Alternative Education Programs for Youth
Estes Park and Denver, Colorado

An American Youth Policy Forum Field Trip — August 9-11, 2000

The focus of this trip was on alternative education programs for youth. It included visits to two Service and Conservation Corps (one rural and one urban), a secondary school created for students who have not been successful at their regular high school, meetings with administrators from a public school district recognized for its reform efforts and with an organization that authorizes charter schools (as alternatives to public school). The group started its tour in Estes Park, situated next to Rocky Mountain National Park, and returned on the last day to Denver for two meetings.

Colorado Youth Corps and Larimer County Youth Conservation Corps, (8/9)

Our first meeting was with Ann Baker, Executive Director of the Colorado Youth Corps Association, a non-profit organization whose mission is to develop and maintain a network of locally operating youth conservation corps programs that work to preserve and enhance the environment. Youth Corps, or conservation and service corps, harness the energy and idealism of young people to meet the needs of communities, states, and the nation. Corps programs engage young people, generally 16-25 years old, in paid, productive full-time work which benefits both the young people and their communities.

Youth corps crews undertake a wide range of work projects. Some are similar to the forestry and parks projects of the Civilian Conservation Corps of the 1930’s; others provide services to urban parks, renovate housing, and assist human service agencies. Corpsmembers (youth corps members) devote part of each week to improving their basic education skills and to preparing for future employment. Most corps offer pre-GED, GED and college credit courses, as well as classes focusing on essential life skills, such as budgeting, parenting, and personal health and well being. Some corps offer educational scholarships or cash bonuses to corpsmembers who complete their term of service.

Nationally, there are 108 youth corps in 31 states and the District of Columbia, with approximately 23,083 youth. Of these, 16,780 are full-time participants, 4,106 are summer participants, and 2,197 are part-time participants. The demographics of this group are African-American – 28 percent; Asian – 4 percent; Caucasian – 40 percent; Latino – 22 percent; Native American – 2 percent; and other – 4 percent. Fifty-one percent of the participants have no high school diploma, 30 percent have a high school diploma or a GED, 13 percent have some college, and 7 percent have a college degree. Sixty-four percent of youth corps participants are male.

Funding for the Youth Corps comes from a variety of sources. Nationally, about 34 percent of funds are from state, county or municipal appropriations; about 34 percent from the Federal government; 16 percent from state or local fee-for-service contracts; 7 percent from foundations or corporate contributions, and 5 percent from other sources. The National and Community Service Act of 1990 provides a major source of funding for youth corps. Other federal programs providing funds to youth corps include the Public Lands Corps Programs in the National Park Service, the Transportation Enhancements and Recreational Trails program (U.S. Department of Transportation funding to states), Community Development Block Grants (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development) and the Workforce Investment Act Youth program (U.S. Department of Labor). Annual appropriations for the Forest Service, the National Park Service, and the Fish and Wildlife Service contain preferences and priority language for contracts with youth conservation corps as well.

AmeriCorps, created by the National Service Act of 1993 and governed by the Corporation for National Service, is another program that provides funding to youth corps. Upon successful completion of a designated term of service, corpmembers are eligible for an AmeriCorps Education Award. Corpmembers/AmeriCorps Member receives $4,725 for completing one full-time term that includes a minimum of 1700 hours of service in no less than 9 months and no more than 12. The youth has up to seven years to utilize the education award for any federally accredited institution of higher education.

Ann Baker indicated that in 1997, with the assistance of a two-year grant from Great Outdoors Colorado (with funds from the state lottery allocated to environmental and outdoor projects) and a number of national and state foundations, the Colorado Youth Corps Association (CYCA) was launched. CYCA serves as a project management entity for several statewide youth conservation corps efforts, manages contracts with the Division of Wildlife and Colorado State Parks, coordinates Great Outdoors Colorado lottery allocations with local government through the Colorado State Trails program, handles contract work with Colorado land and conservation trusts, and manages an accreditation process for the youth corps by setting quality standards. Currently, in Colorado, there are ten youth corps with a total of 450 corpsmembers now participating with projections of 600 youth by the year 2002.

CYCA also administers the postsecondary education awards to all participating youth corps members as part of the AmeriCorps Education Awards program. The CYCA program is structured so local corps and their participants can receive the benefit of these awards without the full administrative responsibility. Most of the awards for the CYCA program will be reduced to part-time awards for summer/seasonal corpsmembers. These awards will be based on a minimum of 300 hours of service during an 8-12 week program. A participant would then receive an award of $787.50. In 1999, 81 AmeriCorps Education Awards were made to qualifying corpsmembers in Colorado.

