YAASPA Concurrent Enrollment Racial Equity Report 2018 “Redefining the Standards to Pull Down the Barriers”-YAASPA motto Creation Date and Modified Date: February 5, 2018 Young Aspiring Americans for Social and Political Activism (YAASPA) PO Box 202092 Denver, CO 80220 Website: www.yaaspa.org Email: Janiece.mackey@yaaspa.net Table of Contents Table of Contents Letter from the Executive Director _______________________________________________ 1 Framing of Report ____________________________________________________________ 2 Definitions and Terms:.............................................................................................................. 3 Our Perspective _____________________________________________________________ 5 Racial Equity and Concurrent Enrollment ................................................................................ 5 Defining Racial Equity .............................................................................................................. 5 Why We Focus on Race ........................................................................................................... 6 A Focus on Aurora Public Schools _______________________________________________ 7 Framing:.................................................................................................................................... 7 Highlights about APS from the CDE/CDHE Annual Report on Concurrent Enrollment 20152016 School Year: .................................................................................................................... 7 Career Pathways in APS .......................................................................................................... 8 Figure 1: Breakdown of APS Concurrent Enrollment by Race ............................................... 10 Descriptive Statistics of APS Concurrent Enrollment by School ............................................ 11 Community College of Aurora Concurrent Enrollment ........................................................... 16 APS Career and Concurrent Enrollment Survey Data ........................................................... 17 A Focus on Denver Public Schools ______________________________________________ 20 Framing:.................................................................................................................................. 20 Highlights about DPS from the CDE/CDHE Annual Report on Concurrent Enrollment for the 2015-2016 Academic Year: .................................................................................................... 20 Career Pathways in DPS ........................................................................................................ 21 DPS Descriptive and Statistical Analyses .............................................................................. 24 Highlights about DPS Concurrent Trends: ............................................................................. 25 A Focus on Practitioners ______________________________________________________ 32 Framing:.................................................................................................................................. 32 Policy Recommendations _____________________________________________________ 39 YAASPA Staff, Interns, and Contributors _________________________________________ 40 Young Aspiring Americans for Social and Political Activism (YAASPA) __________________ 41 To Our Staff and Stakeholders _________________________________________________ 43 Table of Contents Thank you! .............................................................................................................................. 43 Practitioners ............................................................................................................................ 43 Community Partners ............................................................................................................... 43 Policy Makers ......................................................................................................................... 43 Appendices Forthcoming _____________________________________________________ 44 YAASPA Team at the Laser Tag “FUN”Raiser July, 2017. Pg. 01 Letter from the Executive Director Letter from the Executive Director I am a concurrent enrollment adjunct faculty and public servant who once desired to be a lawyer because of limited exposure of ways to serve community through a career. I went to ARE WE PROVIDING ACADEMIC AND CAREER PATHWAYS FOR OUR FUTURE PUBLIC SERVANTS? college not knowing what I would major in and then entered the field of education after graduating with majors in criminology and political science. I stumbled through the field of education not knowing what types of careers were possible because of limited language, knowledge, and efficacy within the field. This led to the birth of Young Aspiring Americans for Social and Political Activism (YAASPA) in 2010. Our vision is to cultivate youth to be civically engaged in community and career. We enact this vision through advocacy, community organizing, and programs. Our four themes of focus within our endeavors are academic and career self-efficacy, civic engagement, civic literacy, and racial identity development. The geographic focus of the report is primarily on Aurora Public Schools and Denver Public Schools because YAASPA operates within these school districts. As we have supported and worked with students, we learned from many who desire to navigate majors within the social sciences do not have the language, knowledge, course offerings nor career pathways to help them develop their academic and career self-efficacy. As the YAASPA team worked with students in the community and continued to hear the inequities and limited access students of color were facing with concurrent enrollment, we knew there needed to be research done to provide landscape analyses at a local level. We had a community invested interest in learning about potential barriers. Research tells us that concurrent enrollment decreases debt potential and provides ways to build self-efficacy in accessing higher education for high school students. This report presents who is accessing concurrent enrollment, practitioner perspectives, but also issues and barriers. Major findings from this report underscore that more can be done to support Black students and our future public servants through career pathways or concurrent enrollment. We must increase funding and access regardless of school type to increase accessibility. There is a need to have pathway alignment with these concurrent enrollment courses, and there should be increased transparency in the ways that students and families access and navigate concurrent enrollment classes within our schools and communities. Janiece Z. Mackey, Co-founder and Executive Director of YAASPA Framing of Report Pg. 02 Framing of Report This report is in alignment with the four goals presented in the Colorado Department of Higher Education Report entitled CO Rises: Advancing Education and Talent Development. The four strategic goals presented in that report are: • Increase credential completion • Erase equity gaps • Improve student success • Invest in affordability and innovation (p. 3) This report can be found here: https://highered.colorado.gov/publications/CDHE-Master-Plan2017.pdf Concurrent enrollment is an avenue to help support the four strategic goals mentioned above, but also a way to increase racial equity in accessing higher education for students of color. This report was developed in a communal manner in that it was developed with the YAASPA team and infused with the knowledge of practitioners who are connected to concurrent enrollment. Thus, the depth of the report allows for an unveiling of themes and potential policy implications that will help to facilitate policy conversations concerning concurrent enrollment with practitioner’s voices at the center of this work. The report is mixed