Helping Charters Deliver the Goods

 

Business, foundations & volunteers step up to aid charter schools

         Brush your teeth. Don’t forget mouthwash and deodorant. Pull up the trousers. Comb your hair – and not too much cleavage. Today is internship day. Remember, you will be representing the school as much as yourself.  

         Students at Indianapolis Metropolitan High School are used to hearing such admonishment. Goodwill Industries of Central Indiana Inc. opened the public charter school six years ago under the philosophy that when the right instructional model is used every child can excel at education. The approach has worked.

         Metropolitan High’s students must apply to college and most end up going. But before they get there, they’re required to spend a significant amount of time preparing for the work world through nonpaying internships, one or two days a week, with real employers in the careers fields that they are considering. It’s called OJT – on-the-job training.

         Metropolitan was opened in Indianapolis, Ind. in 2004 by the Goodwill Education Initiative Inc. The institution’s educational formula is simple but effective. It includes class sizes of not more than 17 students, a curriculum that relies heavily on adult mentors and trained educational advisers, and a customized learning program to fit a student’s strongest performance capabilities.

         An impoverished background is no acceptable excuse for not making the grade at Metropolitan. “We expect that our students don’t just graduate but that they go on to some post-secondary education,” beams Cindy L. Graham, vice president of marketing for Goodwill Industries of Central Indiana.

         Serving grades 9-12, the school is a proven example of how a dedicated public-private partnership can enrich the formal educational process and lift people out of poverty. Some 70-80 percent of Metropolitan’s students qualify for free and reduced-price lunches. They find their way to the school from across the racial spectrum. Metropolitan and Goodwill Industries share the same campus just off of downtown, which allows the school to receive a boatload of help from Goodwill’s business operations.

         “Goodwill provides in-kind support to the high school, such as accounting, marketing, human resources and janitorial services,” explains Graham. “We don’t have access to public funds to support our capital improvement and transportation. That must come from elsewhere.”

         Charter schools receive no money from state government for capital expenditures. They do get per-student income from government to help pay for educational services, but by and large they must raise money by other means to pay for building upkeep and expansion. Although Goodwill Industries spreads a lot of benevolence of its own through its donation stores, the Goodwill Education Initiative relies on private donors, fund-raising campaigns and money from other sources to help finance its high school.

 

Corporations step up

         Indiana businesses also are part of the saving grace for Joshua Academy, a public charter school in Evansville, Ind. “Our goal is to raise about $100,000 annually from local business,” says Pamela Decker, executive director of the academy. “Our challenge is, while we do receive state support, we have to take everything out of the one general fund, which is the only fund we get to pull from as a charter school.”

         About 10 percent of Joshua Academy’s budget comes from local businesses. Casino Aztar, Wabash Plastics and Vectren Corp. are among the biggest contributors. They do it because the school gets results, Decker notes matter-of-factly. “If we can get them to come and take a look at us, the kids pretty much convince them,” she says. “The businesses see how well-behaved, how innovative, how creative that the methodology and the philosophy is and they are hooked.” Joshua has a development director, who works with Decker to coordinate gifts from businesses.

         St. Mary’s Hospital in Evansville helped to establish Joshua Academy in 1988. Its halls bustle with some 240 youngsters, grades K-5, on school days. The charter was opened through the inspiration of the Nazarene Baptist Church of Evansville.

         Eighty percent of Joshua’s students can receive free and reduced-price lunches. Decker succeeds in convincing people that Joshua’s mission and methodologies are worth taking a chance on because of its achievements. Test scores don’t lie. “We have had pretty good success with ISTEP (Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress-Plus), and our Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) reports,” she says. Among Vanderburgh County’s 21 non-special education public elementary schools, Joshua Academy ranked sixth and seventh, respectively, over the last two years.

         “Everybody is really concerned, especially in the inner-city, about closing the achievement gap,” says Decker. “And we all know how important education is to that and how well educated the populace is has an impact on economics.”

