NEWS | June 2007 - all articles

This page includes all articles in the June issue of NEWS. Return to summary or go to the NEWS archive.

Higher education helps Minnesota veterans returning from Iraq
Improving course rigor important to state
Five questions: A guide to evaluating education policy
Briefs

Higher education helps Minnesota veterans returning from Iraq

When Carin Anderson returned to Platteville, Wisc. from Iraq in 2004 after a 14-month deployment, her college roommates and friends had graduated and moved on. “Our town had a parade for my unit, then we were out-processed in a couple of days and I was on my own,” she says. “You get so close to the people you’re with over there and your life is very regulated. It’s hard when you have to start making decisions on your own again.”

Carin Anderson in Iraq, 2003

Anderson discovered that she didn’t really know what she wanted to do, but she did want to finish college. She decided to transfer to the University of Wisconsin – River Falls (she had been at the Platteville campus) and earned a communications degree in December 2005. She now works as a Veterans Certification Coordinator at the University of Minnesota where she puts her personal experience to good use. “Vets can be overwhelmed with getting back,” she says. “Because I understand what they’ve been through and know the system, I try to help them with their education needs. They’re eligible for many benefits, but it’s confusing and there is a lot of paperwork.”

This summer 2,600 Minnesota National Guard members will return from their tour in Iraq and assistance with higher education needs is just one of the challenges these soldiers will face. To help them adjust to civilian life and re-integrate into the community, a program called “Beyond the Yellow Ribbon” was formed by Chaplain Major John Morris of the Minnesota Army National Guard in 2005. It trains Guard members, their families and communities to recognize and address the challenges facing returning service members.

Chaplain Morris teaching a re-integration class

When regular military vets return to base they have time to process their experiences and receive support to transition to post-combat life. Guard members have only a few days of demobilization, says Morris, a Bethel University graduate. “These people no longer have their combat buddies or chain of command to rely on. They and their families have to put their lives back together. Many have to deal with experiences of combat. The stress can be overwhelming, so we’re trying to help,” he says.

Recognizing that vets have some unique issues when it comes to starting or resuming college, Minnesota’s public and private college and universities are working together to ease the way. Beyond the Yellow Ribbon has spawned a task force focusing on higher education; the group aims to facilitate admission, registration, payment and integration processes of veterans.

What campuses are doing
Some of the measures already taken at colleges and universities to ease veterans’ transition include waiving application fees at many schools and establishing offices where people like Anderson help vets navigate the VA benefits process. Plans are underway to add veteran centers on campuses across Minnesota and to provide training for staff and faculty in supporting vets.

Clarence Sharpe, director of transfer admissions at the College of St. Scholastica, works with the veterans on his campus. Sharpe, a Vietnam-era war veteran himself, knows of about 70 veteran students on his campus and he is trying to identify others. “We already have a Vet’s Club and are opening a Veterans Resource Center this fall that will offer all the information they need in one place,” he says. The school also has a staff social worker to coordinate the activities of the center and serve as a liaison to local veteran’s agencies.

Although the higher education task force is working with the National Guard, its work pertains to all vets, says Steve Frantz, chair of the task force and director of student affairs for the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system. “This is not about the politics or the policy behind the war. Very simply, this is about helping Minnesotans and their families as they return from Iraq or Afghanistan,” he says. “We expect these people to do great things upon their return and we want to support them.”

For more information, see the Minnesota National Guard Roapmap to Reintegration and Minnesota Veteran – Education.

Improving course rigor important to state

Making high school courses harder continues to be a focus of many education policy initiatives. What may sound burdensome to students is actually designed to prepare them for college and workforce success. Courses that in the past were considered accelerated or for gifted and talented are now taken by the majority of students in the world’s highest-performing nations. For Minnesota, increased emphasis on rigor promises to improve the ability of students — and the state — to compete in a global economy.

While increasing course rigor alone won’t fix all our education problems, it does make a significant impact. Here are some examples from recent U.S. Department of Education studies:

• Students who complete Algebra II in high school more than double their chances of earning a four-year degree. This is true regardless of student ethnicity, family income or parents’ education levels. The highest level of math taken in high school is the most powerful predictor of bachelor’s degree attainment.
• Of students who completed the highest level curriculum of academic intensity in high school measured by one study, 95 percent earned a bachelor’s degree and 41 percent went on to complete graduate level degrees.
• Academic rigor of students’ high school curricula is strongly associated with college GPA and rates of staying in college and graduating.
• Rigorous preparation in high school narrows the achievement gap between students whose parents went to college and those who didn’t in terms of completing and doing well in college. Taking challenging math courses such as Algebra II in high school reduces by half the college achievement gap between African American and Latino students and their white peers.