Following the briefing by Ann Baker, the group drove to Rocky Mountain National Park in Estes Park. A short walk on a trail under construction brought us to a group of young men and women involved in the Larimer County Youth Conservation Corps (LCYCC), headquartered in Fort Collins. This youth corps program combines conservation and environmental projects with human services, in particular improving literacy and conflict resolution skills with elementary school students. The full-time corpsmembers serve 40 hours a week for the duration of the program. The day begins at 7:30 AM with morning discussion and physical training to engage both the mind and body. Work projects can include building trails, streambank restoration, building barrier fences, and community work such as Habitat for Humanity and helping at local food banks. The teams stop working around 3:30 PM to write in their journals and reflect. Team members work four days on a work project and spend one day in the classroom helping elementary students.

Employees of the National Park Service, the project sponsors who oversee the work of the LCYCC in the park, also joined our group for an open-air discussion. The discussion focused on why youth joined the youth corps, the benefits they derived from their time with the youth corps, and their future plans. The majority of the youth we talked with were enrolled in high school and only participating in the summer youth corps program, although LCYCC does have a year-round program. Some of their reasons for joining the youth corps were:

• There is a lot of peer pressure in high school, especially related to appearance, but in the youth corps it doesn’t matter what you look like or what you wear, it’s how hard you work and your attitude that matters
• Enjoy being outside
• Want to learn about the environment
• Wanted to work in a team-oriented job

The youth described a number of benefits from their participation in the youth corps:

• Being exposed to the outdoors and a completely different environment helped many youth to see how much they enjoyed outdoor activity
• Getting healthy
• Being disciplined
• Doing hard work and seeing your accomplishments
• Working with the Park Service employees, learning about college and careers
• Exposure to adults as mentors, role models
• Getting paid

Most of the youth indicated they would finish high school or take credits to allow them to graduate and then enter college. Most of them plan to go to college, but realize it might take some time to earn money or to improve their skills. Many were ready to pursue four-year degrees.

The Park Service sponsors also shared their experience with the youth corps program and the benefits they saw from the program. Most of the Park Service employees are college graduates, and they felt they were very good role models for the corpsmembers. They would discuss their own academic careers, what college was like, what courses to take, and helped corpsmembers understand the important of a college degree.

The Park Service sponsors also indicated that in numerous instances, they could not have completed certain tasks without the help of the youth corps. The youth corps helped the Park Service to complete tasks that might not get done or to complete them much more quickly. The trail we walked on was built solely by the corpsmembers, with guidance from the Park Service employees, which freed up the Park Service employees to handle more challenging tasks. The Park Service was very pleased with the performance of the corpsmembers, and it was clear that many personal friendships and bonds were formed between the corpsmembers and the Park Service employees.

On the return walk, the youth showed the group their work, which included carving paths out of rocky hillsides, building stone steps requiring stone-cutting techniques, and creating watercourses for runoff. All were extremely proud of their hard physical work and said they liked having something concrete to point to at day’s end.

Eagle Rock School, (8/10)

The next day’s visit took us to a very unique school, located a few minutes from the center of Estes Park, and nested in the lower hills of the Rocky Mountains. Eagle Rock School and Professional Development Center is an initiative of the American Honda Education Corporation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization established by American Honda Motor Company, Inc. In 1990, American Honda Education Corporation asked the following question: "What service can we render that goes beyond what one would expect of a corporation?" After gathering advice from many people around the country, the leaders of the American Honda Education Corporation decided to create an alternative high school and a professional development center. The Corporation provides Eagle Rock with an annual budget of approximately $4 million, which provides about $20,000 per student.

Eagle Rock (ER) School is a year-round residential high school that provides a full scholarship to all students. The students who attend Eagle Rock have not experienced success in traditional education programs. The maximum number of students at the school is 96, and the students are between the ages of 15 and 19.

The Professional Development Center reinforces and complements the high school program by providing pre-service and continuing teacher education, curriculum development, and information on best practices. Working closely with a number of partner school districts and institutions of higher education, the Professional Development Center is designed to create a "ripple" effect in spreading the teaching and learning approaches practiced at Eagle Rock.

