Luzelma Canales Interim Associate Dean, Community Engagement & Workforce DevelopmentSouth Texas College

Dr. Donna EkalAssociate Provost of Graduate StudiesUniversity of Texas, El Paso

Higher Education Engagement for Early College Success

April 21, 2010

Agenda

Introduction Kim Fossey

Speaker Luzelma CanalesSouth Texas College

SpeakerDr. Donna EkalUniversity of Texas, El Paso

Panel Discussion Alma Garcia

Early College High School WeekMay 3 – 10

THSP.org/ECHSweek

What role do you play?

Texas Early College High Schools

The Texas High School Project has spearheaded promising educational programs in Texas

Public-Private Partnership Offers Unique Value to the State of Texas

– Commitment to a vision of public-private collaboration to promote state competitiveness is strong:

– THSP uniquely connects influential private voices together with TEA, policy makers, and on-the ground practitioners in a way that focuses cooperative energy to drive positive change .

All students: College Ready, Career Ready, Life Ready!

Private and Public Partners

PhilanthropyState of Texas

All students: College Ready, Career Ready, Life Ready!

THSP Encompasses Many Different Initiatives

School ModelsTexas-Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (T-STEM)Increasing the number of low income and minority college graduates in mathematics and science fields through new academiesEarly College High School (ECHS)Providing students who may not otherwise consider attending college a means of earning 60 college credits or an Associate’s degree by graduation through a new campus modelNew Schools / Charter Schools (NSCS)Supporting high performing charter schools to establish additional campuses and provide new options for students traditionally under-represented in higher education

High School Redesign (HSRD) & High School Redesign and Restructuring (HSRR)Redesigning comprehensive academically unacceptable schools and, in HSRD, creating small learning communities

NewSchools /

Academies

RedesignedSchools

All students: College Ready, Career Ready, Life Ready!

THSP Impacts Students Statewide

1 Through 2008-09 school year2 Source: Texas Education Agency 2006-2007 academic year

Statewide Impact THSP began with a focus on urban

areas – Houston, Dallas/Fort Worth, San Antonio – and the Texas-Mexico border

In partnership with TEA, THSP’s reach has expanded over time to include more mid-size cities and rural locations

Success has prompted a number of districts to independently replicate school models with their own funding

Even as THSP has reached 172 schools1, much work remains to impact the 1.2 million2 high school students in the state

Waco

El Pas

o

Lubbock

Ft Worth Dallas

Houston

Austin

San Antonio

Brownsville

7

58

Corpus Christi

5

Waco

Lubbock

Ft Worth Dallas

Houston

Austin

San Antonio

Brownsville

6

519

Corpus Christi

9

Program Key

HSRR / HSRD (93)

Number of Schools

1-2 3-4

#

5+

ECHS (29)

NSCS (12)

T-STEM (38)

10

7

5

All students: College Ready, Career Ready, Life Ready!

Early College High Schools

• Early colleges are based on the concept of acceleration not remediation. Rigorous curriculum with “wrap around” learning support services. Small class sizes allow more hands on teaching and innovation in the classroom

• The design and location of a particular ECHS may vary from school district to school district. All ECHS are public high schools funded by their districts.

All students: College Ready, Career Ready, Life Ready!

How is early college different from other accelerated models?

ECHS differ from programs like dual enrollment, International Baccalaureate (IB), Advanced Placement (AP) and dual enrollment in the following ways:

–  Fully integrates the high school and college experience (socially and intellectually)

– Specifically targets student populations with lower probabilities of entering college; unlike AP, IB, or dual enrollment programs

All students: College Ready, Career Ready, Life Ready!

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation TEA/TX Legislature Greater TX Foundation Wallace Foundation Meadows Foundation

JFF

ECHS Network

Exemplars PD Network Education Service Centers Higher Ed Systems THECB Policy Work Group

CFT TEA ECHS

Funders

National Support

State Support

School Developers

Innovation

Scale

All students: College Ready, Career Ready, Life Ready!