Early College High School Initiative The First Two Years

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Early College High School InitiativeThe First
Two Years
May 22, 2004
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Funders

• Along with the Bill Melinda Gates Foundation,
  funders of the Early College High School
  Initiative include
• Carnegie Corporation of New York
• The Ford Foundation
• The W.K. Kellogg Foundation
• The Walton Family Foundation

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Mission

• To increase the number of first generation,
  low-income, English Language Learners, and
  students of color attaining an Associates
  degree or two years of college credit and the
  opportunity to earn a Baccalaureate degree.

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Through the Initiative

• 12 Partners will help to establish
• 134 Early College High Schools
• Antioch University Seattle (8)
• City University of New York (10)
• Foundation for California Community Colleges (15)
• KnowledgeWorks Foundation (8)
• Middle College National Consortium (20)
• North Carolinas New Schools Project (10)
• National Council of La Raza (12)
• Portland Community College (8)
• SECME, Inc. (8)
• Texas High School Project (15)
• Utah Partnership for Education (6)
• Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation (14)

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The First Two Years

• Themes Identified for
• Early College High Schools

• Agribusiness, Engineering Technology
• Allied Health and Medicine
• Arts
• Biotechnology
• Engineering
• International Business

• Liberal Arts
• Linguistics
• Mathematics, Science Technology
• Native American Culture
• Social Justice
• Teacher Preparation

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The First Two Years

• 24 early college high schools were established in
  13 states, enrolling 4,040 students
• 3/4 are public schools
• 1/4 charter
• 56 are affiliated with a two-year institution
• 33 with a four-year institution
• 11 with two-year/four-year partners

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The First Two Years

• Locations of Early College High Schools
• On two-year college campuses
• On four-year college/university campuses
• Within community-based organizations
• In self-contained sites off-campus, including
  shared sites with other K-12 school(s)

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The First Two Years

• Designs of Early College High Schools
• Charter school
• Blended with the host college/university
• Combined middle school/H.S. grades
• Joint school district/college partnership
• College contracts with school district(s)

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The First Two Years

• 22 New Early College High Schools Planned for
  the 2004-2005 School Year

• Alameda, CA
• Bronx, NY (2)
• Denver, CO
• Elyria, OH
• Greenville, SC
• Hartford, CT
• Houston, TX
• Memphis, TN
• Milwaukee, WI
• Ogden, UT
• Philadelphia, PA

• Phoenix, AZ
• Pueblo, CO
• Riverside, CA
• Rockville, MD
• San Pablo, CA
• Selma, AL
• Washington, DC
• West Hills, CA
• West Jordan, UT
• Youngstown, OH

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The First Two Years

• Partners and School Leaders Generated Interest in
  Early College Through
• Meetings with area higher ed institutions, local
  districts, state and local officials, guidance
  counselors, members of the community
• Town meetings
• Bidders conferences
• Site visits
• Presentations at state and national conferences
• Media coverage and press conferences
• Congressional hearings

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Starting Schools

• Partners Identified Sites for
• Early College Through
• RFPs and proposals
• Orientation meetings
• Existing partnerships
• Schools and districts with which they had worked
  previously
• Recommendations of advisory committees and boards

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Starting Schools

• Partners Provide
• Assistance to Schools Through
• Organizing planning team visits to schools
• Fundraising, advocacy, support
• Conducting school design days other
  professional development activities
• Planning meetings consultations
• Convening state regional networks
• Making coaches available to schools
• Conducting internships for principals

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Starting Schools

• Partners and Schools Geared Up By
• Hiring new, talented staff
• Producing brochures, web sites, and press
  releases
• Disseminating promotional materials
• Convening planning teams and stakeholder groups
• Planning curriculum with post-secondary sites
• Assessing professional development needs
• Conducting orientations
• Working with school coaches
• Reaching out to middle schools and guidance
  counselors

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The First Two Years

• Successful Strategies
• Leveraging interest among local, state, and
  national policymakers
• Securing scholarships from local businesses and
  community groups to support tuition
• Developing robust and effective student services
  models
• Conducting creative and effective summer
  programming and bridge strategies
• Generating interest among students and parents

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The First Two Years

• JFF Provided National Coordination Including
• Creating conceptual coherence
• Convening peer learning networks and providing
  technical assistance
• Conducting research and evaluation
• Solidifying and moving a policy agenda
• Managing cross-site and media communications

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The First Two Years

• Key Issues ChallengesPostsecondary
• Establishing incentives buy-in from higher
  education for mission of ECHS
• Forging and negotiating complex
  secondary/postsecondary partnerships
• Creating, adapting, and negotiating curriculum
• Negotiating different cultures

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The First Two Years

• Key Issues ChallengesFinancing
• Implementing ECHS in the current economic climate
  
• Identifying strategies for paying tuition at
  colleges and universities
• Determining actual costs of early college high
  schools and adequacy of current funding formulas
• Tackling disparate funding for early college
  charter and public schools

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The First Two Years

• Key Issues Challenges
• Start-up
• Staffing-up quickly
• Engaging communities in ECHS planning
  development
• Identifying buildings facilities for ECHS
• Testing assumptions about the most viable size of
  ECHS
• Achieving true diversity in an open enrollment
  ECHS

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The First Two Years

• Key Issues ChallengesAcademics
• Developing program designs that prepare students
  for rigorous academic work
• Creating schedules and strategies to prepare
  students for college level work
• Literacy
• Science
• Mathematics Skills
• Completion of a highly rigorous high school
  curriculum and Associates degree

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The First Two Years

• Evaluation
• AIR/SRI evaluation focused on implementation,
  early outcomes, and student outcomes
• Intermediary contracts with external evaluators,
  including W. K. Kellogg Community Engagement
  Project
• Early College Initiative for Native Youth
  evaluation by NWREL
• MCNC Early College evaluation conducted by NCREST
• SECME Community Engagement Evaluation conducted
  by Lloyd Williams
• WWNF case studies conducted by Ray Bacchetti,
  Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of
  Teaching
• Case studies conducted by Mike Nakkula, Director
  of the Risk and Prevention Program at the Harvard
  Graduate School of Education
• JFF convened evaluation working group

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The First Two Years

• Early College in the News
• More than 100 Articles Published on ECHSI
• National, local, and trade coverage
• New York Times, Wall Street Journal, LA Times,
  Boston Globe, Seattle Times, Business Week, San
  Francisco Chronicle
• Ed Week, Chronicle of Higher Ed, Hispanic Outlook
  in Higher Ed, Black Issues in Higher Ed, ASCD
• Earlycolleges.org website
• Resource for the media
• Partners.earlycolleges.org extranet
• On-line resource for sharing tools and ideas
• Open to all partners and schools involved in ECHSI