Breakthrough Collaborative

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Breakthrough Collaborative
2009 National Partnership for Educational Access
Conference The Education Policy Landscape
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Breakthrough Collaborative Mission Statement
Founded in San Francisco in 1978, Breakthrough
Collaborative is a national non-pro?t with a
mission to increase educational opportunity for
high-potential, disadvantaged middle-school
students and to inspire outstanding college and
high school students to pursue careers in
education.
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What We Do-Students

• Breakthrough launches low-income students on the
  road to college by providing
• 6-year, year-round program including an intensive
  six-week summer program and after-school and
  weekend school-year programs
• Tuition-free academically rigorous curriculum
• 41 student-teacher ratio overall (101 in
  classroom)
• Individual counseling
• College and high-school-aged mentors
• An environment where its cool to be smart

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What We Do-Teachers

• Breakthrough challenges talented young people to
  become educational leaders. Under the mentorship
  of experienced educators, Breakthrough teachers
• Lead every aspect of the program
• Implement curriculum
• Create lesson plans
• Grade papers
• Personally connect with their students and
  function as positive role models and mentors

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Breakthroughs Goals

• Ensure middle-school student successAll
  Breakthrough middle-school students enter a
  rigorous college prep high school program.
• Support college readinessAll Breakthrough
  students succeed in rigorous college prep high
  school programs. At least 85 of our students
  enroll in 4 year colleges
• Develop leaders in educationBreakthroughs
  teachers are well-trained and supported and are
  more likely to become professional teachers and
  leaders in education.

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Who We Are

• Breakthrough collaborative at a glance

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Student Profile
Breakthrough students are academically motivated
middle- and high-school students who demonstrate
need for the Breakthrough program.
92 students of color
65 qualify for free or reduced lunch
58 would be 1st in family to attend college
39 live in single-parent households
34 speak English as a second language
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Why Breakthrough?

• A child from the bottom income quartile is 5
  times less likely to earn a bachelors degree by
  age 24 than is a child from a family in the top
  income quartile.

SourceMortenson, T. (2001b, Oct.). Graph
titled BA attainment by age 24 by family income
quartile. Postsecondary Education Opportunity
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Why Breakthrough?
Highest-performing low-income students graduate
from college at about the same rate as the
lowest-achieving high-income students
Percentage of 1988 8th graders who completed a
bachelors degree or higher by 2000
8th grade mathematics achievement
Source NCES, The Condition of Education, 2003,
Table 22-2
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Why Breakthrough?
BA degree completion increases when students have
a strong high-school curriculum, particularly for
low-income students.
But low-income students are less likely to be
enrolled in a college prep curriculum.
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Why Breakthrough?
Percentage of students enrolled in a college
prep program
Low income
Middle income
High income
Source Gates Education Policy Paper. Closing the
graduation gap Toward high schools that prepare
all students for college, work and citizenship.
Seattle, WA Bill Melinda Gates Foundation,
2003.
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Goals for Today

• Increase knowledge about legislation that may
  impact our programs
• Learn from each other about strategies to
  influence policy
• Connect with colleagues who may be interested in
  collaborating around policy advocacy

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Federal policies/legislation

• American Recovery Reinvestment Act (ARRA)
• College Access
• Extended Learning Opportunities
• National Service

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Obamas Vision for Education Reform

• Investing in early childhood education
• Improving standards assessments
• Recruiting, preparing rewarding outstanding
  teachers
• Promoting innovation excellence (including
  charter schools effective extended learning
  opportunities)
• Providing every American with quality higher
  education

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Federal policies/legislation

• American Recovery Reinvestment Act (ARRA)
• Focused on four reform areas
• Improving teacher effectiveness equitable
  teacher distribution
• Improving data collection use
• Adopting rigorous college- and career-ready
  standards and improving assessments
• Turning around struggling schools

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Federal policies/legislation

• American Recovery Reinvestment Act (ARRA)
• Several streams of funding, including
• Title I
• Youth Employment Training (WIA)
• Innovation Fund or What Works Fund
  (competitive grants)
• State Incentive Grants or Race to the Top
  (competitive grants)

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Federal policies/legislation

• College Access
• Highest of college graduates by 2020
• Higher Education Tax Credits Increased Pell
  Grants in ARRA FY 2010 Budget Proposal
• Access Completion Incentive Fund in FY 2010
  Budget Proposal
• Increase participation in AP classes, IB classes,
  dual enrollment - Make College a Reality
  Initiative potential use of ARRA funds

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Federal policies/legislation

• Extended Learning Opportunities
• Potential use of ARRA funds
• 21st Century Community Learning Centers
• STEP UP

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Federal policies/legislation

• National Service Serve America Act
• Triples the number of volunteers
• Increases education award to 5350
• Education Corps
• Community-based service learning, including
  Summer of Service/Semester of Service
• Social Innovation Fund
• Nonprofit Capacity Building Grants
• Volunteer Generation Fund

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Other federal policy/legislation or state level
policy/legislation that may impact your programs?
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• Which of these policies/legislation has the most
  relevance/potential impact for your program and
  why?
• What strategies have you used or would you want
  to use to influence this policy issue?
• Are there opportunities to collaborate around
  this policy issue?

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Elisabeth Cutlerecutler_at_breakthroughcollaborative
.org415-442-0600 ext 131