 

Calling all volunteers

         That message is not lost on the Imagine Master Academy in Fort Wayne, Ind., which has drawn 759 students in grades K-8 to a picturesque campus in north Fort Wayne. Chartered by Ball State University, Imagine sits on 27 acres of a converted former Young Women’s Christian Association complex consisting of seven buildings with striking Spanish architecture.

         “The plan is to continue to expand. We figure at some point that we will have over 1,100 students on this property,” predicts James Huth, the principal of Imagine. “Since it was a former YWCA, we have a pretty amazing environment. We have two oversized basketball gyms connected to each other and surrounded by a second-level, indoor track.” The facility also has a full-size football/soccer field and is surrounded by 15 acres of scenic beauty.

         Although Imagine Academy does not yet enjoy direct monetary support from local businesses, it does sometimes receive in-kind services from professionals in Fort Wayne. Several adult volunteers, for example, visited Imagine to help out on “National Read Across America Day,” which is observed by some schools around the birthday of Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Suess) on March 2. The school relies on loans and federal grants to fund some of its building projects, and receives Title 1 funding to assist with programs for low-income students.

         “There are always opportunities out there to partner with businesses and the academy is always open to pursuing those,” says Huth. The school has 37 teachers and three administrators. It is aligned with the Imagine Schools Corp., an education management company that operates 74 charter schools in 12 states and the District of Columbia.

         Ball State expects results from Imagine, which has performed respectably on the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) exams and ISTEP. The university will use test scores in determining whether the academy’s charter is renewed in a couple of years, “so it’s very daunting. It’s very harsh. That’s good because it keeps us on our toes; it keeps us connected to our academic data and whether our kids are performing or not,” remarks Huth, who previously worked as an educator and administrator with Whitley County (Ind.) Consolidated Schools for 20 years.

         It is difficult sometimes for leaders in traditional public schools to force teachers to really be accountable to academic gains, which has become an infamous tradition, laments Huth. “But we have no other choice; we have to be accountable,” he says.

 

It’s about the autonomy

         There also have been no major business contributions to the 21^st Century Charter School at Gary, Ind. Nevertheless, the K-12 school has flourished in the once booming steel town, which has produced such celebrities as the Jackson family entertainers, Karl Malden and Richard Hatcher. The public charter is affiliated with the Greater Educational Opportunities (GEO) Foundation, which provides most of its financing.

         The Gary school’s parent organization does some private fundraising, and has had limited success in drawing charitable contributions and gifts from individuals and other foundations. When GEO opens a charter school, it also can apply for a $200,000 federal grant that can be used to support school operations for a couple of years. Other than that, the foundation is pretty much on its own.

         “We really do not have any relationship with other businesses,” says Molly Robinson, interim principal at the Gary charter school. “All of our external funding comes from GEO Foundation. They founded our school and wrote the charter.” Chartered by Ball State, her school has 340 students and 30 staff members. The GEO Foundation, based in Indianapolis, sponsors four charter schools, including two in Indianapolis – Fountain Square Academy and Fall Creek Academy – Pikes Peak Prep in Colorado Springs, Colo., and the school in Gary.

         Twenty-first Century uses a teacher and an aide in every K-8 class, which has paid off. Last year the school achieved its Annual Yearly Progress goals, which coincides with the No Child Left Behind Act. “That was kind of a big feat,” asserts Robinson, who is filling in while Principal Angela D. West is on leave. “Our amount of improvement was 10th in the state overall, and was second in Lake County.” More than 70 percent of 21st Century’s students qualify for free and reduced-price lunches.

         Money does not seem to be a problem for GEO. The foundation has asked Ball State to approve another new charter school that would offer nighttime high school classes in Gary, “so young people that find it impossible to go to school during the day because of family situations, employment, children or what have you, can attend school in the evenings,” says Percy Clark, director of new school development at GEO. “Our goal is we want to get some of those kids that are dropping out to get in school in the evening, where they can get in an environment where people really care about them.”