methods approach to unpacking concurrent enrollment with a lean toward qualitative research. The Executive Director’s PhD training along with a research consultant Dr. Elizabeth Anderson of the Embraced Wisdom Resource Group were utilized for the qualitative and quantitative analyses. Dr. Elizabeth Anderson can be reached at: embracedwisdom@yahoo.com. Colorado Department of Education and Higher Education Annual Report on Concurrent Enrollment 2015-2016 School Year was utilized in order to provide framing for each of the two school districts. Our report builds from the aforementioned report and brings some of the state level analyses to a school district level. This report can be found here: https://highered.colorado.gov/Publications/Reports/Enrollment/FY2016/2016_Concurrent_Enrol lment_April_2017.pdf Framing of Report Pg. 03 Definitions and Terms: There are many terms used in connection to concurrent enrollment such as the term concurrent enrollment itself, dual enrollment, and ASCENT. The terms are defined below from the Colorado Department of Education and Higher Education Annual Report on Concurrent Enrollment 2015-2016 School Year: ““Dual enrollment” is used in this report to refer to the broad array of programs available to high school students that allow them to take college-level courses for credit. In this report, the capitalized version of “Concurrent Enrollment” refers only to the statewide programs created by House Bill 09-1319 and detailed in the Concurrent Enrollment Programs Act (C.R.S. §22-35101 et seq.). The Concurrent Enrollment Programs Act defines Concurrent Enrollment as the “simultaneous enrollment of a qualified student in a local education provider and in one or more postsecondary courses, including academic or career and technical education courses, which may include course work related to apprenticeship programs or internship, at an institution of higher education” (C.R.S. §22-35-103, updated 2015). Programs identified as other high school dual enrollment programs are administered by postsecondary institutions. Students can receive college-level credit through other high school dual enrollment but these programs do not fall under the statutory definition of “Concurrent Enrollment”. ASCENT stands for Accelerating Students through Concurrent Enrollment. Students who have completed at least 12 credit hours of postsecondary course prior to completion of his/her 12th grade year may be eligible for the ASCENT Program. They remain students in their Local Education Provider (LEP) for one year following their 12th grade year, and the LEP receives ASCENT specific per-pupil state funding that it uses to pay their college tuition at the resident community college rate. Students receive their high-school diplomas at the end of their ASCENT year (C.R.S. § 22-35-108).” (p. 5) Limitations: This report primarily focused on certain data from specific institutions and the lens of practitioners and further research needs to be conducted with the concurrent enrollment educators and students in mind. Framing of Report Pg. 04 Data was retrieved from Aurora Public Schools, Denver Public Schools, CU Succeeds and Community College of Aurora. As indicated in the Colorado Department of Education and Higher Education Annual Report on Concurrent Enrollment 2015-2016 School Year, multiple higher education institutions offer concurrent enrollment courses to Aurora and Denver Public Schools. While we know part of the suite of supports that help students move from high school to postsecondary education include opportunities such as International Baccalaureate (IB) programs as well as Advance Placement (AP) courses, this report does not focus on those topics. Our Perspective Pg. 05 Our Perspective Racial Equity and Concurrent Enrollment This report presents data particularly focused on CU Succeeds and Community College of Aurora because these are major higher education institutions that provide services to the two districts of focus: Aurora and Denver Public Schools. Race and the way race operates within these districts must be evaluated and discussed in order better understand how to bring about racial equity into the program of concurrent enrollment. Defining Racial Equity • Equity has been and can be defined in various ways across the education, nonprofit, and public affairs sectors. • We have provided some definitions of racial equity that aligns with this report and YAASPA’s vision for the education landscape. The Denver Foundation: • “Racial Equity occurs when advantage or disadvantage can no longer be predicted by race. We believe that when diverse organizations work in an inclusive way, equitable outcomes are achieved. Equity generally refers to the results of inclusionary practices” (TDF Grant Guidelines, 2017, p. 5) The National Equity Project: Working towards equity involves: • Ensuring equally high outcomes for all participants in our educational system; removing the predictability of success or failures that currently correlates with any social or cultural factor • Interrupting inequitable practices, examining biases, and creating inclusive multicultural school environments for adults and children • Discovering and cultivating the unique gifts, talents and interests that every human possesses” (http://nationalequityproject.org/about/equity) What Does Equity Look Like? • “Equity means that all individuals, regardless of “markers of difference” including but not limited to race, ethnicity, income, disability, and age, have equal privilege and opportunity to access the basic needs, services, skills and assets required to succeed in life. This includes affordable access …education, civic engagement, health…and opportunities to participate in arts and cultural activities” (Besser, 2014, p. 22) Our Perspective Pg. 06 Why We Focus on Race Any explicit focus of YAASPA’s is to explore how systems within public education are serving students, particularly across lines of race. Given the fact that the majority of the students we engage with are students of color, we believe we must explicitly address issues of racial inequity and design solutions to ensure all students are receiving the supports and opportunities they deserve. Research indicates that youth of color must better understand their identities to build their confidence in academic and career decisions. It is critical that youth are not solely prescribed academic and career opportunities, but that they are the co-authors and creators in the process. As education advocates, we know youth are likely to gravitate toward what they see within their communities. Thus, we must ensure that students have equitable access to choose school options that provide career pathways and classes that not only feed their intellect, but nurture their souls and communities. YAASPA believes students should be oriented toward academic and career development opportunities that reflect a pedagogy of equity which reflects courses, pathways, “teaching strategies and classroom environments that allow students from diverse racial…groups to obtain the knowledge, skills and attitude needed to function effectively within, and to help create and perpetuate a just, humane, and democratic society” (Howell and Tuitt, 2003, p. 245246). A Focus on Aurora Public Schools Pg. 07 A Focus on Aurora Public Schools Framing: There are descriptive statistics (that illustrate a story through numbers) that APS SNAPSHOT: reflect the state of concurrent Student Enrollment: 37,947 enrollment in the district. The data (2017-2018 data) reflected for the number of students 0.8% Native American 5.0% Asian taking concurrent enrollment course by race is from the 2016-2017 academic year. The number of students from 19% Black different races taking concurrent 55.3% Hispanic enrollment is reflected along with 15.1% White career pathways offered within the 0.7% Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander district. 