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ED 435 270 HE 032 488

AUTHOR Callahan, Mary-Mack; Wolk, Ronald A., Ed.TITLE The Intentional Community: Colleges and Community Groups

Helping Low Income Youth Prepare for College.INSTITUTION Council of Independent Colleges, Washington, DC.SPONS AGENCY DeWitt Wallace/Reader's Digest Fund, Pleasantville, NY.PUB DATE 1999-00-00NOTE 51p.; A report on the College/Community Partnership Program,

jointly administered by Citizens' Scholarship Foundation ofAmerica's Dollars for Scholars Program and the Consortiumfor the Advancement of Private Higher Education, anoperating unit of the Council of Independent Colleges.

AVAILABLE FROM Council of Independent Colleges, One Dupont Circle, Suite320, Washington, DC 20036. Tel: 202-466-7230; Fax:202-466-7238; Web site: http://www.cic.edu

PUB TYPE Reports Descriptive (141)EDRS PRICE MF01/PC03 Plus Postage.DESCRIPTORS *College Bound Students; *Disadvantaged Youth; Higher

Education; *Low Income Groups; Partnerships in Education;*Private Colleges; Program Development; *School CommunityRelationship; Student Educational Objectives

ABSTRACT

This report presents principles and practices associatedwith establishing and maintaining effective community-based partnerships.Since 1993 a total of 25 private colleges and universities and nearly 30community groups have participated in the College/Community PartnershipProgram, an effort to encourage private colleges and community groups tocollaborate in encouraging and preparing students in low-income communitiesto attend college or other postsecondary institutions. These partnershipsserve over 1,400 youth between grades 4 and 12. This report identifies morethan 40 principles and practices associated with establishing and maintainingeffective community-based partnerships. The report, which is the product ofexternal evaluations, site visits, and focus groups, is divided into threesections: The first provides an overview of the historical and nationalcontext in which the program operates. The second section identifiesorganizational strategies for developing academic support programs; foreffectively serving the students in the program; for involving the community;and for sustaining the partnerships. The third section offers recommendationsfor policymakers based on the principles and practices presented. An appendixdescribes 16 of the partnerships developed under the program. (DB)

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e ntentional CommunityColleges and C01111111111Ity Groups Helping Low-Income Youth Prepare fir College

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Points of view or opinions stated in thisdocument do not necessarily representofficial OERI position or policy.

By Mary-Mack CallahanWith editorial assistance from Ronald A. Wolk

A Report on the College/Communio, Partne,Yhip Program, jointly administered

by Citizens' .Scholmyllip Foundation. gfAmerias Dams for ScholasN I'mponand the Consortium for the Advancement of Private Higher Education,an. operating unit of the Council of Independent Colleges

CICCouncil of

Inulepemient Colleges

OvaDOLLARS forSCHOLARS

BEST COPY AVAILABLE

The Intentional CommunityColleges and Community Groups Helping Low-Income Youth Prepare for College

By Mary-Mack CallahanWith editorial assistance from Ronald A. Wolk

A Report on the College /Community Partnership Program, jointly administered

by Citizens' Scholarship Foundation of America's Dollars for Scholars Programand the Consortium for the Advancement of Private Higher Education,an operating unit of the Council of Independent Colleges

3

Copyright © 1999 Council of Independent Colleges

Printed in the United States of America

The members of the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC)work together to support college leadership, advance institu-tional excellence, and enhance private higher education'scontributions to society. CIC provides ideas, resources, andservices that assist institutions to improve leadership exper-tise, educational programs, administrative and financialperformance, and institutional visibility. CIC was founded in1956. In 1993, the Consortium for the Advancement ofPrivate Higher Education (CAPHE) was integrated into CICas an identifiable operating unit. CIC's membership indudessome 470 colleges and universities, and more than 30 state,regional, and national associations as affiliate members.Nearly 100 corporations and foundations support CIC'swork.

Out or write CIC for a list of other publications. Informationon CIC's publications can also be found at www.cic.edu.

Council of Independent CollegesOne Dupont Cirde, Suite 320Washington, DC 20036phone: 202-466-7230; fax: 202-466-7238www.cic.edu; [email protected]

Photography credits listed on page 39.

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Contents

Acknowledgments

Foreword iii

I. Improving Aspirations and Attainments of Low-Income Students

Overview 1

The National Response 2

The Roles of Higher Education and the Community 4

College/Community Partnerships 5

II. Developing The Intentional Community:Lessons from The College/Community Partnership Programs 7

Organizational Strategies:A. Developing the Program 8

The best ways to ensure that programs will be successful from the start.

B. Serving Students Well 13The most Ortive strategies for ensuring that programs actually have an impacton student aspirations and learning.

C. Involving the Community 17Keeping the community interested in the work of these initiatives.

D. Sustaining the Partnership and the Program 22Partnerships building momentum to continue to be successful over time.

Ill. Recommendations for Policy 25

Appendix A: Descriptions of Individual College/Community Partnerships 28

Appendix B: Biographies 37

Appendix C: References 38

5

AcknowledgmentsThe Consortium for the Advancement of Private Higher Education (CAPHE) and Citizeri Scholar-

ship Foundation of America (CSFA) would like to thank the DeWitt Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund fortheir generous financial support of the College /Community Partnership grant program.

The sucrtss of this grant program is due to the commitment and dedication of several individuals whobelieve in the ability of community organizationscolleges and universities, churches, civic groups,schools, community-based organizations, businesses, and the liketo pool their resources to empoweryouth to dream and achieve. We offer a special thanks to Karen Bogart, the external evaluator for the firstphase of the College/Community Partnership Program. Dr. Bogares extensive evaluation of each partner-ship provided the foundation for the lessons learned from this grant program. We would also like tothank all those who provided advice and counsel as proposal reviewers, conference facilitators, and generalprogram advisors, including Leslie Anderson, Brenda Atlas, Richard Battig, Nevin Brown, Sarita E.Brown, Florence Fasanelli, Henry Fernandez, Josie Garza, Parker C. Johnson, Mary Kinnick, AlanKirschner, Mary Leonard, LaJoy Mosby, Emma Owens, and Betty Lou Whitford. We also want torecognize the contributions of the leaders of our respective organizations. CIC President Allen P.Splete and CSFA President William C. Nelsen both contributed considerable time and effort toensure the program's success.

We wish to thank each of the colleges and community organizations that participated in the first andsecond phases of the grant program. We acknowledge the work of the college presidents, faculty, businessleaders, community representatives, students, and staff for their willingness to initiate and forge successfulalliances dedicated to advocating for the youth in their communities.

A special thanks goes to the project directors and representatives of each of the partnerships for provid-ing such candid observations about the nature of their experiences. By sharing their insights, they gavevoice and perspective to this publicationwhich enabled us to uncover and analyze the factors whichcreate effective partnerships between colleges and community organizations.

Lastly, we acknowledge Mary-Mack Callahan, former managing director of CAPHE and the author ofthe publication, and Ronald A. Wolk, former editor of Education Week, who provided invaluable editorialassistance. We include in our acknowledgment of Ms. Callahan a special thanks for her unrelentingdedication and belief in the College /Community Partnership Program from its inception. Her commit-ment to youth development, especially low-income and underserved youth, is genuine and steadfast. Wethank her for helping to put into action a vision and belief that higher education and communityorganizations have a responsibility to work together to respond to the needs of the youth in their commu-nity with the full force of all their resources. To all those who assisted in the creation of this publication,we thank you for your time and dedication.

6

College/Community Partnerships (1993-1996)Following is a list of colleges and community organizations involved in the first phase of theCollege /Community Partnership Program:

Chicago, IllinoisRoosevelt University/Martin Luther King, Jr. High School

Clinton, South CarolinaPresbyterian College/Laurens County Chamber of Commerce

Dallas, TexasPaul Quinn College/Youth and Family Impact Centers, Inc.

Fresno, CaliforniaFresno Pacific University/Roosevelt High School

Gary, IndianaValparaiso University/

Higher Learning Connection Scholarship

Gaston, North CarolinaBelmont Abbey College/

Gaston County Chamber of Commerce

Holyoke, MassachusettsMount Holyoke College/Latino Scholarship Fund

Jersey City, New JerseySaint Peter's College/Monumental Baptist Church/College Preparatory Incentive Program

Los Angeles, CaliforniaMount St. Marys College/Garfield, Hamilton and Vin Nuys High Schools

Louisville, KentuckyBellarmine College/

The Lincoln Foundation

New York, New YorkMarymount Manhattan College/Settlement College Readiness Program

Owensboro, KentuckyKentucky Wesleyan College/Dollars for Scholars

of Owensboro-Daviess County

Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaBeaver College/

Morris E. Leeds Middle School

Pikeville, KentuckyPikeville College/Community Educational Foundation

of Pikeville County

Salisbury, North CarolinaLivingston College/Salisbury Housing Authority

Tacoma, WashingtonUniversity of Puget Sound/Access to College Initiative

Toppenish, WashingtonHeritage College/Yakima Valley, Farm Workers Clinic

Tuskegee, AlabamaTuskegee University/Wil-Low Housing Authority, Inc.

Utica, New YorkUtica CollegeUtica City School District

Ypsilanti, MichiganUniversity of Detroit Mercy/Willow Run High School ABC3

BEST COPY AVAILABLE7 The Intentional Community

Foreword

In early 1993, Citizens Scholarship Foundation of America's Dollars for Scholars Program and theConsortium for the Advancement of Private Higher Education initiated a cooperative program to helpprepare more low-income youth in the United States to pursue postsecondary education. Through thatinitiativethe College /Community Partnership Programprivate colleges and community groups wereinvited to develop collaborative efforts to encourage and equip students in low-income communities toattend college or other postsecondary institutions. The program was supported by an initial $1-milliongrant in 1993 from DeWitt Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund and a second $1-million grant in 1996. In1993, each College/Community Partnership Program was awarded a grant of $25,000 to supportprogram activities and received a $1,000 matching grant upon the creation and affiliation of their Dollarsfor Scholars chapter with the national organization. In 1996, each partnership was awarded a grant of upto $30,000 to support program activities.

Since 1993, a total of 25 private colleges and universities and nearly 30 community groups (K-12schools, school districts, churches, civic organizations, public housing authorities, etc.), have cometogether in dynamic partnerships in service to over 1,400 youth between the fourth and twelfthgrades. Documenting lessons learned from six years of partnership building, this report identifiesmore than 40 principles and practices associated with establishing and maintaining effective commu-nity-based partnerships. While these particular partnerships involve institutions of higher learningand community organizations, the principles and practices nevertheless hold for most community-oriented collaborative ventures that provide academic support to low-income youth.

In addition to representing our cumulative learning about the formation and maintenance of parmer-ships between institutions of higher learning and community groups, this report shows the conditionsthat make for successful out-of-school academic support programs for low-income youth. During the firstphase of the grant program, the external evaluator conducted a comprehensive analysis of the grantprogram and the 20 participating parmerships (see opposite page). The analysis induded site visits toapproximately half of the partnerships, telephone interviews, and an analysis of progress reports and othersupporting materials. The results of the analysis played a critical role in shaping the goals and objectives ofthe second phase of the grant program, i.e., to strengthen, professionalize, and institutionalize approxi-mately half of the partnerships created during the first phase of the grant program, and to establish fivenew partnerships. In addition, the findings laid the groundwork for our understanding of the principlesand practices ultimately presented in this report.

Through information collected during three regional focus group meetings during the second phase ofthe grant program, the principles and practices presented in this report were developed. The focus groupsbrought together college and community representatives from each of the sixteen participating partner-ships to discuss the challenges and successes associated with establishing effective partnerships. Theprinciples reflect the experiences of parents and grandparents, college faculty, college student programvolunteers, community organization staff, college administrators, housing program administrators, localbusiness people, and teachers and school administrators. While the report documents the collectiveknowledge acquired over the course of six years, the quotes and comments integrated into the reportrepresent the voices and collective wisdom of the sixteen partnerships that participated in the second phaseof the grant program.

Providing a blueprint for those interested in creating, or perhaps enhancing, existing community-oriented partnerships, the report provides practical information about how different types of communityorganizationsincluding colleges and universitiescan come together and form intentional communi-ties in support of youth. For instance, it outlines the importance of developing a shared vision, the needto hold youth accountable for their own learning, how to involve parents and guardians in program

Foreword iii

Dollars for Scholars is a nationalnetwork of over SOO grassroots scholarshipfoundations in over 40 states that raisefunds and provide financial and academicsupport to local students.

One common element in Dollars forScholars chapters is community-based fundraising that results in scholarships awarded

to local students. Scholar-) Air ship recipients have accessPOI to a national network of

DOLLARS for more than 280 CollegiateSCHOLARS Farmers that pledge to

maximize the benefits ofDollars for Scholars awards. Many of theseschools provide marching or additionalfunds for award recipients. Beyond scholar-ships, a growing number of chapters nowalso offer a variety of academic supportprograms. -These programs connectstudents and parents with resources in thecommunityfrom mentoring andtutoring programs, to helping locateadditional financial aid and filling outforms needed to secure grants and loans.

Dollars for Scholars is a part of Citizens'Scholarship Foundation of America, Inc.(CSFA), which is the nation's leader inpromoting scholarships and other privatesector support for students.

activities, the relationship between communityadvocacy and student achievement, and why everyonemust be honest and up-front about what each partnerbrings to and wants from the partnership.

Responding to increasing interest among local,state, and federal governments in after-school andother programs that are administered by community/school/business partnerships, the report translates theprinciples and practices into approximately a dozenpolicy recommendations of strategies to pursue as wellas ones to avoid. While we hope the report willincrease policy makers understanding of the ingredi-ents of successful partnerships, we also hope policymakers recognize the important role of highereducation, and private higher education in particular,in pre-college academic support programs.

