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UW outreach attracts adults

Study says parents in low-income families going to school, moved by youth outreach

A new study by the American Educational Research Association suggests some parents in low-income households with students who participate in youth-oriented pre-college outreach programs may be encouraged to enroll in college themselves.

Written by Laura Perna, associate professor of education at the University of Pennsylvania, and two of her graduate students, Erin Walsh and Rachel Fester, the study found when parents are made aware of the opportunities available to their children — often through pre-college programs — they feel more inclined to take advantage of such programs as well and continue their own education.

According to Perna, the study was based upon the case studies of four pre-college outreach programs in the state of Indiana.

The theory of the paper was discussed at the AERA’s annual meeting in San Diego, Calif., Monday, where the authors presented their anecdotal evidence about the importance of their study.

“One program served African American high school students, one served Latino middle and high school students, one served low-income elementary school children and the fourth was Indiana’s 21st Century Scholars program,” Perna said.

Perna also said the study has encouraged several schools to create similar outreach type programs directed specifically toward parents.

She added the paper suggests devoting more focused attention toward promoting the involvement of parents in pre-college outreach efforts. Perna also emphasized the importance of addressing certain barriers to entry that may limit the amount of parents or discourage them from trying.

University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents Vice President Chuck Pruitt said the UW campuses have such programs dedicated to minority families and disadvantaged youth.

“There are obviously different [outreach programs] at different UW campuses,” Pruitt said. “And the Madison program, which has been in effect for a number of years, is designed to encourage low-income families and encourage diversity, [and] has had many success stories.”

Pruitt added UW-Green Bay has a special program that targets low-income kids at very young ages to encourage college education, but has not seen a program at any campus devoted solely to encouraging education for low-income adults.

“It sounds like a great idea honestly,” Pruitt said. “One of the goals we have at the University of Wisconsin System is to increase the amount of non-traditional students — that is, older students, parents, etc., so if there are additional benefit to youth outreach programs, then that’s terrific, but I am not aware of any specific programs that are directed towards that currently.”

There are, however, certain limitations to developing programs designed specifically to reach out to parents and adults, Perna said. Devoting more attention to increasing the enrollment of parents, for example, may divert some attention and resources away from promoting the enrollment of youth.

“There is also a need to collect more data to more completely understand this phenomenon,” Perna said.