Borsuk: Students speaking the language of college success
There has been controversy in recent years about the vocabulary questions on college admissions tests. The SAT tests were criticized for using words that no one uses in real life, so there were changes aimed at making the vocabulary more relevant.
Permit me to offer some vocabulary words aimed at college success that I believe are highly relevant. I developed this list after visiting with several Milwaukee South Division High School students involved with a nonprofit program called College Possible.
South Division has pretty bad results when it comes to graduation. Fewer than 40% of students graduated in four years, as of 2015, according to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. Only a third of those who did graduate went on to post-secondary education.
Low graduation rates and low college success rates among low-income and minority students is a huge issue nationwide. This was underscored last week by a report from the Education Trust, a Washington-based nonprofit, offering data about the wide range of success rates for black students at universities and colleges nationwide. The report listed the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee as one of 21 schools across the U.S. with particularly low success rates. Only 21% of black students who enrolled at UWM graduated within six years.
But, amid those facts, there are success stories, including at South Division. With all due respect to the teachers, guidance counselors and others at the school, I’d suggest that the energetic and dedicated help of the College Possible staff is a big reason why.
So here’s some vocabulary I learned from South Division students who are on good paths:
Urgency. When she entered 11th grade, Mayra Alaniz said she felt “a sense of urgency” about the need to go to college if she wanted the best future for herself. She heard that College Possible could help her get there. She joined the program, which offers participants after-school help two days a week, plus a lot of informal mentoring.
That led to a summer program at Princeton University before her senior year, to a Gates Millennium scholarship, which pretty much paid for college, and admission to Georgetown University in Washington. She will graduate from Georgetown this spring, with hopes of returning to Milwaukee to help people here.
“In some ways, I just felt lucky that I ran into the right resources at the right time,” she said. She also granted that she’s a hard worker. And the starting point was her sense of urgency.
Motivation. I asked Darling Ortega, who will graduate from South this spring, what it takes to get into college. “Motivation,” she said. That’s the hardest part. Many kids are not motivated, she said. Where did her motivation come from? “My mom.” She saw the struggles of adults who did not go far in education. And then there was her College Possible coach, Tommy Grodzicki, who she says pushed her without being pushy. Ortega has applied to several colleges in Wisconsin.
Focus. “The number one thing for me is focus,” said Josh Pacheco. There are so many distractions, so many ways to get off the path. But he wants a four-year degree, probably in computers. He said people such as Grodzicki pushed him to stay on track with things that need to be done. During students’ junior year in high school, College Possible focuses on preparation for the ACT college admission test. Pacheco says for him, that meant a difference between a score of 17 and a score of 21, which boosted his college admission prospects.
Support. Almost all the students will be the first in their families to enter college. They did not start with a smooth path to college in front of them. They’ve gotten support from home, from teachers, from supplemental coaches like the College Possible people. They’ve received a lot of help figuring out what higher education institutions are likely to be a good fit for them, how to make a successful application, and how to get the financial help they’ll need.
Compliments. “Sometimes you just need someone who will tell you, oh, you can do this,” said Zing Nun Dim. “We just need someone to compliment us.” Born in Asia, she was still working on her English (it’s her third language) and had no idea what the ACT was when she joined College Possible. Encouragement from people such as Grodzicki kept her positive. Her hope is to go to a university in Wisconsin to become a nurse.
This vocabulary can be applied more broadly to issues around college success.
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Last week’s Education Trust report said many see the low success rate of black students as a product of factors outside a university’s control. It argued that is not so.
“Similar colleges serving similar students can produce vastly different outcomes, proving that what institutions do with the students they enroll is absolutely critical,” it said. “Student success can only be improved when it is the top priority for institutional leaders.”
Let’s pair that thought with the definitions of urgency, focus and motivation.
And much of the supplemental help that is available to students in Milwaukee is tied to the federally funded Americorps program, in which young adults sign up for a year or two at pretty low wages to do public service. That is true for efforts in Milwaukee by organizations such as City Year, Teach for America and College Possible.
Nothing has happened yet, but there is concern nationwide among leaders of programs involved with Americorps that it will be part of cuts in federal domestic spending. Will their efforts be seen as urgent and supportive in dealing with major needs? How motivated will political leaders be to continue this help?
The vocabulary of success for students isn’t complicated. It’s on both the students and on all those who can help them to figure what to do with that vocabulary.
Alan J. Borsuk issenior fellow in law and public policy at Marquette Law School. Reach him at alan.borsuk@marquette.edu.