Changing Urban Schools is Essential to America's Future

Closing the educational gap in this country has been rightly called "the civil rights issue of the 21st century." The drop out rate for Latinos and African Americans in many American cities is nearly twice that of whites. Fewer Latinos and African Americans attend college. Fewer still graduate from college. For example, for 100 Latino students who begin 9th grade only 53 will graduate from high school (compared to 75 whites) and only 10 of those will graduate from college in six years (compared to 23 whites). This achievement gap endangers our economy and our future.

According to the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, by 2020, the net loss to the U.S., if we don't close the achievement gap, is estimated to be $850 billion in lost income, revenues, and GDP. That number will grow to over $1 trillion by 2030, unless we eliminate the achievement gap.

President Obama's Race to the Top, seeks to simultaneously encourage schools to improve and raise the number of Americans completing some college education. Critical to success in this effort is the transformation of schools in the 50 biggest cities in America.

Houston, like any of the biggest cities in the country, needs to dramatically reduce high school dropout rates. Houston Independent School District and other districts also need to increase the number and percentage of students who graduate from high school ready for college.

We in higher education have an interest in ensuring that public schools are successful. After all, we receive the vast majority of our students from the public schools. And, in our case, the majority of them need remediation. Also, higher education institutions can do something about it, with high quality teacher education programs, K-12 partnerships, and community partnerships. At the University of Houston-Downtown, we take this responsibility seriously.

Urban schools have very distinct problems: crowded schools, little money or resources, and dangerous and deteriorating neighborhoods. Urban schools often lack basic resources that are common in suburban schools. Teachers need special skills to survive and succeed in urban schools.

A week ago, I visited with the faculty of the Urban Education Department at University of Houston-Downtown. The UHD Urban Education Department specializes in the problems of urban schools. UHD faculty research the specific problems and address the needs of schools in Houston.

The department focuses on creating teachers ready for the challenges they will confront in Houston schools. Our student teachers work in classrooms throughout Houston. Faculty help them develop curricula, they also provide on-going professional development for teachers in Houston schools. The department also produces excellent bilingual teachers, a must for Houston. Recently, the Urban Education department re-established the undergraduate high school teacher preparation program to focus on the special needs of urban high school teachers.

UHD Urban Education take a holistic approach. They not only focus on teachers and schools, but also engage the entire family to increase student success. For example, Urban Education faculty and students provide literacy nights and math nights in several schools. In partnership with the Fifth Ward Enrichment Center at Weatley High School, for example, they offer a special literacy program with teen fathers and their families to help them develop self-expression and clear educational goals.

UHD students apply what they learn in the classroom to real life. At Houston's House of Tiny Treasures, UHD faculty and early education students work in service learning projects and literacy programs with homeless toddlers, pre-schoolers, and their families.

UHD seems to be doing a pretty good job. According to HISD staff, teachers trained by UHD are more likely to stay in the profession than those of other several other nearby teacher education programs. They enjoy their profession and are more likely to pursue further education.

Also, UHD students and faculty are involved in service learning and community engagement efforts to improve K-12 performance. UHD partners with Project Grad Houston in five Houston schools. During the summer, middle school and high school students from the Project Grad schools attend special classes at UHD. The summer sessions help prepare students for college. The students attend classes, meet and study under regular UHD faculty, and they begin to realize they can and will succeed in college. UHD students mentor middle school and high school students in the five Project Grad schools.

Once the Project Grad students graduate from high school (having taken college preparatory courses and having achieved at least a 2.5 GPA) they get a scholarship from UHD along with a $4,000 from Project Grad. The result: more students from Project Grad Houston’s partner schools graduate ready for college and more students go on to college. Project Grad schools have reduced dropout rates by 26% and one of them, Jeff Davis High School, had the third lowest dropout rate in Houston this past year.

A large portion of those Project Grad students enter UHD because they’ve already been to our campus, studied with our faculty, and met our students. They know the quality of UHD programs and the close interaction UHD faculty have with their students.

UHD faculty and staff also partner with GEAR UP/Project Grad in offering an annual symposium for approximately 135 teachers from HISD teachers in the GEAR UP schools. This year, on December 5th, the symposium will bring high school teachers to UHD for professional development associated with College Readiness and assessment.

I have been very impressed by how UHD faculty, staff, and students are working to improve Houston's schools and student achievement through a variety of strategies: preparing better teachers with curricula and pedagogy designed for urban schools; encouraging undergraduate students to tutor and mentor high school and middle school through service learning courses and civic engagement projects; and partnering with community-based programs like Project Grad, GEAR UP, and Communities in the Schools.