4.1% Two or more races Free/Reduced Lunch: 70.4% The data that was used was based upon data received from Aurora Public http://aurorak12.org/about-aps/fast- Schools, which indicated a list of facts/demographics/ schools that offer concurrent enrollment. Highlights about APS from the CDE/CDHE Annual Report on Concurrent Enrollment 2015-2016 School Year: • 137 students participated in the ASCENT program in the 2015-2016 academic year which is the highest participating in the state (p. 50) • There were 1115 students in 9th-12th grade that participated in concurrent enrollment which was a participation rate 10% of the district’s student population (p. 44) • APS is 5th on the list as one of the top 10 districts for concurrent enrollment participation, but only Hinkley High is listed on the list for top 10 for schools participating in concurrent enrollment (p. 14) A Focus on Aurora Public Schools Pg. 08 Career Pathways in APS Career pathways within APS are offered in varying ways and through varying partnerships. Two that will be highlighted in this report are CareerWise and the advertised at the high schools. CareerWise is a statewide program that offers apprenticeships to high school students across five school districts and partners with some schools directly. According to the organization’s website, “CareerWise was envisioned by its founder and CEO Noel Ginsburg and Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper following a 2015 trip to Switzerland... In 2016, the organization was created as a public-private partnership.” More information about this program can be found here: http://www.careerwisecolorado.org/aboutoverview. This program has various industry partners within public service which are: Colorado Department of Education, Colorado Department of Higher Education, Colorado Department of Human Services, Colorado Workforce Development Council, and Mile High United Way. This model can provide a conduit for our future public servants to navigate culturally relevant academic and career development, but must be expanded for equitable access. However, this opportunity for students is only accessible via Aurora Public Schools Online, which means it is inaccessible to many students who attend other types of schools within the district A student should not have to sacrifice certain schooling opportunities such as this to access programs such as CareerWise. This is also of particular interest because only 2 of 124 students (a white and Latino student) during the 2016-2017 academic year took concurrent enrollment courses. A Focus on Aurora Public Schools Pg. 09 Joselin Rivera, YAASPA summer intern, researched and called schools to find out what career pathways are offered within Aurora Public Schools. The list is show below: Table 1: APS Schools and Career Pathways APS Schools APS Pathways Aurora Central* Health Sciences & Technology Arts & Communication Business Aurora West No available pathways Gateway* Business Health Sciences Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Hinkley* Health Sciences Engineering Arts & Communication STEM Rangeview* Business Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Vista Peak Fine Arts Visual & Design Arts Business Health Sciences Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) William Smith Health Sciences *= Advertised pathways on website A Focus on Aurora Public Schools Pg. 10 Figure 1: Breakdown of APS Concurrent Enrollment by Race APS Spring 2017 Concurrent Enrollment by Race 7000 13.35% 6000 771 5000 4000 Enrolled in at least one CE course 3000 Not enrolled in any CE courses 4995 11.56% 2000 225 18.08% 277 1000 Numver of Students 14.86% 11 0 63 American Indian 15.70% 1721 15.94% 92 11 58 494 Asian 14.89% 1255 Black Hispanic Race White 56 320 Native Multiple Hawaiian Races A Focus on Aurora Public Schools Pg. 11 Figure 1 Though APS is a district primarily of students of color, white students are still accessing concurrent enrollment at a higher percentage. As this chart reveals, many students are not in concurrent enrollment courses. NOTE: Chart and data compiled by Colin Moore Descriptive Statistics of APS Concurrent Enrollment by School Accessing Concurrent Enrollment via Charter and Innovation Schools There are only two charter schools authorized through APS that have the high school level within APS which are Lotus School for Excellence and Vanguard Classical. These schools did not have any concurrent enrollment participation for the entire 2016-2017 academic year compared to Aurora Central and Aurora West which have innovation status. The governance and district agreements for charter schools and school districts may be a barrier to access. Figure 2: Vanguard Concurrent Enrollment Fall 2016 NUMBER OF STUDENTS Vanguard High School 50 40 30 39 35 27 20 10 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 CE Course 2 CE Courses 3 CE courses 4 CE Courses 5 CE Courses 0 No CE Courses Number of CE courses 9th 10th 11th 12th Figure 2 Vanguard did not offer concurrent enrollment in the 2016-2017 academic year. Vanguard had 23 Black students and 53 of whom were Latino out of 107 students which accounts for 71 percent of their student population. A Focus on Aurora Public Schools Pg. 12 Figure 3: Lotus School Concurrent Enrollment Fall of 2016 LOTUS SCHOOL FOR EXCELLENCE 10th 11th 12th NO CE COURSES 1 CE COURSE 2 CE COURSES 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 35 62 60 NUMBER OF STUDENTS 71 9th 3 CE COURSES NUMBER OF CE COURSES Figure 3 Lotus did not have students concurrently enrolled 2016-2017. Lotus had 228 students 97 of whom were Black and 76 Latino. APS Landscape Analyses of Concurrent Enrollment There are many secondary schools within APS, but we only included schools in the graph below that have students participating in concurrent enrollment in APS. Rangeview and Hinkley are the top schools in the district concerning the number of students they have in concurrent enrollment. The graphs below reflect that more work and resources are needed to support students in North Aurora. There is a something positive happening for 11th grade students at Aurora Central in that many of them are navigate concurrent enrollment at a similar number to Rangeview. The graphs below reflect data from fall semester of 2016. A Focus on Aurora Public Schools Pg. 13 Figure 4: Number of 11th Grade Concurrent Enrollment Student by School # OF 11TH GRADE CONCURRENT ENROLLMENT STUDENTS BY SCHOOL AuroraCentralHigh School AuroraWestCollege PreparatoryAcademy GatewayHighSchool HinkleyHighSchool RangeviewHighSchool VistaPEAKPreparatory AuroraCentralHigh School AuroraWestCollege PreparatoryAcademy GatewayHighSchool HinkleyHighSchool RangeviewHighSchool VistaPEAKPreparatory WilliamSmithHighSchool 22 28 1 CE Course 69 2 CE Courses 4 10 4 3 43 37 35 2 6 28 11 28 9 1 1 4 3 4 4 2 6 10 11 28 43 37 35 NUMBER OF STUDENTS 69 WilliamSmithHighSchool 3 CE courses 1 4 9 1 22 Figure 4 The top school with juniors concurrently enrolled during the fall of 2016 was Aurora Central. The lowest school for juniors concurrently enrolled for fall of 2016 was Gateway. Aurora Central is making strides with 11th grade students in concurrent enrollment and further research should be done to better understand the continuity of concurrent enrollment for these students into 12th grade. A Focus on Aurora Public Schools Pg. 14 Figure 5: Number of 12th Grade Concurrent Enrollment Students by School # OF 12TH GRADE CONCURRENT ENROLLMENT STUDENTS BY SCHOOL AuroraCentralHigh School AuroraWestCollege PreparatoryAcademy GatewayHighSchool HinkleyHighSchool RangeviewHighSchool VistaPEAKPreparatory AuroraCentralHigh School AuroraWestCollege PreparatoryAcademy GatewayHighSchool HinkleyHighSchool RangeviewHighSchool VistaPEAKPreparatory WilliamSmithHighSchool 16 14 17 4 5 9 12 4 9 12 17 23 30 40 50 64 NUMBER OF STUDENTS 73 76 79 87 WilliamSmithHighSchool 1 CE Course 64 2 CE Courses 17 3 CE courses 17 12 9 9 30 87 73 40 4 76 79 12 23 4 14 50 5 16 Figure 5 The top school offering concurrent enrollment to seniors during the fall of 