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The Single Parent Project
Purpose
In the past, the practical barriers that single parents face in attending and staying in school have not received appropriate attention from higher education institutions and governmental agencies. The Single Parent Project (SPP) at Eastern Washington University (EWU), in collaboration with several state agencies, was designed to lower those barriers so that single parents may not only attend college but graduate, and by finding reasonable employment, leave public assistance.
Innovative Features
Participation in the Single Parent Project was open to 275 Eastern Washington University students on public assistance. Staff used outings into the community to convey to students a "sense of shared situation" in their daily encounters with staff and t he demands of college. Students were grouped in dorms and an hospitable Drop-In Center encouraged social networking. Staff made available counseling in crisis intervention and advocacy, as well as financial aid, internships, child care, food and clothing.
The academic program consisted of an adaptation of the Treisman model of collaborative learning using student work groups in specially designed mathematics, biology and English courses. Since retention was the project s primary focus, staff contacted students whose grades dropped to offer special services and assistance.
A diversity of programs during the summer taught the essential elements of leadership, communication, and conflict management to single parents and their children. On-campus and community resources combined to respond flexibly to the special circumstan ces of low-income single parents.
Evaluation
Participation and retention rates, grades, employment, and enrollment in graduate school were documented over the life of SPP. Staff collected information on referrals, counseling case loads, and the use of Drop-In Center, and interviewed student parti cipants, graduates, EWU staff and faculty.
Project Impact
Use of the Treisman model in an introductory biology course serves as an example of SPP's impact on learning upon a small sample of non-traditional students. Participants scored one final grade higher than non-participants, several changed their majors to biology due to this experience and fewer dropped the course.
Survey responses from various university administrators and faculty who had worked closely with SPP, but not as part of its staff, judged its activities positively, but expressed regret that it only included students on public assistance. Every respond ent felt that SPP effectively served single parents attending the University, and that it was important to continue to provide these specialized services. SPP participants felt that the program helped them with aspects of both their school and family life and was vital to their remaining in school and getting out of poverty.
The evaluator, who had formerly directed a similar program at the University of Utah, reported that SPP "confirmed widespread national opinion that it is among the best in the country...because of its unusually effective coordination of the services low income single parents need to enroll in and graduate from college."
Of the 275 students who went through the intake process, only six dropped out of the SPP events and services during the grant period. The majority of the program's participants (55 percent) were seniors as of April 1992, and 64 percent of them maintained a 3.0 or greater GPA compared to other seniors.
Project Continuation
SPP was housed administratively within the Office of Student Life, with its own coordinator of non-traditional students programs. The University's top administrators and Board of Trustees approved a family complex of residential units that was construc ted in 1993, giving priority to students who are single parents.
A former practicum student embarked on an adaptation of SPP at Kodiak Community College in Alaska with funds from the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Award.
Recognition
In 1990, the Washington State Legislature authorized the creation of a resource manual, On Your Way: A Guide for Single Parent Students, jointly prepared and distributed by the Higher Education Coordinating Board in Washington and SPP. The Governor of the State attended the University graduation ceremony and acknowledged in the media the importance of programs like SPP in higher education. SPP's project director received the local YWCA Leadership Award for Outstanding Achievement in Education.
Available Information
In the last few years, two videos on SPP were produced, giving a face to the variety of project activities and student participants. A resource manual offering service referrals and advice to single parents was distributed across the state. The final report and appendices to FIPSE fully describe the project's development and characteristics.
Further information may be obtained from:
Jennifer R. Stucker
School of Social Work and Human Services
Eastern Washington University
Cheney, WA 99004-2431
509-359-6470
[Rollins College] [Table of Contents] [Anne Arundel Community College]
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