When the American Honda Education Corporation made the commitment to build and fund an alternative high school and professional development center, they decided to put in place a distinctive curriculum and philosophy. The founders also wanted an educational leader who was well versed in youth development and committed to service learning, and signed up Robert Burkhardt to serve as Head of School. Based on his 15 years experience with service and conservation corps, Burkhardt saw that high schools were not working and that kids were leaving high school inappropriately. He wanted to work in a small school that used experiential and interdisciplinary learning, in addition to having a strong focus on service and youth development.

The curriculum at Eagle Rock is distinct from curriculum at many other schools. The curriculum at Eagle Rock is experiential, learner-centered, outcome-oriented, integrated, and rigorous and is built around how people learn, not how teachers teach. It is also based on a set of principles and values that encompass individual integrity (intellectual discipline, physical fitness, spiritual development, and aesthetic expression) and citizenship (service to others, cross-cultural understanding, democratic governance, and environmental stewardship).

Prospective Eagle Rock students have not experienced success in school settings for a variety of reasons and may be at risk of dropping out. They generally are not comfortable with their present circumstances or may be experiencing problem relationships in their homes, schools, or communities. Graduation from high school for them appears to be unlikely.

Admission is based on the student’s educational history, references, personal interviews and the intuitive sense of the staff that the applicant is genuinely motivated to succeed and will benefit from the Eagle Rock experience. An essential characteristic of all Eagle Rock students is that they are willing to make changes in their lifestyle, and they display a real desire and commitment to give up negative behaviors, finish high school, and look toward productive futures. Parents or a sponsor must also be willing to be involved in the life of the student after admission. Usually about 60-120 students apply for each trimester, but the school can only admit 20. Students stay from one to four years and are, on the average, 19-20 when they graduate.

There are six "houses" at Eagle Rock, each with 16 youth maximum. House parents are responsible for each house and live with the students in the dorms (boys and girls are separated). Each student is responsible for certain chores every day, which rotate. The dorm rooms all have computers, linked to Internet. House parents serve as mentors and counselors for the students in their dorm. The presence of these adults, after hours, and at night, allow the youth easy access to advice and counsel when needed, or just a sympathetic ear. In addition, students are provided counseling by an individual referred to as the "Life After Eagle Rock Counselor," who helps students sort out their future college and career plans as well as whether or not to return to their home high school. The campus is quite new (seven years old), and students have helped decorate some facilities with artwork.

There are three courses a day, one and half-hours long. Certain courses required for graduation, but students can decide when to take these courses during their time at Eagle Rock. Class size ranges from 5-20, and classrooms use round tables, a very intentional approach to encourage dialectic discussion. The school is on a year-round trimester schedule with a two to three week break after each trimester. After the first six weeks of a trimester, there is "Explore Week," a non-academic week in which students are exposed to all kinds of things – from silversmithing to African dance and glass blowing. Some of the Explore Week activities are off campus, such as canoe trips. Following Explore Week, students return to school for a next set of courses for six weeks. During these six-week periods, students could select one class that fills all three periods each day, similar to a seminar. Course sequence is also somewhat different at Eagle Rock. Since there are no grades, and since Eagle Rock has a rolling admissions policy, classes are offered on a rotational basis. Once all requirements have been met, students who have attended Eagle Rock for four or more trimesters may apply for graduation.

Because of the six-week schedule, classes are an in-depth treatment of a narrow subject, e.g. a class on U.S. involvement in Vietnam rather than a class on U.S. History. This raises the issue of breadth versus depth. Staff stated that Eagle Rock students may not have the same knowledge of U.S. History as regular high school students, but Eagle Rock students would understand how government works, the systems in place, and the concepts of democracy and civics. For example, an "Explore Week" activity could be to participate in a government and civics seminar, such as Close-Up, in Washington, DC.

In some areas, the narrowness of the curriculum is a weakness, because some students have difficulty going to college and taking certain courses. Eagle Rock understands this and is changing its schedule to allow for 10-week courses, rather than the 6-week courses to make them more interdisciplinary and to include more course content. Robert Burkhardt said "There are so many values we hold dear to our curriculum, we put them in our program which means we may miss something. We try to engage students in their own learning and that’s a priority over facts and figures. It is more important to have students be responsible for their own learning and to know how to learn."

