Initiative Readies Students For College
Posted on: Tuesday, 27 June 2006, 06:00 CDT
By Jim Farrell, The Hartford Courant, Conn.
Jun. 27--When she was a freshman in high school, DeKilia Sessoms had doubts about her educational future.
"I was thinking, no one in my family has ever gone to college - why should I even try?" said DeKilia, who last week graduated from Middletown High School and in the fall will attend Central Connecticut State University.
She was one of five students who spoke at an event Monday heralding an initiative called "College Ready New England," which aims to boost economic competitiveness in the northeast by improving college readiness, participation and success.
The New England Board of Higher Education is coordinating the effort, which involves educational, political and business leaders.
"It's about collaboration, it's about economies of scale," said state Sen. Joan Hartley, D-Waterbury, co-chair of the legislature's higher education and employment advancement committee.
She and others who spoke during an hour-long press conference at the Legislative Office Building stressed the importance of sharing research and other resources so that New England can regain the stature it has been gradually losing to other parts of the country.
"If New England is to grow and prosper in the new knowledge-based global economy, it is imperative that ... leaders commit to expanding the number of students staying in the 'education pipeline,'" according to a document outlining goals and strategies.
Michael Thomas, a senior vice president with the New England Board of Higher Education, said the campaign would be multidimensional. Because six states are involved, Thomas said there would be greater opportunities to influence public policy, disseminate information, and, eventually, raise money to help develop programs to assist students.
Valerie Lewis, the state commissioner of higher education, and Education Commissioner Betty J. Sternberg both said that getting more students through college successfully is a process that starts in kindergarten.
"The important and difficult work behind these goals is what we're talking about," Sternberg said.
Monday's student speakers all attended Upward Bound, a program designed to encourage middle school and high school students from low-income families to prepare for college.
But as Lewis noted, only about one in five students interested in attending such programs get in and many others are not even aware of the program's existence.
She said the college ready initiative could become "a vehicle to really fix some of these problems."
Contact Jim Farrell at jfarrell@courant.com.
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Copyright (c) 2006, The Hartford Courant, Conn.
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
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Source: The Hartford Courant, Connecticut
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