How One School District Is Adopting Early College as a District-wide Strategy

Posted by on October 31, 2010

Putting pathways in place

A new report from Jobs for the Future details how the Hidalgo Independent School District — in one of the most economically depressed metropolitan areas in Texas and with low numbers of college-educated adults — is preparing all of its students to earn college credits while in high school. Hidalgo ISD is 99.5 percent Hispanic, 90 percent economically disadvantaged, and 53 percent limited-English-proficient. In 2005, the district promised that all of its students, not just a select group, would earn college credits before graduating from high school. Since then, it has transformed its elementary schools, middle schools, and high school by driving college expectations, implementing rigorous course sequencing, and integrating student support systems into all of its schools. It has also stepped up parental engagement, built strong relationships with partnering institutions — the University of Texas-Pan American, the University of Texas System, the Communities Foundation of Texas/Texas High School Project, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation — and encouraged faculty to become adjuncts in participating colleges and universities. This past June, more than 95 percent of the Class of 2010 graduated with college credits. Two-thirds of the graduating seniors had earned at least a full semester of credit for a college degree.

See the report: http://www.jff.org/publications/education/college-success-all-how-hidalgo-independ/1144