LearnmoreMN Blog

Helping undocumented students navigate the path to college

By Maureen Ramirez, June guest blogger

Getting into college is not an easy job and when you’re not from here and haven’t had anyone else in your family go, it can be even more difficult. Add in the complicated process of immigration, and you have a perfect storm of policies, procedures, barriers and limited options.

Luckily, some Minnesota students, confronted with these challenges, took matters into their own hands and developed some tools to make it easier.

Necessary and Valuable Insight to Gain Access to Education (NAVIGATE) combines information-sharing with mentoring to provide undocumented students with real-life examples of students in similar situations who beat the odds. It was started in the spring of 2007 by an undocumented college student and his mentor, a former high school track coach. Their goal was to share how they had learned to navigate the college application process and to create a leadership program for other undocumented young adults.

Since then, NAVIGATE has created 10 community internship experiences for students, some paid and some volunteer, that give them the opportunity to learn on-the-job skills and relate their experiences to wider audiences. These interns have produced an informational brochure, a website, and two documentaries to assist undocumented students with Minnesota-specific information on applying to college. Additionally, the interns have reached out to 700 students, families and community members to talk about the pathways to college for undocumented students. NAVIGATE also hosts two monthly networking events, one in Faribault and one in the Twin Cities, for 35 students who gather on Saturday afternoons to meet guest speakers and mentors in an informal setting.

I’ve gotten to know these students and have attended their networking groups. I find the Saturday afternoon groups to be inspirational — especially for the guest speakers who are impressed with the maturity and tenacity of the students. For me, the best part about NAVIGATE is how it uses the leadership skills of young people to solve two problems: lack of information and lack of role models. It’s an example of a grassroots approach to the college-application process, and in a state ranked 49th in student/counselor ratios — it’s worth celebrating.

I worked as an admissions counselor for four years and in that time I encountered well-meaning individuals with a complete lack of information about the legal educational rights of undocumented students and their best options for attending college. I talked with families who were told that their student would be arrested if he applied for college and counselors who thought that talking to ICE (Immigration Customs and Enforcement) was the best advice for an undocumented student. This kind of misinformation still exists and is a barrier to college access that NAVIGATE is working against.

Regardless of their immigration status, these are Minnesota’s students — they are physically present in our state, and so are their families. Their education is just as important to this state as my own kids’ education.

Congratulations to NAVIGATE interns for using new media tools to tell their stories and to address a major college access problem on a grassroots level. Congratulations to all the mentors and funders who recognize that these students belong to Minnesota. It is in our best interest to support their education.

This post represents the personal views of Maureen Ramirez and does not reflect the position of the University of Minnesota.

Building Better Bridges

by Maureen Ramirez, June guest blogger

As high school students all over Minnesota graduate, many of them are looking forward to a summer of transition; this is the time to say goodbye to high school and say hello to college. An innovative program at the University of Minnesota is helping students facilitate the transition — not just to campus, but into the University community.

This summer, 80 students at the University of Minnesota will be welcomed by the Bridge to Academic Excellence program.

While Bridge participation extends throughout the school year, the highlight is an intensive six-week residential and academic experience during the summer prior to the first year. During the summer session, Bridge students live on campus in University residence halls to build relationships with other students in their cohort. A strong academic foundation is established through seven credits of University courses.

In the past, Bridge students took science and statistics courses, but this year, two courses will provide students the opportunity to actively participate in the University community, not just be aware of services on campus.

In the Digital Storytelling class students will investigate modes and dimensions of computer-based storytelling, and examine media as tools for community organizing and development.

In the Citizenship, Leadership and the University class students will study leaders and how they solve public problems, but they will also develop a code of ethics and examine the ways they can contribute to the common good.

At the end of the summer, 40 students will be proficient in telling digital stories, and 40 students will know how to get involved and solve problems for the common good. I think Bridge has the right idea this year to bring students into the U with tools for telling their own story and getting involved for the common good.