2016 was Rangeview. The lowest schools offering concurrent enrollment fall of 2016 was Aurora West. More resources need to be provided to schools within North Aurora where there is a need for increased access. NOTE: Data and Graphs compiled by Luna Abraha. A Focus on Aurora Public Schools Pg. 15 Table 2: Number of 11th and 12th Grade Students in APS Taking up to 3 Concurrent Enrollment Classes Name of School Number of students concurrently enrolled in 11th grade up through 3 courses in fall of 2016 Number of students concurrently enrolled in 12th grade up through 3 courses in fall of 2016 Aurora Central 73 98 Aurora West 14 30 Gateway 6 38 Hinkley 53 177 Rangeview 74 202 Vista Peak 47 57 William Smith 50 39 Summary Aurora Central and Rangeview are very close in the number of 11th grade students concurrently enrolled. What’s significant about this finding is there is a huge leap from 11th to 12th grade for students at Rangeview compared to Aurora Central. The innovation zone within APS is called the ACTION Zone which stands for Aurora Community-Based Transformation, Innovation and Opportunity Network. The zone has a theme of international leadership. There is a major gap in students accessing concurrent enrollment in the ACTION Zone (includes Aurora Central and Aurora West) compared to even one school outside of the zone. The amount of concurrent enrollment students in the ACTION Zone is a grand total of 215, which is a bit above Rangeview, which has 202 12th grade students concurrently enrolled alone. More resources and an increase in access must be provided to students in the ACTION Zone. You can find out more about the ACTION Zone here: http://innovation.aurorak12.org/innovation/ A Focus on Aurora Public Schools Pg. 16 Community College of Aurora Concurrent Enrollment • Community College of Aurora provides 73 courses to Aurora Public Schools. Figure 6: CCA Concurrent Enrollment APS Offerings 2017-2018 CCA Concurrent Enrollment APS Classes Business 7% Arts/Communications 12% Beh/Social Sciences 20% English/World Languages 22% STEM 36% Arts/Communications AAA Beh/Social Sciences AAA 3% English/World Languages STEM Business Figure 6 There are only 3 Advanced Academic Achievement 101 courses being offered this academic year which is a course that teaches students how to navigate the hidden rules, norms, and experiences of higher education. 69% of the social science courses offered are history courses. There are multiple AAA courses that can help students learn how to navigate higher education successfully. Here are a couple listed below: “AAA 101 College 101: The Student Experience. 1 Credit hour 15 Contact hours Introduces students to college culture and prepares them for the challenges they will face in higher education. Through a series of interactive seminars, students discover learning in a multicultural environment and use college and community resources to attain education and career goals.” A Focus on Aurora Public Schools Pg. 17 AAA 109 Advanced Academic Achievement 3 Credit hours 45 Contact hours Examines theories and practices associated with successful learning to enhance college success. Areas of study include education and career planning, effective communication, personal management, critical and creative thinking, development of community and awareness of diversity, leadership, and techniques for successful academic performance. Recommended for new and returning students. Prerequisite: Successful completion of ENG 060 or CCR 092, CCR 093, or CCR 094 or appropriate assessment scores.” You can learn more about these student experience course here: https://www.ccaurora.edu/catalog/academic-achievement-courses.htm APS Career and Concurrent Enrollment Survey Data Some APS middle school students were surveyed about their college and career aspirations. Students were surveyed from the following schools: Aurora Frontier, Aurora Quest, Murphy Creek, and North. While these student responses cannot be generalized to the overall population of middle school students, education advocates should be cognizant of the fact that many students are interested in “helping people for a future career” and/or “creating change in community for a career.” We should be considering the following questions in light of this data: • Are we offering concurrent enrollment courses that support student’s academic and career development in public service career? • Are we offering the necessary wrap around support via staff and/or community partnerships to support a student’s career path in public service? • Are we offering career pathways via bundled concurrent enrollment courses for students to complete a series of courses or certificates that lead to a career in public service? A Focus on Aurora Public Schools Pg. 18 In response to the statement “I want to help people for my future career,” students indicated the following: Figure 7: I Want to Help People for My Future Career Student Survey Responses Figure 7 88% of the students may and/or do desire to help people for their future careers. Students typically are only exposed to medical ways of helping community as a career. The offerings of career pathways and concurrent enrollment must be broadened to further expose students to the myriad of ways to help people through a career. In response to the statement “I want to create change in my community for a career,” students indicated the following: • This number is lower than the response to the statement concerning helping people for a career o The above 61.3% may reflect the limited connection of academic and career self-efficacy in what it means to change community for a career. Academic and career self-efficacy is connected to what students are exposed to albeit in school and/or outside of school. Students are not likely to gravitate toward an area in which they lack exposure. Thus, will not have a familiarity with what it looks like, sounds like, or feels like to create change in community via a career if the pedagogy, curriculum, and course offerings do not provide a conduit for students to experience this. A Focus on Aurora Public Schools Pg. 19 Figure 8: I Want to Make a Change Student Survey Responses Figure 8 61.3% of student indicated that they may and/or desire to create change in the community as a career. While there are many students who have shown they desire to make a change in our communities as a career, there are not the career pathways nor concurrent enrollment offerings to help them navigate a career path of public service. NOTE: Graphs and data collection compiled by T’Ana Smith Students are sharing that they have an interest in being “civically engaged in community and career.” Education advocates must ensure that students have equitable access to school choices that will allow them to navigate career pathways in public service. Students should be able to access concurrent enrollment regardless of where they live in order to fully experience equity in school choice. A Focus on Denver Public Schools Pg. 20 A Focus on Denver Public Schools Framing: There were statistical tests done in order to test a series of regressions and relationships among variables such as: -the percentage of Free and DPS SNAPSHOT: Reduced Lunch (FRL) students Student Enrollment: 92,331 and concurrent enrollment. (October 2016) 0.6% American Indian -the number of students from different races and concurrent 3.2% Asian enrollment courses taken or 13.4% Black passed. 