Public School / College Partnerships

collaborative educational efforts of
Oberlin College & the Oberlin Public Schools

 

College Enriches Public School Science Curriculum

 

Locals to Receive Free Oberlin College Tuition
BY JOHN BYRNE (Oberlin College Review Writer)

One of the conundrums facing institutions of higher education in recent years has been maintaining solid community relations. Seeking to ameliorate relations between the College and the city schools, the board of trustees recently took a leap forward and endorsed a plan to provide full tuition to all four-year seniors graduating from Oberlin High School who are accepted into the College or Conservatory. Oberlin joins Clark University in Worcester, Mass.; Union College in Schnectedy, N.Y. and Syracuse University in this endeavor.

"We hope it will serve throughout children's educations to help raise the general level of expectation and ambition and making real the possible of the prospect of a free education in a leading institution of higher education," said College President Nancy Dye.

Elaine Carlin, assistant superintendent and interim principal at Prospect Elementary, concurred, saying, "You've got the prestige of Oberlin College and the challenge from the town; the prospect of [a scholarship] will raise their expectations for a lot of our kids."

Carlin recently devised a long range plan aimed at improving the Oberlin public schools after the Oberlin's schools were ranked as being in "academic emergency" by the state. Paramount to the task of improving the schools has been raising the level of achievement on state-wide proficiency tests. She declined to predict whether the scholarship will immediately raise scores, but said that it may raise the bar over time.

"I imagine it will [raise scores] in the long run just because there will be more of a desire to accomplish and not just become part of the crowd," she said.

Dye said the idea had surfaced not long after the Schools-College Partnership was conceived, and that she had engaged both members of the College and those in the community, including clergy and leaders in the schools, before bringing it to the board.

"We also think that it may help turn around in part the leave-taking that occurs in the Oberlin schools and may serve as some incentive to remain in the schools," Dye said.

"Oh definitely. I think that there will be less people going to private school," Carlin said, when questioned about whether she thought the scholarship would improve retention.

"Yes, this is a definite opportunity for us to retain those students who have gone to other school systems," Roslyn Valentine, principal of Oberlin High School, said.

Dye declined to comment on whether the scholarship might affect the College's diversity. Valentine agreed that she couldn't say whether the scholarship would affect diversity, but she did call attention to the rising rates of minority students planning to attend four-year colleges. Between 1997-1999, the rate of minority students going on from Oberlin High School to four-year colleges hovered between 27 and 30 percent. Last year, however, 56 percent of minority students said they were going on to attend four-year colleges.

"We've doubled our efforts for students to attend a four-year college," Valentine said.

This trend has also been reflected among the student body as a whole, with between 36 and 42 percent of students going on to four-year colleges between 1997 and 1999, and 52 percent last spring.

Booker Peek, associate professor of African American studies and director of the College's Words Are Very Empowering program, wrote a letter lauding President Dye in the March 27 Oberlin News-Tribune.

"In a word," he wrote, "this [is] an incredible feat…Oberlin College now stands virtually alone among over 3,000 other colleges, universities, etc. in America seeking to raise the academic standards of our high school."

He posited that unless parents mobilized to guarantee that their students received superior educations in the public schools, that momentum &emdash; and opportunities for advancement &emdash; could be lost. "For the economically and academically disadvantaged students, not all of whom are black, President Dye's unbelievable feat and the generosity of the college's Board of Trustees will have no meaning unless we parents, teachers, ministers, garbage collectors, etc. all redouble our efforts to educate these children."

Peek's program, WAVE, is targeted at academically disadvantaged students. "I am fully confident that black children, indeed all children, have the inherent ability to average 700 plus on the SATs, but we must immerse all of them in the most propitious environments over an 18-year period," he wrote.

Oberlin's Board of Education heard from President Dye about the scholarship on March 20. Board members reacted favorably to the idea.

The scholarship will cover tuition only. While room and board are not covered, students who receive the scholarship will still be eligible to apply for financial aid.

Two students have already received the scholarship. They were accepted early decision into the class of 2005. Three additional students from the town have been offered admission but have not yet indicated their intentions.

Carlin commented on the fact that after graduation many students seek to leave home. "I think every high school child begins to look at freedom from home," she said. "I guess it probably comes right down to how well the partnership puts together the working relationship with the College as being a viable next step. If they realize what can be offered to them here and the quality of education I think that's going to outweigh itself as time goes on."

(from the Oberlin College Review April 6, 2001) 

  America Reads

The primary goal of the Oberlin America Reads Program is to ensure that every child reads well and independently by the end of third grade. Our program will help Oberlin Public School children reach this goal by providing one-on-one and small group tutoring to Oberlin Public School children. Teachers in grades K-3 identified students, who would benefit from tutoring in reading. Reading tutors work in one of two settings: an in-school tutoring program at Eastwood which serves students in kindergarten through second grade or an after-school program run by Oberlin College and Oberlin Community Services which serves students in third grade at Prospect. At present, Oberlin employs 26 College student tutors for a total of more than $20,000.