Higher education is the perfect place for young, and not so young, learners to find their voices. In fact, this is precisely what colleges and universities do — they create a community of ethical, creative leaders who will meet challenges with new ideas.

I am excited by the prospect of so many new people entering college and learning to become leaders in our state. I only hope our state can keep our commitment to them and to the common good by investing in higher education.

Fresh Start at Edison

by Tia'Lana Hunter, April guest blogger

My name is Tia'Lana Hunter and I am a junior at Edison High School in northeast Minneapolis. I wrote an article for the ThreeSixty youth journalism program about the new “fresh start” going on at my school. I got some good and some awful feedback. I’d like to share some comments and some of my opinions about my school's experience.
 
Fresh start is when all the teachers get "fired" and have to reapply for their jobs for the following year. This happened because students did not test well enough for five years on state assessment tests. Half the teachers this year are new, students are expected to follow stricter rules and school work is more challenging.
 
So far it’s not working too well. We have more classes and they're shorter. Students are disruptive. Our principal has said she’s concerned that students aren’t taking this seriously.
 
I feel that if the principal and our teachers want us to show progress, they need to step in and start to help more and interact. My peers expect to be helped and walked along the way. The teachers should take time out to explain and show how to do things hands-on instead of just throwing things at us. The principal could do observations and address what the teachers could do better to help the students.
 
Mandatory things such as taking the four-year life plan and grad test seem ridiculous. I feel these are only necessary for students who really don't know what their plans are after high school. Students just don't take them seriously.
 
I think it would be better if our school stuck to all the goals that have been set for the students and not just expect for the students to be totally independent. I also think that planning things would make our school better, because a lot of things are unorganized.

The Importance of Class Sizes

By John Fitzgerald, Minnesota 2020 Fellow, April guest blogger

There are many factors that create a quality education environment that maximizes each student’s ability to learn. I would argue that none is greater than class size.

Of course, the quality of the teacher in that classroom makes a huge difference. Supplying that teacher with the proper curriculum and tools to teach is important too. A student’s home life and the quality of his peers — both inside and outside the classroom — have an enormous effect.
But all things being equal, a student in a class with 40 other students and one teacher isn’t going to learn very much.

In late 2008, I sent a short survey out to science teachers across the state asking if class sizes have gone up and if so, what that did to the quality of science education. The majority said class sizes have gone from an average of 25 students per class in 2003-04 to an average of 30 students per class this year. They said science classes should have no more than 24 students. This was especially important in laboratory classes; The National Science Teachers Association recommends four students in a group, and adding more is a recipe for trouble when working with Bunsen burners, glassware, dissecting scalpels and needles.

More than 67 percent of the science teachers said overcrowding has caused the quality of science education in Minnesota to go down.

More than 72 percent blamed overcrowded classrooms on underfunding by the state government. Since 2003 when the state took over education funding, state aid has dropped an inflation-adjusted 13 percent.

“We are all like gerbils on a treadmill trying to run faster with fewer resources, more kids, more testing, fewer computers per student for test prep and a huge change in community expectation over what schools should do about their children's education,” one teacher wrote.

Speaking of class sizes, there’s an excellent document that outlines what the optimal class sizes should be for classes preK-12. It’s called Investing In Our Future (PDF, 1.7 MB). It was commissioned by Gov. Tim Pawlenty and delivered in 2004. It was created by a blue-ribbon panel of educators who were asked to quantify a quality education.

“Investing in Our Future” is an intriguing document because it gives a solid, education-first examination of what Minnesota education should look like. It is remarkably thorough. Unfortunately, it has rarely been referenced in the halls of government. Gov. Pawlenty, Commissioner Cheri Pierson Yecke and her replacement, Commissioner Alice Seagren, have not used this document to help shape education policy. This is unfortunate, because it serves as an excellent starting point — if not an ending point — for education policy.

