaders of the Education Community,
The diversity question in America now is not "Whether?" but "How?" The Supreme Court's decisions in the Michigan affirmative action litigation affirm that our shared commitment to diversity is both compelling and just when pursued within lawful parameters. In light of these decisions, President George W. Bush has challenged the education community to develop innovative ways to achieve diversity in our schools without falling back upon illegal quotas. Most educational leaders, particularly at the postsecondary level, agree with the importance of this goal. The question before us, then, is not whether we should seek more diverse, inclusive academic communities, but how we can do so while meeting the highest academic and legal standards.
The Department is committed to working with educational leaders to strengthen the diversity of our academic communities, presenting a wide variety of race-neutral approaches. In March 2003, the Office for Civil Rights released a report entitled Race-Neutral Alternatives in Postsecondary Education: Innovative Approaches to Diversity, which provided a catalogue of race-neutral options available to educational institutions. The March 2003 report divided these approaches into two categories, "developmental" and "admissions" approaches and emphasized connections between secondary and postsecondary issues. In April 2003, the Department held a conference for over 80 of our country's postsecondary educational leaders in Miami, Florida, to foster innovative thinking about race-neutral means to achieve diversity in educational institutions. Leaders from the University of Texas, the University of Florida, the University of California system and other institutions spoke about the initial positive results from these programs. Panel discussions provided valuable insight into creating an educational climate for effective use of race-neutral alternatives. Since those early efforts, we have been asked to supplement our initial report with additional information on these programs, as well as new information regarding graduate and professional programs, private institutions and K-12 schools. This new report, which revises and expands the March 2003 report, is intended to satisfy those requests.
This report, like the Department's previous efforts, has two primary goals. First, we hope to provide institutions with a "toolbox" containing an array of workable race-neutral alternatives. The goal here is not to tell people what they cannot do or where the court-imposed limitations on racial or ethnic considerations may fall. Rather, we hope to highlight several approaches that appear, from early indications, to be promising. This report is all about finding positive, constructive methods for achieving and maintaining diversity. Second, we hope to demonstrate that the range of options available to all educational institutions is much broader than people typically assume. Educational institutions are using a wide variety of approaches such as class-rank plans, socioeconomic preferences and recruitment and outreach plans to create a diverse student body. Moreover, all of these admissions plans put together represent only one small subset of the available alternatives. The most aggressive plans aim at developing a diverse applicant pool containing excellent candidates of all backgrounds who are equipped, by strong elementary and secondary preparation, not only to apply successfully to postsecondary institutions, but also to succeed. Our hope is to highlight these developmental approaches and to put the range of admissions approaches in a broader context. We hope that this publication will help foster innovative thinking in the use of race-neutral means to produce diversity in institutions across the nation.
Sincerely,
Kenneth L. Marcus
Delegated the Authority of the
Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights
U.S. Department of Education
Only ten months have passed since the Department published the report entitled Race-Neutral Alternatives in Postsecondary Education: Innovative Approaches to Diversity. In that time, however, three things have become clear. First, we know that educational leaders are overwhelmingly committed to achieving diversity throughout the American educational system. [1] The president of the United States has encouraged this commitment, [2] and the Supreme Court has affirmed its importance. [3] Second, we understand more clearly the limitations that the U.S. Constitution and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 place on the extent to which racial preferences can be used to achieve this goal. [4] These limitations have received considerable attention lately, but we now know that most institutions that seek student diversity do so without relying upon racial quotas or preferences. [5] Third, we know that many institutions around the country have developed and are now implementing innovative programs and policies to enhance student diversity that do not depend upon racial considerations. Some institutions use "developmental approaches," which are designed to diversify student enrollment by enriching the pipeline of applicants equipped to meet entry requirements and achieve academic success. Other institutions use "admissions approaches," which are designed to diversify student enrollment through admissions policies and procedures. This report, which revises and expands our March 2003 report, discusses examples of both approaches. The report is not intended to be exhaustive.
President George W. Bush has said that diversity is one of America's greatest strengths and has encouraged the development of race-neutral alternatives to achieve diversity in educational institutions. Diversity, broadly understood, gives students an enriching insight into the lives and worldviews of a wide variety of people. Exposure to students from different backgrounds gives students a larger context within which they may analyze competing views. There is no substitute for allowing young people the opportunity to exchange ideas with others who have talents, backgrounds, viewpoints, experiences and interests different from their own.
Educational institutions at all levels embrace the value of diversity. A recent survey of 451 colleges and universities by the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) found that the vast majority of responding colleges--74 percent--acknowledge a commitment to diversity of some form in their mission statement. [6] As demonstrated below in Figure 1, 68 percent of colleges are guided by mission statements that encourage a racial and ethnic mix of students on campus. [7] Sixty-four percent of those mission statements also included a commitment to increasing other forms of diversity. [8]
Figure 1
Source: National Association of College Admission Counseling, Diversity and College Admissions in 2003: A Survey Report 2 (Sept. 2003) |
Of the institutions responding to NACAC's survey, most share a commitment to student body diversity, but many choose to pursue it using only race-neutral programs and policies. Only one-third of respondents consider race or ethnicity as a factor in admissions. [9] Aside from race and ethnicity, colleges and universities have employed definitions of diversity that include geography, socioeconomic status, age, religion, parental educational attainment, citizenship, special talents and academic interests. [10]
A greater number of institutions across the nation are adopting race-neutral approaches. The NACAC report indicates, for example, that institutions are increasingly focused on recruitment strategies to enhance diversity: "The focus on recruitment is just one significant indicator that colleges and universities have already begun adopting practices that could be considered 'race-neutral.' Indeed, if 'race-neutral' means race is not a factor in the admission decision, then this survey shows more than two-thirds of responding colleges and universities already follow 'race-neutral' policies and practices." [11]
President George W. Bush has emphasized the importance of race-neutral policies that expand educational opportunities for Americans from all racial and economic backgrounds. These policies provide feasible and innovative ways for colleges and universities to reflect the country's diversity without using race as a factor. The Supreme Court in the Michigan cases agreed that colleges needed to undertake serious, good-faith consideration of workable race-neutral alternatives that will achieve the diversity the university seeks before turning to consideration of race in their admissions decisions. [12] Florida, Texas, California and Washington have already made extensive use of race-neutral alternatives. The programs in these states are serving as models for the implementation of innovative race-neutral solutions across the country.
This report, like its predecessor, illustrates the rich variety of race-neutral alternatives now available. We hope to make clear that postsecondary student body diversity is in many respects a secondary school--and even a primary school--challenge and that the most vigorous approaches to postsecondary diversity begin with a commitment to developing a pool of students equipped not only to attend but to thrive in college, to graduate from college within a reasonable period and to profit from their educational experience. Approaches that focus exclusively on the admissions process, without regard to student development both prior and subsequent to admission, can never provide more than partial remedies.
The goal of the report is to provide a catalogue of both developmental and admissions-oriented race-neutral approaches. Although this report does not describe all race-neutral approaches, it highlights some of the promising strategies. The purpose behind providing this catalogue is to set out as much information as possible for institutions that are considering what best suits their individual circumstances in light of their own goals.
We have expanded this publication to include additional information concerning race-neutral alternatives for K-12, graduate and professional programs, and private colleges and universities. We recognize, however, that additional research is required in these areas and we expect that subsequent reports will elaborate on them. This publication does not endorse any particular program discussed in these pages. Rather, the approaches highlighted should stimulate educators' creativity in creating race-neutral programs that best meet their particular needs. We hope that this publication will help guide educational institutions in developing innovative race-neutral programs for achieving diversity.
Race-neutral programs can be divided into two categories: "Developmental approaches" are designed to diversify student enrollments by enriching the pipeline of applicants equipped to meet entry requirements and achieve academic success. "Admissions approaches" are designed to diversify student enrollments through admissions policies and procedures.