All students are required to complete a legacy project. Some projects are service-oriented, such as building a park shelter or putting books on tape. Each student completes 500 hours of service, both at the school and in Estes Park. Eagle Rock was one of the first group of service-learning leaders school for the past two years. Next April, Eagle Rock will host a four-day conference on service-learning with the entire school helping to put on the conference. Robert Burkhardt wants every student to leave with the commitment to service, and almost every class has a service component. Burkhardt said service is regarded as "the rent you pay for being in the world."

Students graduate from Eagle Rock on the basis of demonstrated competencies, rather than seat time and grades. Students are not assigned to a grade, nor do they get grades. The goal is that every Eagle Rock graduate will be a productive, engaged citizen, ready and willing to make a difference in the world, and able to learn on his or her own.

The graduation competencies were created by instructional specialists knowledgeable in the discipline, with reference to the Colorado State Model Content Standards as well as the published list of standards by professional groups such as the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. All students are held to the competencies required for graduation, but their pathways through those competencies will vary considerably as they choose different courses in which to learn and demonstrate mastery. Once a student demonstrates mastery, evidence is placed in the student’s portfolio. Students do not fail at Eagle Rock; they are simply not yet ready to demonstrate mastery.

In addition to the documentation of learning, students do formal Presentations of Learning (POL) three times a year. These occur for every student at the end of every trimester. A major part of a POL is the focus on personal growth as well as classroom learning. POLs consist of an overall 15-minute presentation of what the student has learned followed by 15 minutes of questioning from a panel of people from outside of Eagle Rock. A POL package includes a resume and a list of books read, learning experiences and credits earned, service projects, and Ambassador activities. The POLs do not help students get credit in class; they are designed to help students celebrate, make sense of, and reflect on their learning, connect it to past learning, and project goals for future learning.

Students who petition to graduate from Eagle Rock must do a one-hour POL in front of the entire community, including family, and friends in an audience of more than 200 people, with students reflecting on their entire time at Eagle Rock (one to four years). Occasionally alumni will return to give a POL on his or her life after Eagle Rock and the work required to get into college. One former Eagle Rock student, now a college graduate, came back to give a POL of his learning in college. The school is now encouraging their alumni to return to present POLs as a way to inspire the current students.

Teaching positions at Eagle Rock appear to be highly coveted. There is a great deal of competition for teaching slots, and candidates are selected by their peers as well as the administration. School employees are hired according to how well their strengths contribute to the overall design, with as much consideration for who they are as what they do. Even though each school employee comes to Eagle Rock with an area of specialization, all employees are involved in helping students achieve their learning goals, and they all have an instructional role.

The Professional Development Center (PDC) is a key part of Eagle Rock School. It hosts over 2000 visitors a year, mostly educators and teachers, in a small conference center with lodging. Activities of the PDC range from educational tours to strategic planing, from workshops to meetings, from opportunities to work with educational leaders from across the country to research, and from consulting services for participating districts to presentations at local and national conferences. Novice teachers work with seasoned professionals at the school, veteran teachers take sabbaticals, and newly developed curriculum is introduced at the school and in participating district classrooms. The PDC also makes available 12 internship positions for college graduates who are interested in being teachers for a 12-month rotation. Visitors learn about the ER vision and try to put their own twist on it and apply it to their own schools. The PDC is also trying to develop a licensed teaching internship program as a way to spread good practices.

During the tour of the campus, which was led by students, it was very clear that the students felt very comfortable at Eagle Rock and appreciated where they were. Almost every student was very open about his or her personal issues, as well as being very outspoken on social and political issues. They liked the structure of the school and said it allowed them more freedom to explore and learn. Students with higher skill levels would help tutor other students, and they enjoyed that interaction and a sense of mastery. Students also said the adults treated them with respect and took them seriously.

Creating the culture that Robert Burkhardt and his staff wanted took them about three years. After that work, they were able to focus squarely on academics. By the sixth year, Eagle Rock received accreditation from the Association of Independent Schools, and now in their seventh year, the staff and faculty of Eagle Rock said they feel pretty solid, but expect to be "knocked off our feet so we can be challenged and continue to learn." Honda never set up a rigid accountability system with the school, but instead has encouraged continuous communication, dialogue, and decision-making at the lowest level. The Executive Director of the American Honda Education Corporation, Tom Dean, joined us for our visit and was well-known by staff and students alike. He says he comes as often as he can, to see how the school and Professional Development Center are doing and to learn more about the education philosophy and practice. He also said he enjoys being on campus with the students and appreciates how hard it has been to create the kind of open culture that exists.