55.5% Hispanic 23.2% White 4.0% Other The data that was used was based upon data received from Denver Public Schools which Free/Reduced Lunch: 67.3% (2016-17) indicated a list of schools that http://thecommons.dpsk12.org/Page/202 offer concurrent enrollment. Thus, all DPS secondary schools are not listed and/or used for the data analyses. Highlights about DPS from the CDE/CDHE Annual Report on Concurrent Enrollment for the 2015-2016 Academic Year: • 97 students participated in the ASCENT program in the 2015-2016 academic year which is the second highest participating district beneath APS (p. 50) • There were 2531 students in 9th-12th grade that participated in concurrent enrollment which was a participation rate 11% of the district’s student population (p. 45) • While DPS is listed as number one for the list of the top 10 districts for concurrent enrollment participation, no DPS schools are in the top 10 schools for concurrent enrollment participation (p. 14) A Focus on Denver Public Schools Pg. 21 Career Pathways in DPS Career pathways within DPS are offered in varying ways and through varying partnerships. Two that will be highlighted in this report are the CareerConnect program and CareerWise. CareerConnect is a program that offers students project and career based opportunities for free in tandem with post-secondary development. More information about this program can be found here: http://www.dpscareerconnect.org/welcome/about-us/ The listing of the pathways and schools are below: Table 3: DPS Schools and CareerConnect Pathways Name of Career Connect Program Number of DPS Schools DPS Schools ACEConnect 12 Abraham Lincoln High School East High School George Washington High School John F. Kennedy High School North High School South High School Thomas Jefferson High School Contemporary Learning Academy CEC Middle College Denver Center for 21st Century Learning PREP Academy Manual High School BusinessConnect 14 Abraham Lincoln High School CEC Middle College Collegiate Prep Academy Contemporary Learning Academy Denver Center for 21st Century Learning Denver Center for International Studies-Montbello East High School George Washington High School High Tech Early College John F. Kennedy High School PUSH Academy A Focus on Denver Public Schools Pg. 22 South High School Thomas Jefferson High School West Generation Academy CreativeConnect 13 Abraham Lincoln High School CEC Middle College Denver School of the Arts East High School High Tech Early College Kunsmiller Creative Arts Academy North High School South High School Summit Academy Thomas Jefferson High School West Generation Academy West Career Academy PUSH Academy EdConnect 1 CEC Middle College EngineeringConnect 4 Denver School for Innovation and Sustainable Design East High School John F. Kennedy High School Martin Luther King Jr. Early College HospitalityConnect 2 CEC Middle College Vista Academy MakerConnect 6 Abraham Lincoln High School CEC Middle College East High School John F. Kennedy High School Martin Luther King Jr. Early College PUSH Academy MedConnect 7 CEC Middle College Compassion Road Academy Florence Crittenton High School George Washington High School Manual High School Summit Academy A Focus on Denver Public Schools Pg. 23 Vista Academy PublicSafetyConnect 1 CEC Middle College TechConnect 8 Abraham Lincoln High School CEC Middle College High Tech Early College Martin Luther King Jr. Early College PUSH Academy Thomas Jefferson High School West Generation Academy West Leadership Academy NOTE: DPS Pathways list compiled by Joselin Rivera The top three pathways offered through the CareerConnect program: Business, Creative and ACE. Most concerning is the fact that the Ed and Public Safety pathways are only offered at one school which is CEC Middle College. ___________________________________________________________________ As mentioned within the APS section, CareerWise Colorado is a statewide program that offers apprenticeships to high school students across five school districts and partners with some schools directly. One of the major district partners is Denver Public Schools. The schools offering this program are listed below: Abraham Lincoln High School Denver Online High School Denver School of Innovation and Sustainable Design East High School High Tech Early College Colorado Early College Denver http://www.careerwisecolorado.org/participating-schools/ NOTE: CEC Early College has also been listed and called CEC Middle College and thus are the same school. But, this is how it is listed on the website mentioned above. A Focus on Denver Public Schools Pg. 24 DPS Descriptive and Statistical Analyses Accessing Concurrent Enrollment via Charter and Innovation Schools There were 43 schools on the Denver Public School’s concurrent enrollment list from the 20162017 academic year. Figure 9: Count of Schools by Charter and Innovation Status Count of Schools by Charter or Innovation that Offer Concurrent Enrollment 18 17 16 16 14 12 10 n 8 y 6 4 4 1 2 0 Charter Innovation Figure 9 Of the 43 schools on the concurrent enrollment list, 38 schools are innovation schools or charter schools. There is a great disparity between the number of charter schools offering concurrent enrollment and innovation schools offering concurrent enrollment. The district agreements that the districts have with the higher education concurrent enrollment providers may not be open to charter schools. Whereas, innovations schools are covered under the district agreements which may allow for more access to provide concurrent enrollment access. However, given the fact that many students of color and free and eligible reduced students are served by charters, it is vital that charters also provide concurrent enrollment opportunities for students to decrease their debt potential. Access to concurrent enrollment should not be determined by the governance structure of a school. Equitable school choice for students means that there should be accessibility to concurrent enrollment A Focus on Denver Public Schools Pg. 25 regardless of where a student resides. A student should not have to leave their community to access concurrent enrollment opportunities. Table 4: DPS Free and Reduced Lunch Students Relationship to Concurrent Enrollment Outcomes # of Unique Concurrent Enrollment Students # of Concurrent Enrollment Courses Taken Correlation Coefficient P Value and Total Number Summary of Results 0.62 P<.001 N=41 There is a strong correlation between number of concurrent enrollment students and number of FRL students .52 P<.001 N=41 There is a strong correlation between the number of concurrent enrollment courses taken and FRL students From the above table, we can see that students who are FRL eligible are being served by the concurrent enrollment program due to the strong association. Students who are FRL eligible are being served across the board within concurrent enrollment. Because these correlations are so high, this further reflects why we need to focus on racial equity as a focus in concurrent enrollment rather than solely the FRL population. Highlights about DPS Concurrent Trends: While the number of concurrent enrollment courses taken and passed have increased within the district, the number of students have decreased over the past few years, particularly for Black students. Due to demographic trends you will see focused graphs on three largest demo groups accessing concurrent enrollment of whom are: Black, Latino, and White students. The charts below reflect the differences and numbers of concurrent enrollment students, concurrent enrollment courses taken and passed for the demographic categories of Black, A Focus on Denver Public Schools Pg. 26 Latino, and White over the academic years 2014-2016. The data reflects that though there has been a decline of Latino students represented in concurrent enrollment, they are still largely represented in the overall number of concurrent enrollment students. In light of this, the group comparisons, means tests, are focused on Black and Latino students to better understand the state of racial equity for each group. Figure 10: DPS Student Trends in Concurrent Enrollment Students by Race 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 Latino Black White Number of CE Students 2014 2103 531 483 Number of CE Students 2015 2441 517 631 Number of CE Students 2016 2263 477 653 Figure 10 The number of Black and Latino concurrent enrollment students have declined while the number has risen for white students. Because there are so many Latino students taking