Even a selective list of developmental approaches will demonstrate the wide range of efforts that can be undertaken to enrich the pipeline of applicants prepared to succeed in any academic setting: accountability systems, teacher education, science-based reading practices, Advanced Placement (AP) initiatives, curriculum enrichment, recruitment and outreach, targeted financial aid, virtual schools, coordination with community colleges, partnerships between universities and low-performing schools and partnerships between the College Board and educational institutions.
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act as reauthorized by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) has numerous provisions that may be characterized as developmental approaches, e.g., accountability systems and high standards, annual academic assessment, highly qualified teachers, scientifically based research practices and consequences for schools that fail to educate disadvantaged students.
Recruitment and outreach efforts target underserved student populations. For example, Texas A&M and the University of Texas at Austin have established recruitment centers in historically underserved areas. States like Florida and Kentucky are providing virtual curricula and encouraging the expansion of AP courses to enrich high school education. Targeted financial aid supports qualified low-income and first generation students in Texas, Florida, Indiana, Illinois and North Carolina.
Partnerships between postsecondary institutions and nearby public schools facilitate mentoring and preparation of students for higher education in California, Texas, Pennsylvania, Vermont and other states. Partnerships between the College Board and various school districts in Washington, Delaware and Maryland are encouraging students to take AP courses and preparing them for Preliminary Scholastic Assessment Test (PSAT) and Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) examinations. Coordination between community colleges and traditional research institutions encourages students to overcome prior educational disadvantage and transfer into research institutions in California, Florida, Pennsylvania, Maryland and other states. Nonprofits, charitable foundations and for-profit corporations are likewise providing and facilitating effective race-neutral programs.
The federal government sponsors numerous programs including GEAR UP, TRIO and the States Scholars Initiative, designed to help young people of all races excel in college. Educational institutions in Washington, California and other states participate in these programs and use them as models for their own race-neutral efforts. The Department also provides race-neutral financial assistance in the form of grants such as the Pell Grant and loans that are available to qualified students.
Graduate and professional schools are creating race-neutral programs to target promising undergraduate students, including the Doctor's Academy at the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine, the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) Law Fellows Program and the Texas A&M Medical School Partnership for Primary Care. Private colleges and universities have also developed effective pipeline programs. For example, Occidental College in Los Angeles operates a wide range of partnership programs with local schools in northeast Los Angeles, serving more than 900 students at 16 elementary, middle and high schools as part of its outreach to local communities.
Several institutions of higher learning and school districts are using race-neutral policies in their admissions and student assignment processes. These approaches include comprehensive review, socioeconomic preferences, class-rank plans and lottery procedures.
Wake County and Charlotte-Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, for example, are using socioeconomic criteria for student assignments. The University of California also takes into account a variety of socioeconomic factors in its comprehensive review of undergraduate applicants.
California, Texas and Florida employ class-rank plans that guarantee university admission to high school seniors who graduate within a specified percentage of their school's senior class and, in certain cases, fulfill other basic minimum requirements. In addition, Florida and Texas use targeted class-rank approaches. Finally, many K-12 schools, such as the Henry Ford Academy in Dearborn, Michigan, use lottery methods to admit students in a race-neutral manner.
Given the commitment that so many institutions now have to the important goal of student diversity, we expect that new programs will continue to develop. As these alternatives evolve, the Department will continue to provide technical assistance on effective use of race-neutral alternatives.
Race-neutral approaches to increasing diversity in education fall into two categories: those that focus exclusively on the process for admitting students into educational institutions and those that focus on the way in which we fill the pipeline into these institutions with students who are well prepared for success. Interestingly, the public has focused almost exclusively on "admissions" approaches and, more narrowly, the percentage plans used in California, Texas and Florida. However, "developmental programs" are more numerous, varied, complex and, in many cases, more ambitious. Developmental approaches are designed to develop the skills, resources and abilities of students who might not otherwise apply to and succeed in college. These approaches seek to improve the educational performance of our nation's students, particularly those who attend traditionally low-performing schools, so that the admissions process will naturally produce a diverse applicant pool.
These developmental or systemic approaches to the problem attempt to meet two goals: first, to build skills in students who would not otherwise be competitive in the admissions process, and, second, to provide support throughout the postsecondary educational experience that will enable these students to succeed. State and federal initiatives also reach out to students from traditionally low-performing schools to encourage them to attend and graduate from colleges and universities through recruitment and financial aid strategies.
Most measures of academic preparedness indicate that there is an "achievement gap" based on a number of indicators. For example, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reports that, on average, African-American and Hispanic students in the 12th grade score four years behind white 12th-graders in both reading and mathematics. [13] The maximum score on the SAT is 800 points on each of its two batteries, with a combined maximum score of 1600. The College Board, which sponsors the SAT, reported gaps of approximately 149 points between the combined verbal and mathematics scores of African-American students and white students and 146 points between Hispanic students and white students. Average verbal scores for Asian American students were 29 points below those of white students, but average mathematics scores for Asian American students were on average 32 points higher than those of white students. [14]
The
achievement gaps in our
schools are real and persistent. While
41 percent of white fourth- graders are proficient or above in reading
according to the NAEP reading assessment, only 15 percent of their Hispanic
peers and 12 percent of their African American peers read at that level.
[15]
In mathematics, 34 percent of white fourth-graders scored at or above
proficiency, while just five percent of African American and ten percent
of Hispanic students reached that
level.
[16]
The statistics are similar in science and other areas of study.
[17]
For low-income students, the story appears to be similar. The achievement gap in this context can be measured by looking at the gap between the
academic achievement of students eligible for the federal free and
reduced-price lunch program and more economically advantaged students not
eligible for the program.
[18]
While 41 percent of non-eligible fourth-grade
children are proficient or above in reading, only 14 percent of
their low-income peers read at that level. [19] In mathematics, 33 percent of economically advantaged fourth-graders in public schools are proficient or above, while just nine percent of low-income students performed at this level. [20] These K-12 performance figures are not acceptable for any race or socioeconomic group.
Diversifying the pool of students capable of succeeding in college is fundamentally a matter of elementary and secondary education reform. The most important recent approach to reform in this area is the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). [21]
NCLB seeks to close the achievement gap by ensuring that all students receive a quality education. [22] This in turn will give every child an opportunity to achieve the level of preparation necessary for success in college and beyond. Important provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act as reauthorized by NCLB that support this goal include:
Accountability and High Standards States, school districts and schools are now being held accountable for ensuring that all students, including minority, disadvantaged, disabled and limited English proficient students, meet high academic standards. They are required to implement academic standards that reflect what all children are expected to know and be able to do.
Annual Academic Assessments Annual data are a vital diagnostic tool for schools to achieve continuous improvement. Annual reading and mathematics assessments provide parents with the information they need to know about how well their child is doing in school and how well the school is educating their child. Under NCLB, each state will test, annually, its students in grades three through eight (and its high school students at one grade level) in at least reading or language arts and in mathematics. A sample of students in fourth and eighth grade in each state will be assessed annually with the National Assessment of Educational Progress in reading and mathematics.
Highly Qualified Teachers Being taught by highly qualified teachers is a critical aspect of a high-quality education program, yet all too often students with the greatest needs do not have access to highly qualified teachers. NCLB requires that highly qualified teachers teach all classes in the core academic subjects by no later than the end of the 2005-2006 school year.
Scientifically Based Research Practices Title I school-wide and targeted assistance programs, as well as activities carried out under the new Reading First program, are required to use effective methods and instructional strategies that are grounded in scientifically based research. School improvement plans, professional development and technical assistance that districts provide to low-performing schools must be based on strategies that have a proven record of effectiveness.
Consequences for Schools that Fail to Educate Disadvantaged Students Schools that fail to make adequate yearly progress for disadvantaged and other students will first receive assistance. If a school fails to make adequate yearly progress (AYP) for two consecutive years, students in that school may transfer to a higher-performing public or private school. If the school does not make AYP for a third year, disadvantaged students in that school may receive supplemental educational services from a provider of choice.
NCLB focuses on the essential elements school districts must address in closing achievement gaps at elementary and secondary schools around the nation.
