CURTIS WRIGHT

(Wagner College News Service) In the next few months, many American families will undergo a challenging rite of passage: sending a student off to college for the first time.

The biggest part of this challenge, three Wagner College administrators say, is letting go.

MATH ANYONE?

PITTSBURGH--100 percent.

This figure has remained constant at Urban Pathways Charter Schools. For the past three years, one hundred percent of Urban Pathways’ seniors have graduated and been accepted into mostly four-year colleges and universities. This consistency is not a stroke of luck, but the result of a carefully calculated educational experience, where the pathway to college begins from the moment Urban Pathways’ five-year-old kindergarten students walk through the door. 

Urban Pathways Charter Schools, located in the heart of Pittsburgh’s downtown cultural district, include both a K-5 and a 6-12 school. Both Urban Pathways schools provide a free education for more than 580 students from various Allegheny County school districts. Teachers and staff members at Urban Pathways are committed to creating a learning environment where each student is provided with the necessary support to achieve his or her full potential.

From the very beginning, each Urban Pathways student is equipped with a personal education plan. Starting in kindergarten, students use portfolios to track their learning. The portfolios contain completed projects and test scores. These materials are later reviewed during parent/teacher conferences, also called learning partnerships. Additionally, each kindergarten student is introduced to both short- and long-term goal setting early on.
“College preparation begins by students learning to set goals,” said Urban Pathways K-5 College Charter School principal David Gallup.

He notes that Stephen R. Covey’s seven habits from his best-selling book, “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,” play a large role in the curriculum. Specifically, habit number two: begin with the end in mind. “Students make goals and focus on their ‘end.’ The students then make a plan on how to reach their goals,” Gallup said.

The emphasis on these habits caught the attention of parent Tinisha Hunt. “I was excited when I learned that Covey’s seven habits were a part of the daily curriculum. This shows that the school is about more than just academics and that helped solidify my decision to enroll my son,” she said.

Natalie Ranalli, a kindergarten teacher at Urban Pathways, believes that goal setting helps encourage discussion about high school and college. “Students begin to understand that high school graduation and college are always tied into whichever profession they choose,” she said. “If the concept of college is presented to children in a positive light at an early age, they will view graduating high school and going to college as a reward.”

Students continue this planning process throughout middle and high school. At these grade levels, students begin to track their attendance, any behavior infractions and individual grades in each class, all while continuing to set specific goals for themselves and their learning with the help of mentors.

“The portfolios give students the opportunity to really take control of their own learning,” said Elizabeth Gingrich, department chair of entrepreneurship.

Individual attention at Urban Pathways does not stop there. Mentoring programs such as BAAM (Benefitting African American Males) and WISE (Women in Sync Everywhere) pair male and female high school students with adult community members. College preparation is the focus of these mentor-student relationships, just like in the classroom. The mentors are available to provide wisdom and guidance to students, not only during their high school years, but throughout the first year of college as well.

Beyond that, staff members in the College Readiness Office are on hand to help students plan for their future college careers. The College Readiness Office offers support for students in completing both college and scholarship applications, navigating financial aid details and exploring summer employment and internship opportunities.

Currently, the three staff members from the College Readiness Office work solely with the 6-12 students, beginning with career and personality interest inventories in grade six. Starting this fall, the Office will expand their reach to the elementary level. With help from K-5 level teachers, the College Readiness staff will work to incorporate additional college- and career-focused lessons and activities into the elementary classrooms.

Ranalli recognizes the importance of an early introduction to the future at Urban Pathways. “Within an urban population, college is often viewed as unachievable, especially when a child is the first person within a family to graduate high school or college,” she said.

“If children are choosing college as a long-term goal while in kindergarten, and college is continually reinforced for the next 12 years, students are more likely to feel that college is attainable.”

CONSTANCE F. HORTON executive director of FAME

On April 25, the Fund for Advancement of Minorities Through Education held its 15th Annual Luncheon “Educating the Leaders of Tomorrow.” The organization provides scholarships for African-Americans students to attend private high schools.

“It’s so exciting to see so many old faces in the room, friends of the organization who were here at the inception of this organization and have supported its growth,” said Constance Horton, FAME executive director. “When we began there was just one student at each school, but through collaboration with those schools, we’re now able to provide scholarships to 68 students.”

