LearnmoreMN Blog

Your take: what organizations can do

We asked a number of people to take a short survey about the Vanishing Graduates show and  received some interesting responses to this question: Given the challenges that the program raises, what are some actions that organizations could take?

Here are some of the actions you suggested:

• Federal grants and loans availablity. It's scary: how will government continue? The clients they serve will only be increasing, special interest groups always want increased services, (contrary to popular belief) many government jobs ARE complex and require a college degree and there will be fewer workers demographically, and far fewer educationally qualified...we will either have to curtail services, rely on technology to be a substitute for people, and/or tap a qualified people supply from outside the U.S.
• We need to get out in the high schools and middle schools and entice/tout/advertise about how there's a place waiting for them in our workforce, and take steps to ready themselves.
• Entering into partnerships with government, business and educators to provide additional resources for schools and support for families.
• REQUIRED college preparatory curriculum, no matter how long it takes a student, when they moved to this country, or what their native language is. We fail our students every time that we do not require them to achieve at the minimum level expected by college admissions offices. MUCH GREATER funding for guidance counselors. Our counselors work too hard, and it is embarrassing that this great progressive state is not taking better care of its students as they prepare for college. Statewide PR campaign to raise awareness. Greater support of college access programs, with long-term funding opportunities, NOT short-term grants.
• Businesses who are affected by these trends on the post-college end of the spectrum would help make the crisis more real for most people. Many folks tune out the non-profit, social service, educational sector's advocacy because we're always pushing for one need or another. I'm sure resources are limited, but it would be helpful to combine this with a major PR push throughout the state — billboards, mailings, commericals, etc. This is a defining issue of our time, and nobody really knows about it.

If you would like to share your opinions about the program, take the survey.

Final Thoughts: Problems Facing Minnesota Students

By Katherine Bristol, April Guest Blogger

Minnesota students score well compared to many other states, yet the achievement gap between different racial, ethnic, and economic groups are some of the largest in the country. College graduates now earn 70% more than high school students, a number which is increasing rapidly. About 66% of Minnesotans receiving their diploma in 2005 enrolled in a post secondary public education institution (compared to 49% in 2002). Of these students, 18% enrolled in a campus associated the University of Minnesota, 38% enrolled in a two-year or technical college, and, 29% enrolled in a four-year state university (not associated with the University of Minnesota) and 16% went out of state. At least 36% of these students also took some college level courses while in high school (math classes accounting for 29% of class, making it the largest indicator of matriculation in to post secondary students). While enrollment is a good indicator that K-12 can provide readiness for post secondary, we do not have the numbers on students who have access to college level courses and whether they are taking advantage of them (based on region), who is graduating from college, and how successful they are a few years down the line.

Many of Minnesota rural communities have declining population, slower economy, and less legislative power over their status as compared to large Minnesotan cities and their surrounding suburbs. Industries that have sustained such communities for years (timber, agriculture, mining, small business) now almost require a post secondary education to even sustain useable workforce. Additionally, the few public colleges that have arisen in rural areas (38 to be exact) lack the resources and consequential interest of local students, putting these colleges at risk for closures. While the state is not losing a great deal of residences who move or pursue other state options for post secondary education, an increasing number of Minnesotans are moving to the twin city metro area, displacing the allocated needs of the respective public schools and college campuses. According to the Center for Rural Policy and Development’s article, Capitalizing on the potential of Minnesota’s Rural Campuses (2003), “The average household income of persons in the rural college counties studied in this project is 75% of the state average and dropping.” The success of rural colleges and their surrounding communities has continuously proven to be of mutual interest and dependence on the well being of each entity. The lack of communication between school administrators and local political leaders regarding the mission and purpose of the colleges are generally lacking, causing issues with keeping the school relevant yet innovative. While we know something must be done, the question is what, and how?