Also important is increasing the representation of historically underrepresented groups at colleges and universities. The Department coordinates efforts at the secondary school level to further this goal. On October 8, 2003, Secretary Rod Paige brought together experts to tackle the nation's "unrecognized educational crisis." [23] The Secretary unveiled a series of measures to promote educational excellence at the high school level. These measures include the creation of a new leadership initiative for high schools called "Preparing America's Future," which seeks to build "the next generation of high schools" by working together with parents, teachers, principals and education policy makers, elected leaders and foundations. Preparing America's Future will focus on four goals: setting high expectations and accountability for results, creating options and engaging students, fostering world quality teaching and school leadership and facilitating a smooth transition into postsecondary education, training and careers. To help launch the effort, a series of regional summits on high school improvement will be held across the country. [24]
There are many schools fulfilling the goals of NCLB by giving a high-quality education in a school or program selected by students and their parents. Students are benefiting from a rigorous academic environment and are consequently excelling and competing with students from the best schools, garnering admission to prestigious preparatory schools and entering some of the nation's top colleges and universities. These schools are serving as a race-neutral pipeline to higher education for students who might not otherwise attend college. Some of these schools are highlighted below.
KIPP Academies
The Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) Academies are small, charter middle schools serving fifth through eighth-grade students. The first one began in Houston about 10 years ago; there are now more than 30 across the country, including Brooklyn and the Bronx in New York and in Washington, D.C. They have had considerable success in teaching children from areas where traditionally test scores have been low.
A foundation for this success is not selection of students by the school administration, but self-selection by the applicant families themselves. This self-selection process is critical, according to the founders of the schools, and forms one of the schools' governing principles: choice and commitment. Students and their families choose to be at the school and choose to submit to a demanding behavioral code. The code includes a promise to do homework, behave safely, take responsibility for their behavior and do whatever it takes to really learn. The school day and school year are longer than usual, the latter involving three to four weeks of attendance in the summer. [25]
KIPP Academy New York in South Bronx has 250 students, of which 45 percent are African American and 55 percent are Hispanic, and is located in one of the most concentrated high-poverty neighborhoods in New York. [26] The Houston KIPP Academy has 340 low-income children (76 percent Hispanic and 20 percent African American). [27] In Washington, D.C., KIPP is called the Key Academy. It draws students from a low-income African American community and, according to standardized assessments, produces promising academic results. [28]
The New York State Senate has recognized KIPP Academy New York as the highest-performing public middle school in the Bronx in reading, mathematics and attendance each year since the 1997-1998 school year. Over 80 percent of students in mathematics and 73 percent of students in reading performed at or above grade level on the spring 2003 city and state tests. KIPP Academy New York now ranks in the top 10 percent of all New York City elementary and middle schools in mathematics and reading achievement. [29]
Trey Whitfield School
Private schools can also serve to assist in diversifying the applicant pool for colleges and universities. For example, the Trey Whitfield School, which has been operating since 1983, provides a high-quality elementary education (nursery through eighth grade) to 500 children in Brooklyn, New York. The private school, which costs roughly $3,000 per year, has an open admissions policy and fills spaces on a first-come, first-served basis. The student population includes students from traditionally underserved backgrounds, and some are on scholarship. [30]
Trey Whitfield students wear uniforms and are expected to follow a behavioral code or face discipline and even expulsion. Teachers emphasize reading, writing and the development of verbal and analytical skills through daily recitation and demanding assignments. [31]
Trey Whitfield students are accepted to some of New England's prestigious preparatory schools including New Hampton, St. Mark's, Dublin and Brewster. In one year, Trey Whitfield students held the top student leadership positions at Brewster--four class presidents and student body president. With their solid academic foundation, students from Trey Whitfield have gone on to attend colleges and universities that include Georgetown, Villanova, Syracuse and Pepperdine. [32]
Elementary and secondary schools increasingly see the need for a curriculum that equips students for higher education. A March 2003 report from Stanford University's Bridge Project, based on research in six states, found that there exists a misalignment between colleges' expectations of entering students and K-12 requirements. [33] The report noted that today, 90 percent of high school students express a desire to attend college, but only 70 percent actually matriculate within two years of graduating high school. [34] Institutions are responding to this problem with strategies to align K-12 requirements with college admissions requirements. Some of these strategies are highlighted below.
California
The Stanford report found that California high schools require one fewer year each of mathematics and English to graduate than the state's public four-year colleges and universities do to matriculate. In California, admission to public four-year colleges and universities requires particular coursework, otherwise known as the "A-G curriculum." About 64 percent of California's high school graduates enroll immediately in some type of postsecondary education, often community colleges, yet only 35 percent successfully complete the A-G coursework required for admission to the state's public four-year colleges and universities. Since there is evidence that a large majority of high school graduates want to go on to college, the report urges that schools equip all of them with the curriculum necessary for admission to (and success at) the state's public four-year colleges and universities. [35]
Indiana
Many states have embarked on curriculum reform to ensure a better transition for students from secondary to postsecondary education. For example, the state of Indiana implemented a curriculum where education, business, labor and government leaders in Indiana have agreed on education expectations for high school students called "Core 40." Except for elective courses, Core 40 is a single, flexible high school curriculum that is based upon a single set of agreed-upon competencies that direct the content of both college preparation and technical preparation courses. The college preparation and technical preparation courses differ in instructional and learning approaches, not in course content. [36]
Since 1998, the state of Indiana has required that students complete the "Core 40" as a prerequisite for admissions to Indiana's state colleges and universities. In addition, the state requires that students work with their parents or guardians and guidance counselors to develop a career and course plan before the end of the ninth grade. [37]
San Diego
School districts are also emphasizing advanced course work to help students get an "early edge" on meeting college requirements. San Diego Unified School District is strongly encouraging students to take algebra in the eighth grade, because it is often seen as a "gatekeeper" course to college. [38] According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the chance that a student will complete a bachelor's degree roughly doubles if he or she finishes a high school course beyond the level of Algebra II. [39]
Similarly, community colleges are placing greater emphasis on aligning community college degree requirements with entrance requirements to four-year institutions. Alignment is seen as a way to help students move on to complete a four-year degree. Alignment may also increase educational opportunities for students or members of groups historically underrepresented at four-year colleges and universities. Community college students are, as a group, more likely to be low-income and minority than those who enter a four-year institution directly from high school. [40] The broader the opportunity for community college students to eventually complete a four-year degree, the more diverse enrollments at four-year institutions will become.
Many state systems have also embarked on integrating and expanding advanced courses into curricular reform efforts, based on the common-sense observation that students who have taken challenging courses are going to be better prepared for college than those who have not. A 1999 study for the Department concluded that students who had taken an advanced course in high school were more likely to graduate from college and that the student's success in the advanced course was a better predictor of college admission than economic status, grade-point average or SAT scores. [41]
As the College Board has found, AP courses are valuable to any student planning to attend college, but are of even more importance to students without family experience of college attendance, among peer groups who do not consider education a promising option for the future, or in schools not emphasizing college preparation. [42] Nevertheless, about half of American high schools offer no AP courses. [43] Students in rural and inner-city schools are most likely to be handicapped by the lack of AP courses. The federal government and institutions are responding to this problem with innovative AP strategies and programs. Some of these strategies and programs are highlighted below.
U.S. Department of Education
The Department's Advanced Placement Incentives program, a component of No Child Left Behind, supports expansion of opportunities for students to challenge themselves with AP courses through awards to national non-profit organizations, states, school districts and charter schools. The Department spent $22.3 million in fiscal year 2003 on these AP initiatives. [44] Additionally, the Department's Advanced Placement Test Fee program makes awards to state education agencies to cover part or all of the cost of test fees for low-income students who are enrolled in an AP course and plan to take the exam. These programs pay for courses and fees for both the AP program and for the highly demanding International Baccalaureate (IB) program.