One of the main questions guiding the develop-ment of this national grant program concernedreplication. That is, could such programs be replicatedacross communities? Our experience indicates that theanswer is yes. We have within the second phase of the

grant program an example of one partnership thateventually patterned its program on that of anotherpartnership. The program was adjusted to fit the newenvironment and is taking hold. The fact thatreplication occurred within the grant program lendscredence to the principles and practices presented inthis report, as they represent the effective practicescommonly associated with partnerships that work.

The report is divided into three main sections. Thefirst section, Improving Aspirations and Attainments ofLow-Income Students, provides an overview of thecontext, historical and national, in which the College/Community Partnership Program operates. In many

ways it reads as a problem statement that clarifies the importance of pre-college academic support initia-

tives. Within the last couple of years, there has been a growing awareness of the needs and challengesfacing the nations most economically and educationally disenfranchised families. It is within this particu-lar context that the College/Community Partnership Program, and its unique characteristics, is presented as

a viable and effective strategy for addressing the academic and financial needs of low-income youth.The second section, Developing the Intentional Community, identifies principles and practices associated

with establishing and maintaining effective community-oriented partnershipsthat is, intentional commu-nities. This section is divided into four subsections: developing academic support programs, effectively serving thestudents in the program, involving the community in these efforts, and sustaining the partnerships.

The final section, Recommendations for Polity, briefly outlines some suggested do's and don'ts for policymakers, based on the principles and practices presented in section two. Practically speaking, section threecan be used as a checklist to guide the development of policy and practice out of which such partnerships,

and thus intentional communities, are created.

iv. BEST COPY AVAILABLE 9The Intentional Community

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CAPH[E The Consoi num for the Advancement of Pi wate HigherEducation (CAPHE) was established in 1982 by lepiesenta-

Consort urn for tbe Advancement fives of majoi foundations and coipoiations Loncel fled aboutof Prt vale Higiter ;Education the filmic of independent higher education In 1993,

CAPHE became an opeiating unit. of the Council ofIndependent Colleges, the national set vice oiganization that assists independent colleges anduniveisities in improving then leadeiship capacity, educational plogiams-tdministiativL peifoi-mance, financial icsouices, and visibility

CAPHE designs and administers duetted -giant competitions, offels technical assistance rofundeismd disseminates ideas iesulring from its pi ogiams so that othei institutions, both publicand pi ivate, may benefit The puipose of CAPHE giant programs is to help pi ware colleges anduniveisities meet the changing needs of students, employeismd society CAPHE suppoi r comespumailly through giants and technical assistance to individual pi mate colleges and universitiesThrough these activities, models for addressing institutional problems, md innovative approaches tomeeting emerging needs of students and sociery-u are developed and tested

1 / a I

I. Improving Aspirations and Attainmentsof Low-Income Students

OverviewIn less than a generation, the United States has

transformed itself from the world's foremostindustrial economy to the world's preeminentinformation society. Individual success in the newknowledge economy requires higher levels ofeducation than ever before. Intellectual labor is thedriving force behind the nation's economic growthand continued prosperity. Eighteen of the 25highest paying, fastest growing occupations in theUnited States through 2006 will require at least abaccalaureate degree (Gay, 1998). The largestgrowth industries require technical knowledge andadvanced learning beyond high school. Collegeeducationat a minimum, some college educa-tionis the new union card for productive work inthe high-technology economy.

Those left furthest behind in the recent prosper-ity of our 1990s economy are, in large proportion,those who lack the knowledge and skills to succeedin the high-technology workplace. Arms to and

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acquisition of higher education mark a growingdivide between rich and poor in our society. In1980, the weekly salary of college graduates wasjust 40 percent higher than that of high schoolgraduates. Today, that gap has risen to an astounding

73 percent (The Wall Street Journal Almanac, 1998).

Yet college or other postsecondary education hasbeen neither historically nor typically a province oflow-income citizens in the United States. In asociety where higher-level skills have become aprerequisite for productive employment, it isessential that our society find the means to help afar greater proportion of our citizens obtainhigher education.

Unfortunately, while the need for highereducation has grown, a large segment of our youthis not being prepared to attend college. Under-achievement of students in the public schools hasreceived continuous media attention throughoutthis same period of the 1990s in which oureconomy has experienced such success. More than

11 The Intentional Community

half of the 4th and 8th graders in urban schools, inwhich the nation's economically disadvantagedchildren are predominantly located, cannotperform academically with the skills and knowledgeexpected of students their age. Roughly four out of10 urban students are able to read, compute, anddo science only at the "basic" level on a nationalexam, still a step below what is considered profi-cient in these core subjects (Education Week,1998a). These 11 million urban schoolchildrenalone represent about a quarter of the nation's totalpublic school enrollment.

Any efforts to improve public education so thatour students are prepared for the high-technologysociety of the 21st century will ultimately failunless the nation steps up its commitment toenhancing the educational attainment of its low-income youth. The challenge we face in educatingthe next generation is an opportunity for thenation to address two interdependent problems atone time:

>The need to help a broader group ofstudents achieve the high attainment andhigher levels of learning that can open doorsfor them in an information society andeconomy. In addition to improving publiceducation, meeting this need means develop-ing more effective interventions and ways tobring together an ensemble of educational andsocial resources to help young people.

The need to reinvigorate communities tobecome more supportive of young people.Communities must begin to refocus andregenerate their efforts to encourage youngpeople to achieve high levels of sucrecs.Community organizations, leading institutionsin particular educational institutions such ascolleges and universitiesand businesses allmust assume active roles in ensuring highlevels for educational achievement of allstudents in their communities, especially low-income students.

Rigorous academic preparation enhancesstudents ability to succeed in college. A study by

Improving Aspirations and Attainment

Clifford Adelman, senior research analyst with theU.S. Department of Education, reveals the benefitsof advanced course study to college-bound stu-dents. According to Adelman, the b44:est factor indetermining whether students earn a bachelor'sdegree is participation in rigorous academic coursesin high school. The completion of a solid academiccore was more strongly correlated with earning abachelor's degree than high school test scores, gradepoint averages, or class rank. This correlation wasparticularly strong for African American andLatino students (Adelman, 1999).

Research indicates that factors outside schoolsuch as family and community attitudes, after-school activities, and peer pressureplay a signifi-cant role in shaping student achievement, for betteror worse. Today, non-school influences are often anegative factor in student achievement. Manystudents are distracted from academic goals bycompeting interests in sports and part-time work,and by the powerful anti-intellectual pull of acelebrity- and media-based teen culture. Theyneed, but rarely get, reinforcement about theimportance of academics from their communities.

Efforts around the nation have shown thatstudent achievement can flourish when thecommunity rallies around this vision: that youngpeople are a valuable resource and their educationis the highest priority. Students who have regularopportunities to take advantage of local culturaland educational institutions, such as museums, artscenters, and colleges, realize that culture andlearning are part of their own heritage and areavailable to them. These experiences offer low-income students a passport to a larger world oflearning and intellectual stimulation beyond theirschool and neighborhood environments. Opportu-nities to gain extra-school enrichment in areas ofacademic interest, induding challenging courses incore subjects and guided exploration in the arts,provide students with alternatives to negative out-of-school influences, which affect both theireducational aspirations and attainment.

The National ResponseOver the past decade, 49 of the 50 states have

been setting higher standards for student learning.

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122

The nation has embarked on a complicated andexpensive course of action to help establish clearexpectations for what students should be able toachieve, and to hold both adults and studentsaccountable for their progress.

The standards movement also is working toensure that schools and communities have thecapacity to help young people achieve thesestandards. States are investing in better qualityteaching, in moving toward adequacy in fundingfor poor communities, and in new approaches tohelping students gain basic literacy and higher-order thinking skills they will need to succeed inthe classroom and beyond.

The standards movement, however, necessitatesan even greater call to make an increased effort toimprove the educational success of low-incomestudents through extra-school programs. Publiceducation reforms that would improve lower-income students chances to meet high standardsare not likely to keep apace with the implementa-tion of the requirements that students meet thenew standards. Low-income students are quitelikely to have their educational aspirations yet morenegatively affected.

According to the Education Trust, 78 percent ofthe successful high-poverty schools it studiedprovided extra academic help, and offered nonedu-cational services, outside "regular" school hours(The Education Trust, 1999). Increasing numbersof nonprofit, community organization, andfoundation programs and services have targetedtheir efforts directly at providing "extra help' forraising students academic accomplishments inrecent years. Their work has built a respectablerepository of varied and successful programsthroughout the country. Yet these efforts havebegun to meet only a small portion of the nationalneeds among low-income students.

States and school districts have also begun toinvest in after-school and summer school programsto prepare students to master more difficult coursecontent. But these programs, such as one intro-duced in Maryland in Fall 1999, are often imple-mented and sustained through grants. And likeprivate initiatives, programs at the state and locallevels frequently are not organized as part of a state-

3

or district-wide effort to meet systematically andcomprehensively the needs of all low-incomestudents who can benefit from assistance.

The federal government has begun to address theneed to reach more students with some importantnew initiatives. The most significant program thatthe U.S. Department of Education has undertakento date is the 214 Century Community LearningCenters program. This has brought together 1,600rural and inner-city schools in 468 communitieswith other organizations in their communities,enabling schools to stay open longer to provideexpanded learning, social, and recreational opportu-nities for students. Entities working with theseschools indude nonprofit agencies, communityorganizations, local businesses, postsecondaryinstitutions, and scientific, cultural, and othercommunity institutions.

GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness andReadiness for Undergraduate Programs), anotherrecent initiative of the federal government,supports partnerships between colleges and low-income middle and junior high schools. Thepartnershipswhich include two additional localorganizations such as community-based groups orbusinesseswork with students, beginning nolater than the seventh grade, to ensure that theytake and succeed in the demanding courseworknecessary to go to college. GEAR UP models anumber of successful programs, such as ProjectGRAD, I Have A Dream, Cities in Schools, andthe Urban Partnerships Program of the FordFoundation. These programs, like the College/Community Partnership Program, employ someor all of a comprehensive set of strategiesincluding skill building, mentoring, college andfinancial aid counseling, scholarships, and parentinformation programsto help low-incomestudents aspire to and prepare for college.

Despite the growth of government initiativesand the existence of large numbers of independentprograms, the need for comprehensive programs tohelp low-income students receive the necessaryskills for postsecondary education is still far frombeing met. The Government Accounting Officeestimated in 1997 that, without growth in thenumber of after-school programs, as little as 25


percent of the demand for after-school programsamong school-age children in some urban areaswould be met by 2002 (Government AccountingOffice, 1997). Applications for GEAR UP grantsin 1999 far exceeded what the Department wasable to fund. Notably, approximately one out ofevery five U.S. colleges and universities wasincluded in the pool of applications submittedby states and partnerships.

The Roles of Higher Educationand Communities

Colleges and universities have for years providedoutreach programs to pre-college students in theircommunities. Such programs have been variouslydesigned to offer academic enrichment, collegeinformation, test preparation, mentoring, andrecreational opportunities to students. Theseprograms have often been limited in scope, bothwithin the college and within the communitylimited to a segment of faculty, staff and/ordepartmental involvement; limited to a specificschool or set of students; limited to a small range ofprograms and services; limited in connections toother community programs and services. As such,higher education's outreach to pre-college studentshas been frequently criticized as having too littleimpact on improving K-12 education, having littleeffect on the colleges and universities themselves,and having marginal impact on the quality of theoverall community or its understanding of what isnecessary for students to achieve a college education.

Much of the attention directed toward supple-mental school programs has focused on theireffectiveness in providing safe environments forstudents in the hours spent between school andhome and, therefore, on prevention of youthviolence. Yet, in terms of the future welfare of low-income students and our society, the influence thatsupplemental school programs can have on actuallyraising student achievement is equally, if not more,important. The nation's colleges and universitieshave a crucial role to play in forming that influence.

The challenge of raising low-income studentachievement cannot be met effectively by schoolsalone. The factors affecting educational achieve-ment among students are many and often complex,

Improving Aspirations and Attainment .

and schools are not equipped to meet these variousneeds within the limited time of the school day.Moreover, many of students needs are moreappropriately and effectively addressed in environ-ments beyond the schoolhouse door.

Because higher educational achievement andcollege education are so vital to improving theeconomic prospects of low-income students,colleges and universities are key to defining anddemonstrating for students, their parents, and theircommunities what student achievement needs tobe. The best means by which to provide thatdemonstration is to be involved in it as fully aspossible so that students needs are addressed andthat they can obtain a postsecondary education.

Colleges and community groups have a uniqueset of resources to offer in meeting the scope ofstudents needs. Working together, they bring apowerful set of resources and influences to address acomprehensive set of challenges that need to beovercome before low-income students are able tofully aspire to and prepare for postsecondaryeducation. For instance,

Outside agencies can benefit schools byreinforcing the importance of education in aseparate and challenging setting.

Investing community resources in low-income youth can lead to greater publicsupport of their needs and to a more broadlyinclusive sense of community.

The K-12 educational enterprise isoverburdened and thus unable to provideneeded individual attention to low-incomestudents. At the same time, many commu-

144

nity programs and college campuses areunderutilized as educational resources forhelping students become high achievers.

> Community agencies and college cam-puses can bring more talented adults intodirect one-on-one contact with students.

And community programs, includingscholarship efforts and organized youthactivities, can benefit by introducing a strongeracademic component into their initiatives.

Colleges, in particular, have important resourcesto offer and critical roles to play in helping low-income students pursue postsecondary education.To begin, colleges and universities have essentialfacilities and equipment that benefit students'academic performance and that are rarely found incommunity organizations and woefully lacking inhigh-poverty schools. Beyond additional class-rooms and performance and recreational facilities,colleges offer access to computers and othertechnology, the opportunity for students to work inwell-equipped laboratories, and access to informa-tion through college libraries.