The group broke into three panels, each consisting of a district superintendent, a business manager, three principals — one from each level of schooling — and a classroom teacher from urban, suburban, and rural districts. Some panelists came from professional associations, but most were vetted by the Department of Education. The panels designed “adequate” instructional programs to meet Minnesota’s academic standards for prototypical elementary, middle, and high schools given a variety of student-need characteristics.

After the panels created a core curriculum and adjusted it for various levels of student ability (ELL, special education, high achievement, etc.) they offered suggested class sizes on page 58:

• Preschool 8 students to 1 teacher
• Kindergarten 8:1
• First Grade 16:1
• Second Grade 16:1
• Third Grade 16:1
• Fourth Grade 16:1
• Fifth Grade 16:1
• Sixth grade – Eighth grade 19:1; less for remediation; larger for band, vocal music, physical education
• Ninth grade – Twelfth Grade 26:1 which varies depending on band (larger) and some electives(smaller sizes)

This is why I find “Investing in Our Future” to be such a valuable document. Commissioned by our governor, created by our experts, it tells us what we already know — that class size does matter, that smaller classes are better than larger classes, and we owe it to our children to keep class sizes as low as possible.

Achievement Gap and Poverty

By John Fitzgerald, April guest blogger

I recently wrote an essay for Minnesota 2020 about the achievement gap. My goal was to bring to light new figures that show the gap still exists and has not changed for the better.

The achievement gap is most often seen through the lens of race — that is, how do minority students compare to white students? In Minnesota, they fare quite poorly. In 1992, white fourth-grade students scored 223 on a National Assessment of Educational Progress test while African American students scored 189, a gap of 34 points. Fifteen years later, that gap was 33 points. In eighth-grade math, white students scored 277 in 1990 and African Americans 236 — a gap of 41 points. In 2007, that gap was 37 points.

But race isn’t the only way to look at the achievement gap. Significant differences can be seen between those children who live in poverty and those who do not.

More than 30 percent of Minnesota students qualify for free and reduced price school lunch, the federal standard for poverty. There was a gap in the reading test of 30 points between fourth-graders from high-income families and low-income families in 1998. That gap was 27 points in 2007. Minnesota’s low-income fourth-graders rank 31st in the country in test scores.

The situation is worse in the eighth-grade math test. What was a 19-point difference in 2000 is a 25-point difference in 2007.

What’s the answer to the achievement gap? Heck if I know. I am often reminded of the saying “A war is won with boots on the ground.” I suspect that the achievement gap problem — vast and nationwide — will require a solution that includes increased manpower to reach out to students in danger of becoming achievement gap statistics. We simply must not allow these students to fail.

NCLB’s True Worth to Minnesota

By John Fitzgerald, Minnesota 2020 Fellow, April guest blogger

Last fall, the prestigious publication Education Week hosted an online chat about the federal No Child Left Behind law. One of the panelists was David Figlio, a professor at Northwestern University and a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Ellen Solek of East Haddam, Conn., asked if Figlio was aware “of any current research that has, or is being conducted that determines correlation (if any) between K-12 student test scores, accountability, and future success in the workplace?”

This is a magnificent question because it goes to the heart of NCLB and how it relates to every Minnesotan. The question is simple: What difference does NCLB make?

Figlio doesn’t really have an answer. First, he says this: “It's too early to know about the effects of accountability on workplace success.” Then he says “there have been a number of studies that have linked K-12 test scores to labor market outcomes as adults,” but then adds “these papers use data that are decades old, however.”

He also says there is evidence that college selectivity, which is associated with higher K-12 test scores, has important effects on wages in early adulthood. But then he says “it will take another decade before we know the degree to which school accountability directly plays into this mix.”

So what did Figlio really say? He said we don’t know if high-stakes testing a la NCLB actually improves our workforce.