concurrent enrollment their numbers have not been as impacted as the decline seen by Black students. Figure 11: DPS Student Trends in Concurrent Enrollment Courses Taken by Race 7000 6000 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 0 Latino Black White Number of CE Students 2014 5025 1175 1058 Number of CE Students 2015 5870 992 1309 Number of CE Students 2016 6419 999 1405 Figure 11 While the number of courses taken by White and Latino students have increased, the number of courses taken by Black students decreased and then only increased by 7 courses. While there was a A Focus on Denver Public Schools Pg. 27 decrease in Latino students, their number of courses has increased between 2014-2016 and thus have not been as impacted by the decline in courses. Whereas, Black students have experienced a decline and also have not seen a major increase in courses taken. Concurrent Enrollment Courses TAKEN by Black and Latino (T-test) Though the number of Latino concurrent enrollment students have decreased between 20142016, the number of classes they have taken have increased over this same time period. The number of Black concurrent enrollment students decreased, and the number of courses they have taken has rebounded to the average from 2014. Figure 12: DPS Student Trends in Concurrent Enrollment Courses Passed 6000 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 0 Latino Black White Number of CE Students 2014 3955 884 907 Number of CE Students 2015 4927 823 1188 Number of CE Students 2016 5435 836 1275 Figure 12 While the overall number of courses taken by Latino and White students have increased, the number of courses they have passed increased as well. The number of Black concurrent enrollment students decreasing could have an impact on the number of courses on the number of courses they take and pass, but further research is needed to better understand the ways in which they experience concurrent enrollment to unveil the many variables at play. Further research should be inclusive of qualitative data. A Focus on Denver Public Schools Pg. 28 Group Comparisons of Blacks and Latinos: Do Black Students Have Equitable Access? What is very concerning is the decline of Latino and Black students taking concurrent enrollment courses. There are many variables that could potentially contribute to this phenomena and further research could unveil ways in which we can ensure students of color are supported in navigating concurrent enrollment classes and processes, particularly Black students who are underrepresented. Because of the high number of Latino students in concurrent enrollment, this presented a skew in the data and thus frames the statistical analyses for the correlations conducted. Table 5: Group Comparisons of Black and Latino Concurrent Enrollment Students (Ttest) Mean T-stat P value Degrees of Freedom 2014 Latino Black 51.29 12.95 3.39 P=.001 47 2015 2016 Latino Black Latino Black 59.54 12.61 55.19 11.64 3.50 3.40 P=.001 P=.002 44 44 Summary There is a statistically significant mean difference in the number of students taking CE courses between Latino students (51. 29, 59.54, 55.19) and Black students (12.95, 12.61, 11.64) over the course of these three years, where Latino students have a higher mean value for 2014, 2015, and 2016 (2014: 3.39(47)= .001; 2015: 3.5 (44)=.001; 2016: 3.40 (44)=.002. A Focus on Denver Public Schools Pg. 29 Table 6: Group Comparisons of Black and Latino Concurrent Enrollment Courses Taken (T-test) Mean T-stat P value 2014 Latino Black 119.64 29.13 3.05 P=.004 2015 Latino Black 142.38 24.67 3.24 P=.002 2016 Latino Black 159.44 25.08 3.13 P=.003 44 41 40 Degrees of Freedom Summary There is a statistically significant mean difference in the number of CE courses taken between Latino students (119.64, 142.38, 159.44) and Black students (29.13, 24.67, 25.08) over the course of these three years, where Latino students have a higher mean value for 2014, 2015, and 2016 (2014: 3.05 (44)= .004; 2015: 3.24 (41)=.002; 2016: 3.13 (40)=.003. Table 7: Group Comparisons of Black and Latino Concurrent Enrollment Courses Taken (T-test) Mean T-stat P value Degrees of Freedom 2014 Latino Black 94.15 21.79 2.89 P=006 2015 Latino Black 119.59 20.44 3.10 P=.003 2016 Latino Black 134.21 21.13 3.02 P=.004 43 41 40 Summary There is a statistically significant mean difference in the number of CE courses passed between Latino students (94.15, 119.59, 134.21) and Black students (21.79, 20.44, 21.13) over the course of these three years, where Latino students have a higher mean value for 2014, 2015, and 2016 (2014: 2.89 (43)= .006; 2015: 3.10 (41)=.003; 2016: 3.02 (40)=.004. A Focus on Denver Public Schools Pg. 30 Table 8: Group Comparisons of Black and Latino Courses Taken in Relation to Overall Concurrent Enrollment Students Outcome IV Number of CE Courses Taken by Latinos Number of Concurrent Enrollment students Number of Concurrent Enrollment Courses Taken Correlation Coefficient p-value (n) .826 P=.001 N=41 Number of CE Courses Taken by Blacks Number of CE Courses Taken by Latinos Number of CE Courses Taken by Blacks Results Summary .633 .949 P=.001 N=41 .510 While the relationship between the number of Latino students taking CE courses and the total number of CE students is very strong, near 1, the number of Black students taking CE courses and the number of CE students is strong but not as strong. While the relationship between the number of Latino students taking CE courses and the total number of CE courses taken is very strong, near 1, the number of Black students taking CE courses and the number of CE courses taken is strong but not as strong. The high number of Latino students in concurrent enrollment and the number of classes they are taking in the program reflects a great stride in racial equity for Latinos, but simultaneously that we have more work to do in improving the access to concurrent enrollment for Black students. This point concerning racial equity for Black students is reflected in regressions that was done in our research. When regressions were run for these same outcome and A Focus on Denver Public Schools Pg. 31 independent variable combinations it was found that the impact of supporting Black students can have a greater impact on the overall access of concurrent enrollment. 1 There are a myriad of factors that could contribute to the state of Black concurrent enrollment students, but we must better understand their experiences with the system in order to increase racial equity for them. It is incumbent on concurrent enrollment advocates to figure out how to best serve Black students to support the entire concurrent enrollment population of students. 1 White papers reflecting regressions conducted concerning concurrent enrollment are to come. Regression weights tell the impact of each predictor on the outcome when you are accounting for the other predictors. The lower the number, the less impact the variable has on the outcome. The higher the number, the higher the impact the variable has on the outcome. The highest impact on increasing the overall number of courses was reflected in the regression weight of Black students (.838) while the regression weight for Latinos was very low at .32. Thus, the more courses we support Black students in passing, the more they more they will sign up. A school can influence their number of concurrent enrollment students by getting more Black students to pass due to their impact on the overall concurrent enrollment students. A Focus on Practitioners Pg. 32 A Focus on Practitioners Framing: The Executive Director conducted interviews using the snowball method which entails meeting with people and asking the experts (practitioners) who else to speak with. Toward the end of the interviews conducted, practitioners began to mention names of people I had already connected with, indicating at least some degree of local expert saturation. We conducted a total of 14 interviews with experts in the field from the