Harper, high schools team up
Student success rates at Harper College in Palatine may be above the national norm, but don't expect to hear anyone bragging.
School officials can't, Harper President Ken Ender says, not when 39 percent of students have to begin in developmental classes, and only half of that group ever reach credit-bearing courses.
That's why Harper intends to partner with its three high school feeder districts to form the Northwest Educational Council for Student Success, a consortium aimed at developing programs, sharing talent and data, and leveraging joint resources to prepare every high school and college graduate for 21st century careers.
“We're doing fine by ourselves, but together we can be great, Ender said.
Ender and the superintendents of Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211, Northwest Suburban High School District 214 and Barrington Unit District 220 last week shared their vision with the Daily Herald and announced Harper's $250,000 commitment to help launch the four-year pilot program.
The four leaders have been meeting regularly since last year to discuss the disconnect between the college and high schools.
District 214 Superintendent David Schuler said career pathway partnerships are already in place, but they're geared toward vocational fields such as EMT training and cosmetology. And while it's not abnormal for a senior to make the trip to Harper for a class not offered in high school, two class periods are wasted in the commute.
The council's focus is purely on core academics such as math and English areas that haven't been the subject of much articulation between Harper and the three high school districts.
District 220 Superintendent Tom Leonard said that besides aligning certain curriculum, they want to offer developmental, or noncredit remedial, courses at the high school.
He also foresees students taking their college math requirement while still in high school, earning credit at both the high school and college level, with the credit being transferable to a four-year institution.
“Students moving from eighth to ninth grade, those conversations have happened, Leonard said. “But it's never happened 12th to 13th.
Data sharing would also be vital to sooner identify students who need those developmental noncredit classes once they arrive at Harper.
“It became a moral imperative for the four of us to eliminate (those hurdles) for a vast majority of those kids, Schuler said. “When we sent them into a developmental class, we're almost sentencing them or assuring them they were not going to finish their college education.
District 211 Superintendent Nancy Robb said a study conducted by the district last year showed many students who end up in developmental classes at Harper do so because they do not take math their senior year. It's simply a matter of not retaining the knowledge, she said.
As part of the study, District 211 students took the Compass test, which is the same assessment test Harper uses to place incoming freshmen. After some learned they'd likely end up taking a developmental class in college, 15 percent more juniors decided to take math as seniors.
Ender said the new partnership is not only about improving student success, but it's also a good business model. Harper officials hope fewer students will drop out if they start taking credit courses immediately. And with funding whittling away, this is an opportunity to leverage resources, he said.
In the coming days, Ender, Schuler, Leonard and Robb will each seek approval from their boards on a memorandum of understanding. Assuming they have support, they'll plan on meeting at least quarterly and involve staff members.
All three superintendents credited Ender with creating a new culture at Harper. Leonard said the president came to visit the three districts as soon as he came to Palatine last year, which had never happened in their tenures.
“Walls that have been up for years are being broken, Leonard said.