1. Haas Education Leadership Case Competition:Pittsburgh Public Schools Harvard University February 13, 2010
2. 2 Today, too many of Pittsburgh’s students are unprepared for college and careers Student academic performance is not meeting expectations Students are not prepared to take advantage of Pittsburgh Promise Grade 11 Performance(percent of students proficient or advanced) 2008 Promise Awards(Note: 2008 GPA requirement of 2.0) District goal of 80% higher degree attainment for high school graduates 1,845 GPA <2.0 GPA >2.0 757 Source: Haas Education Leadership Case Competition, Pittsburgh Public Schools, 2010.
3. 3 Out of Classroom Time (OCT) can be better utilized to support college readiness OCT Classroom Family OCT is one element of student success Many organizations already work with students during OCT School programs Afterschool programs Summer programs Businesses and non-profits Source: PPS Summer Dreamers Academy, Education Committee Presentation (2009)
11. EXAMPLE: “Make Poverty History”Best strategy for Pittsburgh is a middle ground Pathways to the Promise strategy will combine the best of both: sufficient space for innovation, while ensuring aligned agreement 4
12. 5 Guiding Principles can create a shared vision in the community 1 All students will be encouraged and challenged to go to college 2 All students who want to go to college will receive practical support at each step of the preparation process 3 All students will have conversations about their futures with caring, trusted adults 4 All families will receive the information they need to help their students plan for the future Suggested language for Guiding Principles
13. 6 Action is needed in four areas for implementation 1 2 Provide a roadmap forstudents to reach the Promise Understand thedifferences instudents’ needs Create capacity tomanage andsupport partners 3 4 Leverage partners’ strengthsand capabilities
20. Flex funds to help students pay for SAT testsYes No “…Considerable evidence of low-income youths with high aspirations and high valuations of collegefailing to clear seemingly minor hurdles in the [college going] process…” Christopher Avery Harvard Department of Economics Note: Students in program studied had min 3.0 GPA and were looking for admission to 4-year BA programs in MA Source: Christopher Avery & Thomas Kane, Student Perceptions of College Opportunities: The Boston COACH Program; Bettinger, Eric, Increasing Postsecondary Enrollment among Low-Income Families… The FAFSA H&R Block Experiment
30. Implement a system to capture and track this student data (i.e. Pearson’s PowerSchool)Provide academic supports Provide stretch goals to reach full potential High Soft Skills Strength Early and intense intervention tobuild aspirations Communicate benefits; support milestone attainment Low Low High Academic Strength Note: Excellent student survey samples can be found from Coalition for Community Schools and Harlem Children Zone to understand student readiness and risks Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte currently administers placement tests to early high school students to determine academic areas of focus before graduation 8 Source: Focusing on Results in Promise Neighborhoods: Recommendations for the Federal Initiative, The Center for the Study of Social Policy
31.
32.
33. CBO’s sign agreement to adhere to Guiding Principles for access to school facilities and the online directory
34. Set up a Promise Advisory Board of partners to create buy-in
41. Support colleges in advertising to students early and often in high schoolLack of open communication between stakeholders 9 Source: PPS; International case studies
47. College Opportunity and Career Help (COACH) links students from Harvard to Boston Public Schools
48. Focus is on providing assistance to students in preparing for and applying to college (e.g., SAT test prep, application form completion)
49. From the outset undertook rigorous monitoring and evaluation to test impact on college application rates
50.
51. Provides workshops (including full day Saturday sessions) to help parents understand how they can help their children with homework and how to understand the college application process
52. Supports parents to develop a network that can be a friendly challenge to poorly performing schools
54. New York’s Youth Development Initiative has found that students are more likely to complete the application process for college if they have been on campus for an extended period
55. City University of New York runs month long intensive summer schools on its campus which focus on college preparation as well as after school classes
56. The same could be implemented by Carnegie Mellon as well as community collegesSource: UK Department for Education and Skills, Widening Participation in Higher Education (2003); Playing for Success; Boston Public Schools Acceleration Agenda (2009); Youth Development Institute, College Access and Success for Young Adult Learners: A Research Summary for Schools and Programs
79. Data on CBO performance should be drawn from a bi-annual survey of students
80. An upgraded IT system should link with the iEnroll student checklist to track performance against key barriers to enrolmentTarget: 80% >2.5 GPA Target: 75% Current attendance CBO survey response from 11th Grade Target: 80% >90% attendance 75% 50% 35% 85% 14
101. 17 Next Steps: What are you going to do when you get back to the office? 1 Seek feedback from other members of your PPS team. Does the strategy need adjusting given their expertise? 2 Define your top 2-3 stakeholders among Pittsburgh’s CBOs, colleges and businesses. Would they be appropriate Advisory Board members? 3 Review Prof. Chris Avery’s paper on COACH in Boston, the Youth Development Institute’s paper on College Access and Success in New York City and other cited resources. Are there further lessons to learn from the most successful attempts to tackle this issue? 4 Draw up list of potential additional funders (e.g., Broad Foundation, Tiger Foundation). Could Pathways to the Promise be pitched to them as a trial program for the nation?
107. “The Effects of College Counseling on High-Achieving, Low-Income Students: Results of a Pilot Study with a Randomized Controlled Trial.” Avery, C., Sept, 2009. http://www.hks.harvard.edu/fs/cavery/counselor%20paper%20september%2016%202009.pdf
116. “College Grants on a Postcard: A Proposal for Simple and Predictable Federal Student Aid.” Dynarski, Susan M, and Scott-Clayton, Judith E., Social Science Research Networkhttp://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/rc/papers/2007/02education_dynarski/200702dynarski%20scott%20clayton.pdf