My suggestions for Best Practices:

1. The effects of continued involvement by special programs mentors and community leaders from K-12 and beyond into post secondary education. This includes self-report/ evaluations done by students, teachers, parents, and other reliable sources to create a “learning portfolio” that would grow as the student progressed through school. Starting in the K-12 setting, we need set standards high and make sure that students are aware and have access to a variety of reasonable resources.
2. Massive improvement in the quality of our educators and additional supportive resources. This applies the importance of accessibility of such educators and resources, especially in more rural environments.
3. Change missions of public schools and colleges to fit the needs of the communities. For example, the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Board (MnSCU) Strategic Plan for 2002-2005 is “Strengthen community development and economic vitality by working with local communities to help them develop, maintain and enhance their vitality; seeking new ways to serve as a key partner to coordinate local, regional and statewide economic development initiatives; and develop frameworks for state and regional planning and collaboration that help more of its institutions to work in partnership with community and business groups.” The influence and role of politics and economics on the schools mission and subsequent outcome is key to getting rural students to not only enroll in school, but also graduate successfully. Also, allowing students to conduct apprenticeships or internships at relevant sites could give them indications of careers they would be interested in and what skills are necessary to succeed in the profession.

Early Childhood Education: Head Start is Not Enough

By Kate Bristol, April Guest Blogger

Macalester College — where I am a student — convened a Mayor's Forum in February to discuss best practices in education. The policymakers and educators who attended help shape the educational systems in many Minnesotan towns. One of the topics covered by the Forum was pre-kindergarten programs — which are vital in putting kids on a path to school success.

Data shows that investment in pre-kindergarten programs pays off, but we have yet to invest in these programs statewide. While districts claim that they lack funding, combining federal funding with an investment from local corporations would be sufficient to start up a pre-k classroom. We know what to do; we know how to do it; now all we have to do is take action.

To maximize high-quality preschool access for low-income students, I suggest the following changes to the federal preschool program:

1. Assist suboptimal programs to meet these standards.
2. Provide funding to hire qualified teachers and for ongoing teacher education.
3. Recruit the 40 percent of eligible children who are not currently enrolled in the Head Start.
4. Expand eligibility criteria of Head Start to include children of families living at the 125 percent Federal Poverty Level
5. Support recruitment of all eligible three-year-olds.
6. Mandate public preschool programs in all 50 states to provide greater access to children of families living at 150 percent
7. Establish minimum quality standards for all public preschool programs to improve kindergarten readiness.

Paying for the approximately five million additional children who would become eligible under this proposal may seem staggering. However, state and federal governments would share the financial burdens. The long-term benefits to our society of high-quality preschools are enormous. There is an astounding benefit-to-cost ratio of seventeen to one. There would be higher rates of education, employment, income, and marriage; and lower rates of delinquency, crime and drug use.

As a nation, we cannot afford to do otherwise.

A different kind of glass ceiling…

By Willy Tully, February 2008 Guest Blogger

The barriers that prevent Minnesota students from enrolling in college are often erected well before the senior year of high school.

A study, conducted for the Minnesota State Legislature by Ghere, Moore, and Schelske in 1999, shows that, "students begin self-selecting for high academic achievement as early as third grade, and courses that students take in middle school and early in high school are closely related to future college attendance."

Choices relating to academic rigor and extracurricular participation, as well as peer influence, shape a student’s perception of what they can achieve. At the same time, reserved space in honors courses, the cost of summer programs, and a lack of knowledge about (or access to) postsecondary choices exacerbate the innate barriers. Underperforming middle school students are funneled into high school programs that are unchallenging and that will not provide the requisite spark needed to excite the passion for learning present in every young person.

In actuality, students are constructing their own ceiling as they progress through a K-12 education. The unfortunate parallel is that our educational system is designed to reinforce these limiting "self" selections.

This makes me angry, and I hope it makes you angry too.

Schools are under-funded, teachers and counselors are under-paid, there are abhorrent socioeconomic and racial disparities in education, and schools located just minutes from one another are miles apart in the quality and breadth of educational programming they can offer. But now is not the time to despair. Indeed, now is the time to repair and rebuild. We must champion community cooperation – we must be pioneers for freedom and equality in education.

With the tools and the might, we must reach up and shatter that glass ceiling, for the limitations posed on individuals prevent this community from reaching its truest potential – from reaching greatness. And greatness is possible.