Title of Effective Practice: - California Postsecondary Education ...

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Direct Connection to Policy Area 2 of The Illinois Commitment Career Cruisin’ and Beyond! Elgin Community College What issue or need is addressed by the effective practice? The career cruising program was designed to address the need for more academic achievement in areas where disadvantaged and multicultural students are highly underrepresented. These students are referred to ECC as “atrisk.” These at-risk middle and high school students participated in a day-long event that exposed them to various careers that otherwise they have limited access to experience. Speakers in the sciences, literary arts, and general studies motivated the students to continue their academic pursuits through high school and into college. These fields serve as the foundations for many career opportunities. To help students gain the support necessary for success in pursuing their career options, this program also targeted parents and teachers. In a night program, parents and other community members were inspired to envision their students' success in light of various career options. Teachers were provided professional development opportunities that will ultimately enhance their classroom instruction by helping them understand how they can make their classes more applicable to various career options for their students. Both one continuing education unit (CEU) and ½ college credit (EDN 233: Special Topics in Education—Role Modeling Techniques for Engaging Students in Career Exploration) were available to educators. In addition, this event allowed students and their families to familiarize themselves with the welcoming atmosphere of their local community college. Elgin Community College is an excellent alternative because of its location and lower costs for area disadvantaged and multicultural students who wish to continue their studies and to pursue careers in these fields and beyond. Description of the effective practice: The day was organized to combine science and the arts, two areas that provide skills necessary to most career fields. Students were entertained with music while waiting for all to arrive. After a brief welcome from the VP of Instruction and Student Services, two different motivational keynotes were provided by Dr. Eloy Rodriguez, one of the nation's premier scientists, and Ms. Helena Maria Viramontes, literary author, both professors at Cornell University. Both talked about their own at-risk backgrounds and how they have been able to succeed in spite of the obstacles of language and poverty. Students were treated to science experiments conducted by community college faculty and student members of the college’s science club during lunch. In addition, they had time to network with students from other schools. After lunch, students heard a third keynote presented by Dr. Andre Perry, educational leader from the University of New Orleans. He helped the students to visualize themselves earning college degrees and making a difference in their own lives and in their communities. For the final program, a professional comedy troupe presented various skits that stressed the importance of staying in school. How does this practice achieve sustainability? This program achieves sustainability through partnerships with ECC faculty, staff, administrators, and students and area school districts. This type of work is consistent with the demands of various local and national grants that can help provide finances. All areas of the College are committed to increased community interactions, especially in relation to area youth; and internal funding is already in place to support such endeavors. In addition to committed administrators and staff, the ECC faculty union provides volunteers to help serve in relation to such community events. What are the results/measurable outcomes? Both qualitative and quantitative data was gathered to measure the success of this event in achieving its stated goals. Surveys were given to the middle and high school student participants. Faculty, administrators, and staff from both the area schools and from ECC provided verbal and written feedback regarding their impressions of the day’s event. Overwhelmingly, the responses were positive in meeting the goals of introducing at-risk students to new career opportunities and of motivating them to pursue collegiate studies. Following are the preliminary findings based on a response rate of approximately 20 percent. Currently, 120 students have responded to the questions posed. Because of the proximity to the ending of the school year, additional responses were hard to obtain, although some may still trickle in this summer. 50
At-risk students will be made aware of new career possibilities about which formerly they might have known very little, if any. School officials determined which students were deemed at-risk in their own schools. Over 500 District U-46 high school students, 40 Latina/o honor students from District 300 middle school, members of the Youth Leadership Academy (YLA), students from high school and college TRiO programs, and Dual-Enrollment & Tech Prep students, and their parents and teachers attended this event along with college students enrolled in various career and technical, science, and teacher preparation programs at Elgin Community College. With this large number of students in attendance, indeed students were made aware of new career possibilities through the keynote speakers and discussions with ECC volunteers during the event. Of the students who responded to the question as to whether the program met its goals (n=118), 91 percent (n=107) agreed that it did. One hundred percent of the faculty, administrators, and staff attending agreed that the program had indeed been successful in meeting its goals. When asked if they believed that the speakers opened their minds to new job options, the students responded overwhelmingly positively: over 90% of students agreed that each speaker exposed them to new career possibilities. At-risk students will feel more motivated to continue their education into college as a result of participating in the program. Students who replied to the question about their career goals (n=114) mostly mentioned careers that require technical certification at minimum, which would require them to attend the community college or a technical institution. When asked if they were considering going to ECC after graduation, 73 percent said “Yes”. Other students indicated that they planned on attending other colleges. In addition to the written comments received from students, many middle and high school chaperones (mostly teachers and counselors) reported back to ECC that students were verbalizing how much the event had positively impacted their motivation to stay in school and go to college even one week after the event. Following are some of the positive remarks that students wrote in the “Additional Comments” section of the survey, which provide addition data indicating the program met its goals. (For credibility, the comments have been left as written): • “The whole trip was fun, new, and engaging. The speakers did an excellent job at persuading us to go to college. It opened my eyes about how I really want to go to college and do something with my life. And I am planning to go to ECC for a couple of years then I want to go to Southern Illinois.” • “I think that it was good. It opened my eyes up a lot more than before because I wasn't sure what I wantd to do after high school.” • “They should continue this because it was really interesting and it got me thinking about college and what my career might be. It was really fun. Thank you for what you did.” At-risk students will be exposed to their local community college’s campus and programs. Of the students responding to the question asking if this visit were their first time at ECC (n=119), 40 percent (n= 48) said that it was the first time that they had visited the College. The students who mentioned that they had already visited ECC at least once (60%) said that they had done so for a variety of reasons including visiting campus with family members and participating in College programs for youth. In addition, an article about the day’s events appeared in a local bilingual newspaper that is aimed at reaching many of the family members of the at-risk students. As a result, more community members including students were exposed to some of the types of programs sponsored by the College. Thus, the college appears to be doing a good job at both getting at-risk students to campus and at exposing them to different programs. Contact Information Name: Dr. Susan Timm Email: stimm@elgin.edu Phone: (847) 214-7916 51
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