Beyond taking on roles in direct service tostudents, such as curriculum development andinstruction, college faculty and staff have expertiseto offer community organizations. Individualfaculty or departments often have existing relation-ships with community organizations based on ahistory of common interests and cooperativeefforts. College-community partnerships canextendand help to focus many efforts in whichcollege personnel are already involved, such as localeconomic development initiatives, social service

improvement, employment training, and the trainingof elementary and secondary school teachers.

Perhaps least tangible but most important,however, is the role that college involvement canplay in building community. Most colleges anduniversities cite in their mission statements theimportance of their role in educating citizens tomaintain the vitality of a healthy democracy.Involving colleges in the lives of the low-incomeyouth in their communities does not just extend to

5 15

the youth the opportunity to participate in aneducation that values preparation for democraticcitizenship. It also engages a college even moredirectly as an actor in our democracy. This involve-ment is particularly important given what collegeshave to learn through these partnerships: Thesestudents are the students of their future, andbetter understanding their interests and needswill better prepare colleges to educate them asundergraduate students.

As our citizenry becomes increasingly mobile, weare challenged to create and maintain a sense ofcommunity in locations where many reside on arelatively short-term basis. Colleges and universitieshave done this for years. Toda)is college studentsshow a determined interest in what they can learnand the relationships they can create throughinvolvement in the broader local community whilein college. These students will be adaptingthroughout their lives to find community and tobuild relationships in new employment situationsand new locations. Colleges and universities thatplay a significant role in the lives of the variousconstituencies in their areas can form the corner-stone for community in a highly mobile societyas, historically, colleges and universities often have

College/Community PartnershipsThe College /Community Partnership Program

was developed to provide a framework for commu-nity-based academic enrichment programs.Communities were selected to participate in theprogram based on a number of criteria: indicatorsof poverty, the presence of a nearby four-yearcollege with a record of community action andleadership, and the presence of a communityscholarship program designed to encourage moreyoung people to pursue a postsecondary education.

The partnerships link colleges with communityagencies and groups to create new opportunities foracademic enrichment, youth development, andcollege awareness. A key component of the pro-grams from the start has been the development orexpansion of local scholarship foundations. Theirgoal is as much to encourage and direct commu-nity involvement in support of low-incomestudents achievement as to raise tangible funds for

The Intentional Community

college education as a means of increasing themotivation of the students themselves.

Local scholarships foundations were developedand receive technical assistance as part of thenational network of Dollars for Scholars chapterssponsored by Citizens Scholarship Foundation ofAmerica. Each community's Dollars for Scholarsfoundation was established as a 501(c)(3) adminis-tered by community members and serving as avehide to raise visibility and support of studentseducational needs. Dollars for Scholars in thesecommunities created a focus for community actionby parents and guardians, business representatives,local government, teachers and administrators,college faculty and staff, and the students themselves.

College-community partnerships are effectiveprecisely because they are complements to, and notpart of, an already overburdened education system.The partnerships provide additional assistance tostudents in the public schools.

The partnerships in the College/CommunityPartnership Program share these essentialcharacteristics:

Academic support activitiesAll programsinclude a strong emphasis on bolsteringacademic skills needed for success in collegethrough tutoring, Saturday academies, on-campus programs, and other approaches.

Heavy college involvementPrograms givepre-college students numerous opportunities tovisit college campuses and gain a visceral senseof what the environment is like and toencourage students to believe college can bepart of their future.

Scholarship development and financial-aidawarenessGiven that the cost of highereducation has risen by well over 300 percent inthe past two decades, only five percent ofAmerican families can still afford to pay theentire bill for their children's college education.(Levine, 1999) College awareness is bolsteredby continuing to raise money for local scholar-ships for students and by providing studentswith financial-aid information to ensure that

Improving Aspirations and Attainment

they realize that college can be financiallywithin reach.

Individualized student attentionProgramsare designed to maximize personal attention.The number of students served varies from 40to 400. Most programs strive to involve a highratio of adults and college students per low-income school student to ensure adequatesupervision and mentoring.

What follows is a set of principles based on theexperiences of the 16 College/Community Partner-ships from 1996 to 1999 (see page 10). Theseimportant elements of successful partnerships helpimprove the educational attainment of low-incomeyouth. Many of these principles have been identi-fied in the field by other successful initiatives, andas such, have been reinforced by other experiences.

166

S. V

OH. Deve0oping the Ontentiona0 Community:Lessons from the CoThage/Community Partnership Program

Most traditional, residential private colleges anduniversitiesthe model of all the colleges in theCollege/Community Partnership Program at thetime it was foundedare intentional communities.An intentional community is a group of peoplededicated to a purpose or concern of mutualinterest who have come togetheroften sharingland or housing, but at least residing deliberately ina community recognized by proximityto servethat purpose. For the traditional college, the intentwas the creation of community in pursuit of acommon intellectual mission; members of thatcommunity (alumni) frequently maintained aconnection of purpose to that community longafter they left it and moved on to other where-abouts. Colleges, in fact, have depended uponbuilding this sense of intentional communityamong its students for years, hoping that studentswill maintain it once they have graduated throughtheir generous support. In other contexts in our

7

history and society, we speak of intentionalcommunities when we describe religious groupssuch as the Shakers, or lifestyle or advocacy groupssuch as ecovillages, housing cooperatives, and the like.

We deliberately chose this phrase as the title forthis report on the College/Community PartnershipProgram. We chose it because of the potential forthese programs and similar efforts to create a new,and essential, type of communitycommunitiesorganized for the purpose of improving theeducational and life outcomes of low-incomeyouth. The effort is by necessity so comprehensive,requiring the involvement of resources from manydirections, that when various institutions, groups,and individuals come together to improve theeducational aspirations of low-income youth,an intentional community is what theyessentially become.

The most effective programs in the College/Community Partnership Program have resulted in


the development of intentional communities, andin an expansion of the initial scope of the inten-tional community of the colleges and communityorganizations involved. College presidents andcommunity organization leaders have publidystated their intentions to work together to benefitlow-income youth in their communities and haveput considerable time and energy behind theirpromises, brought staff and resources together fromtheir respective organizations, and gone out intothe community to gain additional support for theirefforts. College and community organization staffare working across historical boundaries as part of adirected, collective set of programs to assist youth.Community members and parents and guardianshave joined programs and work with college andcommunity organization staff to mentor students,manage program activities, and raise scholarshipfunds for students. College students are involvedwith the students in their communities both at thecollege and in community organizations as tutorsand mentors. Most importantly, these variousgroups and individuals recognize themselves as partof an interconnected whole working together, mostoften side by side, to fulfill a collective vision forthe community's youth.

The College/Community Partnership Programshave employed a number of strategies to achievesuccess with the youth in their communities. Manyof these strategies, expressed as principles andpractices in the following pages, set the foundationfor the development of an intentional communityserving youth in their locations.

Following are lessons learned about the strategiesfrom four key areas of work.

A. DEVELOPING THE PROGRAMCreating an effective college/community

partnership program to increase educational successamong low-income youth requires both establish-ing the workings of the partnership and developingcooperatively the design and content of programsand services. The College/Community Partnershipsreported on here found that it was critical to paycareful and ongoing attention to the quality of thepartnership itself in order to maintain the qualityof the programs they offered to students.

Developing the Intentional Community

Attention to partnership development involvesmany components: shared vision and resources,support and engagement of leadership, and thearticulation of commitments. An essential ingredi-ent of successful programs was open and ongoingcommunication among the principals of theorganizations involved in the partnership. Throughopen communication and shared experiences, thecore of an intentional community supporting low-income students was built.

Develop a Shared Vision. In the words of arepresentative of Tuskegee University, "Folks whovolunteer, and others, will not belong to the 'whatunless they know the 'why.' " A vision for thepartnership and what it will accomplish is the forcethat will carry its programs to fruition.

The 16 College/Community Partnerships allshared the same intention of helping low-incomestudents pursue a postsecondary education. Yeteach of the partnerships had a somewhat differentvision of what that meant. That vision shaped thecharacter of their partnership and their programstrategies. The vision was also necessary to carry thepartnership into the community to build thesupport necessary to institute partnership programsand to attract low-income students and theirfamilies to participate in them.

The Tuskegee University/Wil-Low HousingAuthority Program built upon a vision of upliftinga community by addressing the needs of thepoorest students in two of the lowest-incomecounties in the United States. The vision of thepartnership is bold and broad, meant to address apopulation with great needs. The program thatemerged is comprehensive and involves a numberof sectors of the community.

Bellarmine College and the Lincoln Foundationhad a vision of helping a number of low-incomestudents from Louisvillestudents with promisebut for the most part with low aspirations forcollegeobtain the skills and motivation to get acollege education. The vision also included anexpanded definition of community for the studentsand the college, one where the college would take amore direct role in the community and where thestudents would come to own the college as part oftheir own community. That vision has shaped the

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structure of the program and influenced its impactupon students within the community and morewidely in Kentucky, and at the college as well.

Make the Intentions of the Program Clear.Unless the partnership articulates and maintains adear focus, the broader missions and organizationalcharacteristics of the institutions will eclipse thepartnership and prevent it from accomplishing itspurposes. From the start, it is necessary to expressdirectly and repeatedly with all parties involved inthese programs that there is a dear intention forthe partnership, for the structure of partnershipprograms, and for the efforts of all of those in-volved. That intention must be explicit: to assistlow-income students in the community in pursu-ing a postsecondary education.

Build from Strong Leadership. The support ofcollege and community leaders is the foundationnecessary to develop and sustain the partnershipand its programs. Leadership from the highestlevels of the college and community organizationis critical.

Some of the College/Community PartnershipPrograms were begun through extensive conver-sations and planning by the top leadership oftheir respective institutions. The president ofUtica College and the superintendent of theUtica Public Schools, the president ofBellarmine College and the executive director ofthe Lincoln Foundation, and the president ofPresbyterian College and the leaders of theLaurens County Chamber of Commerce forgedthe partnerships for their organizations. Thecredibility, and therefore the effectiveness, oftheir partnerships was built from the beginningon the extensive influence that these leadersenjoyed within their respective communities.

Other successful partnerships have enjoyed thefull and consistent support of the leaders of thepartnering organizations. The involvement ofleadership at the highest levels lends legitimacy tothe vision of the partnership. Support of thepartnership from leaders allows the program to callupon staff from their respective organizations, tobuild respect and visibility for the partnershipprogram within the community, and to obtain theresources to run the partnership programs.

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Pursue Common Interests. Colleges and com-munity organizations have a number of commoninterests that can serve to bind them together in asuccessful partnership. Among the important rolesthe leadership for the partnering organizations canplay is articulating the common interests for thecollege and community organization.

In Indianapolis, Marian College and the 21sCentury Scholars Program shared the commonpurpose of addressing state legislation designed toencourage postsecondary education among low-income students through academic support andscholarship programs. But they shared otherinterests and convictions as well. The 21s CenturyScholars Program provided a tutoring andmentoring program for students that would benefitfrom the expertise and resourcesboth materialand humanthat the college could offer toimprove and expand their services. Marian Collegerecognizes itself publicly as "The College ThatMentors." It institutes mentoring and communityservice as an educational strategy of its program forits undergraduate students. The partnershipprovided a chance not only to extend that callingbut also to expand community service opportuni-ties for college students and faculty. Moreover,given that the 21/ Century Scholars Program is acommunity organization run principally by parentsand guardians of students, the partnership hasbrought the college into a relationship with anadditional community constituency and group ofprospective applicants.

Know Thy Partner: Conduct Continuous Planningand Communication. Getting to know the partneris a critical component of a successful partnership.A strong collaboration between the partneringorganizations generally creates the basis of a strongprogram for the students. The process of building apartnership, given the conditions in which theymust operate, requires careful, assiduous, time-consuming planning. It is a planning process thatinvolves building relationships between thepartnering organizations, gathering informationabout the community and about effective strategiesfor helping low-income youth, developing thedesign and substance of a program, and creating aplan for implementing the operations of a program.


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Determining what resources can be brought tothe program by each organization is an importantaspect of getting to know the partner. Theseresources include facilities and equipment; financialcommitments; existing programs, curricula, andservices for students; and staff, volunteers, andother community connections. Perhaps moreimportant, however, is to learn about the organiza-tional culture and constraints in which the partneris operating. These will affect the ongoing processesof building the partnership, operating the partner-ship program, and sustaining partnership activitiesfor the long term.

Getting to know the partner includes obtaininga dear idea of the structure of its organization andwhere the principal people involved in partnershipactivities are on the organizational chart. Are thesepeople in a position of enough authority to finalizeagreements? Is there enough support within theorganization to follow through on the commit-ments they make? Should lines of communicationto others in the organization be established andmaintained continually? Several of the College/Community Partnership Programs found that inorder to establish this knowledge, it was necessaryto have numerous planning conversations withteams of individuals from each organization who wereto be involved in the partnership program. It was alsonecessary to spend time in the other organization.

Just as important to process and outcomesisthis question: How effectively will the culture ofthe partnering organization support the goals ofthe program for the students and the goals forbuilding an intentional community between thepartners? Community organizations learned that itwas important to understand the college environ-ment the students would confront so that theywould be better prepared for some of the thingsthey encountered there. These were issues for thestudents that the colleges, operating from their owncultural perspective, did not anticipate. Collegesfound that many community organizations, bynature of their social service orientations, were setup in an emergency-service mode designed toaddress immediate problems, as opposed to thelonger-term committee method of managementthat is so much a part of most college administra-

tions. A great deal of learning about core organiza-tional values and work styles was required bypartners on both sides.

The press of limited time is a factor that affectsthe individuals in both colleges and communityorganizations. Getting to know the context ofrespective work days and additional commitmentsis essential to the planning process. But perhapsmost important to planning was the building ofinterpersonal relationships among those with theresponsibility for running the programs. In essence,College/Community Partnerships build a newcommunity of relationships between the partners,and those relationships are an essential ingredientin keeping programs going.

