Tampa, FL - The time has come for Florida to emulate the best practices of other states and institutionalize a college access network that will empower communities to work alongside our schools and increase the number of students who are prepared to enter and succeed in higher education according to a report released today by ENLACE Florida. According to their latest

report, thirteen states throughout the country have begun the process of improving college readiness and access services delivered by community-based organizations by creating networks that maximize resources dedicated to such work while minimizing the duplication of services within high-need communities. This best practice in college access, according to Dr. Lorelle Espinosa, Director of Policy and Strategic Initiatives for the Institute for Higher Education Policy, “is appropriately grounded in states like Ohio, where education policymakers, researchers, and practitioners must work together to create successful linkages that start in pre-K education and culminate in statewide economic health.” It’s the future economic health of Florida that heightens the demand today for the development of such an infrastructure in the sunshine state. According to the report, the challenge facing Florida’s education leaders and policy makers is the fact that the student populations growing at the fastest rates have lower rates of academic achievement. “As new jobs increasingly require some form of postsecondary education, Florida will need to look beyond the walls of the classroom and into the community for help in reinforcing the academic lessons delivered by our schools,” said Braulio Colón, Associate Director for ENLACE Florida. “Most importantly, with the appropriate infrastructure in place here in Florida, our communities can also begin to fill the college preparation gap—playing a key role in preparing our youngsters socially and financially for the challenges beyond high school,” said Colón. To view the report, click here or visit www.enlaceflorida.org.

Tampa, FL - Florida’s students will soon be required to pass Algebra II in order to graduate from high school as part of new high school reform legislation recently signed into law by Governor Charlie Crist. The question parents are asking now is “Why Algebra II?” Well a new report

released this morning by ENLACE Florida helps provide insight into what makes Algebra II so special. According to the report, the answer is directly related to skills becoming increasingly required by employers, colleges, and universities. “Simply put, the value in Algebra courses isn’t based on the formulas and calculations that students learn, but the development of analytical skills and abstract reasoning that it fosters,” said Paul Dosal, Executive Director for ENLACE Florida. These skills are a part of what was once considered the “college preparation” level, and is now the standard that all students need to meet to be successful after high school. According to the report, Algebra I provides students with a rudimentary introduction to high school mathematics while Algebra II allows students to explore, in depth, a diversity of engaging topics that have many real-world applications. Here’s a list of the skills students passing Algebra II would be equipped with:

• Critical thinking skills that enhance further study. In addition, this gives the student the confidence needed to engage in a challenging career that requires some level of clear thinking and methodical problem-solving;
• Ability to analyze and weigh situations in order to make better decisions based on the analysis;
• Symbolic manipulation skills necessary for considering further exploration that could lead to careers in science/technology, business, social sciences and education. In particular, students who complete Algebra II are more likely to take other courses in science to include physics, chemistry (as opposed to a general science course).
• General intellectual maturity that enhances students’ readiness for college-level study without remediation. Such students are more likely to score well on standardized tests because students who score well on the math portion of these tests do score well overall.”

To view the report, click here

Tampa, FL - According to a new report released today, Florida will fall 391,000 degrees short of what will be required by Florida’s new economy if degree production growth remains at current levels. The new report, produced by ENLACE Florida, says that meeting the shortfall will require increasing the growth of annual degree

production in Florida to 5.7%. Policy makers and organizations throughout the country have embraced the goal of increasing the percentage of working (ages 25-64) Americans with high-quality degrees and credentials from the longstanding rate of 39% to 60% by the year 2025 in part due to expected future workforce demand and global economic requirements. For Florida, this target means the state would have to produce or attract 2.3 million more individuals with an associate’s degree or higher by 2025. “We harbor no illusions that this big goal will be easily attained,” said Paul Dosal, Executive Director for ENLACE Florida. “However, our economic recovery—at the state and national level—hinges on our ability to restore our competitive edge in the global marketplace, a goal that can only be achieved by raising the attainment rates for high quality, higher education degrees,” said Dosal. In the report, ENLACE Florida analyzed census data, demographic trends, post-secondary degree production, as well as estimates made by other organizations to determine what it would require for Florida to reach the goal of having 60% of its working adult population (aged 25 to 64) with an associate’s degree or higher by 2025. According to the report, Florida can reach the goal by increasing the annual rate of growth for associate’s and bachelor degree production to 5.7% among all sectors of higher education. Historically for Florida’s State University System (SUS), the annual rate of growth sits at around 4.4% requiring an increase in degree production of at least 1.3% per year in order to meet the goal. “We’ve got to acknowledge here that the increases required to attain this big goal will strain the capacity and productivity of our higher education institutions, particularly the SUS,” said Dosal. The new report emphasizes that attaining the big goal should not come at the expense of quality and will require all education stakeholders and sectors to work together constructively if Florida is to indeed succeed.
To view the report, click here

