Page 1 To College, Through College Increasing Post-Secondary Success Through a Collective and Aligned Community Response Rhae-Ann Booker, Ph. D., Davenport University Tony Baker, Ph.D., Ferris State University and Grand Rapids Public Schools Lynn Heemstra, M.S.S.A., Our Community’s Children Bree Bode, M. A., Davenport University Page 2 CONTENTS About the Authors 3 Abstract 4 Introduction 5 The Study 6 Quantitative Data 6 Qualitative Data 9 Our Solution 12 Worthy Investment 13 TCTC Center Impact on Five Emergent Themes 14 Closing Summary 16 References 17 Appendix A: TCTC Center Coordinator Job Description 18 Page 3 About the Authors Anthony Baker, PhD is professor of Sociology and Director of Community Engagement at Fer- ris State University. He also serves as the president of Grand Rapids Public Schools Board of Education. Bree Bode, MA is health and disability fellow for the National Association of County and City Health Officials, and research assistant for this To College, Through College research project funded through Michigan Campus Compact. Rhae-Ann Booker, PhD is executive director of diversity, equity and inclusion at Davenport University in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Chair of chair of To College, Through College Lead- ership Council. She has worked in higher education for more than 20 years in various roles in- cluding assistant dean of academic multicultural affairs, grant evaluator, director of multicultural student development, adjunct faculty, and director of pre-college programs. Notably, she has proven record of increasing the enrollment, retention and graduation rates of students form North American ethnic minority groups. Lynn Heemstra, MSSA is executive director at Our Community's Children. She works for the Mayor, School Board President, the City Manager, and the Superintendent of the Grand Rapids Public Schools on public policy, partnerships, and programs to ensure the well-being of children, youth & families in the city. Her office also facilitates system-building community partnerships such as the Expanded Learning Opportunities Network for afterschool and the To College, Through College Initiative for post-secondary success. Page 4 Abstract Grand Rapids Public Schools (GRPS) is one of the largest public school systems in Michigan. While its graduation and college enrollment rates have improved, their graduates’ college attain- ment rates are less than optimal. This reality led community leaders and partners to form an initi- ative named To College, Through College (TCTC), a community-led solution for increasing the post-secondary degree attainment of GRPS graduates. To achieve this change, TCTC partners spent nearly two years (1) investigating the college-going experiences of GRPS graduates who attend West Michigan colleges and universities and (2) identifying gaps in existing services aimed at supporting the educational goals of the students. We found the experiences of non- white and first-generation students in Grand Rapids to be similar to students’ experiences in other communities across the country. We also considered examples of how these other commu- nities are responding to these challenges. As a result, the TCTC partnership is creating a TCTC Center at the Grand Rapids downtown library with satellite sites at neighborhood libraries and community-based organizations (CBOs). The Center will offer a full-time educational navigator, space, learning resources, and supportive mentorship using the public libraries as resource cen- ters. In doing so, the libraries in partnership with CBOs will provide access to educational re- sources and services in the communities where many of the students live. Resultantly, the per- centage of GRPS graduates-post-secondary-enrollees will be retained and will achieve post-sec- ondary degree completion at higher rates. Page 5 Introduction “Grand Rapids ranks number two in the nation in the growth rate of population with higher education degrees. Still we know, that our completion rate of college among students… from our Grand Rapids Public Schools that go off with promise to college..., is abysmal still." Fox 17 News (2015), Grand Rapids Mayor George Heartwell Over the past several decades the critical need for all Americans, including racial minorities and low-income individuals, to attain a postsecondary degree has been recognized by political lead- ers, economic experts and education advocates (Belasco, 2013; Engberg and Wolniak, 2009; U. S. Department of Education, 2015). In 2008, the Bureau of Labor and Statistics projected 45% of all jobs in 2014 would require some type of skilled training or certification, and in 2012, a 14% increase in the need for employees that have post-secondary education by 2020 (Prochea, Allen, Robbins & Phelps 2010; Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2013). “Now is the time to finally meet our moral obligation to provide every child a world class education, because it will take nothing less to compete in the global economy” President Barak Obama, 2008. Moreover, national and local data demonstrate that in order to increase college attainment rates in the United States of America, we must eliminate barriers to college success for everyone, and in particular, for African Americans, Latinos and first-generation students. Although enrolling in college at increasingly higher rates, these three groups often have the lowest college persistence and graduation rates necessitating the development and implementation of culturally and contex- tually-relevant strategies for bringing about needed change. For example, researchers Hurtado and Carter (1997) discovered Latino students need to experience a sense of campus belonging at their post-secondary institutions. Other researchers identified that low income and first-genera- tion students typically have a much more difficult time navigating the summer transitions neces- sary to actually arrive on a college campus in the fall, even after successfully gaining admission to the college (Castleman & Page, 2013). In the city of Grand Rapids, Michigan, Grand Rapids Public Schools (GRPS) and community leaders have been monitoring the rates of high school graduation, college enrollment and college completion for GRPS students over time. Additionally, several influential, local advocacy groups have taken a special interest in examining the pathways to successful college completion for GRPS high school graduations and addressing any variables inhibiting their success. In fall 2013, Grand Rapids Mayor Heartwell and the office of Our Community’s Children created a To Col- lege, Through College (TCTC) coalition, an initiative funded through a Lumina Foundation grant. This coalition includes approximately 35 members from local government, higher educa- tion, GRPS, local foundations, faith-based organizations, CBOs and businesses. Working to- gether collaboratively, TCTC partners aim to achieve two primary goals: 1. Increase post-secondary attainment for GRPS grads from 18% to 40% by 2020, and in- crease overall to 60% by 2025. Page 6 2. Increase post-secondary retention rates of first generation and non-white GRPS gradu- ates. Our initial data review indicated Grand Rapids experiences the same difficulties as other com- munities in effectively eliminating barriers to higher education success, especially for non-white, low-income and/or first-generation students (National Center for Education and Statistics, 2015). Typically, the explanation for group differences lay blame on either K-12 systems or higher edu- cation institutions. This white paper, instead, argues for the significant need to invest in post-sec- ondary education attainment strategies at the community level by identifying and eliminating barriers to achieving college attainment goals for all populations. The purpose of this white-paper is four-fold: 1. Share our study. 2. Outline the information gathered by TCTC for identifying gaps in services and resources that hinder student success. 3. Describe a community-informed and community-endorsed solution for addressing unmet stu- dent needs along the path from high school, to college and through college. 4. Delineate the return on investment for a long-term, systemic investment in GRPS graduates. The Study This exploratory research included collecting and analyzing both quantitative and qualitative data aimed at increasing understanding of GRPS graduates’ post-secondary attainment success and challenges for informing the development of a community-based response. Overall, this study examined the rates of enrollment, retention and graduation overtime as well as student per- ceptions of positive and negative factors influencing their enrollment, persistence and post-sec- ondary completion. Quantitative data was attained from secondary sources of public domains (e.g. National Student Clearinghouse) and in agreement with partner academic institutions to re- port aggregate data on GRPS students. Quantitative Data Grand Rapids Public Schools is one of the largest school districts in Michigan, and is home to a very diverse group of students representing 55 different countries, and various races and social classes (MIschooldata.org, 2015). For example, in 2014-2015, the total GRPS student popula- tion was 16,546 students (MISchooldata, 2015): 80% economically disadvantaged, 32% African American, 37% Hispanic, 23% White, 6% two or more races, and 1% Asian. In Table A, we provide a brief overview of general student graduation and college enrollment data for our 2012-13 and 2013-14 graduate cohorts. For these