         Clark is passionate over the Gary charter school’s academic achievement and the staff and community, who make it possible. So far, charter schools such as Metropolitan High, Evansville’s Joshua Academy, Fort Wayne’s Imagine Academy and 21st Century in Gary have delivered the goods. Their challenge is to continue doing so.

 

Working parents remain selective with afterschool care

                                    By Ericka Wheeler

 

Jessica Rainbolt felt fortunate to wake up to the smile of her child while being a stay-at-home mom. Though she enjoyed her full-time motherly duties, Rainbolt abruptly found herself back in corporate America, and is now rushed off to work before even seeing her son fully awake.

When the year 2008 brought in a country-wide economic collapse and penny-pinching households, Rainbolt was just one of many mothers shoved back into the workforce, all-the-while scrambling to find an afterschool program that would provide effective and affordable care for her children.

“It’s vital. It’s like selecting the right school, doctor or dentist,” Rainbolt said.
“I want my child to thrive during school hours and while in afterschool care. Afterschool care is the place where children are exploring who they are through various activities, and I want my children exposed to these pastimes during me and my husband’s absence.”

Though the unfortunate circumstances of the economic conditions caused her to quickly dust off her resume, Rainbolt has confidence in knowing her child is not one of the 24 percent of Indiana children, including kindergarteners, left home alone in the afternoon hours. Even more disheartening is the fact that, statistically, Indiana has not been very responsive in providing enough affordable afterschool programming.

“Indiana trails the nation and has a long way to go in making afterschool programs available to all families that need them,” said Afterschool Alliance Executive Director Jodi Grant. “The data tell us that the great majority of Indiana parents who want their kids in afterschool programs aren’t able to find them, usually because programs aren’t available, they can’t afford the fees or transportation issues make it impossible. These are all barriers we can and should overcome. Quality afterschool programs keep kids safe, inspire them to learn and help working families.”

Because the number of children throughout Indiana who need afterschool care are more than the amount that can be accommodated, the available slots fill up quickly. When parents find a program that meets the requirements of the family, they should sign up immediately for any available space or get on the facility’s waiting list.

 

 

Education Roundtable

                                                         

How Indiana colleges are weathering the storm

    “No matter what else you do, stay in school. Get an education; it’s something that you will have for the rest of your life.” Most young people have heard those lines before. They can readily recall being admonished by their parents – over and over again – about the value of a good education.

    When jobs become more difficult to find, as has been the case recently, more people remember those lessons and turn to education as a way to improve their lives. That is exactly what is happening in Indiana. As unemployment hovers around 10 percent, the state’s colleges and universities are seeing rising enrollment.

    As a matter of fact, Ivy Tech Community College, which operates the nation’s largest two-year community college system, with branches across Indiana, began the August 2009 school term with an all-time record enrollment of 106,644.

    While the recession has left schools with less public funding as state and federal governments have tightened their purses, Indiana colleges have had to figure out a way to accommodate the growing number of students  passing through their doors.

    So, how should Indiana institutions of higher education cope with the challenges they face as the economy begins to recover, and what do they envision the future holds for them?

    The Indiana Minority Business Magazine posed those and other questions to administrators and executives at several of the state’s colleges and universities, including Franklin College, Indiana State University, Indiana University, Ivy Tech Community College, Marian University, Purdue University, and Vincennes University.

Among the education leaders speaking to these issues are:

 

1. Daniel Elsener, president of Marian University

 

2. Dr. Richard Helton, president of Vincennes University

 

3. Dr. Jay Moseley, president

of Franklin College

 

4. Jeanne Norberg, director of public information

at Purdue University

 

5. Dr. Benjamin Young, vice provost for student affairs at

Ivy Tech Community College

 

6. Joyce Rogers, vice president of development at Ivy Tech Community College

 

7. Dr.Tara Singer, assistant vice president for communications and marketing at Indiana State University

 

8. Dr. Neil Theobald, vice president and chief financial officer of Indiana University

      In light of the economic downturn that the state and nation have been through over the last couple of years, how has your college had to adjust in order to carry out its mission of educating students?

