Great piece on South Texas' Hidalgo ISD.
-Patricia
By Joel Vargas | Ed Week Editorial
January 7, 2011
Hidalgo, Texas, has one of the most successful school systems in the United States. The dropout rate is nearly zero, and the high school regularly lands on a top-school list published by U.S. News & World Report. Last June, when members of the high school graduating class crossed the stage to receive their diplomas, 95 percent of them could proudly point to their college credits as well. Two-thirds of the graduating seniors had earned at least a full semester of credits toward a college degree.
It’s time for the nation to pay attention when any community boasts results like these. These are especially remarkable in one of the most economically depressed areas of the United States, just across the Rio Grande River from Mexico, with one of the lowest number of college-educated adults. Nine out of 10 students in the high school are considered economically disadvantaged, 99.5 percent are Hispanic, and 53 percent entered with limited proficiency in English.
The story of Hidalgo is not only one of success, but of turning around an entire school district. In the late 1980s, student achievement in Hidalgo ranked in the bottom 10 percent in Texas. But local leaders took giant steps to improve student performance, and they gained support from every segment of the surrounding community. Over the next two decades, everyone—from bus drivers to principals, from teachers to school board members—began to focus on doing what it takes to raise the achievement levels of all 3,500 young people in the Hidalgo schools.
Read on...
Showing posts with label Region 1. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Region 1. Show all posts
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Sunday, December 5, 2010
UT System officials spell out plans for Valley vision Officials hope to expand academic and health offerings.
By Ralph K.M. Haurwitz | AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Friday, Dec. 3, 2010
"Plant the flag."
That's how University of Texas System Regents Gene Powell and Robert Stillwell put it a year ago when they summed up what the state's largest university system ought to do in the Rio Grande Valley. Their point was that the system should plan to dramatically expand its academic and health offerings in the fast-growing region, which has long been a stepchild when it comes to higher education.
They might have been preaching to the converted. Regents with ties to South Texas include Janiece Longoria, who grew up in Pharr, and Colleen McHugh, who lives in Corpus Christi and leads the board. The system's chancellor, Francisco Cigarroa, grew up in Laredo and expanded health programs in South Texas when he was president of the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio.
On Friday, at a retreat in Austin, system officials outlined their progress to the Board of Regents. The efforts don't amount to a planting of the flag, but that moment might come in February, when the officials plan to ask the board for permission and money to begin the initial steps of a 10-year vision they are developing.
"This is ambitious. This is long term," said David Prior, the system's executive vice chancellor for academic affairs.
Cigarroa said he hopes to come up with $4 million to $5 million for hiring faculty members in science, technology, engineering and math at UT-Brownsville and UT-Pan American. He said the money likely would come from system endowments and savings from debt restructuring and other cost-cutting measures. Communities in the Valley would be asked to match the system's contribution dollar for dollar through donations and other means, he said.
The system is working on a parallel track to ramp up its health programs in the region. It already operates three satellite medical campuses — known collectively as the Regional Academic Health Center — in Harlingen, Brownsville and Edinburg. The largest unit, at Harlingen, has 50 medical students from San Antonio in clinical rotations. Cigarroa hopes to double that.
Hospitals in the Valley have agreed to provide 127 new residency slots for freshly minted doctors undergoing additional training, said Kenneth Shine, the system's executive vice chancellor for health affairs.
One long-term goal is a full-fledged medical school in the Valley. State lawmakers approved a measure last year that authorizes — but stops short of requiring — the UT regents to establish a medical school in Cameron County, whose major cities are Brownsville and Harlingen. But with the state facing a multibillion-dollar budget shortfall, it's unlikely that the Legislature would allocate significant funds for such a venture anytime soon.
Friday, Dec. 3, 2010
"Plant the flag."
That's how University of Texas System Regents Gene Powell and Robert Stillwell put it a year ago when they summed up what the state's largest university system ought to do in the Rio Grande Valley. Their point was that the system should plan to dramatically expand its academic and health offerings in the fast-growing region, which has long been a stepchild when it comes to higher education.
They might have been preaching to the converted. Regents with ties to South Texas include Janiece Longoria, who grew up in Pharr, and Colleen McHugh, who lives in Corpus Christi and leads the board. The system's chancellor, Francisco Cigarroa, grew up in Laredo and expanded health programs in South Texas when he was president of the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio.