MICHAEL LOMAX

by Michael Lomax

(CNN)—More than 35,000 students will graduate from college this year because of something that happened 159 years ago.

On April 29, 1854 that Ashmun Institute, the first college established solely for African-American students, was officially chartered.

Twelve years later, Ashmun was renamed as Pennsylvania's Lincoln University and became the nation's first degree-granting institution for African-Americans, or what we now know as a historically Black college and university.

Where Lincoln led, others followed, and there are now 105 historically Black colleges and universities, enrolling more than 370,000 students and awarding 20 percent of all undergraduate degrees earned by African-Americans.

"A mind is a terrible thing to waste," the almost universally recognized motto of UNCF, the United Negro College Fund, has come to represent the aspirations of all historically Black colleges and universities to ensure that all Americans can earn the college degrees they need and the 21st century economy demands.

UNCF makes those aspirations real for nearly 60,000 students each year by providing financial support for 38 private historically Black colleges and universities and awarding 13,000 scholarships to students at 900 colleges and universities.

Like Lincoln University, these historically Black colleges and universities began when African-Americans had few other higher education options. Much has changed since then. Today, a college education is not a "good-to-have" but a "must-have," the basic requirement for almost every fast-growing and good-paying job and career path.

Today, African-Americans can attend almost all colleges and universities, but more than four times as many students choose historically Black colleges and universities than 40 years ago.

What's the secret of their enduring success?

Historically Black colleges and universities have endured and thrived because, just as in their early years, they are giving students the education they need and that we, as a community and as a nation, need them to have.

In fact, research by UNCF's Frederick D. Patterson Research Institute shows that historically Black colleges and universities excel at graduating students the economy needs most: students from low-income families.

"We know that students who enroll at HBCUs tend to have fewer financial resources and less rigorous academic preparation than students who enroll at non-HBCUs," reported a study, "Understanding HBCU Retention and Completion."

But "(w)hen these student characteristics were controlled for, HBCUs' retention rates were actually superior to those of non-HBCUs. HBCUs also outperformed non-HBCUs in graduating their students when these student characteristics were controlled for, and this superior performance persisted even when we narrowed the analyses to focus specifically on Black students, Black males and Black females."

These are impressive findings. But they tell only part of the story. Another study by UNCF's Patterson Research Institute, "Students Speak!: Understanding the Value of HBCUs from Student Perspectives," highlighted the human element in understanding why, with so many higher education choices, so many students still choose historically Black colleges and universities. Many students, it said:

Focused on the need to feel connected—-a sense of belonging—as an important driver influencing the decision to attend their institution of choice. Students spoke of their need to feel welcomed at their institutions and identified institutional characteristics that facilitated their abilities to adapt.…The students (also) described how meaningful relationships with faculty and the ethnic and academic diversity on their campuses enhanced their academic engagement and sense of self.

One student cited his desire to "embrace my own history, heritage and everything that has gone into making us who we are."

"I liked the involvement that the students had," said another student. "It was personal, it was easy to have access to your teachers, it was a lot of one-on-one care, and I liked that."
A third student valued the structure that many historically Black colleges and universities provide: "The professors take the time out to hold their students accountable to another level," he told researchers. "(I)f a student comes in five minutes late, the teacher will address the student, hold the student accountable, and then move forward with class ... and it really helps us in the end because it teaches us responsibility with time management and other principles that are really going to be effective for the workforce."

When Lincoln University opened its doors, few other colleges would admit Black students. Lincoln and all the historically Black colleges and universities that followed changed that.
Today, African-Americans with college degrees are our nation's teachers, doctors, lawyers, scientists, corporate executives, mayors, governors and members of Congress.

In years to come, they will continue in these roles and also assume vital science, technology, engineering and math jobs to move our nation forward.

For 159 years, historically Black colleges and universities have shaped our history. Today, they are shaping our future.

(Editor's note: Michael Lomax, PhD, is president and CEO of UNCF, the United Negro College Fund, the largest private provider of scholarships and other educational support to minority and low-income students. Previously, Lomax was president of Dillard University in New Orleans and a literature professor at Morehouse and Spelman colleges.)