For immediate use

September 27, 2006

Bloomington Superintendent, NCC President

explore joint approaches to student success

Bloomington Public Schools Superintendent Les Fujitake and Dr. Kathi Hiyane-Brown, President of Normandale Community College, recently explored how closer ties could improve success for students who attend both institutions. Kennedy and Jefferson rank second and third behind Burnsville with 75 to 90 students from each Bloomington high school attending NCC.

“The Bloomington School District and NCC have enjoyed a very collaborative and

productive relationship,“ said Fujitake. “Our optimism about our relationship has soared because of Dr. Hiyane-Brown's values, leadership and her successful track record of developing strong school and community college partnerships,” he said.

For her part, Hiyane-Brown saw several areas where the school district and NCC could collaborate further to improve student success. “There are so many opportunities for collaboration in areas such as college readiness, career development, service learning, and professional development that can only lead to greater benefits to our students and to our communities,” she said. “I look forward to working with Superintendent Fujitake and his staff to strengthen our efforts in support of student learning.”

Hiyane-Brown and Fujitake examined college assessment scores of Bloomington

students entering Normandale. The data showed most Bloomington students are well

prepared with college-level Reading skills. However, the data will be further analyzed to determine the proportion of students who are not native English speakers.

Data from SHAPE, which provides adult ESL, GED preparation and high school

completion programs and also sends graduates to NCC, will be involved in the analysis at the suggestion of Tom Holton, the District's executive director of Community Education.

Bloomington students don’t do as well, however, in Math on the college’s placement

exams, which determine the level of classes students will take and therefore the pace at

which they advance toward a degree. Stronger scores in Reading than Math appear to be a statewide issue, noted Dr. Jon Marshall, dean for college readiness, who was among the college and school district educators.

At the same time, school district data show that the Bloomington students are

successfully achieving Math standards on the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments,

which are required for high school graduation, said Dr. Janet Pladson, the District’s

assistant superintendent for academic services.

Fujitake and Hiyane-Brown agreed to explore how well Math concepts tested by the high school MCA align with content tested by the college Math placement exam. Discussions also turned to possible summer academies in Math and joint meetings of college faculty and Bloomington teachers to explore alignment of the two Math programs. Offering high school juniors on-line critiques of their college application essays could be another way to smooth the transition from high school to college.

Hiyane-Brown also highlighted her goal of increasing student retention rates so that more NCC students complete a two-year degree. Currently, 63 percent of students complete both semesters each year, while 40 percent of students entering in the fall return the next fall term to NCC, she said. Fujitake asked that the retention rate for Bloomington students be determined as well.

“This meeting will strengthen the teamwork that can assure students are successful in

moving from Bloomington’s high schools to Normandale Community College and on to future careers,” said Fujitake.

Numerous programs already link the Bloomington Public Schools and NCC. This year

42 Bloomington teachers are hosting NCC students as classroom observers. Minnesota

State University-Mankato classes at Normandale enable future teachers to earn a four-

year education degree in Bloomington.

Last year 120 Normandale students volunteered to tutor more than 300 Bloomington

Gr.1-8 students in Math and Gr. 1-3 in Reading. An ESL family literacy program in

Bloomington’s elementary schools also involves NCC students as tutors and activity

leaders. Still other programs offer scholarships and support for students with special

challenges.

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