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School officials to meet with Obama

A delegation of suburban school officials will meet with President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama, and Vice President Joe Biden today to talk about increasing the numbers of students completing college.

The delegation includes the presidents of Harper and Elgin community colleges, the superintendents of Districts 211, 214 and 220, and Northern Illinois University President Douglas Baker.

The White House College Opportunity Summit brings together colleges and universities, business leaders, and nonprofit groups supporting more college opportunities for students nationwide.

The summit will focus on building sustainable K-12 and higher education partnerships to encourage more first-generation, low-income and minority students to attend and complete college.

In 2010, Harper and its high school districts partnered to launch the Northwest Educational Council for Student Success to align curriculum and testing, expand dual-credit opportunities, and create career and academic pathways.

"We think we have a model worth emulating in communities across the country," Harper President Ken Ender said.

The summit will build on the work from the first College Opportunity Summit held last January, where Ender announced Harper's commitment to increasing its graduation rate and the number of students placing into credit math courses. Harper has exceeded both its targets. Harper will announce new commitments at the meeting.

Similarly, the high school districts will announce their own commitments focused on curriculum, expanded scholarship opportunities and a new Power of 15 Program that provides a pathway for high school students to graduate with 15 college credit hours.

"Barrington (Area Unit District) 220 is excited about the ongoing partnership with Harper College and our other local school districts to enhance the college readiness expectations for our students," said Superintendent Brian Harris.

Also attending the summit are representatives of the Regional P-20 Network, comprised of 26 educational institutions in northern Illinois, including NIU and eight regional community colleges. Its leadership meets regularly to develop actionable strategies for reaching the goal of producing 30,000 additional college-ready students in the region by 2025.

"We know when we work together we can be more effective in supporting student success," ECC President David Sam said. ECC formed an Alliance for College Readiness in 2006 in partnership with 12 public high schools. "Over the last eight years, we've seen a tremendous uptick in the number of students who are college ready," Sam said.

The event will be streamed live at whitehouse.gov/live.

Kenneth Ender
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