 

Elsener: You have to be very careful with expenditures. You also have to realize that some of your students’ parents used to have two incomes; they used to get bonus checks and there are no bonus checks because business is down. Some families have lost all income. Some of them, their parents used to get overtime, now they don’t. So sometimes their four-year-plan to get through school has been altered. So we’ve had to put more money in financial aid to help students. We know that quality sells but if your customer has no resources or very few, you have to help them.

 

Young: We have experienced phenomenal growth. We continue to ensure optimal quality and efficiency during this time of growth. As a single statewide community college, we have been able to take advantage of some of the efficiencies we put in place and generate cost savings to then reinvest in our students.

 

Norberg: Over the last year, we reduced our staff by 140 people, cut budgets by two percent and froze salaries. We continued with the salary freeze for this year and also have curtailed hiring and have cut our energy use dramatically. Purdue also has started an aggressive effort to cut operational costs and review our organizational structure to make sure we are as cost-effective as possible.

 

Theobald: Early last year, President (Michael) McRobbie recognized that the economic downturn would start constricting revenue, especially state support. He put in place a number of measures to reduce spending, including an across-the-board salary freeze for 2009-2010, almost 200 fewer administrative personnel, a 50 percent reduction in travel budgets, and a number of other changes that have enabled us to continue operating with no harmful reductions to our core academic and research missions.

 

    Has the amount of charitable contributions and gifts to your institution changed and has it had an impact on your institution’s capability to deliver a quality education?

 

Rogers: Charitable contributions and gifts to the Ivy Tech Foundation have continued to grow over the last year. While our contributions are up, in spite of the downturn for most colleges and universities across the nation, Ivy Tech did suffer slightly through endowment losses. In 2009, Ivy Tech endowment losses totaled 10 percent less than the average education endowment losses nationwide. Providing over $2 million dollars in scholarships over the past year, Ivy Tech has continued to support the college’s overall goal to provide a quality education for all of its students.

 

 

Moseley: We have kept tuition increases in check by careful budgeting. Fortunately, endowment and budget management decisions made in previous years have protected Franklin College from the major budget swings that have forced other institutions to reduce operations. We have not had to cut any positions or freeze any searches and were able to give modest salary and wage increases in 2009.

 

Singer: While a number of institutions have struggled with fund-raising in recent years, the Indiana State University Foundation launched the public phase of the “March On!” campaign in October 2009, and has raised $58 million of its $85 million goal to date. By relying on priorities set forth in “The Pathway to Success,” and with the continued dedication of faculty, staff and administrators, we are confident we can maintain the quality education provided at Indiana State. Indeed, the strategic plan, the budget reduction plan and a separate early retirement incentive package are designed to ensure that limited resources are invested in areas that directly serve students and the State of Indiana.

 

Helton: Vincennes University continues to deliver quality education and a robust scholarship program, in part due to the VU Foundation’s conservative investment policy. Many foundations were down 25-35 percent (more at the peak of the crisis) but, at worst, the VU Foundation was down about 17 percent in fair market value. With new contributions added into the mix, we are now managing more dollars than prior to the financial crisis having exceeded $41 million in assets under management for the first time.

    In regards to total dollars available to award scholarships, due to receiving several planned estate gifts during the last couple of years, we may even be able to award slightly more scholarships in the upcoming 2010-2011 school year. Furthermore, unrestricted annual giving through Dec. 31, 2009, was up 10.7 percent over 2008 comparables, which also was above historical unrestricted annual giving levels.

 

    In 2008, Indiana students left college with an average debt of $23,264. What advice can your college give to students, or prospective students, to help them keep their education costs/debt as low as possible?

