Middle and early college high schools: Providing multilevel support and accelerated learning

Abstract

Middle and early college high schools offer traditionally underserved students the opportunity to simultaneously engage in high school and college classes, with the goal of attaining both a high school diploma and an associate degree within five years. This chapter describes how two such schools support students as they confront the complexities of their educational and personal lives.Adolescence is an age of border crossings. Children move from innocence to experience through experimentation, challenge, and high-stakes risk taking. They try on identities-personal, intellectual, sexual, and political-as one would change hats, always conscious that they can retreat into their childish personas if things get too dangerous. For adolescents, decisions are not forever. Relationships and commitments are not necessarily obligations. Yet as young people experiment, society simultaneously pushes back, and opportunities to grow up faster force or tempt young people to assume adult roles. The early college high school movement challenges adults and youngsters to use this period of inconstancy to build a foundation that may change the way we look at educating youth in a time of transition. If we can be successful at naming the challenges and building adequate support structures, we can channel our students' restless energy into positive accomplishments.Middle college-early college high schools integrate high school with college in programs that graduate students with a high school diploma and an associate degree within five years. Since 2002, the Middle College National Consortium (MCNC) has served as an intermediary organization for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Ford Foundation, Kellogg Foundation, and Carnegie Corporation, all of which provide funding for the program, redesigning existing middle colleges and facilitating the opening of new early colleges throughout the country. 49 5 NEW DIRECTIONS FOR COMMUNITY COLLEGES, no. 135, Fall 2006

Out of the Mouths of Babes

“…The ECHS model stands firmly on the shoulders of previous high school to college integrated or acceleration models such as the 1970s initiative, the Middle College High School (MCHS) at LaGuardia Community College for minority youth (Born, 2006), as well as a variety of dual enrollment and tech-prep programs focused on college-readiness support (Andrews, 2004; Kirst & Venezia, 2001; Kisker, 2006; Krueger, 2006; Waits, Setzer, & Lewis, 2005). Based on these and other related models, which integrate and closely unite the K-12 and higher education systems, implementation of the ECHS model began in the United States in 2002 through support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Ford Foundation, and the W. K. Kellogg Foundation (Early College High School Initiative, 2005).…”

“…To ensure success, the ECHS design specifically addresses several college integration challenges for these students. One strategy targets academic readiness through preparatory coursework and support services (Born, 2006; Haggis & Pouget, 2002; Gross & van Vliet, 2005; Kirst & Venezia, 2001; Muratori et al, 2003; Olszewski-Kubilius, 2002). Another way addresses social integration and relationship building through a small community design comprising specific on-campus classrooms and a central meeting location (Contreras, 2011; Haggis & Pouget, 2002; Heilbronner et al, 2010; Tinto, 1993).…”

“…Student perceptions about their learning experiences can provide understandings to educators that controvert school structures and designs (De La Ossa, 2005). Therefore, learners’ sharing of schooling experiences becomes a powerful source for examining aspects of school design that support postsecondary preparation and potentially provide insight to one of the major reasons that students falter in college—the challenging transition from high school experiences to college expectations (Barnett, 2006; Born, 2006; Byrd & McDonald, 2005; Conley, 2005; Tinto, 1993).…”

What Happens When You Combine High School and College? The Impact of the Early College Model on Postsecondary Performance and Completion

“…Finally, the early college model recognizes that the increased expectations must be accompanied by increasing support (Jobs for the Future, 2008). As a result, schools focus on developing a comprehensive suite of academic and affective supports (Born, 2006; Le & Frankfort, 2011). Results reported elsewhere indicate that early college students noted higher levels of support than control students (Edmunds et al, 2013).…”

Creating College Advising Connections: Comparing Motivational Beliefs of Early College High School Students to Traditional First-Year University Students

“…A study conducted by Born (2006) indicates some potential difficulties for some ECHS students when they begin college classes. In this investigation of middle and early college students, Born reported that students were motivated to enroll in such programs, not surprisingly, to lessen the burden of college tuition and to accelerate and complete college early.…”