APS, DPS, the community college systems, and relevant higher education institutions and programs. Responses were typed during the interviews and member checks were conducted to ensure validity of the information gathered. To triangulate and/or further validate themes from the interviews, the YAASPA team also highlighted themes they found from the interviews. Practitioner Perspectives There were 8 questions asked with the last one being who else the Executive Director should interview for the report (see appendices). But, this report will focus on 5 of the 8 questions. Themes were built based upon a coding process and below are the themes are shown by the amount of times the theme came up in the interview questions. The questions that we focused on for this report are the following: • What are some strengths you have witnessed from students navigating concurrent enrollment? • What are some challenges you have witnessed from students navigating concurrent enrollment? • • • What types of classed, racialized, or gendered experiences have students navigated in concurrent enrollment? How can concurrent enrollment opportunities be shifted to better support and increase the numbers for: students of color? Multi-lingual students? Students of lower income? If you had the opportunity to implement a policy to positively affect racial equity in concurrent enrollment, what would it be (NOTE: This was question number 6 on the interview protocol)? A Focus on Practitioners Pg. 33 We believed it was critical to include qualitative information from the experts in the field. Through interviews we were able to capture the sentiments of those working to implement and support best practices within our system of public education. 1) What are some strengths you have witnessed from students navigating concurrent enrollment? Figure 13: Practitioner Responses to Strengths of Concurrent Enrollment Save money (stated 5 times) Pathway Alignment (stated 7 times) Increase self-efficacy (stated 10 times) Figure 13 Practitioners overwhelming see concurrent enrollment as a way to blur the lines between K-12 and higher education. Furthermore, the blurring of K-12 and higher education is believed to increase student confidence in navigating their academic and career development. Quotes from interviewees about strengths in concurrent enrollment: Build Efficacy: “How do I do college, what are the hidden guidelines, cultural capital, how do we bring in their cultural wealth and transfer this to the space of higher education?”-Dawn Post, ASCENT Specialist Pathway Alignment: “Students being able to communicate what they want to pursue and what supports the concurrent enrollment experience”-Anonymous Save Money: “They see how much they are saving and that’s positive and powerful”Anonymous A Focus on Practitioners Pg. 34 2) What are some challenges you have witnessed from students navigating concurrent enrollment? Figure 14: Practitioner Responses to Challenges in Concurrent Enrollment Transition to Higher Ed Learning (stated 15 times) Potential Tracking (stated 7 times) Barriers (stated 6 times) Pathway Alignment (stated 6 times) Figure 14 Many practitioners believe we need to better support students in their transition to college and see concurrent enrollment as a conduit to provide support. Quotes from interviewees about challenges in concurrent enrollment: Transition to Higher Education: “For students what’s next is usually something else like maybe…a 4 year. For the student’s what next is usually something else like maybe not CCA at a 4 year. Not sure what happens to students who do not get into their 1 st choice”-Janell Lindsay, Director of Student Success Center Potential Tracking: “Who gets to participate and how students are chosen. Creates a college going track for students and typically families who are aware of these opportunities”-Ray Keith, Director of Instructional Intervention and Support A Focus on Practitioners Pg. 35 Barriers: “Appreciate the college position in that it is a college class, but…the rigidity of procedures and deadlines doesn’t serve students of color well.”-Brian Cochran, PostSecondary Readiness Coordinator Pathway Alignment: “If we are taking vulnerable students learning to navigate college into concurrent enrollment courses without meaning then we are doing a disservice to the students if the classes are not clumped together with meaning”-Anonymous 3) What types of classed, racialized, or gendered experiences have students navigated in concurrent enrollment? Figure 15: Practitioner Responses for Classed, Gendered and Racialized Experiences in Concurrent Enrollment Increase knowledge of students and families (13 stated this) Increase knowledge of school/higher ed personnel (12 stated this) Increase knoweldge of cost implications (7 stated this) Figure 15 Increasing knowledge of how and where to navigate concurrent enrollment was deemed critical increasing racial equity. Quotes from interviewees about racialized, classed, and gendered experiences in concurrent enrollment: Increase knowledge for students and families: “In Far Northeast, struggle to find students who have their 12 credits. Struggling with the Montbello campus for students to get the 12 credits necessary for ASCENT. Talk with folks in the community and they say they are not aware that the kids can be taking these college courses”-Anonymous Increase knowledge of school personnel: “Most instructors are white and they are teaching students who are mostly folks of color, first generation, low income backgrounds too. Folks A Focus on Practitioners Pg. 36 from different countries [may have] cultural differences too and adjusting to how they are internalizing what they are hearing from instructors”-Erick Chavez, CCA Trio Academic Coach Increase knowledge of costs (fin aid and financial aid probation implications): “Concurrent enrollment courses should not affect the Satisfactory Academic Progress policy and should be a part of the FAQ’s”-Charles Dukes, College and Career Success Department Director 4) How can concurrent enrollment opportunities be shifted to better support and increase the numbers for: students of color? Multi-lingual students? Students of lower income? Increase Access Figure 16: Practitioner Responses to How to Increase Representation of Marginalized Students in Concurrent Enrollment Increase family communication (stated 16 times) Prepare students to navigate higher education (stated 9 times) Pathway Alignment (stated 8 times) Figure 16 Increase in family communication concerning the knowledge and opportunity to access concurrent enrollment was revealed. Quotes from interviewees about increasing students from marginalized communities: Family communication and access: “Multilingual. We should translate this information.”Tammy Ward, Director of Concurrent Enrollment Initiatives Prepare students to navigate higher education: “There has to be some sort of support and foundational understanding for students, particularly for students who are 1 st gen or multilingual students. If students don’t understand what CE means then it is a disservice to the students.”-Ji Yoon, YAASPA Instructor, Graduate Testing Supervisor/Coordinator proctor A Focus on Practitioners Pg. 37 Pathway Alignment: “How can we create meaning in the process of offering concurrent enrollment”-Anonymous 5) If you had the opportunity to implement a policy to positively affect racial equity in concurrent enrollment, what would it be (NOTE: This was question number 6 on the interview protocol)? Figure 17: Practitioner Responses to Increasing Racial Equity in Concurrent Enrollment Increase family, community, institutional access (stated 13 times) Racial Equity in Concurrent Enrollment Increase funding for schools & districts (stated 7 times) Eliminate financial aid probation (stated 7 times) Figure 17 Accessibility of concurrent enrollment was of primary concern for practitioners. There is a concern that the school choices students are exposed to may or may not offer concurrent enrollment which limits equity in school choices offering concurrent enrollment. Quotes from interviews about racial equity in concurrent enrollment: Increase family, community, and institutional concurrent enrollment access: “Some schools have a lot of concurrent enrollment and others don’t. Availability is a piece of being more equitable with access for students.”