Wednesday, December 2, 1998
UCLA establishes three new outreach programs
DIVERSITY: Participants hope to bring students to UC-competitive
level
By Hemesh Patel
Daily Bruin Contributor
In the aftermath of Proposition 209, the measure that eliminated
the use of race and gender in admissions, UC-wide outreach programs
were created to preserve diversity in UC schools.
Two years later, UCLA has established three programs to
facilitate UC outreach. The Career Based Outreach Program (CBOP),
the Super 8 Program and the School University Partnership Program
were developed to provide scholastic support to a number of
disadvantaged college bound students.
According to Jack Sutton, executive officer of the Outreach
Steering Committee, UCLA has had academic outreach programs since
the 1970s, beginning with the Early Academic Outreach Program.
This program worked well with affirmative action by assuring
diversity in the university, Sutton said.
"If you want an excellent education, (you) need diversity," he
said.
The goal of such outreach programs is to "level the playing
field" for disadvantaged schools in the Los Angeles Unified School
District (LAUSD), he said. These programs will help disadvantaged
students to achieve at schools with an "uneven playing field."
Forty percent of California’s K-12 students go to school in Los
Angeles, according to Sutton. This, combined with recent class-size
reduction requirements, has caused massive overcrowding, producing
educationally disadvantaged schools.
CBOP, which began in 1997, hopes to provide one solution to the
lack of diversity within the university population. This program
provides academic support to disadvantaged students in LAUSD.
The program enlists undergraduate students from UCLA to serve as
"fellows." These fellows assist disadvantaged students, called
"scholars," by advising them to take the correct courses needed to
fulfill the "a-f requirements" needed for admission to UCLA. In
addition,they help students develop critical learning skills.
"The students learn to take responsibility for their own
learning," said Debra Pounds, a CBOP coordinator.
According to Pounds, the scholars form study groups and learn
the lesson before it is taught by the teacher, reinforcing the
information when they learn it.
A three-year plan is mapped out for students, which takes into
account both academic and extra-curricular activities. "The
academic plan (however) is centerfold," Pounds said.
"The feedback from parents and students is very positive,"
Pounds said.
Originally, 11 high schools, including Crenshaw High School,
were involved in CBOP; however, eight more joined this year.
Richard Andalon, site coordinator of CBOP, noted the program’s
accomplishments.
"Grades are improving from C’s and B’s to A’s," he said.
In addition, fellows mentor high school students and these
students then mentor middle school students. Mentors, fellows and
scholars work with the CBOP program in "carrying down the
pipeline," Andalon said of the chain-like effect of the
program.
However, a challenge facing CBOP in the future may be the
recruitment of new fellows.
In addition to CBOP, the Super 8 Program (which began this year)
will provide further support to some of LAUSD’s most disadvantaged
students.
The Super 8 Program focuses CBOP outreach programs, as well as
other academic mentoring and tutoring, on the eight lowest-ranked
high schools in LAUSD.
A primary focus of UCLA’s outreach efforts is the development of
"partner schools." Partner schools are selected by the university,
based on evidence of significant educational disadvantage, such as
limited availability of college preparatory courses and low college
attendance rates.
The School University Partners Program, for example, began last
year for the Venice and Westchester districts and started this year
in the Inglewood district.
Overall, this program serves five high schools and provides
support to students in kindergarten through grade 12 (K-12).
According to UCLA’s Outreach Plan and Funding Proposal, the goal
of UCLA’s School University Partnerships is to increase the number
of eligible and competitive students from educationally
disadvantaged K-12 schools by increasing the quality of education
received by students.
School "coaches" work on-site with teachers to increase their
knowledge of classroom content and improve their teaching
effectiveness. The program also provides summer and after-school
programs for students to prepare them for college-level course
work.
"By the target year of 2002, an increase in eligibility by 100
percent and a 50 percent increase in competitive eligibility for
admissions is expected," Sutton said.
"Unfortunately, we will not see results for a couple of years,"
said Sutton.
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