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Equal Opportunity for Early College: A National Initiative for High-Need High Schools

January 19, 2011  • Education Innovation Forum and Expo

Equal Opportunity for Early College: A National Initiative for High Need High Schools The Bard College MAT Program through EOEC will increase the success of underrepresented students populations in an academically rigorous dual-enrollment program while implementing assessment strategies that measure success in high-need high schools. Bard College faculty will work closely with clusters of schools in the Bronx, California’s Central Valley, and New Orleans, offering Bard College courses to high school students and providing teachers in EOEC schools with the necessary graduate courses to become the college teachers of record. Partner faculty from the Educational Policy Improvement Center (EPIC) and MAT faculty will provide continuous professional development that will also increase the number of students who possess the college-readiness skills to enroll in on-site college courses. By year four, a minimum of 42,500 high-need students would earn more than 12 credit hours of college credit each at a cost of only $55 per credit. The numbers of students served would increase annually and the average cost per student would continue to decrease thereby providing an extraordinary opportunity for high need students to close the achievement gap between high school and college. Bard MAT has commitments from the following partners to further the EOEC project: Paramount Farming Co, Paramount Bard Academy, Tulare County Office of Education, Kern County Office of Education, and three other school districts in California, twelve high-need high schools across New York City, the State of Louisiana Recovery School District, EPIC, and the Woodrow Wilson Educational Foundation.

To learn more, contact Cecilia Maple.