 

Theobald: First of all, I would point out that students graduating from Indiana University in 2008 carried an average of $13,728 in debt. Published figures inflate the actual amount of debt by excluding students who graduate debt-free from the calculation. Also, national studies indicate that much of this student debt is created by spending that is unrelated to tuition and housing costs. 

    At IU Bloomington, our average out-of-pocket tuition cost for Hoosier undergraduate students has actually fallen in each of the last four years. This is due to a series of innovative new financial aid programs that make IU Bloomington a national leader in affordability – as noted by the recent Kiplinger Personal Finance magazine ranking of public colleges and universities that “deliver strong academics at affordable prices.” The magazine ranked IU Bloomington 28^th in the nation, based on a comparison of its quality and costs with more than 500 other public institutions.

    Our financial aid programs continued to drive down the cost of attending IU Bloomington this year by providing $11.3 million in additional financial aid grants (no loans) to the 60 percent of Hoosier undergraduates receiving gift aid this year. Because of these programs, we can virtually guarantee that every Hoosier high school student can earn much of their college tuition by performing well enough in high school to qualify for one of IU Bloomington’s incentive grant awards, which are renewable for up to four years.

 

Norberg: The best advice is to take advantage of the scholarships and aid available. Purdue has raised more than $120 million in the last two years just for scholarships. We also created two new scholarships last year specifically to help Indiana students afford college. The first was the Marquis Scholarship, which goes to good students from middle-class families that make less than $100,000 per year. The latest is called Emerging Urban Leaders and is specifically for students from Indianapolis, Hammond, Gary and East Chicago. Colleges also provide many work-study jobs. These jobs are funded by the colleges and the federal government for low-income students. The work hours often are flexible so they fit well with class schedules.

 

Elsener: Of all of the things in your life, including your house, one of the only things that will pay off enough to make it worthwhile to go into debt at $20,000 or $50,000 or even $100,000 is education. Once you decide to do that, only borrow what you absolutely need to get an education. There are students from universities all over the country going on spring break in Florida, and they are borrowing the money. They’re using credit cards. They should be home working a part-time job. You cannot have instant gratification and stay responsible on debt.

 

Young: Be smart when you make decisions regarding loans. Students should explore all financial-aid and scholarship options. And be sure to get their paperwork in on time so that they are eligible for as much support as possible. In Indiana, March 10 was the key date to have your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) filed. Don’t wait until the last minute to decide to go to college, start planning as early as you can.

 

    Indiana colleges, coaxed by the growing numbers of prospective teachers who are being trained through non-traditional education programs and methods, are in the process of re-examining how the state’s future teachers are taught. What has your school done, if anything, to accommodate this new trend?

 

Moseley: We do not believe there are easy ways or shortcuts to education, including the education and preparation of teachers. Our teacher education students learn from excellent and demanding teachers themselves, and they spend considerable time in a variety of teaching environments before they’re student teachers. They all get jobs.

    The new standards that require disciplinary expertise (a standard academic major) as well as pedagogical training (education classes) seem to recognize the way we’ve been doing teacher education for a long time and do not require any changes at Franklin College. A teacher education program in a liberal arts curriculum makes a lot of sense.

Singer: We are not “coaxed” by fast track alternatives or any other alternative pathway teacher programs. However, we are constantly seeking innovations within our program to ensure relevant and rigorous coursework that graduates the best possible teachers. 

    We have implemented more clinically-based experiences for pre-service educators. Our teacher candidates now have a full year of immersion prior to graduation. This allows teacher candidates to see how a year begins and how one ends under the close supervision of well-qualified supervising teachers. A Center for Collaboration and Innovation in Teacher Education has been established to connect with and assist our teacher graduates for the first five years after graduation. We know that staying connected to our graduates helps ensure their teaching success.

