The single biggest predictor of college success isn't class rank, test scores or grade point averages, a national study says. It's the quality and intensity of a student's high school courses.
That's why the Education Partnership has teamed up with business leaders, educators and state officials to launch a campaign that urges students to take a more rigorous load of courses in high school.
The Rhode Island Scholars program will be announced at the State House this morning by Governor Carcieri, Education Partnership President Valerie Forti, Higher Education Commissioner Jack Warner and Public Education Commissioner Peter McWalters, along with numerous business leaders.
Rhode Island is one of 12 states to receive $300,000 from the Center for State Scholars, a national nonprofit group that brings together business and education leaders to motivate students to take more demanding courses.
More than 100 trained business leaders will visit eighth-grade classrooms to talk about the long-term benefits of completing a college-preparatory program. Four districts -- Providence, Portsmouth, West Warwick and Westerly -- will participate in the pilot project. Ultimately, however, the goal is to have all districts adopt a more demanding high school curriculum.
"This goes to the heart of what business people need: high school graduates who have strong skills," Forti said. "Whether it's a carpet company or a real estate firm, you need employees who can use math, science and English to communicate."
A Rhode Island scholar will be asked to take four years of math, including Algebra 1 and 2 and geometry; three years of lab science, including biology, chemistry and physics; three and a half years of social studies, three years of foreign languages and four years of English.
Rhode Island now requires that every student take four units of English and two each of math, science and social studies. It does not require students to take two years of a foreign language or Algebra 1, which are prerequisites for most four-year colleges.
The Rhode Island Department of Education is working with several New England states to figure out what a high school graduate should know about English, math and the sciences. High school students will soon be asked to demonstrate certain core competencies through a senior project, portfolio of written work or a final presentation.
Is the Rhode Island Scholars initiative, which is built around a specific curriculum, at odds with the state's agenda?
"I see no conflict between this and what we're going to be doing," McWalters said yesterday. "At least this calls for more thinking on the part of parents and schools about what is needed for college."
"It fits in with everything we're doing," Forti said. "We're working with School to Career, Junior Achievement, the Children's Crusade, so we won't overlap."
The scholars program began in Texas, when a local executive persuaded the Longview School District to enroll high school students in a much more demanding curriculum. His efforts were so successful that the program was duplicated in Arkansas and Tennessee. Thirteen states have now adopted the initiative.
The program does two things: It puts business people into the schools to talk about the skills students need to succeed and it creates incentives, from free pizza to public recognition, to encourage students to tackle the tougher courses. At least one state, Texas, has offered college scholarships to graduates of the program.
Forti said a Rhode Island scholar might be recognized in any number of ways, such as a special diploma, a public awards ceremony or a summer internship with a local business.
Portsmouth Supt. Timothy Ryan likes the program because it's simple. It says, "These are the skills local businesses are looking for and these are the courses you need to take to prepare for those jobs."
"The lack of a common definable curriculum has hurt us relative to other states," Ryan said. "Algebra 2 should look the same whether it's in Woonsocket or Middletown. Once we set the bar for the kids, I think they'll jump over it."