The Department announced on October 10, 2003, that it will spend $11 million on 22 grants for promising activities in grades 6-12 to increase the number of low-income students who are ready to succeed in advanced courses. In announcing these grants, Secretary Paige noted that, "with the rapidly changing world, our high schools must prepare students to compete in a new and complex world. At the high school level, nothing exemplifies this need better than Advanced Placement programs. In recent years, our nation has made solid progress in making sure our low-income students have access to these kinds of classes and assessments. In just the past four years, the number of AP tests taken by low-income students has risen 64 percent." As Secretary Paige pointed out, "We should take great pride in that progress. But access is not enough. Now we need to make sure that more of our students are prepared to succeed in these rigorous courses." [45]
Texas
In 1999, University of Texas Regent Raul Romero proposed a multifaceted Advanced Placement program. Mr. Romero raised $500,000 in private funds to pay for AP examination fees for low-income and underrepresented students for whom this was difficult and on training teachers in summer institutes to teach AP courses in high schools without such courses. The Texas AP Initiative is now a line item in the University of Texas (UT) budget.
The growth in AP participation since the creation of the Texas AP initiative has been substantial. [46] Since 1999, AP participation in Texas has increased 57 percent or by 29,012 students. The number of "fee reduced" Texas students taking AP examinations has increased from 13,504 (15.3 percent of all examinees) in 1999 to 24,525 (17 percent of all examinees) in 2002. Minority AP candidates in Texas have increased by 74 percent for the same period. Hispanic AP candidates in Texas now comprise 24.4 percent of the total AP examinees statewide, while African American candidates make up 4.9 percent of total AP examinees statewide. [47] Within the UT System components, the number of teachers participating in AP summer institutes has grown from 1,882 in the first year of the initiative to 2,584 in 2002, an increase of 37 percent. [48]
Participation in AP classes has grown steadily in all counties surrounding the UT system but most notably in the border regions, which have a majority Hispanic population. For example, in Brownsville the number of AP examinees has increased by 11 percent from 1999. [49] In the area served by UT Pan American, that number has increased by 15.7 percent for Jim Hogg County and 12.6 percent for Brooks County. [50] Several UT components have collaborated with the public schools to establish AP incentive programs in their local communities. These programs provide incentives to students and teachers based on their performance on the AP exams. This past year Tyler, Texas initiated a similar program in collaboration with UT Tyler, Tyler Junior College, the Tyler Independent School District (ISD) and local supporters. The number of students passing AP examinations with a score of 3 or better increased by 40 percent. [51]
Florida
Florida created a similar initiative in 2001. The state found that AP courses were rarely offered in schools serving low-income populations. [52] Florida, working closely with the College Board, offered incentives similar to those in Texas. State law provides that for each student who scores a 3, 4 or 5 on an AP exam, teachers receive a $50 bonus. The law also provides that AP teachers in a low-performing school (categorized as a "D" or "F" school) who have at least one student scoring a 3 or higher receive a $500 bonus.
Again, the results are significant. Prior to the new initiative, just over 4,000 students in low-performing schools were enrolled in AP courses. By 2002, over 7,000 students were enrolled--an increase of more than 3,000 students in traditionally low-performing high schools who are now able to take these more challenging courses. Gaston Caperton, the president of the College Board, has stated that, "Florida is now the leader in the number of black students taking advanced placement courses." [53] In 2003, there were 5,596 African American public school AP examinees (up 53 percent since 2001 and up 116 percent since 1999) and 12,455 Hispanic public school AP examinees (up 57 percent since 2001 and up 102 percent since 1999). African American students comprise 9.2 percent of all Florida public school AP examinees, up from 8.7 percent in 2002. Hispanics comprise 20.4 percent of all Florida AP examinees, up from 19.4 percent in 2002. [54]
Kentucky
In 1987, the Kentucky Board of Education established the Commonwealth Diploma Program to encourage Kentucky's high school students to take demanding and rigorous courses that would prepare them for college. To earn the Commonwealth Diploma, students must successfully complete at least four AP courses. Students who achieve a requisite minimum score on three of the required examinations are eligible for reimbursement of their AP exam fees. Since 1987, Kentucky schools have substantially expanded AP course offerings and an estimated 9,000 Kentucky students have been awarded the Commonwealth Diploma at school graduation. In 2002, the Kentucky legislature directed the Kentucky Department of Education to establish the Kentucky Virtual Advanced Placement Academy to increase the availability of AP courses. Many students are now taking advantage of this opportunity to take and study for AP courses online. [55]
Many colleges and universities have reached out to assist local high schools with curriculum enrichment and preparation of students for college. These developmental approaches enable students within the college and university feeder population to compete for admission spots outside the context of race-based preferences. The University of California (UC) campuses offer a variety of programs for individual students who are disadvantaged or attend low performing schools. [56] Participation in these programs helps students in seeking UC admissions. Some of these programs are highlighted below.
Early Academic Outreach Programs
Early Academic Outreach Programs (EAOP) identify promising low-income, first generation college students in middle school and point them toward college. [57] Services provided range from a middle school algebra academy and writing programs to campus tours. Parental advising and financial aid workshops are provided in later years. Some students are selected to take part in Community College Concurrent Enrollment programs where UC-transferable courses are taken. An SAT Academy is offered on campus and at school sites to prepare students for that exam. Santa Cruz and Berkeley offer Saturday College to provide students with test-taking strategies and parents with college-related advocacy skills. UC Berkeley also sponsors a program in urban high schools that seeks to enhance critical thinking, public speaking and research skills. [58] Berkeley also has created a Pre-College Academy in mathematics, writing, science and social science offering honors work in a six-week, four-day intensive non-residential program. [59]
The statewide budget for EAOP was $16.9 million for the 80,947 students served or $210 per student served. Results of the EAOP programs are encouraging. There has been a significant increase (51 percent in three years) of UC-eligible students overall among EAOP participants. UC-eligible underrepresented minorities make up 39 percent of EAOP students, far above the statewide high school percentage (7 percent) for minorities. [60]
Mathematics, Engineering, and Science Achievement and Puente Programs
The MESA (Mathematics, Engineering, and Science Achievement) program begins in middle school grades. [61] The Puente program that focuses on Latino literature is open to all students but features mixed achievement level groups. [62] These smaller programs ($376 per student) have likely had even more impact. Since their inception, UC-eligibility has increased by 84 percent and underrepresented minority admission by 68 percent for program participants. [63] In both the EAOP and MESA/Puente programs, the growth in the percentage of actual UC admits, particularly for underrepresented minorities, was even higher than the growth in the percentage of UC-eligible students.
As of 2002, UC enrolled the largest number (5,382) of underrepresented minorities in 25 years (see Figure 2).
Figure 2
| 1995 | 1998 | 2002 | |||||||
| Number | % of Total | Enroll Rate | Number | % of Total | Enroll Rate | Number | % of Total | Enroll Rate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berkeley | 807 | 24.3% | 35.9% | 412 | 11.2% | 44.6% | 558 | 15.6% | 39.7% |
| Davis | 575 | 17.9% | 25.4% | 511 | 14.2% | 28.4% | 555 | 12.1% | 22.1% |
| Irvine | 450 | 15.8% | 20.9% | 430 | 13.9% | 25.0% | 513 | 12.9% | 19.6% |
| Los Angeles | 1,108 | 30.1% | 39.1% | 597 | 14.3% | 44.0% | 806 | 19.3% | 46.8% |
| Riverside | 446 | 30.0% | 24.2% | 573 | 25.8% | 27.9% | 1,095 | 31.7% | 24.0% |
| San Diego | 335 | 11.3% | 18.5% | 346 | 10.5% | 26.8% | 524 | 12.4% | 22.0% |
| Santa Barbara | 581 | 17.5% | 22.2% | 656 | 18.5% | 28.8% | 783 | 20.5% | 24.9% |
| Santa Cruz | 391 | 22.0% | 18.5% | 378 | 16.4% | 21.6% | 548 | 17.3% | 15.8% |
| UC Total | 4,693 | 20.8% | 55.8% | 3,903 | 15.1% | 52.8% | 5,382 | 17.4% | 50.8% |
* Enrollment rate = enrollments/admits.
