College Courses Come to Western Hills H.S. as Part of New Partnership with University College

Approximately 100 seniors at Western Hills High School are earning both high school and college credit, as faculty from the University of Cincinnati's University College team with faculty at Western Hills to launch a new college-level program at bargain rates for students. The partnership is one example of how UC is collaborating with Cincinnati Public Schools to turn out more college graduates.

The new partnership will provide three college-level English courses, three math courses and three economics courses in Western Hills High School classrooms. Students must qualify academically for the college-level program. The courses will replace the typical Advanced Placement (AP) programs.

"This has a completely different feel from the AP course," says Western Hills High School English teacher Liz Thole. "In AP, students are preparing for a test they take at the end of the year. This way, they earn college credit by doing the coursework. We also found the AP curriculum was not necessarily aligned with what students do in their first-year college English classes, so even if a student could pass the test, it doesn't mean they could pass the college course."

Through this program, students will pay 10 dollars per credit hour, a considerable savings over $131 charged per credit hour on campus at University College. The remaining funding is divided equally among University College, Cincinnati Public Schools and the Cincinnati Business Committee.

Students can take up to three courses at a time across three quarters, so they can complete up to nine college courses at a cost of $270. "In addition, they're going to meet all of the CPS and University College English portfolio requirements," says Barbara Wallace, University College coordinator for the Western Hills program. Besides carrying dual high school and college credit, the courses can transfer to other colleges nationwide.

"It's a model we hope to extend to other schools," continues John Bryan, dean of University College. "It's a model that's certainly indicative of the university's intent to be connected in partnerships with K-12 education."

Less than half of the graduates from Cincinnati Public Schools enroll in college, and Bryan says it's believed that's because the students do not consider themselves college material. "What we're intending to do here is convince students that they can succeed. This program could make a difference between going to college and not going to college."

An additional $10,000 grant was awarded to the partnership from the University of Cincinnati Institute for Community Partnerships (UCICP), the Ohio Board of Regents and Procter & Gamble. The partners in the high school/college program will contribute matching funding. Wallace says the funds will be used to supplement Western Hills' resource library and reference materials. Furthermore, computer technology will be integrated into the library, and students will be trained on how to effectively use an electronic library in class, with instruction from University Libraries. "The grant is also providing graphing calculators for the math students to use in class," says Wallace, who was the principal investigator of the grant.

Rather than West High simply giving over classroom space to UC for college courses, the two public institutions are closely collaborating on the project. "We constructed the syllabus together, all of the assignments and the reading list, and we have clear cut roles in teaching the course collaboratively," says Jonathan Alexander, assistant professor, who's team teaching the language arts courses with Western Hills teacher Liz Thole.

Programs such as the Post-Secondary Enrollment Option have provided college credit for high school students in the past, but the students had to take courses on college campuses. Arranging those campus trips around a high school schedule could be difficult, and taking classes with older students could be somewhat daunting. Bryan says through this program, UC is taking the campus to the students, removing logistical problems, delivering courses in their own environment, and demonstrating to students that they are college material.