Chicago Teachers’ Center Program Description Upward Bound Improving College Acceptance, Retention, and Graduation

April 2010

Upward Bound is a college preparatory program that pro-vides fundamental support to high school students in their pursuit of post-secondary education. Most students served by this TRIO1 program are from low-income families where neither parent holds a college degree. The goal of Upward Bound is to increase the rate at which these students enroll in and complete programs of post-secondary edu-cation. The program has been administered since 1989 through the Chicago Teachers’ Center (CTC), which is the community outreach division of Northeastern Illinois Uni-versity’s College of Education (NEIU).

Program Description

Since 2006, NEIU’s program has been funded to serve seventy students per year who attend Chicago public high schools. These students reside in nine community areas on the north and west sides of the city. Students receive on-site tutorial support and an array of counseling services throughout the school year. Students are offered academic enrichment classes, ACT test preparation, tutorial support and informational workshops on twenty Sat-urdays during the school year at Northeastern’s main campus. During the Saturday sessions, freshman and sophomore students strengthen their core skills in reading, writing and mathemat-ics, while juniors review content and test-taking strategies in preparation for the ACT. Seniors select colleges, complete college

applications, complete the Free Application for Student Aid (FAFSA) online with their parents, and explore some of the complicated dynamics of transitioning into young adulthood and becoming more autonomous. The Sum-mer Program is the most academically rigorous com-ponent of Upward Bound—students attend classes six hours a day, five days a week. By participating in this six-week summer enrichment program students have the opportunity to earn elective credit and a full year of service learning hours, a graduation requirement of the Chicago Public Schools.

NEIU’s program has been providing services to college-bound students since 1989. It is one of over 900 Upward Bound programs nationwide. Chicago Public High Schools served: • Amundsen• Steinmetz• Sullivan• Uplift

Chicago Communities served: • Austin• Humboldt Park• East & West Garfield Park• North Lawndale• Rogers Park• Uptown

Student Demographics:

Gender Female 51.7% Male 48.3%

Ethnicity African-American 41.4% Asian/Pacific Islander 27.6% Latino 27.6% Multiracial 3.43%

College Enrollment of Upward Bound Students:Chicago State University, Culinary Institute of America, Devry University, Illinois State University, Joliet Junior College, Malcolm X College, Northeastern Illinois University, Northern Illinois University, North Park College, Oberlin College, Robert Morris University Illinois, Southern Illinois University, Triton College, St. Xavier University, University of Illinois, University of Iowa, University of Wisconsin, Xavier University (Louisiana)

As a pre-college program, Upward Bound also provides students with opportunities to visit college campuses. During each calendar year, students visit 6-8 local, regional and national colleges. To date, Upward Bound has taken students to more than seventy colleges and universities in seventeen states. By including com-munity colleges, four year comprehensive universities, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, as well as schools that specialize in design, performance or culinary arts, students become acquainted with the full spectrum of postsecondary options so that each of them can pursue a program of study aligned with their interests, needs and career objectives.

Not only does Upward Bound assist students to pre-pare for college entrance, the program helps them to develop the leadership skills, social competencies and cultural knowledge to become citizens of the world. For example, students regularly participate in leadership conferences sponsored by TRIO’s regional and state organizations, Mid-America Association of Educational Opportunity Program Personnel (MAEOPP) and Illinois Educational Association of Educational Opportunity Pro-gram Personnel (ILAEOPP). They also visit museums, galleries, cultural centers and historical sites in Chicago and around the country. Students have visited the Grand Canyon, the U.S.S. Constitution, the National Underground Railroad Museum as well as local trea-sures like the Museum of Science and Industry and the Field Museum of Natural History. They have seen live performances of Brazilian Capoeira, Japanese Butoh and Indian traditional dance. Accompanied by Upward Bound staff, students have visited the diverse commu-nities of Harlem, Chinatown and El Barrio in New York, Little Havana, Little Haiti and Coconut Grove in Miami, the Pueblo of the Zuni in New Mexico, the Amish of Landcaster County Pennsylvania and the Gullah of St. Helena Island, South Carolina.

At A Glance

Student Success

During the past three years (2006-07 through 2008-09) Upward Bound students have outperformed their high school peers on the ACT. On the national test given April 2007, Upward Bound 11th graders had an average composite of 17.3 while their target-school peers averaged 16.4. In April 2008 Upward Bound students had an average composite of 17.2 while their peers averaged 16.7. In April 2009 the Upward Bound ACT composite was 18.6 while the average ACT composite of 11th graders at the target schools was 16.6.

During this same three year period students enrolled in the Upward Bound ACT preparation workshops also outperformed their peers in the mathematics and reading sections of the ACT and enrolled in postsecondary institutions at significantly higher levels than their target school counterparts and Chicago Public Schools (CPS) students in general. In 2007, 2008 and 2009 Upward Bound students have enrolled in colleges and universities at rates that rival or surpass elite, selective enrollment CPS high schools.

Source: ISBE School Scorecard, Chicago Public Schools, UB database

Upward Bound Program

Student Peers

Upward Bound

StudentsStudent Peers

Upward Bound

StudentsACT

Composite 17.3 16.4 17.2 16.7 18.6 16.6

Math 17.0 15.9 18.4 16.2 19.7 16.9

Reading 18.0 16.5 17.2 16.4 16.7 16.2

2007 Scores 2008 Scores

Student Peers

Upward Bound

Students

2009 Scores

In 2007, 100 percent of the Upward Bound seniors enrolled in a pro-gram of postsecondary studies after graduating from high school. In 2008, 88.9 percent enrolled in a postsecondary program after their high school graduation, and in 2009, 100 percent pursued a postsec-ondary program.

CTC has operated Upward Bound programs since 1989 and has changed the lives of over 1000 students. The expertise gained over these past years has made an impact on the lives of these students and their families as well as their communities.

1 Federally Funded Programs Designed To Prepare Low-Income, First Generation Students for Post-Secondary Education

770 N. Halsted Street, Suite 420, Chicago, IL 606421-312-733-7330 chicagoteacherscenter.org

Wendy M. Stack, Director, Chicago Teachers’ CenterMaureen Gillette, Dean, College of EducationLawrence P. Frank, Provost and Vice-President of Academic AffairsSharon K. Hahs, President, Northeastern Illinois University

For More Information Contact

Troy NormanT-Norman@neiu.edu 312-563-7146Upward Bound Director