Photo credit: Posse Foundation
If we are to realize the sweeping changes we wish to see with regards to equitable educational outcomes for all students, we must think boldly, innovatively, and reasonably. Many well-meaning education supporters who offer intervention, support, or resources earnestly believe they are doing just that. But the truth is, many times we miss the mark.
The formula for hitting the bullseye is not complicated, and it was affirming to me as I read a recent article by Ron Claiborne entitled “I never would have dropped out if I’d had my posse with me.” The program featured in this article is brilliant and I will get into that shortly, but there was something else in this article that impressed me as much as the program itself. “That remark from a college drop-out inspired the Posse Foundation’s innovative program that has sent thousands of young people to college in supportive and multicultural groups of ten. More than 90 percent graduate.”
As education leaders, we sometimes fall victim to imposing our own ideas on schools and students based on what we think they need. This innovative, bold program was born of something different. It was spawned by a desire to meet students where they say they are. Or to put it more simply, by hearing student voices and truly listening to what they are saying.
Under the Posse Foundation (www.possefoundation.org), 820 young women and men—the freshman Class of 2026—will be attending 60 top-tier colleges and universities in the fall, as part of a peer group who will have gotten to know one another in training sessions, team-building exercises, and workshops since January. Fifty seven percent of this year’s Posse will be the first in their family to graduate College.
In the article (Second Acts | Meta Bulletin), Claiborne summarizes an interview he had with CEO Deborah Bial, the Posse Foundation founder. In response to a question along the lines of how she came up with this idea, Bial said she was working at a youth organization in downtown, in New York City, with all these great kids, running workshops after school at Curtis High School on Staten Island and the Manhattan Center for Science and Math in East Harlem. She noted that the kids were just super smart and super talented (but) a lot of them were going to college and dropping out.
That was more than 30 years ago. Since then, Posse scholars have earned their bachelor’s degrees at amazingly higher rates (90 percent) than the national average of a little over 60 percent of all students who graduate within six years of starting college, and they are well prepared and positioned for success.
Not only do the majority of Posse scholars successfully navigate college to graduation; most of them are actively engaged in the college experience as leaders taking on roles such as student body presidents, and founders of college clubs and organizations.
Today, the Posse Foundation is one of the most comprehensive programs of its kind nationally. Students are selected in December of their senior year of high school through a unique evaluation method based on demonstrated leadership. In January, they begin an eight-month pre-college training where they attend weekly after-school workshops. The foundation creates a four-year plan for each student, which includes mentoring, group meetings, coaching, advising, and even retreats (and alumni connections).
The success of these diverse students speaks to the power of community and working together with the nation’s top institutions of higher education. Through mentoring and full-tuition scholarships, Posse is building a powerful network of new leaders who are ready to make a difference.
Photo credit: Posse Foundation