DISCUSSION 10.0

Office of the Superintendent of Schools MONTGOMERY COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS Rockville,

January 8, 2008

MEMORANDUM

To: Members of the Board of Education

From: Jerry D. Weast, Superintendent of Schools

Subject: Update on MCPS/College Partnerships for Students

Executive Summary

Higher education partnerships focus on providing access to college or university education experiences for every student. Since 1999, the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) has significantly expanded these partnerships, affording students additional opportunities to learn about college and career paths, experience college-level instruction and settings, and to learn to view a college education as a realistic option.

Higher education partnerships are aligned with the Board of Education Academic Priorities to “develop, pilot, and expand improvements in secondary content, instruction, and programs that support students’ active engagement in learning” and to “strengthen family-school relationships and continue to expand civic, business, and community partnerships that support improved student achievement.”

Background

The /Montgomery County Public Schools Partnership (Montgomery College/MCPS Partnership) was formed in 1996 and funded in 1999 through a joint request to the Montgomery County Council by Dr. Charlene Nunley, former president of Montgomery College, and me. This partnership has since flowered into over 19 different initiatives designed to provide students direct access to college courses and faculty, or to prepare students for college success. In October 2006, The University Systems of Maryland, Montgomery College, and MCPS agreed to a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). This MOU confirms the commitment of The University Systems of Maryland and Montgomery College to offer undergraduate-level coursework in MCPS. The Montgomery College/MCPS Partnership and the MOU, with The University Systems of Maryland, have led to beneficial growth in school and system-level programs that provide college experiences for many students.

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Current Partnerships

MCPS has established student partnerships with Montgomery College; The University of Maryland; The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC); The University of Maryland University College (UMUC); The Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA); and The . Discussions are under way to establish partnerships with and . There were no direct student partnerships with high schools in 1999. Today, 17 high schools have partnerships with one or more of the above institutions and plans are to develop direct student partnerships with all high schools. Attachment 1, Montgomery County Public Schools Credit Opportunities by High School, is a list of the different credit programs offered at each high school.

Partnership projects with Montgomery College support system initiatives related to preparing students for college success and offer college programs at various high schools to MCPS students at various levels of academic attainment (see Attachment 2, Montgomery College/Montgomery County Public Schools Partnership Projects Synopsis). The College Institute, Early Placement Program, and Gateway to College are three of the most prominent Montgomery College/MCPS projects.

The College Institute was established as an opportunity for the highest achieving seniors to experience coursework beyond Advanced Placement (AP) courses. Students earn college credits on a high school campus during the regular high school day. Over 260 students at Gaithersburg, John F. Kennedy, Seneca Valley, and Thomas S. Wootton high schools are taking advantage of this partnership opportunity this year. The Early Placement Program is designed to extend the existing high school curriculum by offering opportunities for college-ready high school seniors to earn transferable college credits. All MCPS high schools can participate in the Early Placement Program with Montgomery College. The Gateway to College Program, located on Montgomery College campuses, offers an alternative to the traditional high school program. Students ages 16–20 who are in danger of dropping out of high school may apply. Once accepted and enrolled in the program, they are provided supports to meet high school and college course requirements. The Gateway to College Program currently has 235 students enrolled.

The signing of the October 2006 MOU with The University Systems of Maryland created the following student partnerships:

• A University of Maryland/Northwood High School partnership allows college-ready high school juniors and seniors to take classes on The University of Maryland campus during school hours. Seventeen students from Northwood High School completed courses at The University of Maryland campus during the school day in fall 2007.

• The new Institute for Global and Cultural Studies (IGCS) at is a partnership with UMBC and Montgomery College. Georgetown University also has partnered with Wheaton High School’s IGCS and provides professional development for staff and enrichment activities for students in the Institute. Implementation of this partnership began with a class of 18 students in fall 2006, and will be part of a significant expansion of academies at Wheaton High School in fall 2008.

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• UMUC and MCPS are providing MCPS high school students with a “virtual” college experience through the Virtual Early College Program. Students in various career pathways programs are provided opportunities to enroll in online credit-bearing college courses. Students at Clarksburg and Quince Orchard high schools will be enrolled in the first online college classes at UMUC this spring.

• The University of Maryland, Walter Johnson, and Walt Whitman high schools recently established a partnership to offer college courses to students during the school day. Thirty students, from both high schools, are taking college classes during both semesters of the 2007–2008 school year.

• MICA and James Hubert Blake High School joined in a partnership to offer courses in the fields of ceramics, photography, and the fine arts. This partnership creates a “satellite college campus” at the high school after the regular school day and on weekends. Students, staff, parents, and community members can access classes at the undergraduate and graduate level. Implementation began in fall 2005.

• The National Labor College Program provides students with intensive work in the areas of applied reading, writing, and analytical skills needed for the range of careers in the construction trades. Students are introduced to opportunities offered by joint apprenticeship and union-sponsored training programs and explore the linkage between these pathways and the various options available through two- and four-year college degree programs. Students learn that apprenticeships are a valid, alternative path to higher education. Implementation of this partnership began in summer 2006, countywide.