And, from what I've seen, they are making a real difference. Keep up the great work!

Challenging Times

I think all of us are worried about the future, especially if we have kids or grandchildren. Rising national debt, the pending end of Social Security and Medicare, the so-called 'jobless recovery' of the recession, massive unemployment, declining standards of living, low math and science achievement levels of K-12, and a depressing number of Americans who are losing their jobs, homes and their health care benefits. It's enough to make your head spin.

But, Americans are an optimistic and innovative people. We find solutions. We apply our creative energies. Take higher education. Students, whether they be those coming out of high school or adults needing re-training or a degree, realize that college is beneficial. In this economy, the one segment of the population that has been least likely to lose their jobs during this recession have been those with college degrees.

That doesn't mean that having an A.A., a B.A. or an M.A. will protect you, like some magic shield. Banks and Wall Street firms have closed, laying off thousands of accountants. Engineers are losing jobs at GM, as are line workers in assembly plants. But, in the 21st Century economy, college degrees are as essential as a high degree was in the 20th century.

That's why the massive cuts to higher education taking place in many states are both depressing and short-sighted. Students find few seats available in community colleges and public four-year universities.

Tuition, fees, books, and other costs associated with college have skyrocketed at many institutions. Student and parent indebtedness has risen far faster than income. More students are applying for financial aid and maxing out their credit cards. More parents are taking on second or third mortgages--even selling family possessions to pay for college. And students are working more hours.

Meanwhile, public universities compete for the "best" students and for rankings by U.S. News & World Report that emphasize the number of students a university rejects, rather than the number of working class or minority an institution graduates. So universities, rely more and more on test scores and less and less on need, increasing merit-based scholarships over need.

Don't get me wrong, I encourage merit and believe in raising standards in K-12 and higher education. America cannot compete internationally without improving achievement of our students and ensuring better learning by our students. I believe in rigor and excellence.

But, I am also committed to access and opportunity. I chose to be president of a university like UHD (and was excited to be selected as its president) because it is an urban, engaged, comprehensive university. Its students are overwhelmingly minority (31% Hispanic, 27% African American). It is also a New Generation university. UHD's students are commuters, work 30 hours or more, often have their own families, and usually are the first in their families to go to college.

By the way, UHD remains the best value in higher education in the region. It has one of the lowest tuition and fee structure in Texas combined with wonderful academic programs.

UHD is caught in a dilemma though. We have very little space at our campus. We teach night courses and weekend courses, as well as day courses. The campus is rapidly approaching the maximum size for its buildings. We need more buildings. We need to expand our courses to learning centers throughout Houston and expand our hybrid and online offerings.

But, we also confront our past as we embrace our future. UHD has been an Open Admission university--one of the few remaining in the country. Many of our students are not adequately prepared for college. A vast number of our students fail in the first semester or second semester and drop out. By the 21st day of the third semester, we lose 60% of first-time, full-time freshmen.

Many of these student leave the university with heavy debt (often ranging from $9,000 to $11,000). In addition, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, is concerned that UHD duplicates services better provided by community colleges--at a cheaper cost to the state and to the students.

In addition, the federal government has issued instructions to universities to admit students based on their "ability to benefit." It is concerned that several universities admit students, who then receive financial aid, that lack requisite skills for success. Those students then fail and often are unable to re-pay student loans. Meanwhile, accreditation bodies are increasingly tying re-accreditation to student outcomes as demonstrated in both learning outcomes and graduation rates.

So, the university is beginning a conversation on admission standards. Later this month, State Commissioner, Raymond Paredes, will visit UHD and address these changing needs, This is simply one part of an on-going discussion.

UHD is committed to opportunity, student success, and excellence. That will not change. If and when we adopt admission standards we will not set arbitrary standards, but rather we will adopt standards based on the ability of students to benefit and succeed. Our students will continue to be diverse and heavily first-generation, reflecting Houston.

We will expand our efforts to reach out to students in early grades to mentor them and prepare them for college. We will expand training of teachers and the civic engagement of our undergraduate students in HISD schools, as mentors, tutors, recruiters, and guides. We will expand dual credit and work closely with HISD and other high school districts on early college initiatives. We will expand our partnerships with Houston Community College and Lone Star Community College with joint admission programs.

We will recruit and graduate more students. And, we will continue our commitment to Houston's future. We will continue to be the First Choice of students who desire a university where they can learn and where they can succeed.