State seeks help with its program to prepare grads Campaign to give $2,000 to 50 schools

BANGOR – Building on the premise that it takes a village to raise a child, the Maine Department of Education is enlisting community members to help high schools prepare students for life after graduation.

The idea behind the new 18-month Maine Readiness Campaign is to create a shared commitment between a high school and the communities it serves so students graduate ready for college, career and citizenship.

Fifty public high schools in Maine will be chosen to receive $2,000 each to assist “Readiness Partnerships” in which local teams of education, community and business leaders will design strategies aimed at getting more students into postsecondary education.

“We’re trusting people to come up with the right things for their own schools and communities,” said Norm Higgins of the Center for Educational Transformation in Augusta and one of the campaign’s organizers.

All schools are encouraged to apply by June 9; the goal is to make the final selections by June 19. Schools will be chosen based on their commitment to the campaign’s goals, the strength of the partnership and geographic balance. The application requires signatures by the chair of the school board and the local education association as well as the superintendent and high school principal to indicate a shared commitment.

During a four-month process that will begin this fall, each local team – chaired by a high school principal and community leader – will gather data on, among other things, the number of students graduating, the rigor of the high school courses, who is choosing to take the more challenging courses, and where students go after they graduate from high school. The teams also will host community forums to create a broader understanding of college readiness issues and opportunities, and review approaches to improving those opportunities.

Based on what’s going on with graduates, the partnership could decide to support college visits or early college programs, find ways to help parents fill out college financial aid forms, create internships at local businesses to show students that more education is required beyond high school, organize mentoring programs, and eliminate tracking or funnel students into courses based on their perceived abilities.

The idea is to stimulate change through local action, not through legislative policy, said campaign manager Sue Bell.

“It’s a bottom-up approach,” she said.

The campaign is funded in part by a two-year, more than $700,000 National Governor’s Association grant, as well as by $150,000 from the Mitchell Institute and $40,000 from the Coalition for Excellence in Education. Supporters also hope to raise another $400,000 through corporate and community sponsors.

Also part of the initiative is a media campaign using television, radio, the Internet and community events to extol the importance of “graduating ready.”

Additional support will be provided by education and business organizations including the University of Maine System, the Maine Community College System, the Maine Jobs Council and the Maine State Chamber of Commerce.

The campaign was prompted by the realization that not all Maine students who graduate are ready for college, career and citizenship, Bell said.

Based on a poll last November, nearly 75 percent of the 400 residents and 200 parents agreed that all students should graduate from high school ready for a two- or a four-year college, but only 33 percent believe they were graduating ready for college.

In fact, each fall at the seven University of Maine System campuses, more than 700 students must take remedial writing courses and more than 1,500 are required to take remedial math.

Campaign organizers also point out that Maine has the lowest percentage of residents with a postsecondary education in New England. Only 37 percent of adults in the state have a college degree, compared with 46 percent in the region.

While 87 percent of Maine’s ninth-grade students will graduate from high school, only 65 percent intend to enroll in college, and only 53 percent actually enroll. Only 30 percent will earn a degree within six years.