Educating and Serving Miami's Diverse Youth Community
An American Youth Policy Forum Field Trip — January 11-12, 1996
Miami-Dade Community College (MDCC)
MDCC serves the local community through a range of affordable programs. It offers 145 associate and certificate programs at five major campuses. A range of student needs are met, including developmental/remediation (about 80 percent of entering students take these courses), transition to four-year colleges, immediate employment preparation, and continuing education. In 1994-95, 123,086 individuals were served in credit and non-credit programs. About 90 percent of associate degree students transfer to four-year institutions--only about one-third of these students go to Florida institutions. The average student age is 26 years. MDCC has the largest Hispanic enrollment and the second highest African-American enrollment of any college or university in the country. Legal resident aliens represent 30 percent of the college's credit population.
Officials indicated the college receives less operating and personnel funds now than two years ago. The building of prisons in the state is rising while education funding is declining. If the immigration law passes denying benefits to legal immigrants, the college can expect to lose at least $1 out of every $6 of current financial aid funds. A law was recently defeated that would have required comparable GPAs and SATs for entrance to two-year colleges as for four-year public colleges in the state.
In addition to a tour of the main Wolfson New World Center Campus, we visited two other campuses of the college--the InterAmerican Extension and the Medical Centers.
The InterAmerican Extension Center serves 4,000 students. Of these, 98 percent are Hispanic. (In the ‘80s, there was a shift from predominantly Cubans to Central Americans.) The remainder are Haitian- and Russian-born. The great majority of students are older and work full time. The center, in Little Havana, offers day and evening courses. Bilingual courses (Spanish and English) are taught in the social studies, arts and sciences. Fifty percent of students are enrolled in ESL--the most common credit course taught throughout the five campuses--and many are in developmental remedial studies. The Center offers six levels of ESL to address the broad range of student backgrounds, encompassing the needs of professionals who need help in technical English. Vocational programs are offered in computer technology, computer repair and office technology. [1] Course offerings lead to vocational certificates (requiring 4 to 16 months of study), as well as terminal AA degrees and AA degrees that articulate with baccalaureate programs.
The Medical Center Campus is devoted to the medical arts and is unique among American community colleges. It offers 30 allied health programs, including an associate degree in midwifery. In response to layoffs at American Airlines and Pan Am, the Center developed eight new programs for retraining of this labor pool. The Center has a large international population with minority students representing about 70 percent of enrollment.
Program enrollment is determined by the number of clinical placements available. Students spend two days a week throughout the semester in a clinical experience supervised by a faculty member (one faculty member is responsible for every ten students in clinical placements).
In addition to clinical work, students engage in service learning at local elementary schools. Basic skills levels are high, e.g., the literacy level of nursing text books begins at grade 14.
William H. Turner Technical Institute
William H. Turner Technical Institute is a school of choice (magnet) and state-of-the-art facility built with a substantial outlay from the state to improve technical education. The school is three years old and serves students in grades 9 - 12. Twenty-one hundred students study in eight career academies (Agritechnology, Applied Business Technology, Health, Industrial Technology, Marketing, National Academy Foundation/Fannie Mae Academy of Finance, Public Service and Television Production, and Residential Construction).
Turner's mission is to provide every student with a career focus, integrating a high quality academic and occupational curriculum. Characteristics of the school include: two-hour block classes; time for teacher planning and integrating academic and occupational courses; the absence of subject area departments; a rigorous academic program for all students; required internships for all students.
The school offers a bilingual vocational instructional program for English as a second language students and an adult education night school program featuring building skills and bus and truck mechanics. In addition to the high school and adult education program, there is a pre-Kindergarten class on-site. Admission to the pre-K class is highly competitive.
Among the academies visited was Agritechnology where each student must purchase an animal upon entry and care for it throughout their tenure at the school. Whereas some students purchase chickens and ducks, others purchase livestock and resell them to incoming students when they graduate. For many students, this program is a stepping stone to college and careers in veterinary science. Other students in the horticultural specialty grow their own plants for periodic sales to the student body and community. Turner has sophisticated laboratories for conducting agri-science experiments.
The academies have extensive partnerships with businesses. For example, the Academy of Residential Construction is supported through a partnership involving Dade County Public Schools, Builders Association of South Florida, Latin Builders Association and grants from the Fannie Mae Foundation and the U.S. Department of Education (USED). USED has provided a grant for a two-year curriculum development project, Framing our Future, to integrate academics with skills training in Residential Construction. [2] The new curriculum integrates and correlates mathematics, communications, science, social studies and SCANS skills with the skills needed in carpentry (based on the national skills standards of the National Association of Home Builders). In this manner, students will study the Pythagorean theorem in the context of plumb lines and house leveling.
Students will also have individualized education plans to be used as guidance tools. The plan will include a portfolio of academic and skills performance, test scores, training and employment activities. It will chart where the student wants to go and what she wants to do. It will indicate options to be pursued based on the realities of the student's accomplishment and effort. The grant also provides support for transportation for field trips and to student work sites, and for the stipends paid to teachers during their summer planning activity.
Through the school's partnership with a local home builder, students visit construction sites and participate in the laying of the slab and floor and framing the walls. Business partners also donate many of the consumable materials, such as concrete block and mortar, that students use in their training. They also donate accessories, such as faucets, tubs and toilets. Although finish work on the house is done by professional construction workers, students have a serious stake in the house. Upon its completion, Construction Academy students work with Finance Academy students at Turner to sell the house, with profits going to support students' postsecondary expenses.
In addition to the college fund, graduating students will have completed a program based on industry-developed standards and passed skills tests to certify as skilled framers. Through the relationships with the Latin Builders Association, students have special mentors and will use these adults as references, contacts and continuous sources of information and advice.