It’s safe to say that improving the workforce is one of two ultimate educational goals; the other being to prepare children to become participating, law-abiding citizens. If NCLB — or any other program — can produce good workers who can stay out of prison, then we should be happy.

But the fact is we don’t know if NCLB is working or not. We have anecdotal evidence that NCLB’s high stakes test bumps up results, but we have more anecdotal evidence that shows the bumps don’t last through the next year, and they come at the expense of other subjects such as science and art because schools take time away from other subjects to “teach to the test.”

In Larry McMurtry’s Lonesome Dove, Gus describes Jake as “a mighty leaky vessel to be putting one’s hope into.” For the reasons listed above and for many others, NCLB is a mighty leaky vessel for us to put our hopes of a better education.

Latinos engage on education policy issues

By Rogelio Muñoz, March guest blogger

During President Barack Obama’s first address to the nation last month, he called for Americans to be more civically engaged in their communities on issues important to them. The president emphasized the significance of what we each can do when we unite, mobilize, and work together. In Minnesota, that charge has been the essence of Latino civic engagement for generations and today it is no different.

Shortly after the 2009 Legislative Session convened in early January, the state’s Latino community participated in the 2009 Latino Legislative Day at the Capitol. The event, organized by the state’s Chicano Latino Affairs Council, was the first in modern history to bring Latinos together under one united voice to support a multi-issue policy agenda.  With some 200 Latino community members, leaders, supporters, and longtime advocates, the day at the Capitol addressed the council’s priorities for the 2009 Legislative Session and important policy issues for Minnesota’s Latino community, such as Pre K-12 education, higher education, and health. 

On the issue of education in the state, Latino students in public schools continue to be impacted by the achievement gap across all subject areas and have the lowest graduation rate. Currently, Minnesota’s minority communities or people of color comprise more than 14 percent of the total state population. When you compare this percentage to students of color in our public schools, the percentage is much higher at 24 percent or almost one-fourth of the total student enrollment. Further, Minnesota’s total Latino population is at 4 percent (208,000) while it is surpassed by the total Latino student enrollment at 6.1 percent (51,000). What does this say? Clearly, the state’s Latino community is younger and growing fast.

During the Latino Legislative Day at the Capitol, 25 teams organized and led by Latino community leaders, met with state legislators to brief them on the needs of Latino students. View their recommendations 

Minnesota must meet the needs of Latino students in public schools and prepare them for higher education. It’s important to our community and to the state. 

The power of volunteering

By Tiffany Hasbrouck, February guest blogger

Last spring, a few individuals at Deloitte & Touche LLP, including myself, got together to commence a volunteer program to help students with areas such as resume writing, interview skills, and college and career searching (you know, items you need to know, but not necessarily “subjects” in school). After months of tweaking the curriculum, we had established what we thought would be a segway for students about to enter the “real” world.

You see, I came from a volunteering background. Meals on Wheels, Canned Food Drives, and Halloween Parties for the little kids were second nature growing up. I love to help people in any way I can. However, I was a bit nervous, as to how individuals (some older than myself) were going to perceive random people coming into their classroom to teach them “life skills.” This was new to me.

How WRONG I was!

My most memorable experience with teaching our curriculum was week six “College & Job Search.” I entered the first MN school, noting students were very diverse. In fact, for the most part, English was possibly the third or fourth language spoken. We proceeded to teach the students how to use the MCIS program, which was a segway to learning all about how interests translated to majors, careers, salary, and success. Most of the students were very responsive! They couldn’t believe how helpful and interesting this was.

However, there was one student who didn’t perceive this well. You could see that “Johnny” thought all of this was irrelevant to him. He thought he didn’t like anything that would translate into a major or a career. So I approached Johnny. After taking the time to sit and talk with him, I learned that he loved music, cars, and working with his hands. But what he didn’t understand, prior to our talk, was that there were MULTIPLE successful majors and careers for him. Yes, he might not have been the type that was going to sit at a desk job from 9-5, but that’s OKAY! I told Johnny about my close friend who reminded me exactly of him. He wasn’t very interested in a desk job, but when he found that a school close to Minneapolis was a place for majors in auto mechanics, with specialty in car detailing he was set.

