CHS Family Update
November 25th, 2019
In The Know
From the Library - ALL textbooks and class novels are due on Wednesday, November 27th by the end of the day. It's important all books are returned by Wednesday so we can enough textbooks for students on Day 1 of Trimester 2. If students need the same textbooks or class novels next trimester, they must stop by the library and renew them. (Textbooks for 3-trimester, year-long courses are the only exceptions and they are checked out to students until June.) Thank you for making sure all students have immediate access to class resources.
Staff Appreciation - In keeping with the holiday spirit, we are celebrating our staff and their tireless efforts on behalf of our kids by sponsoring a staff appreciation buffet on Wednesday December 18. We welcome everyone to bring some food item to school that day. We especially welcome homemade and holiday themed goodies. What could you bring? Cake, muffins, fruit, veggies, cheeses, hummus, dips, salads....pretty much whatever cold items you enjoy. And, no need to bring for more than 20. Any questions please contact me at wtaubenfeld@comcast.net. Thanks in advance on behalf of the Church staff and Go Lancers!
We Know What’s Needed: Why Aren’t We Doing It?
For the past decade, we’ve seen a tragic pattern of low-income students enrolling in college but never graduating — a cycle that inflicts debt and offers no hope that higher education can reduce our widening affluence gaps.
Now, for the first time, we are able to identify remedies that can reverse that cycle. That sounds promising, but also raises the awkward question: Why are these solutions, which are not terribly complicated, so scarce?
First, the remedies. We now have good data on three separate groups of low-income, minority students — most of them the first in their families to attend college — who are earning bachelor’s degrees at rates previously not thought possible: graduates at the top charter school networks, alumni of the AVID programs that target first-generation students with college potential, and Dreamer scholarship recipients, the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) students brought to this country, usually as infants and toddlers, by parents who entered illegally.
Nationally, only 11% of students who are both low income and first generation earn bachelor’s degrees within six years of leaving college. At the charter networks, those success rates range from three to five times better than that. For both AVID and the Dreamers, the success rate is even higher, roughly 60%, which is the same graduation rate seen among students coming from families in the top income quartile.
What’s compelling about these three groups is that the remedies behind that success are similar. Common among all three groups is a focus on teaching skills in the K-12 years that will help the students survive in college, when they suddenly find themselves in a world that’s far different from their highly structured high school years.
Also shared: smart, data-driven college counseling that steers students into colleges and universities where they are more likely to earn degrees. Finally, both the charter alumni and Dreamers get tracking through college that helps them through the tough times.
As for the first remedy, I’ve watched some of that college-ready instruction in classrooms around the country. In Newark, N.J., for example, I watched “Target 3.0” in action at North Star Academy College Preparatory High School. By digging into data detailing the fate of its alumni, North Star discovered that students who graduated with at least a 3.0 grade point average were four times more likely to earn college degrees.
So they devised Target 3.0, which requires all sophomores, juniors and seniors with GPAs below 2.5 to attend a special class that uses both peer pressure and other strategies to boost their grades. It works: Within a semester, all the seniors raised their GPAs higher, along with three quarters of the juniors.
Why would raising GPA help students persist in college? Because the skills learned in the process, both organizational and personal (appearing before teachers to ask for help), are the exact skills needed to persist in college.
In Alexandria, VA, I watched a class of sixth graders in the AVID program (Achievement via Individual Determination) being taught multiple ways to take classroom notes, all methods to match an instructor’s teaching style. AVID supplies students who might not consider themselves college-worthy with college-coping skills, tutoring, college visits and smart guidance. Based on results to date, it appears to be working.
Finally, the college tracking I saw as part of the charter and Dreamer programs seemed effective. For the Dreamers, college is usually their first exposure to an institution populated primarily by white students, professors and administrators, which leaves them feeling isolated. Plus, they get homesick, especially when family members back home run into personal problems. Having a coach on campus helps with both academic and personal challenges.
The KIPP charter school network, which has long been a pioneer in watching over its alumni in college, recently announced it was expanding the effort. At Colorado State University, KIPP and the university will pay for a “persistence advisor.” The job description: “to troubleshoot challenges students face related to academic progress, financial aid, and finding a sense of belonging on campus.”
That’s three entirely separate groups of first-generation students — charter, AVID and Dreamers — experiencing success in college for pretty much the same reasons.
And again, that raises the question: If we know what needs to be done, why aren’t we doing more of it?
- Richard Whitmire
Looking Forward
THIS WEEK...
FINALS WEEK
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25
5:30 pm — Community Forum—Student Success Act: Investments for Success at SEHS
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 26
3:45 pm — Getting Hired for the Holidays Workshop
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 27 — LAST DAY OF TERM 1
THURSDAY–FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 29 — THANKSGIVING BREAK!
Kudos
Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - My apologies for missing Emily Martini in my acknowledgements last week. Emily provides a considerable effort with the Drama/Thespian team. I am always impressed with her performances. Excellent work Emily.
Churchill High School
Website: https://chs.4j.lane.edu/
Location: 1850 Bailey Hill Road, Eugene, OR, USA
Phone: 541-790-5100
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChurchillHighSchool
Twitter: @CHSLancers