	May/June, 2005
Steps to College Program Gives ELLs a Big Academic Boost By Ines Alicea, ELL Outlook Staff Writer Steven Recinos, an eleventh-grader in Athens, Georgia, recalls being frightened and unsure of what lay ahead for him in high school. His English was limited, and he felt his academic prospects were bleak. But a unique University of Georgia summer program gave him the confidence he needed to start thinking that he might be the first in his family to pursue college. "They explained everything so patiently and so clearly," said Recinos, who participated in the program, called Steps to College, during the summers before entering ninth and tenth grades. "They not only helped me organize my classes and learn to study better, they also helped me share my ideas and knowledge with my classmates. I used to be shy in front of my teachers. Now, I hope to go to a university some day to study graphic design or computer engineering." Steps to College is a summer academic program targeting Georgia's middle- and high-school students whose first language is not English. The goals of the program are to improve students' English language and study skills, help them prepare for Georgia graduation tests while receiving graduation credit, and provide an opportunity for students to become familiar with a college campus so they are encouraged to pursue a college certificate or degree. "This project is grounded in the idea that ensuring educational opportunities for Georgia's Hispanic population will result in significant economic benefits for the state," said Jennifer Frum, assistant director of the Office of International Public Service and Outreach and the project's administrative coordinator. "It represents the University System responding to the educational needs of Georgia's growing Hispanic population." The program, which lasts nearly five weeks, is offered at the University of Georgia (UGA), North Georgia College and State University, Georgia Southern University, Dalton State College, Gainesville College, and Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. Since 2001, 1,278 Hispanic students have participated in Steps to College programs throughout Georgia. "The Steps to College philosophy is the same on all campuses, but each program is a little different to reflect the particular needs of the Latino population in that part of the state," said Frum. "For example, Abraham Baldwin College in Tifton operates their Steps program as an on-campus residential program. The college is located in a rural, agricultural area, so transporting students to and from campus every day would be costly. UGA's program is a day program where the students, most of whom live within 10 miles of campus, are transported daily by bus." For Francisco Benavides, a ninth-grader at Clarke Central High School in Athens, Georgia, the program completely changed his opinion and outlook on high school. "At first, I didn't want to go to high school," said Benavides. "I heard it was boring. I didn't understand much English in middle school. The program helped me learn more English and learn things about what we were going to do in high school." Erin Thompson, lead migrant family engagement specialist at Clarke Central High School, said that for a youngster to express that school is boring is not surprising, given the challenges they face in learning English. "There are so many day-to-day things in school that they miss out on because they don't yet have a command of the English language," said Thompson. "Just think of the things they miss each day--morning announcements, comments made during discussions in the classroom, not to mention valuable instructional information." Students in the program are divided into two groups. One group focuses on improving speaking, writing, reading, and study skills and is for those students still in the early stages of learning the language. The other group, with more advanced English learners, is taught science, social studies, math, and English--all necessary to pass the high school graduation exam. Both groups meet for a full work day, and academics are interspersed with activities such as visits to art museums, the headquarters of CNN, local newspaper publishing offices, and other businesses, such as a coffee distribution warehouse. Students' siblings are included in all field trips. Students also use campus facilities to learn new topics. For example, at UGA, the students went to the campus pool and learned how to scuba dive as part of their math class. "Many of the students who complete the ESOL track come back for the academic track the following year," said Christine Burgoyne, director of UGA's Steps to College program, adding that participants earn a credit that is applied toward their high school graduation requirements. "Now we have some siblings as well. The kids love it. The kids are proud to have been in the program. That says a lot about the program." Participants and organizers have nothing but praise for the program. Burgoyne tracks the academic progress of Steps participants, saying that of the 108 student participants from 2002-2004, 82 are still enrolled in high school, five have graduated and the remainder have moved out of the area or are enrolled in other schools. "The primary impact has been that 99 percent of bilingual middle- and high-school students in the program stay in school," said Dr. Monte Salyer, assistant professor of English as a Second Language at Dalton State College, one of the sites for the program. "Also, they test 14 percent higher on the Georgia Test." Thompson said the program gives students a confidence and pride that they did not have prior to Steps to College. She said students return from the summer program more confident in their writing abilities, and many enter a writing contest she sponsors with a local radio program. Those students who are learning English and do not participate in the Steps program tend to regress in their language skills over the summers. "This program gives the participants amazing opportunities that realistically they would probably not otherwise have had access to," said Thompson. "They spend their day on a college campus, have class in college buildings, dine with college students, have teaching assistants who are college students, and they subtly get a daily reinforcement that 'Yes, I do belong here. This is attainable for me. Sí puedo llegar a ir a la Universidad si lo quiero.'" While Steps to College has been successful in attracting growing numbers of students, the program faces challenges with funding. When the program began, funding came from the University System of Georgia, but that funding was discontinued in 2003 due to budget cuts. Dalton State College and Gainesville College will continue their Steps programs this summer with private funding. The fate of Steps at Georgia Southern and Abraham Baldwin College is unknown at this point, Frum said. At UGA, Art Dunning, Vice President for Public Service and Outreach, made reaching out to Georgia's Latinos one of his programmatic priorities and dedicated office funds to support the program this summer. But Frum said funding is not the only challenge the program faces. While it strives to prepare students for college, university officials say the students are up against a bigger barrier--the law that prevents students from undocumented families from accessing in-state tuition, keeping the program from realizing "the full potential of Hispanic college enrollment." The impetus for the Steps to College program came from a task force formed in 1998 by the University of Georgia Board of Regents. Faced with explosive growth in the Hispanic population in Georgia and with the startling statistic that 44 percent of Hispanic students nationwide don't graduate from high school, the Hispanic Task Force wanted to study the reasons for the high drop-out rate and low number of Hispanic high school and college graduates and address how the University System of Georgia (USG) could best meet the challenge and the needs of Georgia's growing Hispanic population. The major conclusion of the Hispanic Task Force's report was that the state would benefit significantly by ensuring access to educational opportunities for Georgia's Hispanic population. The task force also concluded that most school districts did not have enough teachers certified to teach English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) to keep up with the growing Hispanic population and that many recent immigrants had a low level of education, making it difficult for these parents to help their children with homework or understand the necessity of graduating from high school. The Hispanic Task Force made a number of recommendations to the Board of Regents, which provided funding to create the Hispanic Pilot Project. The project sought to increase the number of K-12 personnel qualified to teach ESOL and to develop an outreach/marketing strategy to encourage more Hispanic youth to pursue higher education in the University System of Georgia. Three programs were developed under the auspices of the Hispanic Pilot Project: (1) Steps to College; (2) the College and University Awareness Program, which provides seed grants for innovative projects at schools, churches, and non-profit organizations designed to increase the number of Hispanic students who are informed about the advantages of a high school diploma and post-secondary education and who earn a high school diploma and continue on to college; and (3) the ESOL Endorsement project, which provided 150 certified teachers the opportunity to receive the additional coursework they needed for their ESOL Endorsement free of charge, so they too could teach ESOL. If you have any comments about this article or questions for for the author, please send them to: alex@coursecrafters.com.
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May/June, 2005

