Prepare for college early, expert urges Goal is to engage pupils in continuing studies

AUGUSTA – Parents need to start talking to their children about college as soon as the first grade, an expert on education said Monday.

Waiting until high school may be too late, because ninth- and 10th-graders have the highest dropout rate, Dr. Russ Quaglia of the University of Maine said Monday.

Some children are disengaging from school as early as fourth grade, he said.

Young children “have already checked out, they don’t see the importance of school, they don’t feel valued,” said Quaglia, director of the National Center for Student Aspirations.

“Starting from the beginning, the goal should be not to [have them] graduate just from high school, but from college,” he said.

Quaglia was in Augusta addressing the Blue Ribbon Commission on Postsecondary Educational Attainment.

Created during the last legislative session, the 14-member panel is charged with developing a plan to encourage more high school graduates to obtain associate or graduate degrees. Chaired by Rep. Elizabeth Watson, D-Farmingdale, and Sen. Mary Cathcart, D-Orono, the group also aims to study how the state’s economy would be affected if more people enrolled in postsecondary school. Members will make recommendations to the Legislature in a report due by Dec. 5.

One of several experts who spoke to the group, Quaglia came up with plenty of ways to inspire children to continue their education.

Sixth-graders should begin developing a plan for their future with help from parents and teachers, he said. The blueprint would change every year and would need to be in place before a student could proceed to the next grade.

“The plan wouldn’t be just about going to college,” Quaglia said. “It would let them know they should start planning for the future and that parents need to be involved in their kids’ futures.”

Postsecondary schools should spend as much time on retention as recruitment, according to Quaglia, who said 50 percent of students in higher education drop out even when money isn’t an issue.

“We fight to get the best and the brightest, we’ve done three-quarters of the battle, and then we drop the ball,” he said.

Athletic coaches should play a more active role in students’ success by letting them know that investments today benefit the future, according to Quaglia. Pointing to a statewide survey his group conducts each year, he said more than 60,000 students in grades six through 12 said coaches were the most influential people in their lives.

“We ought to take advantage of what we know works, we need to think outside the box,” he said. “We spend so much time developing aloof policies. But we can’t do more of the same. We need to be pragmatic and down to earth, we need to get in kids’ faces.”

High school graduates who are enrolled in colleges and technical schools also can inspire kids to keep on learning, according to Quaglia, who recommended a statewide mentoring program.

The message would be, “Hey, I lived in Maine and this is what I did and now look at me,” said Quaglia. “What better way to learn than by example.”

High school graduates aren’t in the loop yet, but they should be, Quaglia said. “We need to take advantage of people who have really made it and use them as resources.”

College faculty should visit schools at least once a year, according to Quaglia. Bringing a professor into a first-grade classroom would let kids know that the university is a real place. “We need to break the barrier between K-12 and postsecondary schools,” he said.

After the meeting Quaglia pointed once again to his group’s annual survey. The results hold both good and bad news, he said. Kids believe in themselves, want to be successful and know that hard work pays off. But they don’t see a connection between what they learn in school and everyday life.

“We need to be more creative in the curriculum, we need to do something to motivate kids in the present,” Quaglia said. “If kids are bored in school, why would they want to go on to higher education?”