Tampa, FL- College students from across Florida will soon have the opportunity to weigh-in on Florida’s public education reform debate. Sixty-five students representing ten universities will convene on the University of South Florida campus in Tampa for the 2nd Annual Florida Student Education Policy (FSEP) Conference on February 25th thru February 28th. The conference, facilitated by ENLACE Florida, is designed to provide students with a platform

to deliberate the state of public education and recommend ways and means by which in can be improved. During the conference, students will develop policy recommendations on topics related to high school reform and college financial aid. Their recommendations will then be hand- delivered to members of the Florida Legislature by students themselves during future meetings in Tallahassee. Students were selected through a competitive application process by faculty leaders at each of the participating universities. For more information on the Florida Student Education Policy Conference, visit: www.enlaceflorida.org

Tampa, FL-The Advanced Placement (AP) program, currently Florida’s largest acceleration program, should not be viewed as a surrogate for a rigorous college-prep curriculum according to a new report released today by ENLACE Florida. The AP program has been called into question by recent reports and editorials for significant disparities in student performance on AP exams, but the new report by ENLACE Florida emphasizes that the AP program is designed to offer high school students with an opportunity to earn college credit and should not be used to supplant regular, rigorous high school course offerings designed to prepare students for college. “We should all recognize that the AP program is not the only means by which Florida can or should promote college readiness among its high school students,” said Paul Dosal, Ph.D., Executive Director of ENLACE Florida. “But it is a valuable component of Florida’s curriculum and we must acknowledge that the AP environment of higher expectations benefits students even if they do not pass the examination,” said Dosal.

In the report, the group urges education policy makers to infuse the basic high school curriculum with more rigorous and relevant college-prep course work and advises that such a curriculum be made the default for all students. Plans are already in development that will do just that. Florida is one of 48 states participating in the Common Core Standards initiative of the National Governor’s Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers. These college- and career-readiness standards, scheduled for completion in early 2010, will:

• be aligned with college and work expectations
• Include rigorous content and application of knowledge through high-order skills
• Build upon strengths and lessons of current state standards
• Internationally benchmarked, so that all students are prepared to succeed in our global economy and society
• Evidence and/or research based

Florida is also implementing a new school grading system this year that reduces the weight of FCAT scores to 50% and adds other factors that measure college readiness. The other 50% of a school’s grade will be determined by other factors, including:

• High school graduation rate of the school
• High school graduation rate of at-risk students who scored at Level 2 or lower on the 8th grade FCAT in reading and math
• Student performance on statewide standardized end-of-course assessments
• Postsecondary readiness of students, as measured by the SAT, ACT, or the Common Placement Test
• Student participation in and passage of Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate courses and exams
• Annual growth or decline in these components

In addition, legislators in the 2010 session are likely to consider again a high school rigor bill that will, if passed,

• Phase in end-of course exams
• Raise math standards by including a mandatory course in Algebra II
• Raise science standards
• Require all high schools to offer a minimum of four courses in AP, IB, Dual Enrollment, or AICE
• Move the FCAT on-line

“These reforms represent a viable and comprehensive effort to improve college readiness in our high schools. The AP program is, as it should be, included in these new initiatives. The state, school districts, and teachers should do everything possible to improve the delivery of this program and expand access to it, but we should not take their eye off the big prize: a college prep curriculum throughout our high schools,” said Dosal.