Steps to College Program Gives ELLs a Big Academic Boost

By Ines Alicea, ELL Outlook Staff Writer

Steven Recinos, an eleventh-grader in Athens, Georgia, recalls being frightened and unsure of what lay ahead for him in high school. His English was limited, and he felt his academic prospects were bleak. But a unique University of Georgia summer program gave him the confidence he needed to start thinking that he might be the first in his family to pursue college.

"They explained everything so patiently and so clearly," said Recinos, who participated in the program, called Steps to College, during the summers before entering ninth and tenth grades. "They not only helped me organize my classes and learn to study better, they also helped me share my ideas and knowledge with my classmates. I used to be shy in front of my teachers. Now, I hope to go to a university some day to study graphic design or computer engineering."

Steps to College is a summer academic program targeting Georgia's middle- and high-school students whose first language is not English. The goals of the program are to improve students' English language and study skills, help them prepare for Georgia graduation tests while receiving graduation credit, and provide an opportunity for students to become familiar with a college campus so they are encouraged to pursue a college certificate or degree.

"This project is grounded in the idea that ensuring educational opportunities for Georgia's Hispanic population will result in significant economic benefits for the state," said Jennifer Frum, assistant director of the Office of International Public Service and Outreach and the project's administrative coordinator. "It represents the University System responding to the educational needs of Georgia's growing Hispanic population."

The program, which lasts nearly five weeks, is offered at the University of Georgia (UGA), North Georgia College and State University, Georgia Southern University, Dalton State College, Gainesville College, and Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. Since 2001, 1,278 Hispanic students have participated in Steps to College programs throughout Georgia.

"The Steps to College philosophy is the same on all campuses, but each program is a little different to reflect the particular needs of the Latino population in that part of the state," said Frum. "For example, Abraham Baldwin College in Tifton operates their Steps program as an on-campus residential program. The college is located in a rural, agricultural area, so transporting students to and from campus every day would be costly. UGA's program is a day program where the students, most of whom live within 10 miles of campus, are transported daily by bus."

For Francisco Benavides, a ninth-grader at Clarke Central High School in Athens, Georgia, the program completely changed his opinion and outlook on high school.

"At first, I didn't want to go to high school," said Benavides. "I heard it was boring. I didn't understand much English in middle school. The program helped me learn more English and learn things about what we were going to do in high school."

Erin Thompson, lead migrant family engagement specialist at Clarke Central High School, said that for a youngster to express that school is boring is not surprising, given the challenges they face in learning English.