Understand the Community. The focus ofcommunity for the College/Community Partner-ships was on groups within the community thatmost directly affect and/or could be most influen-tial upon, students educational aspirations. Eachof the 16 College/Community Partnershipsdeveloped a somewhat different definition of

In Clinton, South Carolina, andTuskegee, Alabama, "community" initially meantthe families and friends of the students and theinstitutions of which students were a partsuch asschools, churches, and, in the latter case, housingdevelopmentsand was broadened to include theentire counties of these rural Southern areas. InHolyoke, Massachusetts, the community was theLatino residents, who form a significant proportionof the city's population but are a community apartfrom the city's power structure. In Jersey City, NewJersey, the "community" surrounding the youth inthe partnerships is their families and neighbor-hoods plus the community groups associated withthe community organizations and churches that areinvolved in the partnership.

The communityboth the community ofstudents and families for whom the program isdesigned and the broader communityhas its owncultural, political, and economic characteristics andorganizations, and a history of programs andcommunity involvements for youth and families.To best meet students needs, programs should bedeveloped within the context of the circumstancesof their lives in the community. Are there commu-


nity or religious organizations with which thestudents are currently affiliated, and should theseorganizations be approached to help recruitstudents and underscore the credibility of thepartnership program? Should the partnershipprogram and activities be structured around thoseof other organizations with which students areaffiliated? Are there restrictions on students' timeand calendars around which program schedulesshould be built? Are there organizations or keyindividuals in the community who should becontacted to gain the confidence of studentsparents and guardians? What is the history ofprograms for youth and low-income residents inthe community? How are students currently beingserved by common institutions in the community,such as schools, and will the manner in which theyare being served be an asset or an obstade to thegoals of the partnership program?

The community is also a reservoir of resourcesfor the program. Knowing what other organiza-tions are serving students in the community, andhow, can help avoid program duplication andunnecessary competition for scarce communityresources. One of the College/CommunityPartnership Programs has undertaken the task ofAsset Mapping to identify where there are existingresources in the community that can be utilized toimprove program efficiency and services to stu-dents. Asset Mapping is a strategy with great valuefor both program development and ongoingprogram improvement and sustainability. ThroughAsset Mapping, the Occidental College/Eagle RockHigh School partnership has been able to identifyother organizations with which to coordinateservices to students and avoid program duplication,and to reorganize the program to more effectivelymeet students needs based on their schedules andtheir other outside interests and involvements.

In addition to Asset Mapping, other partner-ships have also established collaborative relation-ships with other youth advocacy organizations intheir communities. The linkage the ConnecticutCollege/Centro de la Communidad partnershiphas made with Affiance for Youth, Big Brothers/BigSisters, and the Rotary Club of New London, toname a few, is just one example.


Make Responsibilities Clear. To function well,College/Community Partnerships require a greatdeal of coordination among the organizations.Doing so effectively involves making the roles andresponsibilities of each partner clear from theplanning stage and throughout the operation ofpartnership activities. "Claritynot just verbalclarity through a telephone call but something thatis written down, that you can refer back to whenyou encounter certain issuesis very important,"says one representative of the 21st CenturyScholars Program. "Not just for the health of thepartnership but for the health of the people whoare involved in those partnerships."

Delineating responsibilities to a significant levelof detail is important for the smooth running ofthe complicated logistics of these programs. Butclarifying responsibilitiesand delegating responsi-bilitiesis especially important to building areciprocal relationship between colleges andcommunity groups.

Research Student Needs and Effective Strate-gies. The academic needs of students determinewhat the substance of the educational componentand strategies of the program will need to be. Tobuild an appropriate academic support program, itis important to have knowledge of the content ofstudents in-school academic programs and theirperceived abilities. Having access to the content ofthe students school curriculum is especiallyimportant for equipping tutors and mentors with thebackground they need to help build students' skills.

There is a wide body of research on effective out-of-school program strategies to help low-incomestudents improve their academic performance. Theresearch also indudes strategies to address relatedsocial, psychological, and economic needs thataffect students' performance.

Program planning and development for theLincoln Foundation and Bellarmine College, andfor Presbyterian College and the Laurens CountyChamber of Commerce, induded a deliberateprocess of researching students needs and gainingfamiliarity with research- and evaluation-basedstrategies for meeting those needs. College facultyand staff, local school teachers, and communityorganization staff then sat down with that informa-

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tion to develop cooperatively curricula and othercomponents for their programs.

Formalize Agreements. Develop clear andspecific language that dictates the length of thepartnership agreement (preferably several years),haw the agreement can be renewed after that time,and what will happen in case of turnover inleadership within the key partner organizations.This language can be part of the bylaws of thegoverning body of the partnership and should alsoinclude specific information on the roles of eachindividual involved in the steering committee oradvisory board as well as partnership program staffand principal volunteers.

Utica College and the Utica City Schools createda formal, binding operating agreement at thebeginning of their partnership that is reviewed andrenewed every few years. The agreement identifieswhich party is responsible for which programoperations and resources, and provides a system ofevaluation and accountability for the roles andresponsibilities of the partners.

Establish a Home Base. To build legitimacy anda long-term relationship with the community,College/Community Partnership programs need tolocate in a recognizable, stable facility. A centralizedlocation that peoplemembers of the organiza-tions, other community groups, members of thecommunity, students and their parents andguardiansidentify with the program, and wherethey can come to receive information about theprogram, creates a strong image upon which theprogram can grow within the community.

In cases where the college campus is the base ofoperations, opportunities are created for newconstituencies in the community to value thecollege as part of their community, their lives, andthe aspirations of students. As a base of numerouscommunity outreach programs, including theCollege/Community Partnership Program,Connecticut College frequently has youth andfamily members around many areas of campus.Once a college has extended itself to the commu-nity, the value of its presence in their lives reapssignificant returns. As a grandparent of one of thestudents enrolled in the CHAMPS (CommunitiesHelping, Assisting, Motivating Promising Stu-

dents) program at Presbyterian College observed,"The college used to be that place over there, andwe had nothing to do with it. Now it is a part ofour lives and our community, and it is a wonderfulplace." After initially identifying and aggressivelyrecruiting students to participate in its program,CHAMPS has now generated more interest amongstudents and families than it can currently accom-modate and is developing strategies to expand andrestructure the program to meet that increased interest

Speak the Truth About Your Commitments. Low-

income communities in the United States haveexperienced a long history of programs andcommunity services that come and then, just asquickly, disappear. Partnership programs should bebased on, and structured to provide, a long-termcommitment to the community. Just as important,the nature of that commitment should be dear notonly to each partner but also to the widercommunity upon whose contributions theprogram will be built.

It is important not only that the partnersestablishing the programs express their vision andsupport of that vision. Those responsible forimplementing the program must also be equippedwith a truthful set of commitments as to what theprogram will consist ofcommitments supportedall the way to the top of their organizations.

B. SERVING STUDENTS WELLThese programs serve a variety of student

constituencies, from low-income students in localschools who are good students but whose familieslack the financial resources and understanding ofthe college application and preparation process, tostudents with multiple problems who are seriouslyat risk of dropping out of high school. Yet inestablishing and maintaining their programs, thestructures and the services that the partnershipsoffer to students contain many common elements.Many of these same dements are employed inprograms throughout the country as critical factorsfor success in increasing the educational achieve-ment of low-income students.

Serve Students, Not Institutions. The partner-ships benefits to low-income youth accrue from amelding of the common interests and different


strengths of the community organization and thecollege. It is important that no one institutionowns or runs the program exdusively, but thatboth entities offer their strengths to the partnershipbased on the needs of the students. Programsshould be community-based and remain flexible toadapt to the needs of local students.

Exposure to the college environment is a crucialaspect of meeting the identified needs of thestudents; increasing their motivation and skill levelsis the centerpiece. Where, and how, differentservices are offeredand who is involved inproviding themshould be determined byexamining the most appropriate context in whichto provide those services for the students. Theacademic enrichment program of MarymountManhattan College and the Settlement CollegeReadiness Program aims specifically to increase thecollege-going rates of low-income students byimproving their achievement and test scoresincluding performance on New York StatesRegents Examinationsin the critical academicareas of mathematics and science. Coursework andlaboratories are offered on the college campus andprovided by college faculty. Tutoring, mentoring,and assistance in addressing personal factorsaffecting academic achievement are provided tostudents through programs and facilities of theSettlement College Readiness Program. Theapproach was developed based on two factors: thelong-term relationship of Marymount Manhattanand Settlement College Readiness in servingstudents in the community, and the understandingof where their respective resources and strengthscould be put to best use.

Create Strong Academic Support Programs withHigh Standards. Located outside of the studendformal education system, College/CommunityPartnership Programs can serve as a bridge toimproving the educational goals and performanceof students who are not doing well in school. Theexperience of the 16 sitesnot unlike the experi-ence of high-performing schools located in low-income communities throughout the countryhasbeen that the key to achieving that result is toreinforce the value of education as the focus ofstudents involvement in the program, and to set

Developing the Intentional Commtia

and help students attain high standards in theiracademic work The academic support program ofBellarmine College and the Lincoln Foundation,for example, is based deliberately on a rigorouscollege preparatory program designed to bring thestudents beyond the skill attainment of theprevious year's schooling so that they are wellequipped for the academics they will confront inthe coming year.

One partnership discovered that it initially setstandards too low and placed too much emphasison social and recreational activities in acclimatingstudents to the college environment. When someof those students eventually enrolled at the college,they found that they were not well enough pre-pared for college-level work The program wasrevamped to increase its academic rigor, a challengethat students not only met but appreciated.

Hold Students Accountable. The corollary tosetting high standards is making the studentsthemselves responsible for achieving them. Requir-ing this sense of personal responsibility is animportant aspect of building the life skills studentswill need to attend college. In the words of oneobserver: "They love to come and show you theirreport card when they do well. By the same token,when they come and they haven't done well, theydon't want to face me, because I tell them, 'Youknow, I got to fuss, I must.' What I tell them is notjust that I'm fussing, but 'You're good enough todo better than this.' We have an expectation, thestaff and the community, we have the expectation."

Students in the Cambridge Housing AuthorityWork Force Program (in partnership with LesleyCollege) are expected to attend regularly toparticipate in practice work and peer situations,and to meet standards for their personal andacademic development. The program includessanctions if they do not. Many of the students andfamily members in College/Community Partner-ship Programs sign contracts that outline theexpectations for their participation in the program.

Serve the Same Students Over Time. To reallyget to know students and address their needs asindividuals, some effective programs focus on aparticular group of students in a particular gradeand follow them over a five- or six-year period of

14

time. Augsburg College and the Larry BrownYouth Education Corporation begin with studentsin the first grade and work with them through thesixth grade of their elementary school years. Thedose, ongoing involvement with the studentsallows the program to work carefully with teachersto monitor students progress and to provide theadditional strategies and support to raise studentsachievement. The college has also establishedannual scholarships for the students to encouragethem to stay at Banneker School (where theprogram is located), and is making scholarships tothe college available to them upon completing highschool and qualifying for admission to Augsburg.

Beaver College and Leeds Middle School inPhiladelphia work with students in the ninththrough twelve grades and also conduct follow-upin college. Information from students in college isused to improve program content and operations.Program students who enroll at Beaver get scholar-ships covering 50 to 75 percent of tuition inaddition to the help from the community.

Use Multiple Strategies for Building Students'Skills. Academic support programs should bemultifaceted. Components might include academictutoring or mentoring by adults and real-worldexplorations of content to give students exposure toa universe they have never seen. Many successfulprograms include visits to theaters and arts centers,in addition to the college campus itself; to accli-mate children to an even broader world of experi-ences and ideas. The Saint Peter's College/Monu-mental Baptist Church and College PreparatoryIncentive Program partnership not only connectsstudents to other programs and resources in thecommunity, but also to other colleges and commu-nities throughout the country. The partnershiporganizes group trips to colleges and universitiesthroughout the eastern United States and sponsorsexpeditions to communities of interest to expandstudents knowledge of the countrys history andculture as well as their own heritage.

Other program components might include peergroup development, conflict resolution, andpositive reinforcement all focusing on studentneeds beyond academics. The Fresno PacificUniversity/Roosevelt High School partnership

15

places an emphasis on the interaction and involve-ment of mentors with the students families of thestudents. The Cambridge Housing Authority'sWork Force Program, with Lesley College, offerswork-related behavior and skills development,including study skills and peer/employer relations,so that students can succeed in employment.

In addition, many of the programs have compo-nents to build students study and test-taking skills,and to support their cultural backgrounds andinterests. The program of Mount Holyoke andHampshire Colleges and the Latino ScholarshipFund, for example, has formed a Latino ScholarsClub, where students get together not only toreceive tutoring assistance and to meet withmentors, but also to enjoy seminars about Latinopoets, produce a newspaper, and plan and organizeinformational trips and scholarship fund activities.

Provide a Variety of Interventions and EntryPoints. Low-income students have multiple needsand are often members of highly mobile families.To address the multiple needs, it is necessary notonly that programs approach the goal of increasing


educational achievement through a comprehensiveset of strategies. They must also be set up to callupon additional resources in the community whenstudents have other needs that the program cannotmeet. Studentd mobility can affect the stability ofthe entire groupand therefore it can also affectthe stability of the program itself. It is important,as a result, that programs have a number of entrypoints for students to come into the programs, orclose affiliation with related programs and servicesin the community where students can be served.

Mentoring Is a Key Component in Ensuring theSuccess of Students. There is almost universalagreement among the College/CommunityPartnerships that mentoring is the most importantstrategy (beyond academic skills instruction) forincreasing students achievement and aspirationsfor postsecondary education. Equally important isthe conviction that mentors must be trained andmonitored in their work with students. Mentoringby college students, faculty, and staff providesstudents with important insights and connectionsto the college community. Mentoring by commu-nity members offers an important base of ongoing,accessible support for their efforts.

