IALA

Recommendations for middle colleges or the more recent term, early college high schools, appear with regularity nowadays. Such programs combine high school with college so that a student earns a two year degree simultaneously with a high school diploma. An excellent 2005 report, “Early College High School: Integrating Grades 9 through 15″ by Jobs for the Future describes an initiative sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in partnership with the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Ford Foundation, and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. With $50 million, these organizations are funding the establishment of 100 such new schools. For example, Stark Community College is preparing to establish the program in partnership with local schools. Jobs for the Future provides numerous references to the topic. Often, the programs are directed at high need students. Bard High School Early College in a New York City serves 9th and 10th graders who then take college classes at the high school and earn an associate degree rather than high school graduation–a form of an institutional bypass! Education Week has an excellent article, “College-Based High Schools Fill a Growing Need.” Additional info from April, 2007, Erie Community College a success. Another example is Mott Middle College. Another outstanding school http://www.anoka.k12.mn.us/education/components/scrapbook/default.php?sectionid=22642“>STEP provides vocational programs such as aviation, computer networking, emergency medical and a host of others on a college campus. One of most famous is Bard High School Early College which has 1000s of applicants for its openings.