Community college presidents need to boost graduation rates by nixing weak remedial programs and offering new ideas and cutting edge technology instead, according to one of the founders of the largest foundation in the country.
Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, commented on the need for high-tech school solutions at the 90th Annual American Association of Community Colleges Convention in Seattle. She backed up her words with a large investment in initiatives that encourage schools to offer accelerated academic catch-up.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation donated $110 million in grants to design new efforts to replace traditional remedial programs with initiatives that are proven to boost graduation rates.
Melinda Gates says research demonstrates that improving remediation is the best community colleges can do to increase the number of students who complete their studies.
"Either community colleges can keep doing what you’ve been doing, in which case you will gradually find yourself able to meet fewer and fewer of your students’ needs, or you can innovate," says Gates. "You can educate your students according to new models that yield dramatically better results for a fraction of the cost."
Fifty-seven million dollars will be distributed in grants over the next two years. Half of the foundation’s commitment has already been given to programs and colleges. The remaining grants will be given based on success of the earlier investments.
The foundation is looking for colleges and programs that collaborate well with high schools and middle schools to prevent remediation and offer multimedia tools to boost remedial studies. They also want to see programs that can efficiently blend accelerated learning with career training.
While 11 million students attend community colleges each year, more than half of low-income students start their post-secondary education at a community college.
Hello,
I have been teaching mathematics in community colleges for nearly forty years, and I found the recent News Hour interview most interesting and at the heart of a matter of great concern. It has always been my contention that if we want to have welcome signs instead of revolving doors at our entrances, we must prioritize two things: adequate testing for appropriate placement (especially for those requiring remediation) and support services for our students so that they may start where they need and grow at an acceptable rate. When I advanced these ideas at departmental meetings, the usual resonse was we don’t have the time or let the administration do it.
As long as administrators rather than faculty control grants, I do not know if grant funds intended to deal with this problem will be spent wisely, with the right priorities behind decisions. When institutional administrators are dealing with draconian budget cuts and looking at “Closing the Gaps”, programs such as our own “Achieving the Dream” are relegated to the back burner and are jeopardized.
Many institutions are letting short term problems rather than long term goals drive budgetary decisions more than they should. For another example, our computer system has many problems, resulting in frequent inability for teachers and students to communicate. In the age of transition from classroom instruction to computer assisted and distance ed coursework this is a detriment to the reputation of our college from which it will take many years to recover. Yet we seem to be reluctant to use funds we have available (e. g., endowments) to fix the problem with alacrity.
These remarks are my own, and do not officially reflect the official views of my college. They do, however, reflect the frustrations of many of my colleagues who really want to be more effective and to function in a more supportive environment. When a college loses enthusiasm for its primary mission, both its form and its function seem to change for the worse. I would be very interested in being a part of the solution instead of passing the problem along to my successors
The Gates Foundation is to be commended for investing in our future, and I offer my assistance if there is any way I can be of service. I would be very interested in being a part of the solution instead of passing the problem along to my successors.
Our great nation will depend on a continuing source of newly trained, socially responsible, and industrious citizens. Community colleges will inevitably serve an expanding role in preparing them, and we must rise to the occasion!
Yours truly,
William E. Heierman
Wharton County Junior College
Sugar Land, Texas
[...] is an investment and not a donation; there is also some low-cost PR [1, 2, 3, 4, 5], perhaps part of the PR which gives them influence in education and does not cost much [...]
Hi William:
Thank you for your comprehensive, fantastic comments. As a former remedial tutor myself, I fully support programs expanding remedial and ESL program to help students catch up. Based on my experiences with the students I’ve tutored in the past, I feel these remedial programs not only serve to help students graduate and give them the education they need to advance their careers, but also builds up their confidence and self-esteem.
It pains me to see how much government money is wasted on military adventures and weapons systems, yet our schools and universities have to struggle and scrape by on constantly decreasing budgets. Sometimes, Mr. Heierman, I get cynical about our government’s attitude toward education, that our leaders would prefer a dumbed-down student population, with programs like No Child Left Behind driving the love of learning out of them.
I also agree with you that teachers and faculty should have more control over funding than administrators. After all, they’re the ones directly using the funds.
Thanks again!
Roberto Azula
Editor, The Daily Tell
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