Johnny and I searched the MCIS system for interests of his, in which he noted over 5 different majors and schools that would allow him to work in a field he had a passion for. What a crazy thought to him! The hour that we had together seemed to put a spark in Johnny's attitude and a skip in his step. How could this be? There WAS a place for him out there? What I was delighted to learn was that Johnny even applied for one of the schools that we had found that day!

It never ceases to amaze me the power that volunteering has to help others. I think it is so positive that our MN schools are allowing organizations and groups to come into the classroom and try to further enhance and help students one at a time.

Millions being saved via cooperative purchases and agreements

By Joe Nathan, January guest blogger

Looking for some good news? How about the more than $226 million in savings by cooperative purchases: that’s the record since 1994 of the Midwestern Higher Education Compact (MHEC.org), based in Minneapolis. The state of Minnesota spends $90,000 a year to be a member of this 12-state cooperative.

I'd love to hear from college and university folks about how this has worked for you and your institution.

MHEC President Larry Isaak reports that in the current fiscal year, the cost savings programs plus the savings to students from the student exchange program yield a benefit/cost ratio of 45 to 1 when comparing the state funds paid to MHEC with the savings of $45 million.

MHEC Vice President and General Counsel Rob Trembath told me that because Minnesota belongs to MHEC, school districts and charter public schools, along with colleges and universities may purchase an array of items through this organization without paying any membership fees. Last fall, State Senator Sandy Pappas (who also is an MHEC Commissioner) praised MHEC and Larry Isaak. Over the last six months, our organization worked with them on a conference. I agree with Pappas.

Isaak is a humble, low key, results-oriented person. He is a Certified Public Accountant was chancellor of the North Dakota University System for almost 10 years. Isaak is the kind of person who is focused on getting things done, rather than worrying about publicity or credit.

But he and his MHEC colleagues deserve plenty of that, for they have much to teach. Gov. Tim Pawlenty cited MHEC in a press release saying that Minnesota could save money by doing more collaboration, including cooperative purchasing.

A group of Western states was so impressed with MHEC efforts that in 2004 the states asked to participate. MHEC agreed. That gives us even more purchasing power.

Isaak estimates that students and families are saving more than $14 million a year in college tuition, because of agreements that MHEC helped negotiated. The organization also has created an electronic transcript program to simplify and ease sharing of information between high schools and colleges. That means less time and paperwork.

Now, about cost savings by cooperative purchases. Here are a few examples:

• A Master Property program helps lower insurance costs (MHEC estimates by more than $40 million since it was established). More than 100 collegecampuses are insured.
• Computer discounts are available not only for hardware, but also for training and longer warranties. Whether an organization is purchasing a handful or hundreds of computers, discounts and free shipping are available.
• Software – Special prices are available for a variety of programs from major companies, including Novell, Oracle and Trend Micro.
• Telecommunications from companies such as Quest, Sprint and Verizon.

Hopefully, school districts and charter public schools around the state will look at possible cost savings available through MHEC, as well as other groups, such as service cooperatives.

Cooperative purchases will not solve all our financial challenges. But they do offer impressive savings opportunities. 

Small Minnesota schools have lowest percent needing remediation in public colleges/universities

By Joe Nathan, January guest blogger

Here's something little noted when an important state report was released last year. The report dealt with the number of Minnesota public high school graduates who need to take a remedial (aka "developmental" ) course in reading, writing or math at a Minnesota public college or university. 

First, large numbers of high school graduates 2003-2006 entered Minnesota public 2-4 year colleges and universities: 49% overall Minnesota public high school graduates in those years). The rates vary among high schools.

