?WHYEarly College. . .

A National Perspective

WHY DECA?

A Local Perspective

Out of every 100 ninth graders . . .

68 will graduate from high school

38 will enter college

28 are enrolled in their sophomore year

Only 17 will graduate from collegeAdapted from KnowledgeWorks

2002 Bachelors Degrees Earned

74.6% White6.4% Hispanic

9% African-American

Poverty Shapes Education

74% of the adult children of high school dropouts are low income.

16% of the adult children of parents with some college are low income.

Being poor far outweighsrace/ethnicity, family structureand other factors as causes ofcognitive disadvantage.

Mass. Insight Education & Research Institute

School poverty level more stronglyrelated to achievement than individualfamily poverty

• Less Engaged• Put force less effort• Have lower aspirations

• Poverty undercuts children’s readiness to learn• The influence of the neighborhoods• The schools themselves are dysfunctional• Teacher inequality / teacher turnover

High Poverty Schools…the perfect storm

One in eight Ohio teachersin high-poverty elementary schoolsis not highly qualified, compared withone in fifty in low-minority schools.

Failing, high-poverty schools need muchmore than incremental change. They needfundamental rethinking on all the waysthey serve their high-needs students. Mass. Insight Education & Research Institute

Why has so little fundamental changeoccurred in failing schools?

• Lack of leverage• Lack of capacity• Lack of exemplars• Lack of public will

marginal change = marginal results

Bold Action

DECA blendshigh school & college

curriculum

• Over 200 schools• 24 states• Over 50,000 students

Early College Movement

Start up grants received from

high profile foundations• Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

• Carnegie Corporation of New York • W.M. Kellogg• Ford Foundation

DECA Phases of Development

Transitions to Mobilize Resources

Focus on WhereWe Can Make a Difference

Imagining Incubating Demonstrating Sustainability

Credit to dayton development coalition

TheDECA

REPORT CARD

DECA Studentshave earned over

3,500 College Credits

32 DECA studentsgraduated in 2007

(first graduating class)

All 32 enrolledin college

The 32 students received more than

2 Million Dollarsin scholarships and grants.

• 75% of the students • are returning to the same college next

year.75% of the students returned for their

second year

48 DECA students graduated Spring 2008

ALL 48 DECA Graduates were

accepted by colleges

• 75% of the students • are returning to the same college next

year.93% of the students returned for their

second year

DECA studentshave completed

1000+ Job Shadows207 Internships

All withlocal Dayton businesses

DECA students have volunteered

14,000+ Hoursof Community Service to the

Dayton Area

Named one of the

5 Most Innovative High Schools

in the country

- WestEd, 2004

WHAThave we LEARNED?

readiness to LEARNreadiness to TEACHreadiness to ACT

Relationships

Increasing Rigor

Power of Place

Students need more time to study

…even on Friday Night

Peer Paid Tutors

High Stakes Preparation

Corporate Etiquette

Real Results

Tremayne Hogue

• 2nd child born to teenage parents

• Often wrote about the challenges of Growing up in section 8 housing

• Graduated from DECA with 8 college credits

• Completed Summer Internship WPAFB

• Freshman University of DaytonEngineering

Alyse Pennington

• Oldest child born to teenage mother

• Chronically homeless as a child

• Becomes maternal figure to younger siblings when mother abandons family and stepfather Is diagnosed with cancer

• Graduated from DECA and Sinclair

• Freshman Miami UniversityDouble MajorEnglish Education / Technical Writing

Christina Council

• Culturally diverse upbringing

• Father dies of cancer during High School

• Graduates from DECA and Sinclair

• University of Dayton Double Major Finance and Marketing On track for Honors Diploma

• Projected UD Graduation in 2 ½ Years

• Summer 08 NCR Internship offers employment