 

Howard Hughes Medical Institute Grants

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute Pre collegiate Teaching Program has two major goals: 1) To apply Oberlin College's resources in the sciences to the needs and aspirations of teachers and students in local schools; and 2) to provide Oberlin College students majoring in the sciences and considering a career in science teaching the opportunity to participate in elementary school classrooms engaged in innovative, science-related teaching. Approximately $20,000 dollars has been earmarked to support K-4 science-related projects in four Lorain County school districts: Elyria, Lorain, Oberlin, and Wellington. College students enrolled in a course in the spring will provide teachers with research and instructional assistance. During the month of October, five Oberlin Public School Teachers applied for the Howard Hughes grants administered by Oberlin College. These projects would involve a total of approximately $7,000 and 7 to 13 College students. Grant decisions are made in early November.

 

Prospect After-School Math Program

Ann Fuller, Executive Director of Oberlin Community Services, supervises a group of 24 College student tutors who work with fourth graders on math after school at Prospect. The program is supported by a grant of $10,000 from Learn and Serve and by $6,000 from a Wellness Block Grant. 2 Oberlin College work-study students help coordinate the program.

 

All the Arts

All the Arts is a group of College student artists who bring arts instruction to schools. Of the six College students involved, 4 serve Oberlin schools; two at Langston Middle School, one at Prospect, and one at Oberlin's Early Childhood Center.

 

Allen Art Museum Docents

The Allen Art Museum offers a variety of educational programs to community children and schools. Amanda Votaw presently trains and coordinates the docents. 12 docents serve all four Oberlin public Schools.

 

Shule

Shule is a Saturday enrichment program that focuses on African American history and traditions. The program serves elementary-age students including students from Eastwood and Prospect. At present, seven College students volunteer in this program.

 

Digital Docents

Carol Lasser has been involved in two grant applications supporting the public school and Oberlin College collaboration "Digital Docents." These grants, "Raising the Bar" and "Ameritech" total over $300,000. Through the "Raising the Bar" grant, Carol Laser directed a summer computer workshop for teachers. 2 College students assisted with this workshop. Carol has also assisted teachers in presenting information about Digital Docents at various education conferences. This fall, through Carol's course "Oberlin History as American History," 12 College students are working in the schools, three at Prospect and nine at Langston.

 

Practicum in Public Schooling

Booker Peek's course "Practicum in Public Schooling" involves more than 70 College student volunteers in the Oberlin schools. College students provide academic tutoring to public school students. Tutors are placed in all four public school buildings.

 

Movement Education

Elesa Rosasco's course, "Movement Education," brings a series of movement classes to our community. Of the seven students enrolled, 2 work at the Lorain County Academy and 2 at the Oberlin Early Childhood Center.

 

Watershed Education

Watershed Education is a partnership between Oberlin College and Seventh Generation. The partnership is supported by a grant of approximately $50,000 from the Ohio Environmental Education Fund. During the past two months over 40 Oberlin College students helped elementary school children construct a straw bale shed at Eastwood. Though many materials were recycled, Watershed Education spent about $1,000 on the project. This environmentally-friendly structure will store the school's gardening equipment. During the fall, 22 students also took a course that explored environmental education and environmental issues in our area. 16 of these students will assist teachers with environmental instruction in area public schools in the spring.

 

Students for Students

This collaboration between Oberlin College students and the Department of City Recreation provides enriching, recreational, after-school activities for Eastwood and Prospect students. Approximately 25 College students are involved this semester. Although College students are primarily responsible for the content of the program, the City supervises the program and has put $13,500 into the program.

 

Oberlin Mentors

This College student group provides one-on-one mentoring to students at Langston and Prospect. This semester 26 college students volunteer their time. The group has $1,461 of funding from the College.

 

Oberlin Music Coalition

The Oberlin Music Coalition provides free music lessons to public school students. At present, 7 College students volunteer their time to this program. They hope to expand soon. As a student group, they have $650 of funding from the College.

 

Open Room Mentors

This group provides one-on-one mentoring for the students in Prospect's open room. 15 students participate in the project. Last year, the group received $600 of funding from the Bonner Scholars Program Community Fund. They plan to apply for funding again this year.

 

Community Action Fellows

Two of the College's Community Action Fellows chose to do projects with the Public Schools. Each Community Action Fellow receives $1,500 for the year. Jessica Garascia is working on an HIV Education Program that involves Langston and Oberlin High School. Approximately 11 other College student volunteers are involved in the project. Alyson Cambridge is working on Oberlin High School College Guidance Workshops. More than 30 College student volunteers are involved in the project.

 

Written by: Caitlin Scott
Youth Education Programs Coordinator
Oberlin College
Fall Semester Report 10/30/98
..