However a disturbing percentage of the graduates who entered Minnesota public colleges or universities, needed remedial courses in reading, writing or math. Statewide, it was 38% of Minnesota high school graduates who attended our public 2-4 year universities, a total of 10,834 students.  The trend is for more, rather than fewer graduates to take remedial courses.

Which high schools have the smallest percentage of their graduates taking remedial courses at Minnesota's public colleges and universities?  All fifty high schools with the strongest record in this report are in greater Minnesota.  Forty-six of them are quite small, in places like Clinton Graceville (52% of 2003-2006 grads entering a Minnesota 2-4 year college or university, but only 13% of them taking a remedial course, Verndale, 57% of graduates entering a public college, 15% taking a remedial course, and Chokio-Alberta, 66% of graduates entering a public 2-4 year institution, but only 16% taking a remedial course).

Some suburban educators have pointed out that they have larger percentages of graduates entering Minnesota universities that are private, or colleges outside of Minnesota.  That’s true.  But there still are thousands of suburban public high school graduates taking remedial courses.

Give educators and families credit for helping many students enter higher education. But students clearly need more encouragement to take advantage of challenging high school courses – especially in math.

When I wrote about this last year, a couple of college students contacted me.  "Yes," they agreed, it is important for many high school students to take more challenging courses.  "But, it's also important for high school teachers to encourage students in those challenging courses. Sometimes faculty teaching the most challenging courses encourage students to drop out of them, when they really are capable of doing the work."

That's where learning from some of the state's smallest and most successful high schools comes in.  When our staff interviewed them a couple of years ago, we heard over and over that these successful small schools:

• Do not offer a large number of courses in key academic subjects.  They encourage virtually all students to take challenging, college prep courses.
• Have developed strong options for those not interested in attending 4 year institutions, that help lead to good jobs in applied fields like printing, electricity, construction, car or computer repair, etc.
• Often have partnered with 2 and 4 year institutions to offer courses described immediately above
• Work with families and community groups so there are clear, strong consistent messages including, "continuing your education is valuable, doing well in academics is important, and we believe in you!"
• Deep belief from faculty that most students should continue their education beyond high school, whether in a two or four year institution.

Unfortunately, Minnesota taxpayers and families are paying MILLIONS of dollars for students to take classes covering material that most of them should have mastered in high school. This is especially true in math. Of the 2005 high school graduates who took remedial courses in Minnesota public colleges or universities, 36% took a course in “developmental mathematics” compared to 17% in “developmental writing” and 13% in “developmental reading.”

Minnesota trends are not encouraging. The percentage of Minnesota high school graduates attending public colleges and universities is not increasing. It was 49% in 2000-2003, and in 2003-2006. Even more important, the percentage of Minnesota high school graduates taking remedial courses on entering public colleges and universities is NOT declining. It was 33% for the class of 1999, 36% for the classes of 2001-2003, 37% for the class of 2004, and 38% for the class of 2005. As legislators and educators try to improve education, the trend should be down, not up.

The data comes from “Getting Prepared 2008,” a study done by the University of Minnesota and Minnesota State College and University system (MnSCU). The report is available at www.mnscu.edu/media/publications/pdf/gettingprepared08.pdf

The report suggests possible reasons for the increase. First, “since 1999…larger percentages of new high school graduates were attending public colleges and universities.” But since 2001, “the percentage of new high school graduates enrolling in Minnesota public higher education institutions has been relatively steady at 49 or 50 percent.” Next, the report notes that recently MnSCU has done “more thorough placement testing and enforcement of required enrollment in developmental education.”

Developmental – also known as remedial – courses do not count toward graduation. Statistics cited above may help account for disturbingly low graduation rates at many Minnesota public colleges and universities.

The report is published every few years, and has valuable information.  But it would be even more helpful if data from Minnesota's private colleges and universities were included. Is this possible?  Could Minnesota's Private College Council work with the University of Minnesota and MnSCU, to help make even more comprehensive information available?