The program of Mount Saint Marys Collegeand James Garfield High School includes studentambassadors from the college who mentor studentsyear-round on campus and in the community, inaddition to involving students in a summeracademic improvement program. The studentambassadors are trained by the college to tutorstudents and to provide college information andapplication assistance. Community membersassociated with the Garfield High School Dollarsfor Scholars Foundation provide additionalmentoring of students. They follow up on studentsprogress in school, encourage them in findingpostsecondary education and financial aid opportu-nities, and maintain contact and support oncestudents matriculate to college.

College Awareness and Experience. Collegeinvolvement is another critical aspect in the successof students involved in College/CommunityPartnership Programs. By bringing students andtheir families to college campuses, the programshelp demystify the college environment; they

Developing the Intentional Community :

communicate that college is possible and that thereare valuable resources at the college and in thecommunity to help get students the knowledge andskills they need to succeed. Because of the crucialrole colleges can play in the effort, campuses mustbe committed and ready, to work with youngpeople in meaningful ways on a regular basis. Theprograms should also give parents and guardiansthe chance to participate in the college environ-ment. College/Community Partnership Programsgive parents opportunities to spend time oncampus through awards ceremonies and specialevents; through information sessions on testing,college applications, and financial aid; and throughparenting seminars.

In addition, Utica College of Syracuse Universityoffers parents educational opportunities at thecollege. Parents of students in the program mayenroll in one free course at the college for every yeartheir students are participating in the program.

Include Experience with Computers and OtherTechnologies in Academic Programs. Most low-income students do not have regular access tocomputers and other advanced technologies thatwill be necessary to their success in college and thehigh-technology workplace. Frequently, schoolsand community organizations in high poverty areasare also not equipped to offer students regular useof computers and other technologies. The involve-ment of colleges and universities in partnershipprograms offers low-income students uniqueopportunities to overcome this lack of exposure.Campuses should arrange access to facilities andcomputer equipment to give students opportunitiesto work on school assignments and to receiveassistance on assignments from, and to communi-cate with, their tutors and mentors.

Involve the Members of the Community. In orderto raise student aspirations to attend college, it isimportant that we increase community involve-ment and support for students increased educa-tional achievement. When young people seemembers of the community involved in a program,they are more inclined to be motivated to partici-pate. In the College/Community PartnershipProgram, Dollars for Scholars Foundations offer adirect course for community involvement in

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support of students educations. Family andcommunity members participate in the manage-ment of the foundation and fund raising events tosupport students postsecondary educations.

A high level of community recognition of thevalue of educational achievement andpostsecondary education translates into higherexpectations of students and support for the needto increase community resources to help improvestudents' educational attainment.

Involve Students in Community Service Activi-ties. A number of the College/CommunityPartnership Programs involve students inorganized community service activities. Stu-dents sense of their personal efficacy, and theirrelationship to their community, is deepened bytheir own involvement in community service.Community service is also inherently an educa-tional activity.

Students in the Presbyterian College andLaurens County Chamber of CommerceCHAMPS program each summer offer theirservices to a community project, such as a publicpark clean-up or other organized event. Theseservice opportunities are preceded by an educa-tional program offered by the local organizationreceiving the students assistance. A service pro-gram to mark storm drains to reduce run-off ofpollutants into the community water supply, forexample, followed an educational demonstration bythe public works department about the sources anduses of the water in the community, conservation,and strategies to protect water quality.

Students who participate in the ConnecticutCollege/Centro de la Communidad Camp Rotarysummer program offer read-aloud sessions toyounger children in the community. Their readingsessions follow group activity with instructors inselecting and practicing the readings.

The Dollars for Scholars Foundations themselvesoffer students the opportunity to participate incommunity activities to support their educationsand those of other students. Students in some ofthe programs organize sports competitions, carwashes, festivals, and similar activities alongsideadult community volunteers, all to raise money forlocal scholarships.

17

C. INVOLVING THE COMMUNITYHelping low-income students pursue

postsecondary education requires communityawareness and support. Much of the lower personalaspiration of low-income students comes from alack of community belief and involvement in thepossibilityand at times recognition of thevalueof their obtaining postsecondary educa-tion. An essential component of the College/Community Partnerships' approach to raisingstudent achievement was to enable the commu-nity to visibly demonstrate its support foreducation and students' postsecondary interestsand pursuits. Partnerships engaged a number ofstrategies to increase community awareness andsupport, and to continuously broaden commu-nity involvement.

Connect the Community to the College and theCollege to the Community. Many low-incomecommunity members lack a relationship to collegesand an understanding of the college environment;thus, they lack the information and experience thatindicate it is possible for low-income students toattend college. Each of the College /CommunityPartnership Programs addressed this problemdirectly by involving the student participantsandfrequently their parents, guardians, and othermembers of the communityin major programactivities on the college campus. Campuses werethe chief sites of academic support programs,college information seminars, awards ceremonies,and some family education and support activities.Faculty, staff, and students from the colleges alsowent to community organizations, schools,housing developments, and even informal socialgatherings to provide tutoring and mentoring forstudents and college information for parents andguardians; to plan program activities; and just tospend time learning more about each other.

Make the Scholarship Foundation a Focus ofCommunity Action. Community-based scholarshipfoundations can serve as a powerful base to buildcommunity support for students and to motivatestudents. The scholarship program is a magnet forvolunteers and fund raising, because of the way itcan build excitement and momentum for aprogram that is of direct benefit to local students.


Dollars for Scholars, a nationally recognizedorganization of local 501(c)(3) scholarship founda-tions, provides legitimacy and clout for the pro-gram within the local business community. Dollarsfor Scholars Foundations attract local businessdonations and involve business leaders as founda-tion board members, participants in public events,and supporters of an organization of engagedcommunity members.

Perhaps more important, Dollars for Scholarsoffers a means of broadening direct communityinvolvement in increasing opportunities forstudents. Through community-based fund-raisingactivities, Dollars for Scholars Foundations raisethe visibility of the program, highlight its impor-tance for students, and provide a tangible vehidefor individual community members to take actionon behalf of youth.

A goal of the College/Community PartnershipProgram was to increase the scope of the commu-nity involved actively in supporting students bycontinuously expanding the sectors of the commu-nity involved in Dollars for Scholars activities. ThePresbyterian College/Laurens County Chamber ofCommerce Dollars for Scholars Foundation wasestablished and initially led by members of thoseorganizations. While the college and the chambermaintain active involvement, the leadership of theDollars for Scholars Foundation is now providedby parents and guardians of the students involvedin the program as well as other communitymembers. All of these community members workactively to involve others in Dollars for Scholarsand other program functions. The partnership hascreated a Dollars for Scholars Foundation that inturn has led to a high level of community involve-ment in education and advocacy for students wherelittle involvement previously existed.

Residents of the Wil/Low Housing Authoritydevelopments have from the beginning beeninvolved in the leadership of their foundations inWilkes and Lowndes Counties in Alabama. Aswith many of the College/Community Partner-ships, the Wil/Low Dollars for Scholars chapter hasexpanded its activities to include public informationand awareness about higher education and financialaid in addition to fund raising Sur scholarships.

Developing the Intentional Community f,

Network and Create Linkages to Other Commu-nity Resources. Other programs serving youth canprovide requisite supplementary services and alsoparticipate in sharing the costs of resources neces-sary to operate the program, such as facilities,equipment, and transportation for students andvolunteers. Business groups, local institutions, andcommunity groups can provide tangible resourcesfor the programs, such as financing, donationsand/or use of equipment and services, and volun-teers to provide tutoring and mentoring forstudents. Networking among other organizationsin the community raises the visibility of theprogram and creates opportunities for increasedcommunity involvement and support.

The Latino Scholarship Fund program inHolyoke, Massachusetts, has purposefully soughtto reduce strain and waste of resources by reachingout to community organizations to share transpor-tation and equipment. Taking advantage of theFive Colleges resources in the surrounding area,the involvement of Mount Holyoke College hasbeen expanded to include the participation ofHampshire and Smith College students and facultyas mentors, tutors, and advisors to the program.

Representatives of Connecticut College andCentro de la Communidad are involved inregularly scheduled meetings with a group ofcommunity organizations in New London toidentify new opportunities for students and todelineate roles, responsibilities, and resources theycan provide to community members and eachothers programs and services. Their cooperationhas resulted in increased opportunities for studentsand families to be involved in activities on thecollege campus, and in the opening of facilities andsupplies of financial and additional resources forthe program by churches and other groups inthe community.

Use Public Involvement and Public RelationsActivities to Spread Knowledge of the Program toa Broad Base of the Community. Building broadersupport for students within their own communitieswas also an explicit goal of the College/Commu-nity Partnership Program. Most often, the commu-nity organizations made the initial connections tothe communities of the students both to establishthe credibility of the partnerships and to recruit

28 18

students to participate in the programs. Publicrelations activities were used to build a broader baseof public interest and support.

To expand community support for the program,most College/Community Partnership Programsfound that publicity for the program was impor-tant. Colleges in particular worked with local newsoutlets to place stories about the program innewspapers and on local radio and television.Directed publicityflyers, program brochureswas distributed to community centers, retailoutlets, neighborhood organizations, and more toreach students, families, and other key audiences incommunities. One director of the HeritageCollege/Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinicprogram hosts a regular, local Spanish-languageradio program to discuss educational needs andoptions for students in the community.

Efforts of Dollars for Scholars Foundations toincrease community support for students educa-tions often deliberately include activities that willbe highly visible in their communities. TheNICapato/Toppenish Dollars for Scholars Founda-tion of the Heritage College/Yakima Valley FarmWorkers' Clinic is currently collecting a millionpennies in the community to build an endowmentfor scholarships. Parents and guardians of studentsin the 21st Century Scholars Program, in partner-ship with Marian College, run a highly organizedseries of meetings and events to administer thefoundation and raise money for scholarships. Bydoing so, these family members serve as vocaladvocates for improving the quality of education intheir community.

Connect Community Resources with StudentInterests. Students involved in the programshave a wide range of interests, many of whichcan be tapped to bring in awareness of andinvolvement in the program from a wide rangeof resources in the community. Performances bycommunity members and groups; demonstra-tions of arts, employment, scientific, publicworks, and other situations and projects; publicinformation campaigns; and many other com-munity resources will enrich students' experi-ences in the programs. Calling upon theseindividuals and resources broadens the sector of

the community engaged in and supportive ofthe program.

Develop a Cadre of Well-Connected and Well-Trained Volunteers. Having a broad base ofvolunteers from a variety of backgrounds allows theprogram to offer "that little extra piece of human-ness and personal touch that the school district justcan't offer," notes one observer. Involve communitymembers by providing them with responsibility foraspects of the programs. Retired educators can be aprimary source in setting up programs that helpstudents broaden their horizons. Organizedcommunity groups and social and religiousorganizations are an important source of volunteers.

Effective programs work to see that volunteersare broadly representative of the community. It isimportant to have point people for the programfrom various organizations and sectors of thecommunity and to develop personal relationshipswith people in community groups who can makeprogram activities happen.

Volunteer training is a key aspect of effectiveprograms. It is important that volunteers under-stand the vision and operations of the program,their roles and responsibilities, and the expectationsfor their interactions with students, program staff;and other volunteers. Training offers volunteersanother opportunity for active engagement inprogram activities; many of the College/Commu-nity Partnerships involve volunteers in training andmentoring others in their roles in program activi-ties and management.

Connect Community Members as Mentors, andas Providers and Recipients of Community ServiceOpportunities for Students. Community members,local business, government, and communityorganization employees, and college students canbe among the most effective mentors of youthpursuing postsecondary educational opportunities.Many of the Dollars for Scholars Foundationsinstituted a program in which community volun-teers were organized and trained to serve asmentors for individual students. Although some-times involved in tutoring and other activities tohelp students build their academic skills, thecommunity mentors chiefly help students build theconfidence and experience they need to pursuepostsecondary education. Frequently included in


29

0,

the experience of the mentors are opportunities togather with other mentors and their students as agroup, both for organized programs and to buildupon each otherg interests.

Mentors from business, government, andcommunity organizations introduce students to theworld of careers by sharing their experiences. Theycan also help involve students in communityservice by connecting them to opportunities intheir organizations. In their final year in theCHAMPS program, students participating in boththe Presbyterian College/Laurens County Chamberof Commerce partnership and the Fresno PacificUniversity/Roosevelt High School partnership wereassigned to internships in businesses and organiza-tions throughout their communities. Students inthe Latino Scholarship Fund were connected tocommunity service opportunities in their area.

College student mentors open the possibilityand experience of higher education to pre-collegestudents. Almost all of the College/CommunityPartnerships involve college students in coaching,tutoring, or sharing experiences on campus or inthe community with pre-college students in theprograms. Many college student mentors have beenprevious participants in the program, or in similar


s

programs, in their own communities. In theresidential college setting, however, mentoringprograms involving college students must beorganized to ensure that the mentoring needs ofthe pre-college students in the program are metbeyond the limitations of the college studentsschedules and period of residence in the community.

Involve Businesses and Community Organiza-tions as Employers of Students. Mentoring ofstudents can also be extended to actual paidemployment situations. As part of its curriculum,the Cambridge Housing Authority Work ForceProgram actively trains students for employmentand places them in jobs at the sites of employerswho have been identified, organized, and trainedby the program to serve as employer mentors forthe students. Employers report back to programstaff on a regular basis and work as part of a teamto ensure that students are obtaining the skills andunderstand the standard of behavior required forsuccessful employment.

Make Involvement Attractive and Convenient.For community members, getting involved inprograms for youth requires time and dedication.Wherever possible, especially for group activitiesand when recruiting new community members to

30 20

participate in youth programs, make the effort tomeet community members within their own areasand organizations, and to use their own language.

Extend Volunteer and Educational Opportunities

to Students' Families. Among the most vocaladvocates for these programs, families can becomeengaged in the programs as service providers inaddition to recipients. Beyond involvement inscholarship fund raising, family members can helpto organize and supervise program activities, trips,and other events, and help to communicateinformation about the program in the community.