    Finally, the PRAXIS exam can be a gatekeeper to the teaching profession. We now offer a scholarship to those who take and pass the test prior to entry into our program. We hope that taking the test earlier will better enable success or identify those who need assistance in passing the exam. Professors have also been identified to offer one-on-one assistance as well as offer courses to prepare students for the exam.

 

Helton:  Reaching out to a wide audience to provide teacher education is an important part of Vincennes University’s mission. This is true because it makes teacher education more accessible for all kinds of students.

    One way VU is doing this is by offering course work online. VU offers online to almost half of our first two years of education classes. With the current available technology, we can offer hybrid courses, in which hands-on practical experiences are demonstrated in a workshop format and through practical experiences in public schools, while holding much of the course work online. This is part of VU’s long-standing mission of reaching out to serve students’ needs statewide and beyond the state’s boundaries.

 

Elsener: We are absolutely in the forefront of that whole movement. I am on the State Board of Education, so I see it from two sides; probably three or four sides. I was a teacher, principal, superintendent and I’m a university president now. Secondly, I see it from the policy and needs of the state. Especially in poorer schools, some rural schools, urban schools, we don’t have enough math/science teachers with real math/science degrees. And we know that teachers who do not know their content are not very good teachers. So you’ve got all of these children from disadvantaged homes getting teachers who don’t know a subject. They’re being disadvantaged. It’s a gross injustice.

    Teachers make a big difference in the quality of education. I’ve never seen a building teach a kid or a program teach a kid. Teachers teach them and that’s what drives test scores. A teacher with a strong subject area is a better teacher than one without.

    Teachers are the most important variable in student learning, but it’s an even more dramatic effect where there’s a disadvantaged child. Marion probably put over 100 teachers with degrees in math and science into Indianapolis Public Schools by using alternative systems, and is taking career changers and helping them become teachers. That puts a more mature person in the classroom, too. We have 300-400 people now being prepared in non-traditional teaching programs at Marion.

   

 

As the amount of government funding for higher education decreases, what is your school doing to help keep its tuition down?

 

Young: We at Ivy Tech do not want to put the cost on the backs of our students. We are dedicated to having the most affordable tuition in the state. We have become more efficient than ever before and generated internal cost savings to help offset the fact that funding is not keeping up without growth.

 

Norberg: Purdue has embarked on an aggressive campaign to assess and revise its operations to keep costs low. We intend to cut our budget by $67 million on a recurring basis. To do this, we are examining every aspect of our operation, from the energy consumed to the services we provide. Everything is on the table, except the quality of our Purdue degree. Initial decisions are expected later this spring.

 

Theobald: President McRobbie and our board of trustees are very cognizant of the need to hold tuition increases down to the absolute minimum necessary to ensure that we can provide the quality of academic programming that our students demand. To date, IU has realized $177 million in operating expense reductions as part of an ongoing university-wide effort to become more efficient in our non-academic enterprises and we expect to find additional savings that will help us hold down budget increases. Savings to date include this year’s salary freeze – the first at IU in over 50 years, reductions in non-faculty employment, a 3.2 percent decrease in IU prescription costs at a time when national spending for prescription drugs is increasing at nearly 9 percent per year, reduced retirement benefits, reduced administrative costs, and self-funding of employee health care plans.

 

Moseley: Last summer Franklin College increased need-based financial aid to students whose State Student Assistance Commission of Indiana funding was reduced. Our tuition is and will remain in the bottom half, probably even in the bottom third of Indiana’s independent colleges.

 

    Indiana’s public colleges saw some of the largest enrollment increases in their histories at the beginning of the 2009-2010 school term; why are more students entering or returning to college these days?

 

Singer: More students are entering college because students and their parents recognize the value of a degree in an increasingly sophisticated and competitive job market. More students are choosing Indiana State because they see the benefit of the unique real-world opportunities we provide to work alongside professors as colleagues in research, learning and community engagement. Such broad-based learning is essential in today’s market.