Source: Office of the President, University of California, Undergraduate Access
to The University of California After The Elimination of Race-Conscious Policies
22 (Mar. 2003), available at http://www.ucop.edu/outreach/aa_finalcxpercent202.pdf
(last visited Oct. 31, 2003).
Fast Forward
UC Berkeley publishes a foundation-funded newsletter called FFWD (Fast Forward to the University of California at Berkeley) aimed at motivating students toward college and clarifying the process of getting there. [64] Berkeley instructors team-teach courses in environmental science at East Bay and San Francisco high schools. Many Advanced Placement students from these high schools have later applied to Berkeley.
Teacher training and education can have a strong impact on student performance. NCLB recognizes that many poor and minority students need high-quality teachers to achieve their full potential. Administrative support and strong leadership in schools are also essential to sustaining a high-quality teaching force. [65] Federal and state efforts on teacher education are highlighted below.
Federal Efforts
The Department has issued non-regulatory guidance on teacher quality for ESEA Title II state grant programs, which focus on preparing, training and recruiting high-quality teachers and principals. The grant programs require states to develop plans to ensure that all teachers of core academic subjects are highly qualified by the end of the 2005-2006 school year. The Department is also encouraging states to create alternative certification programs, which may help identify individuals who are not currently certified but have strengths in the core academic subjects. [66]
Texas A&M University
The higher education community is looking for ways to assist with teacher shortages. Colleges and universities may set goals for producing increased numbers of high-quality new teachers in needed subject areas. Likewise, colleges and universities may set goals for geographic areas, such as school districts and schools that are underserved or have lower percentages of highly qualified teachers, often schools with high numbers of disadvantaged and minority students.
For example, in 2000, Texas A&M University System officials announced a commitment to significantly increase the number of public school teachers, especially in high-need fields, over the next five years. The A&M System pledged to increase annual graduation rates of mathematics, science, technology and foreign language teachers by more than 250 percent in each category, as well as the number of bilingual and special education teachers by over 170 percent. [67] To achieve these goals, the A&M System universities pledged to work on seven fronts simultaneously, including:
The Initiative is funded for five years with $14 million in grants from the Department, the Pew Charitable Trusts, [68] the Sid W. Richardson Foundation of Fort Worth and the Meadows Foundation of Dallas.
Making college a real option for underserved students requires the efforts of colleges and universities to reach out to these students. Most postsecondary educational institutions undertake active recruitment and outreach efforts. Below are examples of effective race-neutral efforts aimed at reaching underserved students.
Texas Higher Education System
The University of Texas (UT) at Austin has greatly increased its outreach efforts through the establishment of recruitment centers in Dallas, Austin and satellite offices in smaller communities. In 1999, UT reorganized its outreach efforts to better focus on historically underrepresented students. The Longhorn Scholars Program, a program with curriculum and scholarship components, was initiated to better serve the top 10 percent of students from 70 high schools with no substantial history of sending students to UT. Based on academic merit and financial need, graduating students from these high schools are awarded scholarships. [69]
Texas A&M's outreach plan for students from underrepresented high schools includes aggressive outreach programs and scholarships. Texas A&M's counterpart to the Longhorn Scholars Program, the Century Scholars Program, is regarded as an important pipeline approach. The Century Scholars Program focuses on 20 high schools in Houston and 15 in Dallas that have no history of sending students to A&M. The program encourages underserved students to apply for scholarships to attend A&M. Approximately 20 to 25 scholarships are 18-20 scholarships are given annually to students in Houston and Dallas, respectively. [70]
Texas A&M has established regional recruiting centers in Houston, Corpus Christi and San Antonio to reach out to first generation college students. A&M has targeted the top 10 percent and top 25 percent of students in 250 schools in these regions and brought these students to campus on Recognition Achievement trips. These students are also put in contact with A&M colleges and given application fee waivers. There are also summer programs connected to the three centers. About 150 10th- and 12th-grade students participate in leadership seminars. In San Antonio, the center coordinates with the annual career day to expose fifth-graders to various careers.
Florida Postsecondary Institutions
The University of Florida (UF) has employed a variety of race-neutral recruitment strategies. UF has hired four new admissions officers and has allocated funding for another three to four new officers in future years. [71] After Florida Governor Jeb Bush instituted the One Florida Initiative in 1999 to increase opportunity and diversity in the state's universities and in state contracting without using policies that discriminate, UF created new recruitment materials emphasizing diversity and provided scholarships for disadvantaged students. UF increased race-neutral outreach by hosting workshops with the College Summit, an organization that assists high school students taking national achievement examinations. Student and parent receptions were held in Florida's major cities. UF also instituted a student ambassador program where university students speak about UF at their home high schools. [72]
The Florida College Reach Out Program (CROP) is a summer on-campus college preparation program for educationally disadvantaged, low-income students in grades six through 12. [73] Started in 1983, CROP currently serves about 8,000 students, of whom 72 percent are African American, 13 percent are white, 10 percent are Hispanic and one percent is Asian American and Native American. Ten state universities, 26 community colleges and five independent institutions participate. The annual evaluation of the program found that 83 percent of seniors served by CROP received a standard diploma compared to 67 percent in a random sample. Of those CROP graduates, 78 percent went on to higher education compared to 42 percent in the random sample. [74]
University of Nebraska, Lincoln
The University of Nebraska at Lincoln's Office of Alumni Outreach started the Breakfast for Champions Program in 1998. The privately funded program brings one to two eighth grade students from every middle school in Nebraska to campus each year for a breakfast event. Students sit at tables chaired by faculty members. The event features a keynote speaker and awards ceremony where students are given a gold medal of achievement. School principals or counselors select student participants based on excellence in scholarship, leadership and service. Faculty members and speakers send follow up letters to students encouraging them to apply to the University. The Office of Admissions also sends annual recruitment letters to participants. [75]
Many colleges and universities around the country are partnering with elementary and secondary schools, recognizing that these partnerships expand their educational mission by giving them an opportunity to put into practice education theory. Moreover, institutions recognize that helping to better educate young people who attend traditionally low-performing schools will broaden the pool of students who can qualify for admission to college. Some of the more innovative partnership strategies are highlighted below.
California Higher Education System
Each UC campus has a variety of relationships with middle and high schools, usually located in proximity to its campus. For these schools, which generally send few students to college, UC administrators, faculty and students provide many types of services. Some schools need help with college counseling or tutoring; others need assistance with curriculum development or administrative change.
UC Irvine has created the Humanities Out There (HOT) program [76] based on its philosophy that, "In order to be able to maintain a diverse and well-prepared enrollment of students capable of graduating with distinction ...UC Irvine must take a proactive role in outreach to those schools that normally do not send many students to the University of California." [77] The core of the HOT programs is weekly workshops that run for five weeks in local schools taught by graduate students and undergraduate teams in collaboration with host teachers. Irvine also operates Faculty Outreach Collaborations Uniting Scientists, Students and Schools (FOCUS). [78] .
UC Berkeley formed partnerships with four local school districts. The goal was to encourage students to attend college by providing counseling and campus information. [79]
All five UC medical schools have partnerships with local public schools. One of the most distinctive is the Doctors' Academy operated by the UCSF Medical School and the Fresno Unified School District. [80] The academy seeks to interest students in health careers and to provide the support services and curriculum to encourage students to become successful. The academy enrolls about 40 students in a class. [81]
Several regional consortiums exist in the UC system. In Orange County, where a majority of the high school students are Hispanic, UC Irvine and four community colleges have formed the Orange County Transfer Consortium (OCTC) to increase UC transfers by recruitment, better academic planning and conducting research. [82] Between 1999 and 2000, OCTC increased its UC transfer rate by 5.7 percent, the largest in the system, and Irvine increased its OCTC admits by 11 percent. [83]
Florida Higher Education System
As a part of the One Florida Initiative, Governor Jeb Bush has encouraged Florida's universities to form partnerships with low-performing high schools. The goal was to help more students at underrepresented high schools matriculate to universities, to assist the principals and teachers in the areas they identify as most crucial to the academic success of their students and their schools and to raise student commitment to academics. Postsecondary Opportunity Alliance partnerships, a component of One Florida, are now in place at all 11 universities and all 28 community colleges.