On Friday, at a retreat in Austin, system officials outlined their progress to the Board of Regents. The efforts don't amount to a planting of the flag, but that moment might come in February, when the officials plan to ask the board for permission and money to begin the initial steps of a 10-year vision they are developing.
"This is ambitious. This is long term," said David Prior, the system's executive vice chancellor for academic affairs.
Cigarroa said he hopes to come up with $4 million to $5 million for hiring faculty members in science, technology, engineering and math at UT-Brownsville and UT-Pan American. He said the money likely would come from system endowments and savings from debt restructuring and other cost-cutting measures. Communities in the Valley would be asked to match the system's contribution dollar for dollar through donations and other means, he said.
The system is working on a parallel track to ramp up its health programs in the region. It already operates three satellite medical campuses — known collectively as the Regional Academic Health Center — in Harlingen, Brownsville and Edinburg. The largest unit, at Harlingen, has 50 medical students from San Antonio in clinical rotations. Cigarroa hopes to double that.
Hospitals in the Valley have agreed to provide 127 new residency slots for freshly minted doctors undergoing additional training, said Kenneth Shine, the system's executive vice chancellor for health affairs.
One long-term goal is a full-fledged medical school in the Valley. State lawmakers approved a measure last year that authorizes — but stops short of requiring — the UT regents to establish a medical school in Cameron County, whose major cities are Brownsville and Harlingen. But with the state facing a multibillion-dollar budget shortfall, it's unlikely that the Legislature would allocate significant funds for such a venture anytime soon.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Education study ranks Hidalgo County near the bottom among large metro areas
Neal Morton | The Monitor
July 21, 2010
McALLEN — McAllen remains among the nation’s worst cities for educational success, a think tank reported this week, but some business and education leaders gleaned hope from the area’s third-to-last ranking for bachelor’s degree achievement.
Releasing its “State of Metropolitan America” study on Monday, the Washington, D.C.-based Brookings Institute ranked the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission area — which comprises all of Hidalgo County — 98th among the country’s 100 largest metro areas based on the proportion of residents age 25 and older with a bachelor’s degree.
Only 15.1 percent of that age group, or 58,811 people, had a bachelor’s degree in 2008.
In 1990 and 2000, Greater McAllen stood at dead last on the list.
University of Texas-Pan American President Robert Nelsen hailed the movement up the ranking since then as good news for the area.
“We only came up by two, but my optimism is large,” Nelsen said. “Sometimes I’m asked if we need to recruit in Houston or in Dallas. No, we don’t.
“There are so many students here available,” he said. “We just need to make certain they know they have the opportunity.”
Nelsen said many hurdles stand between metro McAllen and the 35 percent national average for degree attainment.
One key factor in the area’s low education rates represented what Nelsen called a vicious circle.
“We have a lot of poverty in the (Rio Grande) Valley,” he said. “I think of lot of that is because of the low number of bachelor’s (degrees) we have here. An educated populace is what will turn around that trend.”
Demonstrating the vicious circle, the metro report illuminated tough prospects for individuals without post-secondary educations.
In 2008, less than 60 percent of residents with only a high school diploma or less had a job, compared to over 86 percent employment for residents with a bachelor’s degree.
Joe Brown, president and CEO of Border Capital Bank and board chairman of the McAllen Chamber of Commerce, said the low numbers of bachelor’s degrees in the area reflected a student mindset that hurts the area.
“We’ve lost some of that mental capital to other areas of the state,” Brown said. “We have a lot of our kids leaving the Valley to go to school. … They get enamored with life in the big city and we lose them.”
Brown’s own daughter received a master’s degree in Austin and has yet to return.
He said the dislocation of education-oriented students might change as more institutions of higher learning like South Texas College establish themselves in South Texas.
STC’s vice president of academic affairs, Juan Mejia, agreed.
“We are playing catch-up more than anything,” Mejia said.
“Here, our focus is to prepare a workforce for jobs that exist in our area,” he said. “We do environmental scans on what potential new jobs are coming so we can be ready to roll out a program as soon as possible.”
As their schools renovate engineering, health care and information technology programs, Mejia and Nelsen said they were coordinating efforts to provide training for jobs specific to the region.
Their optimism was supported by some increases reported in the metro study.
The McAllen area’s enrollment in college or graduate schools beat the national trend as it jumped 7.8 points from 23.5 percent of the age 18-24 population in 2000 to 31.3 percent in 2008.
