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ARC Program Overview
Another Route to College (ARC) is an alternative senior year experience sponsored by school system and community college partners. The program is located on a community college campus. ARC provides young people with learning rich experiences that help them pass the MCAS (or other high-stakes tests), while beginning college coursework and preparing for their futures. The program was designed and is supported by the Commonwealth Corporation (a state level workforce development agency).
Program Purpose and Outcomes
ARC is designed for high school seniors or recent graduates who struggle with MCAS. In most cases, participants will not have passed at least one section of the MCAS (with scores no lower than 210). These youth may have completed many of their other high school requirements. During their senior year in ARC, students will:
- Re-take the MCAS (or other tests such as the college placement or SAT tests) and earn a regular high school diploma;
- Take two or three community college courses that can be applied toward a technical certificate, apprenticeship program, Associate's or Bachelor's Degree; and...
- Actively explore career options including those in technical areas.
Program Resources
Staff and resources for the program include:
- Two ARC teachers which include an MCAS Prep teacher/coordinator (who helps students improve basic skills and provides administrative support for the program) and a Success Seminar leader (who helps youth with various learning and transition experiences during the senior year).
- A community college staff person to work with youth on improving their academic skills by using PLATO, an on-line computer-based instructional system.
- Community college resources, including the computer assisted instruction described above, plus tuition and books for up to three community college courses per student.
Program costs include the following: salaries for two teachers; transportation for participating students to get to and from the college; up to $40,000 for community college expenses (including computer-assisted instruction, tuition and books); and up to $40,000 for the Commonwealth Corporation's program and curriculum development, staff training, and ongoing technical assistance.
Design
Participating students are organized into two smaller groups (of up to 15) for the Success Seminar and instruction in MCAS-related skills development and test-taking strategies. During these two seminars, students:
- complete exciting academic and career-related projects,
- work on reading, writing, math and other areas where they need improvement, and learn test-taking skills,
- explore career fields, and
- develop key workplace skills such as teamwork, problem solving, and self-discipline.
In addition to the Success Seminar and MCAS Skills Development seminar, students take community college courses, participate in internships, and prepare to pass the MCAS in a computer-assisted learning lab.
Sample Schedule, First Semester
- Students spend 6 hours per week in the Success Seminar, working on:
- An Autobiography Project during which students improve their organization and writing skills, as well as explore their lives, their strengths/talents, and their goals.
- Career Development (exploration, personal assessments, speakers, field trips, workplace skills, including the "soft-skills" such as working in teams).
- Study skills and tutoring support for college courses, as needed.
- Students spend 6 hours per week improving content knowledge and skills using the PLATO system. They spend 4 or more hours per week in classroom-based instruction on math and language arts skills and test preparation strategies (for MCAS first, and later for College Placement Tests and SAT's, as needed).
- Students also take one community college course, based on career interests and College Placement Test scores.
- Begin (and sometimes complete) an 80-hour internship. The internship-related project may also be started during the first semester.
Sample Schedule, Second Semester
- Students spend 10-15 hours per week in the CS² Seminar to complete the internship-related project and undertake the community action project. The Seminar teacher also provides support for the students' college course work and works on post-graduation planning.
- Students continue to improve their skills in math, language arts and test taking to prepare for the SAT (and if necessary, re-taking the MCAS) in both classroom and computer-lab settings.
- Students take up to two college courses based on their CPT scores. Some take remedial-level courses to prepare them for future college study while others take credit-level courses. Typical credit-level community college classes that youth in related programs have taken include: Principles of Psychology, Introduction to Business, College Writing, Criminal Law, Computer Applications/Concepts, Child Growth and Development.
Success of the Program
Much of the ARC design is based on experience with the Diploma Plus Program also designed by the Commonwealth Corporation. Diploma Plus is an alternative school model that helps students at risk of dropping out (or dropout youth) earn their diplomas and start college or work. ARC takes major elements of Diploma Plus and applies them to a new problem--helping students to master the state's high stakes graduation tests. A third-party evaluation of Diploma Plus conducted by Jobs For the Future shows that students persist in the program, earn good grades in college (80% with a "C" or better), and have higher aspirations for their futures.
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