The University of Florida Alliance Program is an extensive partnership program in the state that began with three high schools, but has since expanded to six and a middle school to be added shortly. All partner schools are in urban areas (two each in Jacksonville, Orlando and Miami), and school partnerships in the Alliance Program are bilateral arrangements. [84]
Twice a year, UF holds a workshop with eight to 10 teachers and administrators from each partnership school on jointly chosen topics. UF has worked to assist teachers and guidance counselors in helping students become good college consumers. Honors ninth-graders are selected for campus visits focusing on science, a subject that is especially important for first-generation college students. UF also provides full four-year scholarships in the amount of $12,500 each to the top five students from the partnership schools. [85] UF has provided computers and assisted in wiring school buildings to create Internet access. The goal is to facilitate video conferencing with teachers and student interns at the partner schools and to videoconference selected course or lab sessions at UF with ongoing high school class sessions. [86]
Texas
In Texas, recent legislation (H.B. 400 [87] ) requires identification of high schools sending less than 10 percent of their graduates to college and requires state universities to interact with the schools located in their region to improve those rates. Consequently, the University of Texas has identified several Austin high schools, among others, as partners and engaged them in a number of programs. One such program is Bridging Algebra, a summer school pre-algebra readiness program offered to students prior to entering their first high school freshman algebra course. The initiative provides teachers with resources that can be adapted to meet their curricular needs in order to strengthen students' understandings of introductory algebraic concepts and procedures. [88]
In 1987, UT and Texas A&M created a cooperative University Outreach program, composed of six different urban centers, to increase the number of Texas high school graduates who enroll in college. To that end, the program offers college preparation activities such as assistance in career choices, test taking, information about college admissions procedures and financial aid. Students attend special summer camps to develop math and science skills and follow college preparatory classes during the school year. Early indications point to encouraging results--95 percent of the students who participate in the program graduate from high school, and more than 80 percent of these graduates enroll in colleges and universities. [89]
Texas Longhorn Prep (Partners Responding to an Educational Priority) is an educational partnership designed to support Texas Ten Percent students (described in greater detail below) from 20 underserved schools. The program, created with funding from the Bank of America and UT, trains English teachers from participating high schools through staff development sessions. Teachers help the top 10 percent of students to critically read prose, improve writing skills, develop critical reasoning skills and understand college prep requirements. The program has helped improve student and educator performance at participating high schools. UT Austin has found that student participants are academically prepared to succeed at the collegiate level. [90]
Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania has made a major commitment to the neighborhoods that surround its campus. The university established a Center for Community Partnerships to help build bridges between the university and the community of West Philadelphia. [91] The Center seeks to use the university's vast resources to help reform West Philadelphia's schools and community organizations. For example, the university offers approximately 130 courses that require community service. One product of this community involvement is the West Philadelphia Improvement Corps (WEPIC), a growing organization created by undergraduates in an honors history course that works with approximately 10,000 children and family members. Through WEPIC, the center has invested in university-assisted community schools, in an effort to help reform the local schools. [92] The center sponsors an Urban Nutrition Initiative, involving approximately 1,000 young people in classes that promote health and nutrition studies in mathematics and language arts courses. [93] The university also leads an effort to coordinate with other colleges and universities in the Philadelphia area to expand the work (The Philadelphia Higher Education Network for Neighborhood Development) and is part of a national and international effort to encourage colleges and universities to invest in local communities (the WEPIC Replication Project). [94]
The other partners with the district--Eastern University, Holy Family College, Lock Haven University, St. Joseph's University and the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia--will provide services, including mentors, college-level courses for students, classroom space, special education expertise, in-school medical support and teacher-recruitment strategies. [95]
University of Vermont
The University of Vermont has created a partnership with Christopher Columbus High School in the Bronx, New York. [96] The university recognized that it receives few applicants from students in urban schools like Christopher Columbus. The admissions department from the university holds workshops for students and parents to demonstrate that college is a viable option for the graduates. The workshops initially focused on freshmen and sophomores, emphasizing early awareness of the option of attending college. University of Vermont education students teach at the high school as part of their course fieldwork experience, and numerous professors have spent time teaching classes at the school or helping train teachers. The university also directly recruits from Christopher Columbus High School. It works closely with promising students from the school, flying them to the university for recruitment trips and attempting to secure financial aid to make tuition more affordable. A New York Times article on the Vermont-Christopher Columbus partnership noted, "In putting down roots in the Bronx, the University of Vermont joins a growing list of institutions in rural areas--including Colgate University, Skidmore College and St. Michael's and other Vermont colleges--that have created similar partnerships in recent years with public schools in New York or Boston. The University makes a direct pitch to students who might not otherwise have Vermont on their radar. (Many of the students from Columbus are immigrants or the children of immigrants from Africa and the Dominican Republic). And the students get an inside track on how to apply to a highly regarded public institution, with advising sessions conducted in their school by the very admissions officers who would soon be reading the students' submissions." [97] The University of Vermont accepted 30 students from Christopher Columbus High School in 2003, and 17 chose to attend. [98]
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago Collegiate Scholars Program is a new program that will expand the links between the university and public schools. Members of the University's faculty work with Chicago public school students and their teachers to provide additional learning opportunities. The university also operates a charter school and provides extensive technology support to 29 local schools. [99]
In a partnership with the Chicago Public Schools, the University of Chicago's Collegiate Scholars Program will bring to campus each year a group of talented students from public high schools across the city. [100] The first set of students, ninth-graders, were chosen for their intellectual promise as well as their records of service to their schools and neighborhoods. Once the program is fully implemented, approximately 150 to 200 Chicago public school students from 10th through 12th grades will be engaged each year in academic enrichment activities, cultural events, college counseling and, ultimately, courses in the College of the University of Chicago, while still attending their public high schools. [101]
The students in the program will discuss with professors topics including algebra, geometry, probability theory and "the economic way of thinking," with special emphasis on how individuals, families, communities, business firms and governments make decisions with regard to important economic, social and political issues. In addition to taking classes, students selected for the program will receive academic support and mentoring to help prepare them to succeed at the nation's top universities. [102]
The College Board, the nonprofit education services association that seeks to prepare students for postsecondary education, has also partnered with states and their educational institutions to create a diverse and academically prepared college-bound student population. These partnerships usually entail an agreed-upon set of standards and proficiencies that reflect the content areas that students need to master in reading, writing, and mathematics; a set of diagnostic progress assessments for students and classes to identify areas of improvement needed in academic performance; and a wide range of teacher professional development experiences, both on-site and Web-based, that align with the content and expectations of the standards and proficiencies. Some of these partnerships are highlighted below.
Florida
In 2000, the state of Florida entered into a partnership with the College Board. The state provides the College Board with resources and provides it with access to Florida's students and teachers. [103] The College Board offers a number of different services to Florida's schools and attempts to concentrate its work in the low-performing school districts.