Bachelor’s degree attainment among residents age 25 and older also went up — 12.9 percent in 2000 versus 15.1 percent in 2008. Meanwhile, associate degree attainment in that age group increased half a percentage point to 3.4 percent.
Even high school graduation rates for the age 25-and-up crowd increased, from 50.5 percent in 2000 to 58.3 percent in 2008.
High school was the place Nelsen saw the most potential for change in the Valley’s college-ready culture.
“You have to get these kids early on,” he said. “You have to be moving as quickly and early as you can to introduce them to the idea of college.”
He referenced a San Juan school district program that helps parents get their general equivalency diplomas and noted the community aspect to such efforts.
“If the parents get the GED, then their kids are more likely to go to college,” Nelsen said. “It has to be multi-pronged. Just the university or STC can’t do it alone. We all have to do it together.”
July 21, 2010
McALLEN — McAllen remains among the nation’s worst cities for educational success, a think tank reported this week, but some business and education leaders gleaned hope from the area’s third-to-last ranking for bachelor’s degree achievement.
Releasing its “State of Metropolitan America” study on Monday, the Washington, D.C.-based Brookings Institute ranked the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission area — which comprises all of Hidalgo County — 98th among the country’s 100 largest metro areas based on the proportion of residents age 25 and older with a bachelor’s degree.
Only 15.1 percent of that age group, or 58,811 people, had a bachelor’s degree in 2008.
In 1990 and 2000, Greater McAllen stood at dead last on the list.
University of Texas-Pan American President Robert Nelsen hailed the movement up the ranking since then as good news for the area.
“We only came up by two, but my optimism is large,” Nelsen said. “Sometimes I’m asked if we need to recruit in Houston or in Dallas. No, we don’t.
“There are so many students here available,” he said. “We just need to make certain they know they have the opportunity.”
Nelsen said many hurdles stand between metro McAllen and the 35 percent national average for degree attainment.
One key factor in the area’s low education rates represented what Nelsen called a vicious circle.
“We have a lot of poverty in the (Rio Grande) Valley,” he said. “I think of lot of that is because of the low number of bachelor’s (degrees) we have here. An educated populace is what will turn around that trend.”
Demonstrating the vicious circle, the metro report illuminated tough prospects for individuals without post-secondary educations.
In 2008, less than 60 percent of residents with only a high school diploma or less had a job, compared to over 86 percent employment for residents with a bachelor’s degree.
Joe Brown, president and CEO of Border Capital Bank and board chairman of the McAllen Chamber of Commerce, said the low numbers of bachelor’s degrees in the area reflected a student mindset that hurts the area.
“We’ve lost some of that mental capital to other areas of the state,” Brown said. “We have a lot of our kids leaving the Valley to go to school. … They get enamored with life in the big city and we lose them.”
Brown’s own daughter received a master’s degree in Austin and has yet to return.
He said the dislocation of education-oriented students might change as more institutions of higher learning like South Texas College establish themselves in South Texas.
STC’s vice president of academic affairs, Juan Mejia, agreed.
“We are playing catch-up more than anything,” Mejia said.
“Here, our focus is to prepare a workforce for jobs that exist in our area,” he said. “We do environmental scans on what potential new jobs are coming so we can be ready to roll out a program as soon as possible.”
As their schools renovate engineering, health care and information technology programs, Mejia and Nelsen said they were coordinating efforts to provide training for jobs specific to the region.
Their optimism was supported by some increases reported in the metro study.
The McAllen area’s enrollment in college or graduate schools beat the national trend as it jumped 7.8 points from 23.5 percent of the age 18-24 population in 2000 to 31.3 percent in 2008.
Bachelor’s degree attainment among residents age 25 and older also went up — 12.9 percent in 2000 versus 15.1 percent in 2008. Meanwhile, associate degree attainment in that age group increased half a percentage point to 3.4 percent.
Even high school graduation rates for the age 25-and-up crowd increased, from 50.5 percent in 2000 to 58.3 percent in 2008.
High school was the place Nelsen saw the most potential for change in the Valley’s college-ready culture.
“You have to get these kids early on,” he said. “You have to be moving as quickly and early as you can to introduce them to the idea of college.”
He referenced a San Juan school district program that helps parents get their general equivalency diplomas and noted the community aspect to such efforts.
“If the parents get the GED, then their kids are more likely to go to college,” Nelsen said. “It has to be multi-pronged. Just the university or STC can’t do it alone. We all have to do it together.”
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