Preparing College- and Career-Ready Students: Elements of Successful Programs
A Webinar - Tuesday, June 22, 2010 • 12:00 pm - 1:00pm, EDT
Overview
This webinar examined the elements of program models that have demonstrated effectiveness in preparing students for postsecondary access and success, based on the results of rigorous evaluations. The webinar was anchored by the findings of the new AYPF publication, Success at Every Step: How 23 Programs Support Youth on the Path to College and Beyond, and featured two of the included program models. First Things First is a comprehensive school reform model that aims to transform struggling schools by transforming relationships and improving instructional quality, and Early College High Schools are small schools that directly connect underrepresented students with a college experience and allow them to earn significant college credits while still in high school. The webinar also addressed the role of policy in supporting local, state, and national goals for college and career readiness.
James Connell, president and cofounder of IRRE, developed First Things First and has continued to strengthen its framework through a decade of implementation and evaluation. Long recognized for his research on youth development in urban settings and the theory-of-change approach to planning and evaluation of system change, work in adolescent development and a theory-of-change approach to youth issues, he has become one of the nation’s foremost experts on education reform, especially at the secondary level. He advises policy-makers, foundations and educators on reform issues and frequently contributes theoretical and practice-based writings to a wide variety of national venues.
Dr. Connell is a former special education teacher and professor at the University of Rochester, where his research was recognized by major awards from the American Psychological Association and the W.T. Grant Foundation. From 1992 to 1995 he served as a Senior Vice President and Senior Fellow with Public/Private Ventures. And, after co-founding IRRE in 1989, Dr. Connell has served as President of the organization from 1991 to the present.
Sarah Hooker is Program Associate with the American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF). Ms. Hooker identifies and researches issues, policies, and programs for AYPF’s publications and learning events, and convenes policymakers for site visits, Capitol Hill forums, and roundtable policy meetings with a special focus on college- and career-readiness for groups that are historically underrepresented in higher education. She is the co-author of the compendium Success at Every Step: How 23 Programs Support Youth on the Path to College and Beyond (2009).
Ms. Hooker has a background in policy research, advocacy, and program development related to educational equality, immigrant integration, and the social service systems impacting low-income children and communities. Prior to joining AYPF in 2008, she coordinated a college outreach program for Latino students in Chicago, directed policy advocacy regarding access to higher education, and provided capacity-building support to the National Alliance of Latin American and Caribbean Communities. Ms. Hooker received her BA from Pomona College in Claremont, California and her MA from the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago.
Ryan Reyna is a Senior Policy Analyst in the Education Division at the National Governors Association, Center for Best Practices (NGA Center). Ryan works on a variety of high school reform issues, including college- and career-readiness, turning around low-performing schools, career technical education, and technology in education. He currently leads the NGA Center's work on dropout prevention and recovery, working with six states to develop comprehensive policies and programs to improve high school graduation rates. Previously, he worked as a Research Associate at the Data Quality Campaign. Ryan holds a B.A. in American Politics from the University of Virginia and an M.P.Aff. from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas.
Joel Vargas is a Program Director at Jobs for the Future, an organization that identifies, develops, and promotes new education and workforce strategies in order to help our communities and our nation compete in a global economy. Dr. Vargas studies and advises on state policies to promote improved rates of high school and postsecondary success for underserved students. He focuses on new education pathways that blend high school and college, such as early college high schools and comprehensive dual enrollment programs.
Dr. Vargas has directed, initiated, and studied a variety of middle school and high school programs designed to help more underrepresented students get into and through a postsecondary education. He also has been a teacher, editor, and research assistant for the Civil Rights Project at Harvard University, coeditor of Double the Numbers: Increasing Postsecondary Credentials for Underrepresented Youth (Harvard Education Press) and Minding the Gap: Why Integrating High School with College Makes Sense and How to Do It (Harvard Education Press). He was featured in the Chronicle of Higher Education as one of "Higher Education's Next Generation of Thinkers."
Click on a thumbnail to view the speaker's recorded presentation from the webinar! You will be directed to AYPF's YouTube Channel.
These presentations are placed in the order in which they were presented during the webinar.
Sarah Hooker - AYPF Presentation on Success at Every Step
James Connell - First Things First and Institute for Research and Reform in Education
Joel Vargas - Early College High Schools
Ryan Reyna - Policies to Prepare College- and Career- Ready Students
- AYPF Presentation on Success at Every Step: Sarah Hooker, AYPF
- First Things First: James Connell, Institute for Research and Reform in Education
- Early College High Schools: Joel Vargas, Jobs for the Future
- Policies to Prepare College- and Career-Ready Students: Ryan Reyna, National Governors Association