The partnership helps support students in a number of ways. For one, it helps to prepare students for the PSAT, a standardized test given to 10th-graders, providing the test free of charge. Concerned that students from low-income families were not taking advantage of test preparation programs like those offered by the College Board and similar organizations because of financial constraints, the state has paid for all Florida public school 10th-grade students to take the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). By providing the test for free, the state seeks to attract students who might not have had the opportunity to attend college. The PSAT is helpful in guiding secondary students to college. The PSAT produces diagnostic information that helps the student and the student's family understand how to best prepare for college. The information is also given to the school, helping to identify strengths and weaknesses in the student body and helping to identify students that should be targeted for advanced classes. The College Board produces data for colleges and universities as well, helping them to identify promising students. Florida's policies have led to a 191 percent increase in the number of minority PSAT examinees. [104]
The partnership helps students in other ways. For example, it offers free tutoring to interested students at local high schools. In cooperation with Florida's community colleges, tutoring opportunities have been offered at 62 of the lowest-performing schools in the state, in which 107,000 students are served. The partnership also emphasizes SAT test preparation courses. More than 2,000 students have taken these courses through partnerships among the state of Florida, the College Board, the Urban League of Miami and the Urban League of Broward County. The College Board has provided free college planning and readiness materials, in English, Spanish and other languages, to more than 275,000 public schools. [105]
The partnership also provides support for teachers. The College Board offers professional development workshops, primarily targeting those who work in low-performing school districts. Teachers employed at the low-performing schools are given priority for any workshop they desire to attend, and the state government pays the registration fees. Workshops are offered to train teachers in a number of areas, including how to prepare students to successfully complete standardized tests. The College Board provides teachers with strategies for integrating materials into their daily routine that will allow them to teach their typical curriculum as well as prepare the students to be successful in critical tests, such as the PSAT, SAT and the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT). The workshops also certify teachers in administering AP courses. More than 1,000 teachers and administrators have enrolled in these professional development workshops. [106]
The partnership between Florida and the College Board has been an enormous success. As noted under our discussion of expansion of AP courses, the number of students taking AP examinations in Florida has increased dramatically. More students are also taking SAT and PSAT/NMSQT exams. In 2003, 83,397 (61 percent) Florida high school graduates took the SAT, up from 75,664 (58 percent) in 2002. [107] African Americans comprise 15.3 percent of Florida's SAT test-takers, up from 14.6 percent in 2002, [108] and 17.9 percent of Florida's SAT test-takers are Hispanic, up from 17.4 percent in 2002. [109] From 1999 to 2002, Floridians have seen a 222 percent increase in African American public school 10th-graders taking the PSAT/NMSQT and a 370.3 percent increase in Hispanic PSAT/NMQST examinees. [110]
School districts in many other states are using College Board programs and services to raise AP participation. Two of these districts are highlighted below.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District, North Carolina
In 1995, the College Board entered into an agreement with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School (CMS) District, which serves more than 100,000 students. [111] CMS schools currently offer 30 AP courses, from art history to U.S. history, calculus to statistics, biology to physics and English language to Latin literature. CMS schools offer more AP courses than any independent or private school in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg area.
The district has more than doubled the number of students taking AP examinations over the last four years, and the percentage of scores of 3, 4, or 5 on AP examinations has held firm. Since 1995-1996, AP enrollment increased by 157 percent, from 4,079 students to 11,095 students in 2002-2003. There also has been an increase in the enrollment of African American students, from 431 students in 1995-1996 to 1,879 students in 2002-2003. [112] The gains cut across race and income levels with 24 percent of African American students in the class of 2001 enrolled in at least one AP or IB course, up from just 14 percent in 1996. In 2001, 46 percent of CMS graduates completed at least one AP or IB course, up from 44 percent in 2000 and 31 percent in 1996. Since 1995-96, the number of AP examinations taken in the CMS has increased by 25 percent. [113]
Bellevue School District, Washington
The Bellevue School District in the state of Washington has also partnered with the College Board to expand access to rigorous academic work and encourage students to consider enrollment in one or more advanced level courses before graduation through the College Success Initiative. At the heart of this initiative is a set of statements and expectations for the skills in mathematics, reading and writing that enable a student to be successful in first-year college work. The initiative also offers progressive, on-demand diagnostics that enable teachers to readily assess student progress. The initiative includes content-specific professional development for teachers in the three aforementioned subject areas. The professional development also includes pedagogical strategies emphasizing critical thinking and problem solving. [114]
Bellevue offers students a choice of AP or IB courses during 10th, 11th and 12th grades. Bellevue encourages students in AP and IB courses to earn college credit by performing well on rigorous national AP and IB tests.
In 2003, 77 percent of Bellevue students completed one or more AP classes. [115] Nearly 1,750 Bellevue students took 2,919 AP examinations in May 2003, up from 875 students taking 1,675 examinations in 2001 and substantially increased from 1996, when 174 students took fewer than 300 exams. In seven years, Bellevue has seen more than a 1,000 percent increase in AP exams. [116]
Partnerships to increase diversity are also growing between postsecondary educational institutions and community colleges. Around the country, community colleges play an important role in diversifying higher education, not only for the training they provide but also in providing transfer opportunities. Nationally, community colleges enroll 46 percent of all African American college students, 55 percent of all Hispanic college students and 46 percent of all Asian American college students. [117] Thus, when community college students transfer to four-year institutions, they add to many forms of diversity on university campuses. Moreover, as the number of full-time freshman slots remains limited, the importance of transfers for creating equality of opportunity will increase.
To encourage these transfers, states and academic institutions have created a number of programs. At least 30 states have formal articulation agreements, so that community college students know exactly what will be needed to transfer and what courses will count toward the four-year degree. Other states have guaranteed admissions plans as part of existing or past articulation agreements, so that eligible students will know from the beginning of their studies that continued success will lead to transfer to a four-year campus. Originally, these plans were limited to the public sector, but private institutions also now participate, even offering students financial assistance to offset their higher tuitions. Some community college transfer and outreach options are highlighted below.
California
California has the largest community college system in the nation. It offers a very low-cost education to students who are low-income or older, who need to or desire to mix work and study and live at home, or who need remediation. According to UC System documents, "With the passage of Proposition 209, [118] the university has intensified its efforts to recruit community college transfer students, a population that potentially includes the greatest proportion of minority and educationally disadvantaged students in the nation." [119] Data showed that 80 percent of all California Hispanic students began postsecondary education in community colleges, but only about 11 percent of those full-time students who expressed the desire to transfer had done so four years later. Similar results existed for African American students. [120]
Consequently, UC reached an agreement with then-Governor Gray Davis and the community college system to increase transfers by six percent per year. The agreement involved creating more part-time options for community college transfers on UC campuses; developing a "Baccalaureate" financial aid package covering four years; tracking students who participate in UC outreach programs; increasing joint data collection on potential students; and enhancing cooperative admissions programs that guarantee admission to a UC campus upon completing a required number of credit hours at a community college. [121] Currently the percentage of underrepresented minorities among community college-UC transfers has returned to what it was before UC Regents adopted the resolution known as SP-1, [122] which has since been repealed. SP-1 banned preferences based on race, religion, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the university system statewide. [123]
UC campuses admitted 14,665 transfer students from California community colleges for fall 2003, an increase of 7.6 percent from 2002. Underrepresented students--African Americans, Native Americans and Hispanics--increased modestly as a proportion of the total admitted transfer class from 17.8 percent in 2002 to 18.5 percent in 2003. Underrepresented students also increased as a proportion of California resident transfers, up from 19.4 percent in 2002 to 20.4 percent in 2003. [124]
In addition to system-wide initiatives, individual campuses have their own programs to increase transfers. UC Irvine has created a University Link program with Santa Ana Community College aimed at motivating students to transfer and giving them proper guidance. Further collaborating with the college, UC Irvine brings 100 students to spend 13 days taking accelerated courses on the university's campus. For some students, it is the first time they have lived away from home. Irvine also works with San Joaquin Community College some 280 miles away to provide six-week courses to students in this underserved Delta region of California. [125]
Partly as a consequence of these various community college programs, Irvine admitted 4,352 community college students in 2003. Their acceptance rate was significantly higher than for first-time freshman admits, even though they had lower GPAs. UC officials concluded that, because of their maturity and motivation, their subsequent grade and graduation performance is about the same as four-year admits. It is clear that the community college path increases the diversity on UC campuses. [126]
Florida
In some instances, community colleges have taken the initiative to create challenging academic environments to prepare their students for transfer to four-year institutions. About 200 of the 1,200 community colleges in the country are members of the National Collegiate Honors Council, which in 1989 had only a few dozen members. Many of these honors programs are at colleges with large numbers of minority students. For example, Miami-Dade, one of the largest community colleges in the country, whose student body is 65 percent Hispanic and 22 percent African American, [127] has created an Honors College. Honors College students have campus leadership roles, special seminars, faculty and corporate mentors and scholarships. [128]
Maryland
At Prince George's Community College in Maryland, an institution with a predominantly African American student body, students can be admitted into the Honors Academy. Incoming students must have a 3.25 GPA and 1050 SAT minimum or 12 college credits with grades of 3.5 or better. These students receive financial support and, upon graduation, can transfer into several local public and private colleges. [129]
Students attending low-performing schools have less opportunity to take courses that will challenge them and help them to reach their full potential. Several states and schools have supplemented school curricula by creating virtual schools that provide online curricula. Some of these strategies and programs are highlighted below.