New standards will require students to take biology and chemistry or physics

So how is “rigor” defined? Basically, it means coursework that makes students ready for entry-level courses in postsecondary education and for entering the workforce. These skills include critical thinking, problem solving, reading and writing. They align with new Minnesota high school graduation standards for students graduating in 2010 that require them to take:

• Four years of English
• Algebra II, Geometry and Statistics & Probability
• Biology and Chemistry or Physics

But increasing course rigor works best when other measures are in place. In the May 2007 Minnesota Journal article, “Students decide if they attend school and learn,” Kim Farris-Berg points out that raising standards of proficiency and achievement aren’t meaningful if students don’t meet them. “Minnesota’s policy-making ought to at least consider how customization, in addition to high standards, might help us accomplish our goals of helping every child learn and achieve,” she writes.

One of the education initiatives of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation advocates for the “new three Rs” — identified by education experts as the key ingredients of an effective education:

• Rigor: all students need the chance to succeed at challenging classes, such as algebra, writing, and chemistry
• Relevance: courses and projects must spark student interest and relate clearly to their lives in today’s rapidly changing world
• Relationships: all students need adult mentors who know them, look out for them, and push them to achieve

Increasing course rigor — along with appealing to students’ interests and motivations and providing guidance and encouragement — does pay off. It is important for our state’s future since demographic data shows that we will have inadequate numbers of college-educated people to meet state job needs. To preserve the health of the state’s economy, we need to take new steps to increase the number of students moving into and graduating from college. Greater course rigor is part of the solution.

Read the Minnesota Private College Research Foundation report Improving Outcomes with Incentives for Rigorous Coursework, PDF (120 KB). 

Five questions: A guide to evaluating education policy

As we brace for the next onslaught of political campaigning, education policy will be on the minds of both politicians and voters. As various proposals are put forth, it is useful to have a framework for evaluating how well they serve our state. At the Minnesota Private College Council, we begin with this key fact: Minnesota will need to nearly double its production of bachelor’s degree recipients within the next decade to meet the economy’s needs. Education policy proposals should address this fact.

Here are five good questions to ask when evaluating an education policy proposal:

1. Will it increase the number of high school graduates who are ready for college?
   Since taking rigorous courses in high school is related to success in college, it is important to increase the depth and diversity of high school offerings. K-12 and higher education curriculum requirements must go hand-in-hand. Proposals should offer realistic means to design, implement and administer programs across the state that increase the number of high school graduates ready for college.
   
2. Will it increase the number of students who complete at least a bachelor’s degree in a timely manner?
   Long-term vision for the state requires that more students enroll and complete a postsecondary degree. For the state to increase enrollments at postsecondary institutions, we must remove barriers to obtaining accurate information, paying for college and receiving adequate academic preparation. Proposals also should target programmatic and financial support to students not currently on a college enrollment path since they are the ones who need it most. 
   
3. Does it increase the research capacity or performance at the University of Minnesota?
   Providing the University with the power to consistently strengthen its research capacity and functions is critical to keeping our state competitive.
   
4. Does it provide incentives for families and students to pursue college and for higher education institutions to use resources efficiently?
   In the coming decade more than 60 percent of Minnesota’s high school students will be the first in their families to attend or complete college. Without this family history of college participation, these students will need early and consistent information on preparing for college as well as assistance with the transition to college. Effective proposals also should include grant assistance that makes college feasible for these students.
   
5. Does it offer a long-term investment strategy which places subsidies where they are most needed and rewards institution performance against international competitive standards?
   Successfully competing internationally will require Minnesota to make the entire higher education system more productive, not simply increasing the number of graduates prepared to work in a few key areas.  A long-term investment strategy — one that links appropriations for higher education systems, student financial aid and investments in preK-12 to a comprehensive framework —  is key to improving Minnesota’s future.

According to the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, "Maintaining a highly skilled and well-educated workforce is essential to a strong economy in Minnesota. The business community believes and expects that it is not unreasonable to demand that education makes improvements through wiser and more efficient spending."

Long-term vision and effective allocation of resources is critical to meeting the state's education challenges.

Briefs

• Minnesota Private College Week is underway June 25-29. Last year nearly 2,500 students attended this free event that provides campus tours and information about our 17 campuses.
• Macalester President Brian Rosenberg in his column, “'More precious than rubies': The purposes of higher education,” expounds upon the benefits of career training, self-enlightenment and preparation for citizenship.
• Three new members will join the Minnesota Private College Council Board of Directors on July 1: John Clifford, Travelers; Paul Erdahl, Medtronic, Inc.; and Russ Michaletz, Deloitte Tax LLP. Gustavus Adolphus College President James Peterson has been named board chair. Retiring are David Etzwiler, Medtronic, Inc.; and Andy Bessette, Travelers.
• Minnesota has launched the e-transcript initiative allowing students, high schools and colleges to process and receive transcripts electronically. To participate in a Webinar about e-transcripts on June 28 or July 2, contact Stephanie Braman at sbraman@docufide.com.