ECC touts narrowing achievement gap for Latino students

Elgin Community College is bucking a national trend by narrowing the achievement gap between Latino and white students, college President David Sam says.

That has piqued the interest of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which recently sent a team of researchers to the college to study just how ECC did it.

"We are one of four case studies they are doing this year," Sam told the Daily Herald editorial board this week. "We did not approach them. They sought us out. Gates Foundation doesn't put its money any place."

ECC is reporting a 19 percent gain in college completion rates among its Latino students, followed by white students at 16 percent, Asian students at 11 percent, and black students at 5 percent, according to data from the college's Institutional Research Department.

Sam attributes the achievement to interventions put in place within the last 10 years. That includes a minimum competency placement requirement for most college-level coursework, a new first-year experience program, and the Alliance for College Readiness, a partnership between ECC and local high schools to make sure students are prepared for college-level coursework.

While ECC has been able to close the achievement gap between Latino and white students, the same isn't true for the college's black students, who still are struggling to catch up, Sam said.

"It's a national problem. One of the most important factors for student success is college readiness," Sam said.

The results of the Gates Foundation study are expected later this year. The goal is to replicate the college's strategies that have helped Latino students with other groups, Sam said.