What makes Eagle Rock work? Aside from the generous budget that Honda provides, Burkhardt said the key is human relationships. "Relationships don’t cost money, and anyone, with money or without, can create a school with close relationships." He suggests making high schools smaller, with houses, wings, and families – any strategy to create intimacy and belonging which are necessary for adolescents. While the smallness of the school is necessary, it is not sufficient, and excellent teaching must also be present. Burkhardt also suggests that "students should be teachers and teachers should be students" as a way to open up teaching and engage students. "Leadership, smallness, and a culture that values personal relationships are all needed to change schools, but it is very difficult," said Burkhardt. He recognizes that he is in a very special situation with the support from American Honda Education Corporation and knows the challenges public high schools face.

Perhaps the most important reason for Eagle Rock’s success with troubled youth is their focus on the person. "If we don’t worry about character first, we won’t have to deal with English, math, etc.," Burkhardt said, continuing, "Paradoxically, the focus on the community culture and creating the community, has resulted in individuality." The Dean of Students, Philbert Smith, echoed these sentiments by saying we must "put intimacy back into American education. Eagle Rock works because it is an intimate community."

Burkhardt says it is hard to measure the success of the school. "Success is getting the kids who have not been successful to be engaged in learning. Some kids leave because they break the rules or because the work is too hard. Failures and successes are hard to measure because many kids who leave end up returning to their home high school and graduating."

During the discussion about helping struggling schools, Burkhardt said be believes that any resources for undernourished schools should go into ongoing professional development. He said, "Forty percent of leadership is working on yourself – when do teachers get to do that?"

In response to a question about American Honda Education Corporation’s plans for replication of Eagle Rock, Tom Dean said there interest is in seeing the long-term impact that Eagle Rock has on its students. "It takes a long time for a school to be successful, and we are still waiting to see if the Eagle Rock formula works," Dean added. He said that they would like to work with more feeder schools to bring students to Eagle Rock and to continue to build the PDC. The American Honda Education Corporation believes strongly in the PDC and what it can contribute to education reform and see that as a valuable way to leverage their investment.

Meeting with Administrators from Thompson School District, a New American High School District, (8/10)

Following our meeting at Eagle Rock, the group met with administrators of the Thompson School District in Loveland, CO, which has been designated as the only New American High School district. The New American High School (NAHS) Initiative, sponsored by the Office of Vocational and Adult Education at the U.S. Department of Education, recognizes secondary schools that have made major reforms in their curriculum, instruction, accountability, and career preparation strategies to help youth succeed. The elements of a NAHS are:

• All the core activities of the school concentrate on student learning and achievement.
• All students are expected to master the same rigorous academic material. High expectations are established for student achievement.
• Staff development and planning emphasize student learning and achievement.
• The curricula are challenging and relevant and cover material in depth.
• Schools use new forms of assessment.
• Students get extra support from adults.
• Students learn about careers and college opportunities through real-life experiences.
• Schools create small, highly personalized, and safe learning environments.
• Technology is integrated into the classroom to provide high-quality instruction, and students have opportunities to gain computer and other technical skills.
• Periods of instruction are longer and more flexible.
• Strong partnerships are forged with middle schools and colleges.
• Schools form active alliances with parents, employers, community members, and policymakers to promote student learning and ensure accountability for results.

Thompson School District has three high schools: both Thompson Valley and Loveland High Schools enroll between 1500-1600 students and Berthoud High School enrolls approximately 550 students. Between 10 and 17 percent of the students are eligible for free and reduced price lunch. All three schools have seen the numbers of students attending college increase (from 50 percent to 70 percent at Thompson Valley, from 55 percent to 75 percent at Berthoud, and from 45 percent to 78 percent at Loveland) and dropout rates decrease (6.8 percent to 3.2 percent at Thompson Valley, and 6.8 percent to 4.4 percent at Berthoud over five years).

Thompson School District (TSD) started its district-wide reforms seven years ago, by instituting ambitious district standards and assessments. To help students achieve these higher standards, the district moved to career pathways – six academic and career areas that would motivate students to higher achievement by demonstrating the relevance of coursework to students’ career goals. Currently, the district’s academic standards now exceed those set by the state.