-Dawn Post, ASCENT Specialist Increase money for schools and districts: “One definitely is the funding issue...this is critical. The way concurrent enrollment is moving now…the only way to obtain equity is the state will have to 1 do something about training teachers in various parts of the state to earn the credentials to be certified”-Anonymous Pg. 38 A Focus on Practitioners Eliminate and mitigate financial aid probation: “Colleges need to understand the implications that the Satisfactory Academic Policy has on concurrent enrollment students. Some colleges understand this and some don’t…perhaps in the [financial aid] appeal process a question should be asked if students took any of the courses in concurrent enrollment”-Anonymous The practitioners interviewed have a vested interest in the success of concurrent enrollment not only because their professional status depends on it, but our students are depending on it to navigate into higher education. Our students and practitioners need us to listen careful to their experiences and recommendations to bring greater racial equity to the system because they are the experts. Policy Recommendations Pg. 39 Policy Recommendations Gilborn (2005) indicates the need to consider equity in policy by posing the following questions to reflect upon: “First, the question of priorities: who or what is driving education policy? Second, the question of beneficiaries: who wins and who loses as a result of education policy priorities? And finally, the question of outcomes: what are the effects of policy?” (p. 492). • The following policy recommendations are not listed in any particular order, but are simply listed. 1) Pathway Alignment. Concurrent enrollment courses should be aligned with career pathways and can act as a conduit to create pathways for future public servants. 2) Culturally relevant courses. There is a long list of culturally relevant courses on the gtpathways list for students to take via concurrent enrollment. Outreach to students should be conducted to see which types of concurrent enrollment courses students desire to take 3) Strategic Partnerships. There should be more intentionality in partnering with graduate programs at higher education institutions to recruit and increase the number of faculty to teach concurrent enrollment courses. 4) Access in All Public-School Models. More research needs to be conducted to better understand how we can increase access in all public schools, including charters. 5) Translate. Concurrent enrollment information should be translated in at least the top five languages for student’s families to understand the implications and pathways associated with concurrent enrollment. 6) More funding. Funding must be increased so that schools have more agency to provide concurrent enrollment courses to students. 7) Prevent Financial Aid Probation. More research needs to be conducted to understand how concurrent enrollment courses affect a student’s potential of being on financial aid probation. 8) Transparency. There needs to be more transparency in the processes that students and families must navigate to take concurrent enrollment courses at their respective schools to mitigate tracking. 9) Increase AAA courses. AAA courses that support students in accessing knowledge of how to navigate higher education should be offered at minimum at each school as an introduction to concurrent enrollment. 10) Remove barriers. Unintentional barriers between schools and higher education institutions should be further investigated (i.e. registration deadlines, application processes etc) Pg. 40 YAASPA Staff, Interns, and Contributors YAASPA Staff, Interns, and Contributors Janiece Mackey Kristen Pough Luna Abraha Omega Micael Colin Moore Ji Yoon T’Ana Smith Joselin Rivera Jorge Valdez Pg. 41 Young Aspiring Americans for Social and Political Activism (YAASPA) Young Aspiring Americans for Social and Political Activism (YAASPA) YAASPA endeavors to build the self-efficacy of youth who desire to make change in our communities, pursue social science degrees, and social justice careers. Our mission: To encourage and support disengaged and underserved youth to participate in their communities socially and politically, in order to make changes within the community. To create political and social awareness regarding issues that directly and/or adversely affects our communities, it is necessary to be educated. Through activism and education, we can redefine the standards that have been placed upon us, Our vision: Cultivate youth be civically engaged in community and career! Our motto: "Redefining the Standards to Pull Down the Barriers!" Donate: http://www.yaaspa.org/donate.html Co-founder & Executive Director Janiece Mackey PO Box 202092 Denver, CO 80220 Janiece.mackey@yaaspa.net www.yaaspa.org Pg. 42 Young Aspiring Americans for Social and Political Activism (YAASPA) References ACTION Zone at Aurora Public Schools. http://innovation.aurorak12.org/innovation/ Aurora Public Schools Demographics. http://aurorak12.org/about-aps/fast-facts/demographics/ CareerWise Colorado. http://www.careerwisecolorado.org/about-overview/ Colorado Department of Education and Higher Education. (April, 2017). Annual Report on Concurrent Enrollment 2015-2016 School Year. https://highered.colorado.gov/Publications/Reports/Enrollment/FY2016/2016_Concurrent_Enrol lment_April_2017.pdf Colorado Department of Higher Education. (August, 2017). CO Rises: Advancing Education and Talent Development. https://highered.colorado.gov/publications/CDHE-Master-Plan2017.pdf Community College of Aurora. Academic and Achievement Courses. https://www.ccaurora.edu/catalog/academic-achievement-courses.htm Denver Public Schools. About DPS. http://thecommons.dpsk12.org/Page/202 Denver Public Schools CareerConnect. http://www.dpscareerconnect.org/welcome/about-us/ Denver Public Schools Portfolio Management Team. Innovation Schools of DPS. (2017). http://portfolio.dpsk12.org/our-schools/innovation-schools/innovation-schools-of-dps/ Denver Public Schools Portfolio Management Team. Charter Schools of DPS. (2017). http://portfolio.dpsk12.org/our-schools/charter-schools/charter-schools-of-denver-publicschools/ Gillborn, D. (2005). Education policy as an act of white supremacy: Whiteness, critical race theory and education reform. Journal of Education Policy, 20(4), 485-505. Howell, A., & Tuitt, F. (2003). Race and Higher Education: Rethinking Pedagogy in Diverse College Classrooms. Harvard Educational Review Reprint Series. Harvard Education Publishing Group, 8 Story Street, 5th Floor, Cambridge, MA 02138. To Our Staff and Stakeholders Pg. 43 To Our Staff and Stakeholders Thank you! Practitioners Our youth are successful and making strides because of you. Thank you for your strides toward racial equity. Community Partners We hope you will continue to support our work, but more importantly, the trajectory of our youth’s engagement and navigation through concurrent enrollment and career pathways. Thank you to our staff, interns, stakeholders, and funders. We cannot do this work without you! Special thanks to Dr. Elizabeth Anderson, Brit Havey, and Reilly Pharo-Carter for your support as well! Policy Makers We know that policy should not be made in silos, so we look forward to working with you on ways to increase racial equity and access to concurrent enrollment and higher education in Colorado. Appendices Forthcoming Pg. 44 Appendices Forthcoming Appendix A: Interview Protocol Appendix B: More Qualitative Data from Practitioner Interviews Appendix C: Quantitative Data Appendices can be found online at www.yaaspa.org