Community members evaluate College and Career Readiness plan to close achievement gap

As part of the mission to reduce the achievement gap in Madison Metropolitan Public Schools, the district has broken down its proposed plan to close the gap into six chapters that address specific issues. One of those chapters is College and Career Readiness, or preparing students for life after high school.

This chapter places an emphasis on developing career and college readiness course offerings for students, creating Career Academy programs that enhance academic learning, renovating current facilities and working with business and industry to expand student access to the Youth Apprenticeship Program and other work-based learning experiences.

The district also plans to implement ACT college test preparation and create a Mentor Academy to pair students with positive role models to help them through school. Expansion of a number of existing programs is also proposed in the plan, including extending the PEOPLE program, a pre-college readiness program in partnership with the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and growing the AVID program to encompass seventh through 12^th grade.

Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) is another college preparation program for students who are the first generation in their family to attend college or are of low socioeconomic status. AVID teaches students a variety of supportive learning strategies to prepare them for college, including taking good notes and organizing their school work in a binder.

The total cost of the recommendations for College and Career Readiness programs is estimated to be $3,124,951, with over $1.3 million going to support expansion of AVID.

During a February 28 meeting at the Urban League of Greater Madison, several members of the community gave feedback regarding the chapter, discussing what they liked about the proposal and what they thought was missing.

There was much discussion concerning the amount of attention given to career preparation for after high school.

Jim Buchanan, who has been a teacher at West High school for 12 years said that currently, too much emphasis is placed on college degrees alone, when many students will be successful without a four-year degree.

“I think it’s important that […] we start to put at least an equal emphasis on career readiness along with four-year programs. We can’t just keep telling kids, ‘if you don’t go to a four year college you’re not going to be successful,’ because it’s not true.”

Authorities behind the plan expect the Readiness recommendations will result in a system of classes allowing students to work towards a career goal, gain access to a system of employer involvement, and use current technology, work-based, project-based, and problem-based learning approaches supported by regular assessments.

Keith Cornille has held administrative duties at Madison Area Technical College for 10 years. Now as Vice President of Student Development, he feels those hands-on class structures are crucial for students.

“I think we have to realize that not all students are going to learn the same way,” said Cornille. “That hands-on learning really, really seems to make a difference for people.”

But the plan also places an emphasis on college preparedness. Under the chapter’s guidelines, all students will have access to ACT preparation sessions and the path to college will begin in elementary school. The plan currently allots $94,815 for implementing ACT preparation programs.

The group also discussed the importance of counselors working with students from an early age and recognizing when a student is beginning to struggle. There was a variety of concern about a lack of counselors, and moreover, a lack of minority counselors and mentors available to students.

 “Getting individuals in the classroom that look and sound like the students is so crucial. I know so many good people that I would love to have in the classroom but they don’t have the right degree or they have this or that so that they’re not encouraged to be in the classroom,” Angie Hall, who has been teaching third grade at Lincoln School for 20 years, said. 

“Mentorship is one way that we can pair up. And I like multi-year pairing up,” Hall said, “I’ve seen kids completely turn around with the guidance of a mentor.”

Following the meeting, Jerene Tucker, an area parent with children at West High School, continued to discuss the idea of mentorship and diverse faculty.

“I feel that the MMSD is in dire need of a culturally diverse faculty and staff but more importantly, there should be genuine care for all students and not just some students,” Tucker said.

“Students of color need to feel that they have allies behind the lines of staff and faculty that are there to support them in their positive endeavors, as well as in spirit and in truth,” she said. “Students of color must be made to feel that school staff means business through their direct assistance and that they are not just passing empty promises.”

The Readiness plan also expects that all students will have an Individualized Learning Plan (ILP) that supports their future and is monitored by staff, parents and students. But some expressed concern over the program and others like it, such as AVID.

Participants also wanted to address the issue of large classroom size, suggesting that students struggling in those classes are not getting the attention and support they need to succeed.

Discussions on the chapters will continue through the month of March.

For a full listing of dates, visit the MMSD website. And to learn more about the meetings, read this article.