Florida
The Florida Virtual School (FLVS) is a statewide, Internet-based public high school online curriculum. In 1997, the Florida legislature created the program to provide students access to courses not always available in their schools, especially in rural schools where AP courses are not typically offered. FLVS is open to all students, but priority is given to serving Florida students in rural and low-performing schools. FLVS students achieve enormous success in AP courses. Over 70 percent of FLVS AP examinees achieve a score of at least 3, with over 50 percent earning a score of 4 or 5. [130]
Texas
The Texas Virtual School is a statewide initiative partnered with 11 of the state's Education Service Centers to better serve Texas students in low-performing schools. Students from partner schools may enroll in for-credit and not-for-credit courses in a variety of areas. The program gives students access to learning new and possibly otherwise unavailable content and skills. Educators can also participate in Web-based programs on a variety of topics and in a variety of roles within the school setting. [131]
Kentucky
In 2002, the Kentucky legislature directed the Kentucky Department of Education to establish the Kentucky Virtual Advanced Placement Academy as part of the Kentucky Virtual High School. The academy offers a core curriculum of AP courses taught by highly qualified Kentucky teachers. The program features online exam reviews which include diagnostic pre-tests to figure out how much students know, individualized study plans, practice questions and review materials. The resource is available to schools for the price of $15 per student per course. [132]
Michigan
In July 2000, the Michigan legislature funded the Michigan Virtual High School (MVHS) for a three-year period to be operated by the Michigan Virtual University, a private, not-for-profit Michigan corporation. MVHS is an online resource that enables Michigan high schools to provide courses (all taught by certified teachers) and other learning tools to which students may not otherwise have access. Through MVHS, Michigan high school students can prepare for the Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) test and AP Exams and take a variety of courses. [133]
Utah
Since 1994, Utah's Electronic High School (EHS) has provided a wide variety of courses to students all over the world. Additional courses are added each year as resources and funding permit. Students can enroll in courses and work at their own pace until the course is completed, although EHS expects students to complete courses within 12 months. Master teachers develop the courses and correlate them to the Utah State Core standards and objectives. Courses are free for Utah students. [134]
For many students, paying for college is a daunting challenge; for those from traditionally underserved populations, this challenge may seem an insurmountable barrier. Studies show that the cost of college is rising, making it increasingly difficult for low-income families. Nationally, the average student loan debt has nearly doubled to $17,000 over the past decade. Approximately 20 percent of full-time students work 35 or more hours a week. As a result, many low-income youth abandon plans for college--or drop out--because of the burden of debt and workload. Experts state that such patterns are even stronger among minority students. Research also shows that low-income families need more information and greater predictability about the availability of financial aid resources. [135] Some of the race-neutral federal and state financial aid programs are highlighted below.
Federal Student Aid Programs
The Department's student aid programs are the largest source of direct aid to students in the United States, providing nearly 70 percent of all student financial aid. Help is available to make education beyond high school financially possible for all students.
The student aid programs provide financial help for students enrolled in eligible programs at participating schools to cover school (a four-year or two-year public or private educational institution, a career school or trade school) expenses, including tuition and fees, room and board, books, supplies and transportation. Most federal aid is need-based. The three most common types of aid are grants, loans and work-study.
Grants are a type of financial aid that does not require repayment. Generally, grants are for undergraduate students and the grant amount is based on need, cost of attendance and enrollment status. Federal Pell Grants for the 2002-2003 school year ranged from $400 to $4,000. Generally, Pell Grants are awarded only to undergraduate students who have not earned a bachelor's or professional degree. In some cases, students may receive a Pell Grant for attending a post-baccalaureate teacher certification program. Pell Grants are the foundation of most financial aid packages, to which aid from other federal and nonfederal sources might be added. Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOGs) range from $100 to $4,000. An FSEOG is for undergraduates with exceptional financial need and gives priority to students who receive federal Pell Grants. [136]
President Bush announced in his proposed budget for 2004 a record $1.4 billion increase for Pell Grants, taking the funding to a record level of $12.7 billion. This would result in an increase of $5 billion over the amount available for Pell Grants in 2000. President Bush estimates that 4.9 million students would be able to take advantage of Pell Grants, nearly one million more than two years ago. [137]
Loans are borrowed money that must be repaid with interest. Both undergraduate and graduate students may borrow money. Parents may also borrow to pay education expenses for dependent undergraduate students. Maximum loan amounts depend on the student's year in school. [138] A federal Perkins Loan, to which a student's school contributes a share of the funding, is a low-interest (five percent) loan for both undergraduate and graduate students with financial need. The Department administers the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program and the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program. Both the FFEL and Direct Loan programs consist of unsubsidized and subsidized Stafford Loans (for undergraduate and graduate students) and PLUS Loans, for the parents of dependent undergraduates. [139]
Work-study allows students to earn money while enrolled in school to help pay for education expenses. The Federal Work-Study Program provides jobs for undergraduate and graduate students with financial need, allowing them to earn money to help pay education expenses. The program encourages community service work and work related to each student's course of study. [140]
State and Institutional Programs
State, local and college-funded programs also provide a valuable source of funding for postsecondary education. Many of these programs offer scholarships to target populations, such as students attending public high school within the state or city. Several of these programs are system-wide, providing scholarships to most public colleges in the state, while others are offered for particular colleges and universities. Some of these programs further target specific populations by offering scholarships to low-income students or students attending high schools that are underrepresented at the college or university.
University of Texas Longhorn Scholarships
Texas's Ten Percent Plan made it clear to UT Austin that a new group of students would be automatically admitted who might not be academically or financially prepared to succeed. The university then created a coordinated strategy, the Longhorn Opportunity Schools and Scholarship Program, to work with many schools and students that previously had little relationship to the university. [141]
While the Longhorn Opportunity Schools and Scholars more often benefit minority students, the program does not use race as a factor. [142] In the fall of 2003, the 294 Longhorn Scholars were 61 percent Hispanic, 24 percent African American, 7 percent white and 6 percent Asian American. [143] The Longhorn Scholars program provided support to 13 percent of all first-generation college-going Hispanic freshmen entering UT Austin from Texas high schools since summer/fall 1999 and 23 percent of all African Americans. Nearly half of the Longhorn Scholars (45 percent) come from families where the parents were, at most, high school graduates. [144]
Three criteria were used for selecting the participating 70 Longhorn Opportunity Schools. The high schools had to have at least 25 percent of the seniors taking the SAT to ensure a sufficient number of college-motivated students to compete for the scholarship. About 35 percent of all Texas SAT test takers had scores sent to UT Austin. The Longhorn program focused on those schools where historically less than 35 percent of the students sent their scores to UT Austin. Finally, the schools had to enroll students who on average had family incomes of less than $35,000.
Typically the Longhorn schools, representing 22 school districts covering the entire state, were small rural schools or larger inner city schools. Some of the cost of these scholarships comes from redirecting previously race-based scholarships, but UT Austin also adds $250,000-$400,000 in new money. The Longhorn Scholarship program encompasses several tiers of possible dollar awards. Many students receive $4,000 annually, but most Longhorn students are also eligible for Pell Grants, so the combination pays for all expenses.
Once admitted, Longhorn Scholars receive more intense advising and preferred access to competitive programs and majors. The Scholars take freshman seminars and writing courses limited to 15 students, attend interdisciplinary forums and seminars aimed at developing research relationships with faculty, enroll in smaller sections of large lecture classes and have their own advisors.
Longhorn Scholars are also entering academically demanding fields, and their academic performance is solid. According to a Ford Foundation study, the academic perfo