Although every school adopted career pathways as a strategy, each school has implemented the reform according to their own preferences and circumstances. Some schools have emphasized curriculum development and team teaching, some teachers are infusing career-related activities into their academic instruction, and others are focusing on developing work-based learning experiences for their students.

Business involvement is a critical component of the TSD’s reform efforts, and the district has a strong relationship with the local chambers of commerce. Area employers such as Hewlett Packard, Mckee Medical Center, Kodak, and Bank One collaborate with the schools in designing strategic plans, budgets, and work-based learning experiences and internships for students and teachers. The district also enjoys strong ties with nearby postsecondary institutions including Colorado State University, The University of Northern Colorado, and Front Range Community College.

The three principals and the district superintendent were all very clear in their goals and expectations for their students. Superintendent Dan Johnson described the data system they are in the process of building that will track the performance of every student, every teacher, and every school. He forcefully promoted a data-driven system and said that there is no other way to measure performance than by student outcomes. He said it has been hard to implement the system across the district and to get the "buy-in" of everyone, but once teachers see the data on student performance they are motivated to improve on their own.

Mile High Youth Corps, (8/11)

The setting of the meeting with the Mile High Youth Corps (MHYC) was dramatically different than the one for the Larimer County Youth Conservation Corps. MHYC is located in a small office building in a neighborhood in Denver that has older residential sections, small commercial and industrial establishments, and sits two blocks from the new Mile High football stadium. Mile High Youth Corps was founded in 1992 as a summer program serving youth in the immediate neighborhood and has now expanded to a year-round program serving all of Denver.

Kelly Causey, Director of the MHYC, indicated the goals of the MHYC are to:

• Increase job readiness and community involvement of urban youth through carefully designed work projects;
• Increase youths’ academic skills and develop a love of lifelong learning through direct GED preparation, tutoring, and an experiential education program that is integrated into the weekly work of the corps;
• Prepare youth for the responsibilities of adulthood through life skills training, direct and daily contact with caring adults who serve as role models and mentors, and through linkages to support services offered by collaborating organizations;
• Develop in youth an appreciation for the environment through direct involvement in natural resource projects and through environmental education; and
• Coordinate collaborations and partnerships with government agencies and community-based organizations to support urban youth.

These goals are accomplished through a comprehensive, integrated, year-round program for out-of-school youth aged 16-24 that offers 40 hours per week of direct work experience on crews engaged in conservation projects and other community service, education, lifeskills training, and support services. MHYC is unique among youth programs in Colorado because it focuses on inner-city youth that have dropped out of school or have little or no work experience. Students must participate in both the work and the educational components to remain in the program, because they learn valuable skills in each. The program at MHYC has three components:

Community Service Work – Corpsmembers work 32 hours a week and earn $6 an hour serving on a work crew with 12 peers and an adult crew leader who serves as a mentor and a role model. Crews complete projects throughout the Denver metropolitan area (removing graffiti, cleaning alleyways, city parks) and in the mountains, focusing on conservation, construction/rehabilitation, and human services work.

Education and Life Skills Training – Many youth corps participants have not seen a significant connection between what takes place in the classroom and what is going on in their "real lives." They have not seen themselves as active or competent learners. The educational components of the program include a minimum of six hours per week of GED instruction and two hours per week of life skills training focused on conflict resolution, career planning, money management, communication skills, outdoor education and leadership training. This helps youth overcome some of the personal challenges they face and helps them develop the skills they need for responsible adulthood. Youth also have an opportunity to participate in College Summit, an intensive weekend of workshops sponsored by the University of Colorado-Denver to prepare low-income young adults for entering college. Their entry into college is facilitated by the award of a scholarship of up to $2,682 through AmeriCorps Education Awards once they complete 900 hours of service (approximately six months in the corps).

Support Services – A variety of services are provided by referring organizations, such as childcare and health services. Additionally, crew leaders and other MHYC staff, because they interact side by side with the youth each day, become important sources of information, caring feedback, and support for the youth in the program. MHYC staff also help youth transition to a job or to further education and training and can provide support up to one year after the youth has left the youth corps program. Staff indicated that tracking youth after they leave the program is very difficult, which makes data collection on outcomes almost impossible.