The involvement of their children in a College/Community Parmership encourages a number ofparents and guardians to return to school andcollege to complete their own educations. Programsshould be prepared to meet this need; a few of thecolleges involved in the College/CommunityPartnership Program have now extended scholar-ship and educational opportunities to the parentsand guardians of students involved in the programs.

Involve a Broad Base of College Faculty andStaff in Program Activities. No intentional com-munity involved in supporting the educationalpursuits of low-income college students has beenassembled without directly involving a significantnumber of faculty and staff from the college in theeffort. In the experience of the College/Commu-nity Partnership Program, college faculty and staffinvolvement was initially limited largely to indi-viduals appointed to work on the program by thecollege's president or director of the program.Experience also demonstrated that college facultyand staff involvement could be broadened througha number of strategies.

College faculty and staff have important knowl-edge and resources to offer the students in theprogram. Faculty were engaged in designingcurricula and instructional strategies and in somecourse instruction. Faculty participation wasbroadened by inviting faculty to participate in theprogram as special lecturers and in providing

educational demonstrations. Following theseexperiences, increased numbers of faculty recog-nized the value of the programs and became moreregularly engaged with program activities and asmentors to students.

College staff have numerous resources to offerstudents, even beyond what is immediatelyapparent. Admissions officers provided admissionsand financial aid programs and information tostudents, parents, and guardians. College commu-nity outreach officers and communicationsofficials, respectively, helped to design and imple-ment the logistics of the programs, and to publicizethe program in the communities.

By holding activities on campuses, theseprograms encourage the involvement of college

staff who might otherwise be untouched by theprogram (and the students). Librarians guidestudents in use of the libraries and referencematerials, and help students in developing theirstudy skills. Coaches help to design and providerecreational opportunities for students usingcampus sports facilities. Cafeteria staff plan andserve the students their meals. Facilities staff

arrange the necessary space and equipment forprogram activities.

Through their involvement, increased numbersof college faculty and staff took interest in theprogramsand particularly in the studentsandoffered additional time for developing programcurricula and activities, providing information andservices to the programs, and mentoring students.Some colleges have been profoundly affected bytheir involvement in the program. The experienceof working with the students at Bellarmine Collegehas led to a direct link between the collegesundergraduate community service requirement andthe students involved in the program. Moresignificantly, the experience of working with thestudents has caused some Bellarmine faculty torethink how they teach, and to redesign theirintroductory undergraduate curricula and teachingmethods to be more effective for entering students.The program also gave faculty insights into betterways to prepare teacher education students for their

future roles as K-12 teachers.Participation in the College/Community

Partnership Program does have an impact onincreasing college faculty and staff involvement inthe educational pursuits of low-income youth. Tobroaden their overall commitment to improvingthe educational attainment of youth, however,


colleges and universities will have to addressdirectly the ways their missions and policiesencourage or discourage wider contributions toeducation and to our society. Among the mostimportant of these policies is the faculty roles-and-rewards system, which at most colleges still doesnot place significant value on faculty contributionsto the broader community and to improving theeducation of students.

D. SUSTAINING THE PARTNERSHIP ANDTHE PROGRAM

To continue to be of value to the community,programs require stable leadership, resources, andcommitment of key partners. In the words of onecollege official: "Leaders will come and go. Butschools, community, the churches, and the collegewill remain. It has to be part of the ongoinginstitutional feature and focus of each program tobe prepared for changes in funding and leader-ship." In other words, by keeping the vision of theinitiative alive, people will continue to providesupport for the program.

How can projects be braced for sudden changesin leadership and funding so that they do notdisappear or go back to the initial phases ofdevelopment when founders and finders find newinterests? How do partnerships maintain the involve-ment and interest of the community and the quality oftheir services to students and their families?

College/Community Partnership Programs haveaddressed this problem comprehensively, bydesigning programs to be stable, to reinforceleadership at all levels, and to draw support frcrnmultiple sources in the community.

Seek a Broad Base of Support Whether theresult of a broad coalition of founders or built franthe sheer initiative of a single benefactor, programsmust constantly work to broaden their base ofsupport to include public school officials, localbusinesses and foundations, faculty, parents, themedia, and other community members. Even oncampus, support must constantly be broadened toinclude not just the president's office but the publicrelations and development office and the facultydepartments as well. Outreach can include facultyand student presentations, media briefings, campus


visits and demonstrations, etc. These efforts canhelp change thinking in local communities to drawattention to the value that funds for youth pro-grams have; when funds are cut, they affect realpeople and eliminate important services thataddress real needs.

Build Leadership at All Levels. Successful

programs build in valuable ways to participate at alllevels of the program and develop leadershipamong staff, community volunteers, and students.

Effective programs plan from the start forchanges in program content, staff responsibilities,and leadership. Essential to maintaining continuityis ensuring that all program contributors areschooled in the vision and operationsandpurposes for the structure of the operationsas amatter of course. Consciousness of the durability ofthe program and the need to maintain continuity arebuilt into the daily process of operating the program.

Community volunteers and students areencouraged continually to take on more responsibleroles as administrators and advocates for theprograms, and to encourage additional communitymembers to become involved in the program.Students with the opportunity to take on progres-sively more responsible roles want to be role modelsfor others and, frequently, to give back what theycan to the program and the community. Manyeven want to learn about the kind of education ittakes to be a leader of a community program,reinforcing the message about the value of achieve-ment and schooling.

Provide Ongoing Training. Make sure that keyindividuals involved in the program have theopportunity to develop their professional, leader-ship, and management skills, and give particularattention to the ongoing development of newleaders for the program. Training opportunitiesshould include both of the following: groupdevelopment of individuals with key roles inprogram management; and opportunities forprogram staff and volunteers to learn and shareexperiences with program staff working with low-income youth from other communities, bothregionally and nationally.

An important goal of training is to ensure thatnew staff members and volunteers share the vision

32 22

and understanding of the purpose and operationsof the critical mission and services of the program.Leaders of College/Community PartnershipPrograms also underscore the contribution thatongoing training can make in reinvigorating thestaff. Because their work is critical to the lives ofstudents, it is therefore challenging and oftenexhausting. Training provides an often-overworkedstaff with new resources, new ideas, a renewedsense of conviction about the importance of theirwork, and renewed energy for helping students andtheir families.

Seek Continuous Improvement Participants inthe programs noted that they operate the partner-ships with limited resources and with minimalopportunity for planning. Therefore, they couldbenefit from more cross-site conversations, infor-mation sharing, and cooperative goal setting anddevelopment. The efforts, they say, can be strength-ened by communicating better with partnergroups, young people, and the community, and bycontinually focusing on upgrading the academiccomponents of their efforts.

Successful partnerships hold regular meetings fortwo vital purposes: to examine student progressand the effectiveness of the programs in helpingstudents; and to identify, and seek solutions to,problems in program operations and in partnershipresponsibilities and communications.

Consider Nontraditional Funding Sources. Agreat vision, the resources of colleges and commu-nity organizations, and the hard work and highhopes of officials and staff from communityorganizations, colleges and volunteers throughoutthe community are unfortunately not sufficient tokeep partnership programs running financially.Even the most successful College/CommunityPartnership Programs experience the strain of beingconstantly in search of new resources, and often forsome of the most mundane aspects of programoperations, such as transportation and meals forstudents. Where they are able to find new fundingsources, partnerships for low-income youth areoften required to conform to new funding restric-tions or mandates that make it difficult to serve allof the purposes of their programs consistently.

Resource sharing with other community

23

organizations offers one means of additionalprogram support already identified. Many pro-grams have also identified non-traditional resourcesand renewable support of local businesses so thatthey are not facing constant competition fordollars. The provision of meals, for example, offersa highly visible means for a local merchant toprovide program support. Collecting resources andequipment for programs also provides means forlocal businesses, service clubs, media outlets, andother community groups to participate in helpingyouth pursue college.

Expansion of community awareness and supportof the program can lead to new sources of funding.Community service clubs, social groups, churches,individual community members, and other sourcesin communities have contributed support topartnership programs.

Resources for low-income youth programs,however, are a continuing problem throughout oursociety and will remain so until there is a louderpublic voice demanding greater resources for low-income youth. Programs like the College/Commu-nity Partnership Program, which attempt toinvolve a broad sector of the community, can setthe standard for public advocacy for youth amonga growing constituency with the potential to lead

to greater public and private support.Hold Each Other Accountable. The focus of

accountability should indude ensuring that moneyis well spent and that partners do what they saythey will do. But programs also need to be ac-countable to young people. Operating agreementsbetween the partners provide a basis for account-ability for the partnerships operations. Evaluationsof program outcomes and activities are used todetermine whether, and how, the programs arebenefitting students.

Bring in Experts When Needed. Organizationsneed to know when they need help and seek to getit. College/Community Partnerships have called inoutside experts to offer training, develop curricula,provide programs for students and parents, evaluateprograms, and advise on fund raising strategies.External resources contribute to the partnership byproviding an outside view of partnership activities,fresh perspectives on program operations, and new


knowledge on which the partnerships can buildprograms and improve their organizations.

Keep Good Records. The structure a partnershiptakes and the design and content of its services andprograms for students have been created to suitspecific purposes and refined to achieve improvedresults based on experiences. It is important thatnew staff, volunteers, and other contributors to theprogram understand the history of the program'sdevelopment in order to contribute productively toits future. One method to ensure that the continu-ity of the program is based on informed experienceis to keep good records of the program's develop-ments, adjustments, activities, and outcomes. Thebetter the record, the easier it will be to expand theorganization or to improve upon or repeat anactivity, program, or event.

Effective fund raising, another basis upon whichto ensure the longevity of the partnership program,also depends upon maintaining good records ofprogram developments and achievements. Infor-mation about program history, about studentsuccesses, about the community groups andvolunteers involved, and about program manage-mentespecially financial managementisessential to making the case to prospective Endersand new partners.

Conduct Ongoing Planning and Evaluation. All ofthe College/Community Partnerships participatedin a formal, external evaluation at the end of thefirst three years of the program. The experienceunderscored the importance of collecting informa-tion regularly about the effectiveness of theirprograms for students, staff, community volun-teers, the college, community organizations, andwithin the broader community itself.

Partnership programs use a variety of instru-ments and methods to collect information abouttheir programs and evaluate their effectiveness.This information is used to plan for successiveyears of the program, for new services, forchanges in program content, and to restructureprogram operations.

Therefore, at the most basic level, ongoingevaluation is a very important part ofprogramdevelopment and implementation. Collectingbaseline data on the students and their achieve-

ment levels is a critical first step in the evaluationprocess, one that provides a foundation on whichto build program evaluation strategy.

Connect the Program and Program Staff toOrganizations Involved in the Support of Low-Income Youth Regionally and Nationwide. Helpinglow-income students pursue greater opportunities,and managing collaborative programs betweencolleges and community groups, is hard work.Opportunities for staff and volunteers at all levelsto build new skills, renew areas of knowledge, andshare experiences with others undertaking similarwork in other communities are essential to main-taining an energized, engaged program staff andcorps of volunteers.

National organizations that provide relevantprograms include the Education Trust, thePublic Education Network, Cities in Schools,and the National Association of Partners inEducation (NAPE).

Other words of wisdom from the field are self-evident but worth repeating. To maintain energyand interest in working and advocating for im-proved opportunities for youth, staff and volunteersbenefit from constant encouragement:

Remain passionate.Learn to say thanks often.

34Developing the Intentional Community , 24

also Recommendations for PolicyThe value of college-community partnership

programs can be seen at several different levels:For communities, these programs extend

traditional services to include an educationalcomponent and motivation for college thatotherwise are not available to disadvantagedstudents. "We have wonderful social and publicservices in Minnesota, but we have to start devel-oping the understanding that there is a need foreducation," noted one observer. College/Commu-nity Partnership Programs also provide a frame-work, a process, and critical start-up resources toturn good intentions into an effective plan ofaction. They help traditional service providers, suchas religious institutions, add an educationaldimension into their mission, seeing how they canhelp contribute toward a better world by beginningin their own backyards.

For colleges, these programs offer new ways to bea more active component of the local communityand to keep student aspirations for college alive.Too many students track themselves out of thecourses they need for college before they have evenhad a chance to think about the possibility or tounderstand how college might be important in

25

their lives. The partnership programs bringstudents to campus and expose faculty and studentsdirectly to an important youth resource in theircommunity. They give colleges a starting place todevelop more effective relations with communityorganizations. They can also create a commonground and a common stimulus for town andgown to work together.

For students, these programs reclaim aspirationsto reshape and recalibrate their goals to thepossibilities of further learning and careers, andprovide scholarship information and money thatmake college a real possibility. These programsprovide a resourceand hopeto their familiesand communities through direct connections to animportant yet previously less available local highereducation institution, and through thatinstitution's other constituenciescollege studentsand faculty.

For large-scale implementation to flourish, extra-school programs for low-income students needadditional support and more comprehensivestrategies. Following are suggestions forpolicymakers interested in providing large-scalesupport for these programs.


1 1 1 1

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Make sure the programs are comprehensiveand address multiple needs of students.Programs should include several key ele-ments1 A scholaiship -trid financial aid componentto raise the awareness that funding college isa possibility for students.2. Academic enrichment and suppoi t, throujiSaturday academies, on-campus pro anis,tutoring, active learning experiences, literacy

programs, expanding activities in the arts, andtaking advantage of cultural agencies.

3 College away eness, tin ough college visitsand information about college.4 Community service component, toencourage young people to gain expenence inmentormg and naming other young peopleand considering careers in teaching and otherpublic service prokssions

Encourage community involvement by sup-porting town meetings and communicationsefforts around what can be done to createmore opportunities for young people to gainexperience in these areas.