"There are so many day-to-day things in school that they miss out on because they don't yet have a command of the English language," said Thompson. "Just think of the things they miss each day--morning announcements, comments made during discussions in the classroom, not to mention valuable instructional information."

Students in the program are divided into two groups. One group focuses on improving speaking, writing, reading, and study skills and is for those students still in the early stages of learning the language. The other group, with more advanced English learners, is taught science, social studies, math, and English--all necessary to pass the high school graduation exam.

Both groups meet for a full work day, and academics are interspersed with activities such as visits to art museums, the headquarters of CNN, local newspaper publishing offices, and other businesses, such as a coffee distribution warehouse. Students' siblings are included in all field trips. Students also use campus facilities to learn new topics. For example, at UGA, the students went to the campus pool and learned how to scuba dive as part of their math class.

"Many of the students who complete the ESOL track come back for the academic track the following year," said Christine Burgoyne, director of UGA's Steps to College program, adding that participants earn a credit that is applied toward their high school graduation requirements. "Now we have some siblings as well. The kids love it. The kids are proud to have been in the program. That says a lot about the program."

Participants and organizers have nothing but praise for the program. Burgoyne tracks the academic progress of Steps participants, saying that of the 108 student participants from 2002-2004, 82 are still enrolled in high school, five have graduated and the remainder have moved out of the area or are enrolled in other schools.

"The primary impact has been that 99 percent of bilingual middle- and high-school students in the program stay in school," said Dr. Monte Salyer, assistant professor of English as a Second Language at Dalton State College, one of the sites for the program. "Also, they test 14 percent higher on the Georgia Test."

Thompson said the program gives students a confidence and pride that they did not have prior to Steps to College. She said students return from the summer program more confident in their writing abilities, and many enter a writing contest she sponsors with a local radio program. Those students who are learning English and do not participate in the Steps program tend to regress in their language skills over the summers.

"This program gives the participants amazing opportunities that realistically they would probably not otherwise have had access to," said Thompson. "They spend their day on a college campus, have class in college buildings, dine with college students, have teaching assistants who are college students, and they subtly get a daily reinforcement that 'Yes, I do belong here. This is attainable for me. Sí puedo llegar a ir a la Universidad si lo quiero.'"

While Steps to College has been successful in attracting growing numbers of students, the program faces challenges with funding. When the program began, funding came from the University System of Georgia, but that funding was discontinued in 2003 due to budget cuts. Dalton State College and Gainesville College will continue their Steps programs this summer with private funding. The fate of Steps at Georgia Southern and Abraham Baldwin College is unknown at this point, Frum said. At UGA, Art Dunning, Vice President for Public Service and Outreach, made reaching out to Georgia's Latinos one of his programmatic priorities and dedicated office funds to support the program this summer.

But Frum said funding is not the only challenge the program faces. While it strives to prepare students for college, university officials say the students are up against a bigger barrier--the law that prevents students from undocumented families from accessing in-state tuition, keeping the program from realizing "the full potential of Hispanic college enrollment."

The impetus for the Steps to College program came from a task force formed in 1998 by the University of Georgia Board of Regents. Faced with explosive growth in the Hispanic population in Georgia and with the startling statistic that 44 percent of Hispanic students nationwide don't graduate from high school, the Hispanic Task Force wanted to study the reasons for the high drop-out rate and low number of Hispanic high school and college graduates and address how the University System of Georgia (USG) could best meet the challenge and the needs of Georgia's growing Hispanic population.

The major conclusion of the Hispanic Task Force's report was that the state would benefit significantly by ensuring access to educational opportunities for Georgia's Hispanic population. The task force also concluded that most school districts did not have enough teachers certified to teach English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) to keep up with the growing Hispanic population and that many recent immigrants had a low level of education, making it difficult for these parents to help their children with homework or understand the necessity of graduating from high school.

The Hispanic Task Force made a number of recommendations to the Board of Regents, which provided funding to create the Hispanic Pilot Project. The project sought to increase the number of K-12 personnel qualified to teach ESOL and to develop an outreach/marketing strategy to encourage more Hispanic youth to pursue higher education in the University System of Georgia.

Three programs were developed under the auspices of the Hispanic Pilot Project: (1) Steps to College; (2) the College and University Awareness Program, which provides seed grants for innovative projects at schools, churches, and non-profit organizations designed to increase the number of Hispanic students who are informed about the advantages of a high school diploma and post-secondary education and who earn a high school diploma and continue on to college; and (3) the ESOL Endorsement project, which provided 150 certified teachers the opportunity to receive the additional coursework they needed for their ESOL Endorsement free of charge, so they too could teach ESOL.

If you have any comments about this article or questions for for the author, please send them to: alex@coursecrafters.com.