 

Helton: The economic downturn has emphasized for students, of all ages, the importance of pursuing higher education as a means to achieve greater economic opportunities and security. They recognize the value of education on a very personal level and that helps motivate them. I believe this will continue throughout their lifetime as they pursue continuing education at a rate unprecedented by past generations. This will serve them and our nation well since it is the key to economic growth and competitiveness.  

    Vincennes University is also welcoming growing numbers of non-traditional students, including dislocated workers and military veterans, many of whom are enrolling in our Distance Education programs and on-site instruction at corporations and public libraries. These students understand the value of lifelong learning as they compete for the best careers in this economy.

 

Young: We believe more people are seeing the value in Ivy Tech and the community college. The community college concept is new to Indiana and in the last few years people have come to realize it is affordable, provides two-year degrees that result in a career and has credits that transfer. 

 

Norberg:  Here are some reasons:

• Demographics:

    Unlike many states, Indiana is not experiencing a drop in the number of high school graduates.

• The economy:

    Much of the growth is due to adult learners who are under- or unemployed – eager to learn new skills to prepare for new career opportunities – particularly those displaced by lower-skill manufacturing jobs that are not likely to come back even when the economy recovers.

• Greater awareness about the importance and greater earning power associated with college education among students/families who were not traditionally college-bound in the past:

            Indiana’s network for Twenty-first Century Scholars, LearnMore Indiana, new high school graduation diploma requirements, etc., are getting the message across that jobs and careers of the 21st century will require a post-secondary credential of some sort – and in many cases, an associate’s or bachelor’s degree. Students are becoming more ambitious in their educational aspirations.

Partnering For Better Education, Opportunities

By LaToya Black

When former Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson announced the establishment of several charter schools in specific parts of the city, he was met with mixed reviews and skepticism. Many children in the state’s largest district, Indianapolis Public Schools, failed to perform at a satisfactory level and graduation rates were lower than the state’s average. Fast forward to 2010, and success far outweighs the initial backlash and criticisms at several inner-city charter schools.

According to a 2009 report on Indianapolis charter schools’ performance, students are making significant progress in their educational quests. Goals and expectations are clearly articulated by teachers and staff, and student confidence and accountability has increased and improved.

David Harris, chief executive officer of The Mind Trust — a non-profit with a mission to improve public school education for underserved youth — believes it has a lot to do with  innovative teaching methods and practices. Harris, whose passion for public service and education peaked through his partnership with Peterson in building the city’s charter schools initiative, believes that the establishment of charter schools offers a win-win for the parents, educators, and students alike.

“They are among the top performing schools in the city, year end and year out,” Harris said. “What charter schools offer the community here is the ability to innovate in a way that you wouldn’t be able to do traditionally. We give more talented people in our community a way to educate students in unconventional ways.”

The city’s 21 charter schools, which range in student population and academic concentrations, are experiencing growth and extended programming to accommodate the needs of students. Through initiatives like the Education Entrepreneur Fellowship, students benefit from highly qualified educators who offer new approaches to combat challenges in public education. The fellowship, which was established through The Mind Trust, has hosted six educators who have brought needed initiatives to tackle student success, including summer readiness programs, music programs, and educational advocacy. 

Harris’ formula for student success has also caught national attention, with students taking advantage of college readiness programs and innovative teaching styles by way of partnerships through the College Summit and Teach for America. In 2007, nearly 60 percent of students at Emmerich Manual High School in Indianapolis applied to college, and almost 47 percent matriculated to college the following year through the efforts of reading and writing coaches with College Summit. In comparison, 75 percent of students who were taught by Teach for America corps members significantly achieved and made academic gains over schools where traditional teaching methods were applied.

With the success of charter schools and preparatory programs, most students will matriculate into colleges and universities at Indiana schools. And when they do arrive, they can expect a plethora of educational opportunities at their fingertips. One such noted educational collaboration exists between Ball State University and Ivy Tech Community Colleges.

