May 29, 2000
Educators pool resources to get more kids on the path to college
By Jennifer McNulty
A $2.2 million grant funded by the state of California's Academic Improvement and
Achievement Act is giving a major boost to a collaborative effort by UC Santa Cruz
and the Monterey County Office of Education, under the auspices of the Monterey Bay
Educational Consortium (MBEC), to fund a five-year, $5 million effort to get more
kids on the path to college. The grant will serve five participating regional high
schools.
MBEC brings together all the public higher educational institutions, county offices
of education, and school districts in the Monterey Bay region to work toward increasing
the number of students in San Benito, Monterey, and Santa Cruz Counties who attend
college.
With the new state funding, the Educational Partnership Center (EPC) at the University
of California, Santa Cruz, is teaming up with the Monterey County Office of Education
(MCOE) and the five high schools to implement the "Passport to Education Program."
The goal of the program is to increase the number of high school students who, upon
graduation, are eligible to attend a University of California or California State
University campus.
The amount of the four-year grant from the California Department of Education is
$2.37 million. Contributions from UCSC and the five schools will raise the program's
total budget to $4.94 million over five years.
The participating schools are Watsonville, Seaside, North Monterey County, Greenfield,
and Soledad High Schools.
The Passport to Education Program is designed to create a pathway to college for
students from eighth grade through 12th grade. "The goal is to infuse all aspects
of school culture with the expectation among staff, students, and parents that all
students can go to college," said Carrol Moran, director of EPC. "By the
end of the 2004-05 school year, our goal is for each high school to equal or exceed
the state average on five standard measures of success, including SAT scores."
Academic support will focus on math and writing skills for "gatekeeping"
courses like algebra I and II and college preparatory English that allow students
to proceed toward college. College advocates will be hired to work at the high schools
and "feeder" middle schools, and tutors will support the academic work
of students in the schools. Test-preparation workshops will help students prepare
for exams, and parent workshops will give parents information about college eligibility
requirements, financial aid, and the importance of a college education to help them
encourage their children to go to college.
New interactive databases will allow teachers and university researchers and support
personnel to monitor student accomplishments, with an eye toward shaping specific
interventions for each student at each grade level, she said. Participating high
schools serve more than 6,600 students, and an additional 2,500 eighth graders are
enrolled in the feeder middle schools.
"We want to increase awareness of college requirements and let students know
how to get on track for college right away," said Moran. "We'll have easy
access to the records that will show if they're getting off track, and if they are,
we have developed a series of strategies to bring them back into the fold."
In addition, EPC will expand the reach of its existing college preparation programs,
including Early Academic Outreach Program (EAOP); Mathematics, Engineering, Science
Achievement (MESA); and the local branch of Advancement via Individual Determination
(AVID), to include students in the Passport to Education Program.
"We look forward to working together with UCSC and our other partners as we
build the aspirations and performance of students in these five high schools,"
said Nancy Kotowski, assistant superintendent for educational services with MCOE.
As the lead educational agency, MCOE will administer the funds.
Local business partners will help motivate students through mentoring, career talks,
job-shadowing opportunities, events to recognize student achievement, and development
of hands-on activities. Business partners include the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research
Institute, the Santa Cruz County Farm Bureau, the Pajaro Valley Chamber of Commerce,
the Register Pajaronian newspaper, Graniterock Construction Company, the Soledad-Mission
Chamber of Commerce, and the Soledad and Greenfield Rotaries.
Additional educational partners that are contributing to the program include Cabrillo
College, Hartnell College, the Monterey Bay Regional School-to-Career Partnership,
and the Santa Cruz County Office of Education.
The Academic Improvement and Achievement Act is a new statewide initiative to boost
college preparation among eighth graders and to improve academic support and services
offered to high school students.