Developing Partnerships

Staff in the Department of Enriched and Innovative Programs works with prospective partners and administrators and counselors at high schools to develop strong partnerships that match institutional strengths with students’ interests and workforce demands. Reflecting a national trend, MCPS is developing programs that support science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) instruction. Project Lead The Way (PLTW) is part of a national program network focusing on engineering. MCPS partnered with Montgomery College and UMBC to support PLTW at Wheaton High School. The recent expansion of The Universities at Shady Grove (USG) includes programs in engineering and boasts significant laboratory space. USG and Montgomery College partnered with MCPS to host Thomas S. Wootton High School College Institute classes at USG and to develop a new STEM laboratory program for Thomas S. Wootton students. Juniors have begun several STEM demonstration projects this fall to help MCPS staff determine the most important courses and knowledge strands for a successful program launch of PLTW in August 2008. The development of this new lab program is supported by a STEM grant from the Maryland State Department of Education.

Earning College Credit

Students can earn credit through access to college courses while still in high school, either at the high school site or on the college campus. Attachment 3, College Credit Opportunities for High School Members of the Board of Education 4 January 8, 2008

Students, provides a description of the methods through which students may earn college credit. The most common manner in which students earn college credit is through certified examination programs such as those offered by the College Board and the International Baccalaureate Organization. Dual credit and dual enrollment options are offered through the development of an MOU with a partner institution. In addition, MCPS has developed articulation agreements with 14 different institutions. Articulation agreements are established through an MOU between a college and MCPS to align programs to award college credit for successful completion of high school course sequences, usually in the career and technology education clusters. Credits are awarded to students only if they attend the specific college with which MCPS has an agreement.

Current Developments in Maryland

In spring 2007, legislation passed by the Maryland General Assembly established the Dual Enrollment Grant Program (renamed The Early College Access Grant Program). The new legislation calls for the Maryland Partnership for Teaching and Learning, Pre-K–16 (K–16 Leadership Council) to create a need-based scholarship fund to support tuition and fees for college-ready high school students. Although the legislation passed to create the scholarship fund, monies have not yet been appropriated.

The new legislation also requires the K–16 Leadership Council to provide the governor and General Assembly with “a comprehensive list of recommendations that surmount barriers to dual-enrollment and facilitate dual-enrollment opportunities.” The recommendations include the following:

• Institutions of Higher Education and Local Educational Associations are encouraged to form partnerships designed to provide students enhanced educational opportunities, including access to college-credit bearing courses.

• Establish or maintain State policies that ensure that neither Pre-K–12 nor higher education funding will be negatively affected.

• Identify regulatory barriers that interfere with early college access.

• Develop an intensive information program to inform students and parents about the academic work that is required to prepare for college, gain admission to college, receive financial aid, and graduate with a degree, prepared to pursue a career.

• Collect data to document trends in student retention and degree completion by those who have participated in early college access programs.

Recent National Reports

Partnerships between local institutions of higher education and MCPS address research findings, such as those noted below, that highlight the benefits of K–16 initiatives to ensure that all partners work together to promote student success at all academic levels.

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Despite the past use of these programs by advanced students and the apparent counterintuitive nature of the argument, policy literature, program information, and practitioners advance a variety of reasons for why dual enrollment programs can serve a wide variety of students, especially students from backgrounds traditionally underrepresented in higher education… (Thomas Bailey and Melinda Mechur Karp, Promoting College Access and Success: A Review of Credit-Based Transition Programs, Community College Research Center Teachers College/Columbia University, November 2003)

A new report, The Postsecondary Achievement of Participants in Dual Enrollment: An Analysis of Student Outcomes in Two States, issued by the National Research Center for Career and Technology Education, University of Minnesota (2007), provides one of the most comprehensive analyses to date of dual enrollment programs. This report highlights the critical role that dual enrollment opportunities play in student graduation from high school and college completion.

Conclusion

Partnerships are created to address the need for K–12 institutions to create multiple pathways for students of all achievement levels to see college as a realistic option and to see themselves as capable of performing college-level work. Such experiences can help students prepare for the academic rigors of college, explore areas of interest and possible future career options, and provide the opportunity to earn college credit. MCPS has significantly expanded partnerships that directly benefit students and is now poised to expand these programs to every high school through the strong bond with Montgomery College and the newly forged relationship with The University Systems of Maryland.

Present at the table for today’s discussion are Mr. Erick J. Lang, associate superintendent, Office of Curriculum and Instructional Programs; Dr. Mary Kay Shartle-Galotto, executive vice president of academic and student affairs, Montgomery College; Ms. Elyse Korn, student, Gateway to College at Montgomery College; Ms. Eva Jannotta, student, University of Maryland/Northwood High School; and Dr. Stewart Edelstein, associate vice chancellor for academic affairs, The University Systems of Maryland, and executive director, The Universities at Shady Grove.

JDW:smw

Attachments