Greater Miami Service Corps
The Greater Miami Service Corps, founded in 1990, is one of 15 National Urban Corps Expansion Projects designed to meet the needs of inner-city youth and their communities. The mission of the corps is to enhance the employability and self-esteem of young adults, ages 18-23, through public/private partnerships providing work projects and education that result in tangible community improvements and a skilled work force.
The Corps currently enrolls 194 corps members (124 are male, 70 female; 104 are African American, and 87 are Hispanic) for a one-year program of work (28 hours per week) and education (8-12 hours). Entry-level wages are $4.50 per hour for 24 hours per week; 35 hours in the case of AmeriCorps members. Only 27 of the corps members are in AmeriCorps; these are based at a South Dade County site, not in the Miami City headquarters.
The Corps is county-sponsored and is governed by an independent Board of Governors. Of the $2.5 million budget, $600,000 derives from federal sources, over $1.56 million from county and municipal services.
Corps members include dropouts, high school graduates and some enrolling in college part-time. Corps members' work is about 54 percent in human services, and 46 percent in conservation/parks and environment projects.
GED classes and college courses are available although a collaboration with Miami-Dade Community College. Leadership development, life skills training, job placement services are also offered. Corps members elect their own Corps Senate. Graduates are eligible for tuition or training vouchers--$3,000 for acceptance into a two-year institution, $5,000 for a four-year institution.
Forum participants were impressed with the practical and realistic idealism of the staff, the degree of support for the Corps from county and city agencies, and the many educational services offered by the "second-chance" program.
Christian Community Service Agency (CCSA)
CCSA began 30 years ago as a multi-service agency to help immigrants. It has since added employment services, supports for seniors and youth, housing for homeless families and people with AIDS and case management for people with AIDS. It offers holistic youth programming, including youth leadership activities and partnerships with local churches and the police department.
The Youth Challenge Leadership Program addresses the perceived lack of leadership and academic skills among neighborhood youth. The program began with no outside funds. According to Director Bettye Wiggs, "Instead of sending the to child to Juvenile Hall, send the child to us." The program uses academic and tutorial supports, and cultural and performing arts to enhance youths' self-esteem. "We have uncovered golden nuggets through this program and found hope for the community," says Wiggs.
CCSA is also a Juvenile Alternative Sanctions System (JASS) network site. JASS provides alternatives to juvenile justice system services for youth at the front end (pre-adjudication) through early interventions. Intensive case management is provided in which program staff identify the needs of the young person and find resources in the community to address these needs. Primary services include restitution, community service, family and community empowerment activities and referrals to other community services. The goal is to build self-esteem and develop an improved self-concept among these youth.
Barnyard Community Center
The Barnyard Community Center is a JASS program site serving local children and youth with after-school activities and their families. Its mission is to "reduce the likelihood that children reared in a neighborhood plagued by the consequences of economic deprivation (crime, violence, lack of opportunity) will experience academic failure and drop out of educational institutions only to reappear in the criminal justice system as juvenile offenders."
The Center provides a career awareness mentoring program for fifth graders. The program is coordinated with the local middle school. Mentors come once a week. Many of the young people are from families on welfare and are not around family members with jobs. The Center's funding comes from the Dade Metropolitan Office of Services for Neighborhood Employment, the United Way and private foundations.
Debriefing of Field Trip Participants
At the conclusion, a debriefing of participants was held. Among the issues discussed and thoughts exchanged were:
- Exceptional resources have been put into Turner Technical High School. Is this level of resources sustainable and from what source? Since most schools do not have access to this level of resources, are there equity issues which should be addressed? Is this quality of programming available to students throughout the county? What is the payoff of investment in terms of student achievement?
- At the community centers visited, we saw people taking risks--forging ahead in providing services with limited resources--and obviously caring greatly for the young people they serve.
- Money does make a difference in staff preparation and the quality of services a community based organization is able to offer.
- The role of CBOs in education and provision of services to youth is not sufficiently recognized.
Contact Information
Ted Levitt
Office of the Campus President
Mitchell Wolfson New World Center Campus
300 N.E. 2 Avenue
Miami, FL 33132
Phone: 305-237-3675
Fax: 305-237-3724
Juvenile Alternative Sanctions System:
Jeanette Garcia
Director, Community Resource Development
Juvenile Alternative Sanctions System
4343 W. Flagler Street, Suite 404
Miami, FL 33135
Phone: 305-529-2709 x 225
Fax: 305-529-2721
Christian Community Service Agency:
Bettye Wiggs
Center Director
Christian Community Service Agency
1400 NW 36th Street
Miami, FL 33142
Phone: 305-635-5122
Fax: 305-541-5228
Greater Miami Service Corps:
Hubert James
Executive Director
Amy Aiken
Education and Training Coordinator
Greater Miami Service Corps
810 NW 28th St.
Miami, FL 33127
Phone: 305-638-4672
Fax: 305-633-5319
William H.Turner Technical Arts High School:
Alicia Green
Vice Principal
Lois Kahn
Program Facilitator for the National Academy Foundation
William H.Turner Technical Arts High School
10151 NW 19th Avenue
Miami, FL 33147
Phone: 305-691-8324
Fax: 305-693-9463
Barnyard Community Center:
Sylvia Jordan
Program Director
Barnyard Community Center
3870 Washington Ave.
Miami, FL 33133
Phone: 305-446-6216
Fax:305-446-2177
[1] Other campuses offer other vocational specialities.
[2] This is one of nine curriculum integration projects funded by the U.S. Department of Education.