Preparing High School Students for College - ERIC - U.S. ...

Summer bridge programs, generally offered to rising 11th and 12th gradestudents, aspire to improve students’ reading, writing, and math skills. They most ofteninclude four to six weeks of intensive, all-day programming and are usually held on collegecampuses. An example is the University of Texas at Arlington’s Transitions program,which includes direct math and reading instruction as well as a researched-based STEMS(science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and social science) curriculum.School year transition programs offer activities similar to those in summerbridge programs, but the programming occurs during the school year. HoustonCommunity College (HCC), with funds from the Texas Higher Education CoordinatingBoard (THECB), offers the HCC Southeast Transitional Program to high school juniors,which runs on Saturdays throughout the spring semester for approximately 16 weeks. Inaddition to offering intensive academic skill building, this program includes collegeknowledge components.In senior year transition courses, longer term academic programming is offered tolarger groups of students in a course format. For example, at Nimitz High School inHouston, a college developmental math class is offered as the default course for students intheir senior year; students are enrolled in this course unless they opt to take a higher-levelmath course. This program also incorporates a college knowledge component.Early assessment/intervention programs offer students the chance to take collegeplacement tests while in high school, providing them with information on their collegereadiness. This type of program is commonly offered in Texas. For example, in the El Pasoschool district, students complete a joint application to El Paso Community College (EPCC)and the University of Texas at El Paso, take college placement tests, receive assistance inmaking up any deficiencies identified through testing, and retake the tests when necessary.College Knowledge–Focused ProgramsThe college knowledge–focused programs we observed were generally lessintensive, more sustained, and more likely to be offered during the academic year thanacademic-focused programs. Some specific examples include targeted outreach programs,multi-year college readiness programs, embedded college counseling, and collegereadiness lessons.Targeted outreach programs, intended to encourage specific populations to attendcollege, offer information and counseling to students who are considered at risk of notattending college. For example, Brookhaven College in Dallas has targeted ThomasJefferson High School over the last three years for intensive outreach efforts. The collegeselected this high school because it is located in an underserved area with many low-ES-3