The demographics of MHYC youth are 90 percent male, 60 percent Latino, 20 percent African-American, 13 percent white. Of the current 46 corpsmembers, 97 percent are low-income; 87 percent are deficient in basic skills and high school dropouts; 2 percent are homeless; 17 percent are pregnant or parents; 53 percent have had a criminal experience; and 23 percent have other barriers such as mental health problems, child care, or transportation problems. Causey also said that since the unemployment rate in Denver is only 2 percent, and almost anyone can get a job, these youth are the ones that have the largest barriers to employment and are the hardest to serve.

Most of the youth read at a ninth grade level. Those at a sixth grade reading level or below are not accepted and are referred to adult education. Students work at their own pace in an individualized learning program with tutors from the University of Denver. They earn money for their academic achievements: $15 per week for doing their homework and being on time; $25 for passing each GED subject exam; and $25 for the complete GED exam. MHYC keeps the funds over the period of time the youth is enrolled and then gives the total, which averages about $300, upon graduation.

MHYC has to recruit youth on a full-time basis, because about one-third of the youth leave after one month in the program. They either get fired or leave because of problems, such as parole violations or transportation difficulties.

In 1999, over 50 youth participated in the MHYC program. Over the span of the year, these youth have provided the community over 10,000 hours of service. In the past year alone, corpsmembers maintained eight miles of mountain trail, stained six bridges, planted over 1,500 flowers and trees, helped construct four single family homes, helped distribute over 110,500 lbs. of products to non-profit agencies, and helped prepare and serve over 1,600 meals to the homeless. In addition, seven Corpsmembers passed 15 subject exams for their GED.

MHYC sees a large need in the community and is now well positioned to expand its services. It has taken the organization eight years to reach a level of stability, because the seasonal aspect of corps work makes it difficult to keep good staff year-round. MHYC will become a subcontractor for the Youth Opportunity Grant that the City of Denver received from the U.S. Department of Labor, allowing them to recruit and serve more youth, as well as to keep good staff and have greater financial stability. MHYC is also part of the one-stop career center in the city, as well as being an eligible service provider under the Workforce Investment Act local plan.

The Denver Public School system provides a part-time instructor to MHYC during the school year, but not during the summer. Causey indicated it is very difficult to find full-time instructors, and MHYC looks for resources in different agencies: the public schools, adult education, and the employment and training system. MHYC receives the per pupil expenditure from the Denver Public Schools for students who attend their program, but at a reduced rate. Those funds go directly to cover the cost of instructors and materials.

During our visit, we met with two youth that were working on their GEDs. Both of them, a young man and a woman, said that school was boring and teachers did nothing to help them and they dropped out. They like the way the staff of the MHYC treats them with respect and gives them help when they need it. They can move forward at their own pace, which keeps them from becoming bored. Both youth also commended the staff for their caring attitude and for helping and listening. The young people said the MHYC is a completely different environment from their public high schools, where they felt no one cared about them or if they learned. The young woman, who was kicked out her senior year of high school said, "I’ve learned more in two months than in 12 years of school."

Following the visit, we drove to a nearby city park that has recently been renovated with help from the MHYC. The Mayor of Denver decided to vastly improve the park and bike trail system through the city, so many parks are now being renovated. The MHYC has received several contracts from the city to perform work in the parks and is becoming such a popular provider of services, they are having difficulty keeping up with the requests from the city and other employers. In this particular park, the corpsmembers took vacant and abandoned land near a stream, cleaned it up, took away trash and weeds, and planted hundreds of shrubs, flowers, and trees to create a welcoming city park.

National Association of Charter School Authorizers, (8/11)

Our last meeting was with two representatives of the newly formed National Association of Charter School Authorizers. Amy Berk Anderson, Co-Director, and Patrick Grippe, Member of the Board and Assistant Superintendent, Douglas County School District, shared information on the new organization and the issues faced by charter school authorizers. In addition, Grippe described the public school choice system in Douglas County, CO.

The National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) is a non-profit professional membership association dedicated to strengthening the capacities of all kinds of chartering agencies that authorize and oversee charter schools. NACSA will promote an ongoing exchange of information and share ideas, lessons, and effective practices among charter school authorizers. NACSA will serve local school boards, state boards and departments of education, higher education institutions, municipal bodies, and independent chartering boards. NACSA is initially supported by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

NACSA has developed a range of topics and issues its members will focus on, including:

• Evaluating charter school proposals, negotiating charter school contracts, planning, overseeing and evaluating charter school performance and accountability, and renewal or revocation of charters
• Effective policies and practices of charter school authorizing agencies
• Charter school facilities and financing needs
• Special education needs
• Legal issues
• Governance issues and effective interaction with charter school governing boards
• Communication with the media, researchers, policymakers, and the public

