College Eligible or College Ready

1
College Eligible orCollege Ready

• Will our students succeed in the world beyond
  high school?

2
It all comes down to money

• One thing we know is that our students do
  need to graduate. Unlike in previous
  generations, few jobs in industry or business
  beckon to those with no degree. The benefits of
  graduation areat the leastmonetary. Workers
  with a high school degree will out earn those who
  do not graduate by more than half a million
  dollars, and college grads will out earn high
  school graduates by more than a million dollars.
• ---Marge Scherer, Educational
  Leadership, April 2007

3
Quick Write

• Take a sheet of C-notes, and just write.
• For you, how was high school differentacademical
  lyfrom college?
• Share out

4
Table Talk

• Discuss
• Did your high school experience prepare you for
  college?
• What were some of your biggest surprises/adjustmen
  ts?
• Share out

5
Affinity/ Hot Dot

• On post-it notes, jot down several purposes of
  high school, one purpose per note
• Post notes on wall. Group your purpose with like
  ideas.
• Generate main categories
• Hot Dot the category you consider to be 1 (red)
  2 (green) and 3 (yellow)

6
The research

• David T. Conley, University of Oregon
• Author of College Knowledge
• Extensive research on habits of mind required to
  be successful in college
• Butit all goes back to Piaget!

7
Piaget, Constructivism

• Children construct learning not little vessels
  to be filled up with knowledge
• Remember the stages?
• Sensorimotor (birth-2)
• Preoperational (2-7)
• Concrete Operational (7-11)
• Formal Operational (11-15 and on into adulthood)
• Attempts to fill vessels can be frustrating and
  futile

8
The situation

• 90 of freshmen say they plan to go to college
• Should we decide who deserves what kind of
  education?
• Should our schools provide an education that
  allows students to keep all avenues open?
• If college prep is one of our functions,
  shouldnt it be done as well as possible?

9
The situation, continued

• 23,000 US high schools 4,000 institutions of
  higher learning.
• Lots of competition, but theres something for
  everyone.
• Weak link in our system between K-12 and higher
  ed. Purposefully designed that way in a
  different age.

10
The situation, continued

• Approximately 60 of graduating seniors enroll in
  college
• Only one-third of those graduate college in four
  years
• Most four-year institutions see remediation rates
  of 40
• At community colleges, 60 of those who plan to
  transfer to a university have taken at least one
  remedial course

11
What do colleges want?

• David Conley et al have compiled Knowledge and
  Skills for University Success
• See handouts specific to each subject area
• See also www.s4s.org
• The habits of mind of a successful college
  student are cultivated in high school
• These habits can be taught/learned and are more
  indicative of success than content knowledge alone

12
Rigor

• Jigsaw reading of handout

13
What can be done?

• Educate selves
• Know h.s. graduation requirements and some
  college entrance requirements
• Know what LISD offers
• Pre-AP, AP with open enrollment
• International Baccalaureate Programme
• PSAT for 10th and 11th graders
• AP exams fee assistance
• Dual and co-enrollment with ACC
• AVID
• ROTC
• CTE programs Culinary, Automotive, Machining,
  Cosmetology, Vet. Tech, Health Science Tech,
  Electronics, Electrical Trades, PLTW

14
What can be done, continued

• Normalize the postsecondary experience
• Work to keep kids in pre AP and AP courses
• Make our college prep coursework accessible to
  more studentsAP kids are made, not born
• Spread the wordin parent conferences, on your
  syllabi, etc.that rigor is required for future
  success
• Look for ways to move beyond our distinct
  subject-based departments so kids can make
  connections across the curriculum
• Show kids optionspostsecondary is for all
• Know that a college-going culture gives all kids
  open doors

15
As technology allows more independent student
learning, and as ever more students raise their
educational sights, high schools can become
places where all student understand the critical
need for them to gear their learning toward
specified performance levels and become involved
in learning in ways that lead to the development
of the complex cognitive skills associated with
college success

• David T. Conley, College Knowledge, 2005