LearnmoreMN Blog

The Missing Partner

By Frank Hernandez, October guest blogger

Several weeks ago, thousands of students walked onto our college campuses to start new journeys in education. Among them was a young man who a few years ago was involved in local gangs and destined to drop out of high school. How did he, and many others like him, end up at a top-notch private college?

The answer to that question is as complex as each student. Yet, there are some common threads. First and foremost, each student needs to make a conscious effort to change some things about how they want to live. Many also find support from local community-based organizations.

For example, Centro is a local Latino community organization, which is located in the Phillips neighborhood of Minneapolis. It offers a continuum of youth programs for Latino youth. Educational success is a priority across all Centro youth programs. Community-based organizations like Centro have many assets, such as bilingual, bicultural staff; strong relationships with families; and effective communications with the schools, health providers and other anchor institutions.

For the past two years, Centro’s youth coordinator, Mitch Roldán, has been working with gang-involved youth in the Minneapolis schools. With Mitch’s help, one such participant chose to move away from the gangs. He also found a deep connection to his cultural roots, took on a leadership role with his peers, and decided to apply and start at one of Minnesota’s private colleges this fall.

If community-based organizations like Centro are so successful, why aren’t more P-12 schools working closely and systemically with community-based organizations? What can teacher preparation programs learn from community-based organizations to better reach families and students who might otherwise not enroll in post-secondary education?

These are precisely the questions that a collaborative team of faculty from Augsburg, Bethel, Concordia (St Paul), Hamline, St. Catherine and St. Thomas began asking themselves as they worked on developing a new teacher preparation program through a special grant program at the Bush Foundation this past summer.

Later this month, I’ll share some highlights from the plan, which is still in development. But a key element in the plan is the commitment from our teacher preparation institutions to partner with community-based organizations.

Do you agree? Please share your thoughts and examples about what worked in effective higher education and P-12 educational partnerships with community-based organizations.

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.