In Colorado, the Charter Schools Act, signed into law in 1993, allows charter schools to be authorized by the local public school district. If the local school district refuses to charter a school, the founders of the school have the option of applying to the state superintendent. Grippe discussed his experiences with creating public school choice and charter schools in the Douglas County School District, a district midway between Denver and Colorado Springs, with a student population of 32,500. Douglas County School District has a policy of choice among all of its public schools, allowing families a great deal of freedom in selecting schools. In addition, there are six elementary and middle charter schools with approximately 2,500 students. All of these schools have been chartered by the local school district, and Grippe indicated that the public school administrators have been very supportive of the charter school movement and see it as one more way to provide more choice to families.

Grippe said one problem with setting up charter schools through school districts is that it takes a great deal of time and can sap administrative resources. Charter schools get 105% of the per pupil expenditure compared to regular public schools, but, charter schools must find and pay for their own facilities. Students at charter schools (as well as home school students) must take the same tests and meet the same standards as all other public school students. Charter school teachers do not have to get a Colorado teacher certification to teach, which allows greater flexibility for the schools.

In an effort to help charter schools reduce administrative burden, the Douglas County School District has set up some administrative structures, such as forming an insurance pool that charter schools can buy into. Not only is it much cheaper than buying insurance on their own, these kinds of administrative programs help ease the burden of running the business side of school, saves money overall for the district, and helps standardize administrative procedures for the central district administrative staff.

Summary

The following observations can be made from the trip:

• Learning beyond the classroom. Each site visited illustrated benefits of learning and accessing resources for learning outside the classroom. The conservation corps work is something that cannot be captured in a classroom and provides different sets of competencies and experiences for participants. The corps work (conservation or Americorps) compliments the work of public agencies and provides young people useful work and youth development experiences. Eagle Rock’s emphasis on service-learning provides students opportunities to learn through community interaction.

• The importance of options and alternative learning settings for young people. Each site offered an alternative to the regular public school and the young people confirmed their need for different environments in keeping with their needs. Work is used as a pretext for expanding their horizons by allowing them to learn and apply their skills to improve the inner-city as well as introducing them to the wonders of their local environment—the great forests and mountain areas of Colorado. Students had choices especially at Eagle Rock, about their courses and schoolwork as well as decisions for their future, leading to a greater engagement in learning.

• Programs provide support for academic and personal development and a great deal of adult contact. The programs we visited had a strong commitment to educating the “whole” person through education, life skills, personal enrichment, job skills, and a connection to the environment. Eagle Rock and the youth corps were clear in their mission and goals that they wanted to help develop young people who would be fully prepared to lead a civic life, be a lifelong learner, and provide service to others. All programs were based on creating meaningful and positive relationships between youth and adults, as well as sense of belonging.

Contact Information

Ann C. Baker
Executive Director
Colorado Youth Corps Association
370 17th Street, Suite 5300
Denver, CO
303-825-6246, ext. 350
303-628-3839 – fax
abaker@piton.org

Shirley Greve-Coughlin
Program Coordinator
Larimer County Youth Conservation Corps
3842 South Mason Street
Fort Collins, CO
970-223-2470

Robert Burkhardt
Head of School
Eagle Rock School
2750 Notaiah Road
P.O. Box 1770
Estes Park, CO
970-586-0600

Dan Johnson
Superintendent
Thompson School District
535 N. Douglas Avenue
Loveland, CO
970-613-5027

Leonard Sherman
Principal
Berthoud High School
950 Spartan Avenue
Berthoud, CO

Doug Deason
Principal
Loveland High School
920 W. 29th Street
Loveland, CO

Ben Hix
Principal
Thompson Valley High School
1669 Eagle Drive
Loveland, CO

Kelly Causey
Executive Director
Mile High Youth Corps
1801 Federal
Denver, CO
303-433-1206/303-433-5997
kellyc@mhyc.mail.com

Amy Anderson
Co-Director
National Association of Charter School
Authorizers
621 17th Street, Suite 730
Denver, CO
303-665-4617
aba@xpert.net

Pat Grippe
Assistant Superintendent
Douglas County School District
620 Wilcox Street
Castle Rock, CO
303-814-5222
patrick_grippe@CEO.cudenver.edu

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