In February 2010, the two schools created a statewide agreement that will allow Ivy Tech education students to transfer their credits toward a Ball State University degree in elementary education. Ivy Tech, which has several colleges in all regions of the state, has already seen more than 2,000 students transfer credit hours to the four-year, liberal arts school in Muncie, Ind. And with the growing need for qualified elementary education teachers, the partnership promotes more job opportunities for future college graduates.

For Tyesha Stanton, the agreement was life changing.

The Michigan native moved to Indianapolis last year after a series of dead end jobs that left her underpaid and overworked. Stanton, 25, previously enrolled as an education student at a Saginaw, Mich. community college, but was unable to complete the requirements for the associate degree because of family obligations. After she took charge of her personal matters, Stanton’s cousin told her about his experience at an Ivy Tech campus in Fort Wayne. She learned that she could also earn a bachelor’s degree from an accredited university if she chose — something the single mother of three had deferred for too long.

Now living with a roommate on the west side of Indianapolis, Stanton works full-time and is scheduled to complete her educational requirements for a bachelor’s degree in elementary education next year.

“It’s a blessing because I truly didn’t want to settle for an associate’s degree,” Stanton said. “I know what the statistics say about more money made over the course of my lifetime with a bachelor’s degree, so I just challenged myself to take advantage of this opportunity now, and besides, there will never be a hiring freeze on teachers, ever.”

Although educational partnerships help to boost student achievement and create new learning initiatives, Indiana’s overall graduation rate is gradually climbing. With the continued efforts of the many partnerships, parental involvement, and proper resource distributions among public institutions, Hoosiers will be able to excel and achieve with a global frame of mind.

Premier Partners in Education

Several K-12 school and college collaborations exist throughout Indiana, enabling students to achieve and grow with a community support system. Below is a listing of some well-known organizations and schools that are paving the way for student success, both inside and outside of the classroom.

• Allen County Education Partnership, www.abouteducation.org

• Ball State University, www.bsu.edu

• Center for Leadership Development Inc., www.cldinc.org

• Communities in Schools of Wayne County, www.ciswayneco.org

• Eli Lilly & Company, www.lilly.com

• Ivy Tech Community College, www.ivytech.edu

• Parents as Teachers Program, www.patlakecounty.org/hammond/

• Pathways Partnerships, www.pc16center.educ.indiana.edu

• The Mind Trust, www.themindtrust.org

Urban Farming Program

Promotes Agriculture
Among Students, Seniors

    Naeemah Jackson grew up with a grandmother who taught her and other siblings how to garden and grow their own food. “I come from a family who always pushed healthy eating … I didn’t even know what white bread was,” Jackson said. Disgusted by the horrible health conditions that plague her Devington community—whose residents have the highest rates of diabetes, hypertension, and asthma throughout all of Indianapolis—she founded the Green Earth-Golden Character initiative.

    The urban agricultural program is learning based, and will introduce organic farming and gardening to students in the JAG (Jobs after Graduation) program, neighborhood youth, as well as esteemed seniors. The first cohort, comprised of approximately 30 students, will work the five-acre organic farm and sell their produce at the Devington Farmer’s Market—the city’s largest and first student ran market. By fall 2010, students at Arlington High School will have the opportunity to earn credits from Purdue University through the installation of a new agricultural education curriculum, the first of its kind. Jackson believes the project will not only inspire youth and students to develop better eating habits, but also gain an appreciation for farming and entrepreneurship. Aside from the agricultural aspect, the program aims to grow volunteerism among students, foster positive intergenerational relationships, and introduce conflict mediation and life skills - concepts that Jackson teaches by profession.

Devington Community Development Corporation, Naeemah Jackson, 6004 E. 46th St., Indianapolis, IN 46226.

For more information on the Green Earth-Golden Character initiative, call (317) 542-4011 or e-mail Naeemah.Jackson@DevingtonCDC.org.