Start small and then expand programs to

serve increasingly larger groups of students.Provide an initial opportunity for planningand partnership development rather thanlaunching programs through grants that aretoo large. The challenge of these programs isnot to provide all the capital at once but tohelp communities build the infrastructurenecessary to become collaborative in tappinglocal resources. The College/CommunityPartnership Program indicates that ensuringthat small amounts of money are welltargeted is more valuable in establishingprograms than providing large amounts ofmoney in the Wrong places.

Recommendations for Policy

Offer single-focus programs to address thecomplexity of enhancing student motivation forlearning. Academic emichment, scholarshipdevelopment, college awareness, and oppor-tunities for active engagement in the commu-nity must go hand -in -hand

Overlook the need to provide large-scalecommunity events and efforts to get the wordout to the public about what these programsdo and can accomplish.

Provide large-scale grants immediately forcommunities: Too large an influx of dollarstoo early creates a political fight for controlover dollars, limits the incentives for much-needed infrastructure development, andcreates management problems.

...continued on next page

BEST COPY AVAILABLE 263 87

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Center some support and funding aroundhigher education institutions that need to be afocal point for young people and to work withcommunity agencies with which they previ-ously have not had much opportunity to

collaborate

Provide money to leverage local change forongoing programs to strengthen and benefitlocal community agencies seeking new ways toserve the communities in which they have beeninvolved for years

Provide money for basic program functions andoverhead for operations, such as meals,transportation, and equipment and supplies forstudents, and clerical support for programadministrators These can be difficult dollarsto find, but without this funding, programscan find it impossible to continue to operate

Connect the program to other initiatives thatencourage more people to aspire to and go to

college, such as loan-forgiveness programsand efforts to draw more young people intoteaching and the sciences

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Throw money into a community and forcecollaboration amongst competing or incom-patible groups

Develop onerous mandates Too manyrestuctions on programs limit their flexibilityto develop unique community resources andto most effectively meet the range of' stu-dents' needs

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Appendix ADescriptions of Individual College/Community Partnerships

Augsburg College/Larry Brown Youth Education CorporationThe Augsburg College/Larry Brown Youth EducationCorporation academic support program providesservices to approximately 34 first- through sixth-grade

students at Banneker Elementary SchooL The studentsare called Lab scholars. The program is designed to

improve basic academic skills of students who areidentified as needing additional academic support.

Since the inception of the program, the studentd test

scores have significantly increased The Larry Brown

Youth Education Corporation has also played a majorrole in helping to establish and develop the Dollars fix

Scholars chapter, which has begun to raise scholarshipfunds. The Dollars for Scholars chapter has played amajor role in securing a formal commitment from

Augsburg College to the academic achievement of theLab scholars, and to the partnership in general. In aneffort to demonstrate its commitment, Augsburg

College will offer an annual $1,000 scholarship($8,000 total) for every year a Lab scholar attends

Banneker SchooL Plans are also being made to haveAugsburg College match any additional scholarshipfunds students receive if the student attends AugsburgCollege.

Merrie Benasutti

Coordinator of Tutoring & LearningAugsburg College

731 211 Avenue South, P.O. Box 108Minneapolis, MN 55454Phone: 612-330-1208 Fax: 612-330-1649

Peggy Bushee

Bushee Associates

7630 West 145th Street, Suite 202

Apple Valley, MN 55124

Phone: 612-891-3500 Fax: 612-891-1800

Appendix A: Descriptions of Indivicludb College /Community PaLv

28

Beaver College/Morris E. Leeds Middle SchoolThe Beaver College/Morris E. Leeds MiddleSchool partnership currently serves approximately40 students (GIFTS Scholars) in grades ninethrough twelve. The academic support componentconsists of a Summer Enrichment Program forGIFTS Scholars. Students work to improve skills incritical thinking and problem solving, reading,math, writing, and communication. Mentoring bycollege students, teachers, and community mem-bers is a component of the support, development,and transition of the GIFTS Scholars to college.Students receive scholarships covering 50 to 75percent of their tuition and fees if they choose toattend Beaver College. The Dollars for Scholarschapter continues to build significant communityinvolvement and has increased its annual scholar-ship awards. The annual awards ceremony, held atBeaver College, includes the honorees, families,teachers, board members, college faculty, and staff.The GIFTS Scholars Parent Association of theDollars for Scholars chapter has generated greatinterest among the families of the GIFTS Scholarsand resulted in increases in parental involvement.With a goal of developing a stronger partnershipbetween the parents and Beaver College for thepurpose of supporting pre-college student success,the Parent Association has developed ParentWorkshops. The college supports the workshops byhaving its faculty provide information relevant tothe higher education experience.

Barbara M. Fleischer

Assistant Professor of Education

Beaver College

450 South Easton RoadGlenside, PA 19038-3295

Phone: 215-572-2156 Fax: 215-572-2126

Christine Thomas-Wiggins

Community Representative6242 North 15th Street

Philadelphia, PA 19141

Phone: 215-438-4140 Fax: 215-424-9511

29

Angela McNeil

Coordinator for Multicultural Affairs

450 South Easton RoadGlenside, PA 19038-3295

Phone: 215-572-2900

Bellarmine College/The Lincoln FoundationThe Bellarmine College/The Lincoln Foundationpartnership serves approximately 300 studentsselected as Whitney M. YOUNG Scholars, gradesseven through twelve, who are characterized asacademically talented but socioeconomically at-risk. From a pool of approximately 100 to 200students, 50 students are selected into the programeach year as others move on to higher education.The partnership provides a comprehensive, multi-dimensional educational program that is trulysupported by committed staff and leadership frcrnboth organizations. The primary components ofacademic support are a two-week Summer Instituteand year-long Saturday Educational Clinics, bothheld on Bellarmine's campus. During the SummerInstitute, in which the first-year Scholars are inresidence at the college, Bellarmine provides allrooms and facilities, as well as part of the food, as"in-kind" contributions to the partnership.Another component of the program providesParental Institutes for parents and guardians of theWhitney M. YOUNG Scholars on one Saturday ofeach month. The Dollars for Scholars chapter, agrass-roots, parent-led fund-raising enterprise, hasraised a substantial amount of funds and hasintentions to establish a sizable endowment.Currently, 89 underdassmen have scholarships inescrowwhich they will receive upon graduationand matriculation into an institution ofpostsecondary education. In addition, studentshave been eligible for endowment-funded supportthrough the Lincoln Foundation.

Dorothy GreenAssociate Professor, Education

Bellarmine College

2001 Newburg RoadLouisville, KY 40205

Phone: 502-452-8191 Fax: 502-452-8189

The Intentional Community

Cynthia Armstrong

Director, Whimey M. YOUNG Scholars Program

Lincoln Foundation

233 W Broadway, Suite 120Louisville, KY 40202

Phone: 502-585-4733

Connecticut College/Centro de la CommunidadThe Connecticut College/Centro de laCommunidad partnership provides an academicand recreational program to increase and fosteracademic and citizenship skills of middle-schoolstudents. During the academic year, studentsparticipate in tutorials and after-school mentoringprograms on the college campus and at the Centrooffice. The partnership also helps conduct a four-week summer Camp Rotary Program, in which 50middle-school students between the ages of 10 and14 work on reading and writing skills, participatein hands-on interactive learning, and take a varietyof educational field trips. Students also participatein various recreational activities on the collegecampus, such as swimming and dance lessons, aswell as sports. Twice a week the Camp Rotary staffand students prepare and offer read-aloud activitiesfor 4- and 5-year-old children enrolled in the NewLondon, Connecticut, summer RecreationDepartments Park Program as a communityservice component of the program. The partner-ship has also increased its support for students andthe program by creating linkages with variouscommunity agencies and programs, includingAlliance for Youth, Big Brothers/Big Sisters,Citizens Forum for Achieving Results, CollegeSummit, The America Project Partnership, TheRotary Club of New London, Shiloh BaptistChurch, and many others. The Dollars for Scholarschapter has increased its organizational capacity,identified access to new resources to enhance itsfund raising efforts, and increased its overall boardparticipation. In addition, the chapter providesfinancial aid workshops for the Camp Rotaryparticipants and their parents/guardians.

Tracee Reiser

Director, Office of Volunteers for Community Service

Connecticut College

270 Mohegan AvenueBox 4723

New London, CT 06320-4196Phone: 860-439-2456 Fax: 860-439-5408

Alejandro Melendez-CooperCity Manager

Leadership, Education, Athletics, in Partnership (LEAP)

270 Mohegan Avenue

New London, CT 06320Phone: 860-439-2442

Fresno Pacific University/Roosevelt High School Education CorporationThe Fresno Pacific University/Roosevelt HighSchool Education Corporation has developed arigorous academic curriculum, based on thePresbyterian College/Laurens County Chamber ofCommerce CHAMPS (Community Helping,Assisting, Motivating Promising Students) model.In fact, the partnership also adopted the nameCHAMPS. The curriculum is theoreticallygrounded and students are given the language andtheory to talk about the reading and writingprocess in an effort to achieve optimal learning.Student mentor-tutors at Fresno Pacific provideacademic support and also work to increaseinteraction and involvement with the parents/guardians of the mentees. Many of the students inthe CHAMPS program are attendees of a two-week I ftarning Edge summer program. TheLearning Edge program is an intensive reading,writing, and thinking skills development mini-course. The course curriculum is designed byFresno Pacific University faculty and funded byRoosevelt Title I funding. The program involvesmore than 70 students, half of whom consistentlyapply for and become part of the CHAMPSprogram. The Learning Edge program assists withthe development and academic preparation ofstudents in the CHAMPS program. The Dollarsfor Scholars chapter has increased its volunteersupport and fund raising capacity as well. As aresult, the chapter has recently begun to hold localfund raising events to accumulate scholarshipsupport for students in the CHAMPS program.

Appendix A: Descriptions of Individua(:4ollege /Community Partnerships4 0

30

Cary W Templeton

Director of Admissions

Fresno Pacific University

1717 South Chestnut AvenueFresno, CA 93702

Phone: 209-453-2039 Fax: 209-453-2007

Mr. Russ Manfredi

Title One Program ManagerRoosevelt High School

4250 E. Tulare Avenue

Fresno, CA 93702

Phone: 559-253-5200

Heritage College/Yakima Valley Farm Workers ClinicThe Heritage College/Yakima Valley Farm WorkersClinic currently serves 26 to 30 students from twoalternative high schools within the Mpato andToppenish school districts. The partnership servespredominantly American Indian and Latinopopulations. Academic activities focus on collegeawareness and admissions, financial aid, and socialand cultural realities. The program includes amentoring program as well as participation fromparents and guardians. The mentoring aspect of theprogram attempts to increase students' self-esteemand motivation to go to college. The increase inparental involvement has helped parents and guardiansbecome more aware of the opportunities highereducation has to offer their children. Through theDollars for Scholars chapter, a strong group of

community leaders, local educators, and college

administrators has been built within Wapato andToppenish. Increased involvement has been a key

component to enhancing the chapter's fund-raisingcapacity and visibility within the two communities.Over the past two years, the chapter has conductedseveral fund-raising events, awarded over 17 scholar-

ships, and began a scholarship endowment fund.

Norberto EspindolaDirector of Recruiting & Admissions

Heritage College

3240 Fort Road

Toppenish, WA 98948Phone: 509-865-2244 Fax: 509-865-4469

31

Madelyn Carlson

Education Coordinator, CES Yakima Valley Farm

Workers Clinic

513 First Street

Zillah, WA 98953

Phone: 509-829-3955 Fax: 509-829-5655

Lesley College/The Work Force ProgramThe Lesley College/The Work Force Programserves youth ages 13 to 19 who are residents in theCambridge Housing Authority's (CHA) 12housing development& The youth involved commit toattending both introductory and intermediate levelsof the Work Force Training Program. The programis offered after school to 91 youth at three separateCHA sites. Each of the sites has HomeworkCenters in which the students participate. A SchoolLiaison from the Housing Authority coordinatesthe activities of the three sites, induding oversightof activities at the Homework Centers. LesleyCollege faculty and staff are involved in developingcurricula, evaluating program activities, andtraining program staff and students in skill andleadership development. The Dollars for Scholarschapter has raised over $3,000 from voluntary gift-giving through the Cambridge Housing Authorityemployee payroll deduction program, and consis-tently conducts annual fund-raising events. Todate, the chapter has awarded over 14 scholarships.The chapter also established a memorial scholarshipfund, in remembrance of the former director of theWork Force Program.

Julie Kiricoples

Program DirectorLesley College

28 Sable Road

Salem, MA 01970Phone: 978-745-0028

Tanya Trayers

School Liaison

The Work Force Program

675 Massachusetts Avenue

Cambridge, MA 02139

Phone: 617-499-7151

41The Intentional Community

Marian College/21st Century ScholarsThe Marian College/21st Century Scholars pro-gram has two primary components. The first is theSummer Institute, in which eighth and eleventhgraders are tutored in the areas of math, English,and science. All academic support services areprovided by AmeriCorps (national service volun-teers) members and Marian College faculty, staff,and students. The second component of theprogram is the Parent Conferences, facilitated byMarian College faculty. The Parent Conferenceshelp parents and guardians to become moreinvolved in the students' educational experiencesand, in some cases, to identify and pursue theirown educational needs. To date, 440 parents andstudents have attended partnership workshops,with an average attendance of 26 individuals persession. The. Dollars for Scholars chapter has beeninstrumental in the academic support program byinvolving large numbers of parents and othercommunity members in actively raising visibilityand support in the community for students collegeaspirations. The chapter has also developed anddistributed scholarship information packets tostudents and parents attending scheduled sessions,and has contributed scholarships annually to 21stCentury Scholars.

