The intentional links between secondary and post secondary education found in Middle College National Consortium and Woodrow Wilson early college high schools help students not only get to college but to stay in college
New York, NY (Vocus/PRWEB) April 12, 2011
Dr. Cecilia L. Cunningham, founder and president of the Middle College National Consortium (MCNC) , and Dr. Roberta Matthews, former Provost and Vice-President for Academic Affairs at Brooklyn College in New York City, announced that their article, Five Lessons on College Retention from Early Colleges, will be published in Community College Week this week. The article describes lessons learned on effective tactics to keep students in college by two organizations, The Middle College National Consortium (MCNC) and the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation. “The intentional links between secondary and post secondary education found in Middle College National Consortium and Woodrow Wilson early college high schools help students not only get to college but to stay in college” notes MCNC president, Dr. Cecilia Cunningham.
The Middle College National Consortium and the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation have opened, and supported, over fifty small early college high schools. Their high school students’ record of college GPA average, college course credit accumulation and college perseverance exceeds those of students from other schools with similar demographics. According to the article by Dr. Cunningham and Dr. Matthews, the five early college practices that have had the most influence on student success are:
- Being on a college campus rather than transitioning onto one
- Wraparound support and advocacy for students
- No interruptions or diversions between graduating from high school and entering college
- Building realistic understandings and expectations in students’ families
- Strong alignment between high schools and colleges is seen as a given, not simply a goal
Dr. Matthews concludes by noting “Early Colleges succeed because they create an environment based on the presence of all the design features we have described. They promote the difficult dialogue among practitioners, on all levels, that result in substantive changes in education.”
Middle College National Consortium, headquartered in New York City, is a leader in the movement to establish and sustain high school/college dual enrollment as a viable and necessary educational model. Middle College National Consortium's mission is to develop small schools in which high school students, especially those who have been previously underserved by their former schools, can earn both a high school diploma and either an Associate's Degree or transferable college credits upon graduation.
To learn more about the Middle College National Consortium, visit us at (http://www.mcnc.us/) for a comprehensive overview of our history, design principles, current work and achievements.
Middle College National Consortium