Terri Fleming, Coordinator

College/Community Partnership ProjectMarian College

3200 Cold Spring RoadIndianapolis, IN 46222

Phone: 317-955-6086, ext. 2 Fax: 317-955-6448

Seana Murphy

Education Coordinator, 21st Century ScholarsMartin Luther King Multi-Service Center40 West 40th Street

Indianapolis, IN 46208

Phone: 317-923-4581 Fax: 317-923-4583

Marymount Manhattan College/Settlement College Readiness ProgramThe Marymount Manhattan College /SettlementCollege Readiness Program partnership provides a

six-week intensive summer science program. Theprogram focuses on math and science enrichmentfor pre-college students. The partnership currentlyserves approximately 25 students from four NewYork City high schools. Based on a long standingrelationship between Marymount Manhattan andthe Settlement College Readiness Program, theprogram is part of a comprehensive set of programsand services offered by Marymount Manhattanand the Settlement College Readiness Program tostudents located in Harlem and other low-incomeareas in Manhattan and the Bronx. The Dollars forScholars chapter has held a variety of fund raisingactivities. To date, the chapter has awarded ap-proximately $21,000 in scholarships.

Peter H. BakerVice President for Institutional Research and Planning

Marymount Manhattan College221 East 71st StreetNew York, NY 10021

Phone: 212-517-0580 Fax: 212-517-0413

Appendix A: Descriptions of Individual College /Community Partnerships 42 32

'ILe*

Joann Gary

Acting Director

Settlement College Readiness Program1761 Third Avenue

New York, NY 10029

Phone: 212-828-6138 Fax: 212-360-8835

Rishana Blake

College Counselor

Settlement College Readiness Program

1761 Third Avenue

New York, NY 10029

Phone: 212-828-6134 Fax: 212-828-6124

Mount Holyoke and Hampshire Colleges/Latino Scholarship FundThe Mount Holyoke and Hampshire Colleges/Latino Scholarship Fund partnership provides anacademic support program that concentrates onmentoring and tutoring approximately 45 to 50students in grades nine through 12 at HolyokeHigh School. The partnership is a cooperativeeffort involving faculty, students, and staff fromHampshire and Smith Colleges. Mentoring andtutoring are provided by students at all threeinstitutions. Beyond mentoring and tutoring,students participate in the production of anewspaper, community service activities, andcollege-awareness activities and visits. With wellover $30,000 in pledges, the Dollars for Scholarschapter has increased and professionalized itsfund-raising activity. Thus far, 22 students havereceived scholarships ranging from $500 to $750each. Broadening its fund-raising efforts, thechapter has recently managed to increase its

33

name recognition and visibility locally andregionally.

Nina Jerassi-Navirro

Mount Holyoke CollegeSpanish Department24 Silver Street

South Hadley, MA 01075Phone: 413-538-2399

Madelaine MarquezAdjunct Professor

Hampshire College

Prescot House

Bldg. 3, Room B

Amherst, MA 01002

Phone: 413-559-5301 Fax: 413-559-5584

Irene Rodriguez MartinSchool of Social Work, Lilly Hall

Smith College

Northampton, MA 01063Phone: 413-585-7962

Mount St. Mary's College/Garfield, Hamilton,and Van Nuys High SchoolsThe Mount St. Marys College/Garfield, Hamilton,and Van Nuys High Schools partnership offers theStrides Toward Educational Proficiency (STEP)program, which focuses on improving reading,writing, and math skills for high school juniorsthrough a two-week summer session. The programis combined with year-round, on-site, one-on-onetutoring by trained Student Ambassadors from thecollege. The academic program has assisted acombined total of more than 1,400 students at thethree high schools by exposing them to opportuni-ties to reach the goal of attending a postsecondaryinstitution. The Dollars for Scholars chapter hasachieved successes in its fund-raising efforts as well.Forty-one students have been awarded over$31,000 in scholarships over the past five years.Plans are in place to make the Garfield HighSchool Dollars for Scholars chapter an officialbranch of Garfield's Alumni Association. Parentsand representatives from Mar Vista Gardens, a


public housing development whose studentsparticipate in program activities, have establishedan additional Dollars for Scholars Foundation.Plans are also under way to create additionalscholarship foundations at other sites.

Bernadette Robert

Assistant Dean

Mount St. Marys College

12001 Chalon RoadLos Angeles, CA 90049

Phone: 213-477-2570 Fax: 213-477-2519

Donald E. Mroscak

Coordinator, Dollars for Scholars2001 West Lincoln Avenue

Montebello, CA 90640Phone: 213-726-9426

Occidental College/Eagle Rock High SchoolThe foundation of the Occidental College/EagleRock High School partnership is a tutoring/mentoring program that focuses on helpingstudents engage in active problem solving. A totalof 56 students are participating in the GatewaysTutoring Program. The student's grade levels rangefrom seventh to eleventh grade; however, themajority of the students in the program are eighthand ninth graders. The partnership has beensuccessful not only at developing a strong academicsupport program for Eagle Rock High School butalso at utilizing ongoing evaluation proceduresthat help to inform and strengthen the program.The evaluation process includes student self-esteem surveys, tutor opinion surveys, and focusgroups, as well as structured individual inter-views with administrators by an independentevaluator. The Dollars for Scholars chaptersupports the activities of the Gateway TutoringProgram by providing $100 awards to studentswho matriculate through the program and earngrades of "C" or better in both English andmath. The chapter continues to accumulatesignificant financial and volunteer support fromthe local business community.

Pablo E. Garcia

Neighborhood Partnership CoordinatorCenter for Volunteerism and Community ServiceOccidental College

1600 Campus RoadLos Angeles, CA 90041

Phone: 213-259-2904 Fax: 213-341-4944

Michael McConaghey

Assistant Principal

Eagle Rock High School

1750 Yosemite Drive

Los Angeles, CA 90041

Phone: 213-254-3839 Fax: 213-255-3398

Presbyterian College/Laurens County Chamber of CommerceThe Presbyterian College/Laurens County Cham-ber of Commerce partnership has a SummerResidential Program that helps more than 100 pre-college students increase their academic preparationfor postsecondary education. The strengths of theacademic program include a mentoring compo-nent, strong curriculum design (which involvescharacter education), and the involvement ofcollege staff and school district officials. Thementors are all Presbyterian college students. Amentor/counselor handbook has been developed toguide their training. The summer prograniscurriculum consists of field trips to local collegesand universities, community service, academicpreparation, and character education. The faculty,staff, and administration at Presbyterian College, as

well as community leaders, are very much aware of,involved in, and committed to the CHAMPS(Communities Helping, Assisting, MotivatingPromising Students) program. As a result, theprogram is achieving a great degree of institutional-ization within the community. The Dollars forScholars chapter has played a vital role in providinginformation and linking students and parents withvarious educational opportunities. The chapter hasalso enhanced its fund-raising capacity through amore comprehensive committee structure andrecently awarded its first two scholarships. AParents Council has been created to increaseparental participation in the chapter. Grassroots

Appendix A: Descriptions of Individuaricollege/Communior Partnerships 4 4 34

efforts include a Dollars for Scholars "socks" fundraiser, in which parents and students physically gothroughout the community filling their socks withdonations. In addition, the chapter has heldcomprehensive workshops on college admissionsand financial aid matters.

Jerman Disasa

Director, Special Programs

Presbyterian College

503 South Broad StreetP.O. Box 975

Clinton, SC 29325Phone: 864-833-8377 Fax: 864-833-8516

Bernadette Schaefer

President, Dollars for Scholars Chapter

Laurens County (SC) Education Enrichment Fund599 Fairview Road

Gray Court, SC 29645Phone: 864-967-1860

Saint Peter's College/Monumental Baptist Church/Dollars for Scholarsof Northern New JerseyThe Saint Peter's College/Monumental BaptistChurch/Dollars for Scholars of Northern New Jerseypartnership has established a curriculum to enhanceacademic preparation (math and English), socialskills, cultural esteem, and conflict resolution skills forapproximately 80 students. The academic programconsists of a summer program, Saturday and after-school classes, and workshops held on the campus ofSaint Peter's College. The program also consists ofcollege tours and SAT preparation workshops.Students are introduced to community serviceactivities through tutoring youth, caring forseniors, cleaning parks, and serving the home-less. The Dollars for Scholars chapter has addedsignificant value to the program by offeringfinancial aid and admissions seminars. Thechapter members are actively involved insoliciting funds for programs and supplies. Forexample, SAT and college application fees forstudents have been paid for by donors solicitedby the Dollars for Scholars chapter.

35

Robert E. Perry

Director, Minority Affairs

Saint Peter's College

2641 Kennedy Boulevard

Jersey City, NJ 07306

Phone: 201-915-9288 Fax: 201-435-3662

Conrad HowellPresident

Dollars for Scholars Chapter of Northern New Jersey

15 Hudson Avenue

Maplewood, NJ 07040Phone: 201-828-4551 Fax: 201-915-9292

Lorenzo Richardson

Treasurer, Dollars for Scholars of Northern New Jerszy

P.O. Box 3830

Jersey City, NJ 07305Phone: 201-915-9288

Tuskegee University/Wil-Low Housing Authority, Inc.The Tuskegee University/Wil-Low HousingAuthority, Inc. is utilizing a mentoring program toidentify particular academic areas in which stu-dents are currently underachieving. The partner-ship currently serves the needs of over 275 kinder-garten through twelfth grade students throughoutLowndes and Wilcox counties. Tutorial session areheld during the summer in the areas of readingcomprehension, writing, math, music, arts andcrafts, computer applications, and English. Thetutoring is offered by over 55 volunteer teachers,parents, and aides. The program also conducts aParent/Teacher Academy that offers workshops,seminars, and parenting lasses to more than 250parent counselors, teachers, students, and volun-teers. The Dollars for Scholars chapter awardsscholarships on an annual basis. To date 41students have receive scholarships and are attendingthe postsecondary institution of their choice. Thechapter recently established two permanentendowments.

Oscar M. Williams

District Resource Specialist

Tuskegee University


204 Morrison-Mayberry Hall

Tuskegee, AL 36087

Phone: 334-727-8813 Fax: 334-727-8812

George HunterCounty Agent

Cooperative Extension Program

P.O. Box 874

Hayneville, AL 36040

Phone: 334-548-2535 Fax: 334-548-2550

Utica College of Syracuse University/Utica City School DistrictThe Utica College of Syracuse University/UticaCity School District partnership has approximately273 participating students and families in gradessix through twelve. Students participate in theYoung Scholars Summer Program at Utica Collegeto reinforce learning skills and foster more success-oriented attitudes. Students at all grade levels areassigned mentors and attend tutorial sessions twiceeach week. In addition, all students have access to aHomework Help line. The academic program givesstudents the opportunity to experience campus lifeand become more familiar with students who havethe same academic goals. The partnership has an

extensive academic support program with acomprehensive evaluation process. The Dollars forScholars chapter regularly hosts an annual awardsdinner in which over 150 people participate.

Frank Perretta

Director, Young Scholars Liberty Partnership ProgramUtica College

1600 Burtstone RoadUtica, NY 13502

Phone: 315-792-3237 Fax: 315-792-3292

David Mancuso

Chapter PresidentUtica Dollars for Scholars

250 Genesee Street

Suite 360

Utica, NY 13502

Phone: 315-735-8913 Fax: 315-735-8807

Appendix A: Descriptions of Individual Gollege/Communiot Partnerships z4

36

Appendix B: Biographies

Mary-Mack CallahanMary-Mack Callahan is co-founder of Communication Works, L.C. a Washington, D.C.-based publicrelations firm specializing in advancing new ideas for education organizations, businesses, govern-ment, and other nonprofit organizations. Ms. Callahan is the former Managing Director of theConsortium for the Advancement of Private Higher Education (CAPHE). There she was responsiblefor the design and development of competitive grant programs and technical assistance for privatecolleges and universities, and provided consultation to major corporations and foundations regardingtrends in higher education, as well as information on the programs and operations of individualprivate colleges throughout the United States.

Ronald A. WalkRonald A. Wolk is the founder of Education Week and Teacher Magazine, and is a founder of TheChronicle of Higher Education.


Appendix C: References

Adelman, C. 1999. Executive Summary In Answers in the Tool Box: Academic Intensity, AttendancePatterns, and Bachelor's Degree Attainment, (p. 2), Washington, DC: U.S. Department ofEducation.

. January, 1998a. "The Achievement Gap." In Special Report Quality Counts '98: The UrbanChallenge. Education Week (pp. 10-13).

January, 1998b. Special Report Quality Counts '98: The Urban Challenge. Education Week(pp. 56-57).

. 1999. Dispelling the Myth: High Poverty Schools Exceeding Expectations. (p. 3), Washington,DC: The Education Trust.

Gay, R. K. 1998. The Age of Knowledge. Report from the NationsBank Montgomery Securities, (p. 60),San Francisco.

. 1995. Welfare Refirm: Implications of Increased Work Participation for Child Care. Letter 4.Washington, DC: General Accounting Office (GAO/HEHS-95-220).

. 1997. Welfare Refirm: Implications of Increased Work Participation fir Child Care. Letter Report.Washington, DC: General Accounting Office (GAO/HEHS-97-75).

Levine A. 1999. "Higher Education in the Digital Age," Annual Report. New York Teachers CollegeColumbia University.

. 1998. The Wall Street Journal Almanac. (p. 612). New York Ballantine Books.

48Appendix C: References 38

Photography Credits

Gwen Mount Holyoke and Hampshire Colleges/Latino Scholarship FundPage 1: Connecticut College/Centro de la CommunidadPage 4: Connecticut College/Centro de la CommunidadPage 7: Mount Holyoke and Hampshire College/Latino Scholarship FundPage 15: Connecticut College/Centro de la CommunidadPage 20: Connecticut College/Centro de la CommunidadPage 25: Presbyterian College/Laurens County Chamber of CommercePage 28: Presbyterian College/Laurens County Chamber of CommercePage 32: Bellarmine College/The Lincoln FoundationPage 33: Presbyterian College/Laurens County Chamber of CommercePage 36: Connecticut College/Centro de la Communidad

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