PSU Magazine Winter 1992

Trip tik to education PEN, the new Portland Educational Network, will provide students a road map through the metropolitan school system. In 1990, D n Frisbee, chairman of the Gove rnor's ommi sion on H igher Education, sa id the only group that was tracking kids as they moved through the area's education system was the police. Neither coun ellors, n r teachers, nor administrators could do the job ade– quately because there was little linkage from school to choo l-and espec iall y from district to district-that could pro– vide continu ity in auiding students through the system. As a resul t, in this mobile soc iety where some schoo ls have a 50 percent turnover ra te, stu– dents can feel like rud<lerle s ships. "The kid is the loser," -ay · Frisbee. "The lack of coherence create all kind of obstacles and certainl y doesn't prov ide a lot of hope or pro peers." All that is changing with the estab– lishment of PEN , the Portl and Educa– tional Network, which began in ea r- ne t last fa ll to establish some cohe ive– ness in an otherwise loose system. PEN is the result of recommenda– tions by the Governor's ommiss ion n Higher Education in the Portland Metropoli tan A rea, th O regon Educa– tion Act fo r the 2l st Century, and a variety of groups and plan that have empha ized the importa nce of educa– tion to the region's future. Area educators, business leaders, state legislators, and soc ial service rep– resentatives hel ped deve lop a busines plan for PEN, including a mi ·sion "to increase acce s to educational oppor– tunity fo r ·rudents and potential student of all ages in the Portland metropoli ta n area and to upport programs and services that will enhance student succe s." Portland rate wi ll be a major playe r in PEN 's future. Financial manag~ment will be administered through PSU, and 14 PSU Dean of Education, Robert Everhart, will be the program's lead dean . Over the nex t four year , PEN will work on three broad programs to help make the most out of each child' educational experience: •!• y tematic linkages among all ·chool , fr m pre-kindergarten to the university level, to streamline the movement of students from school to chool and from level to level. A num– b r of elements will go into thi program, including working with the '' Frequently you talk to youngsters who say they are going to college, but they don't put together what that really means in terms of preparation. '' various in titutions in the tri-county area to avo id duplication of ervices, creating common programs and policies, and etting up a central clearinghouse for information on educa– tion programs and project . •:• Program to support early childhood education , child care, Head Start, and improved primary school . Included in this is a propo al to create an informa– tion system to identify and track the pr gress of all elementary and high cho l students in the area, especially those at risk of dropping out. •:• Activities that expo c students to college campus life, prom te po tsecon– dary education, and promote kills needed in the workforce. Part of this last program may be the creation of special maps, or "Trip Tiks" that will guide high school tudent toward th ir wn career or academic path . If a tudent in early high school ha an intere t in, say, engineering, c un elor will dev i ea Trip Tik hew– ing what cours he or she will need to take before graduation, and what can be expected on the college level. imilar Trip Tiks will also be available for students not going on to college. Alcena Boozer, principal of Jefferson High Sch land a PEN steering com– mittee member, says such a system will enable students to find greater purpose in their high school experience and to fee l more at ea e about their future. "Right now it's a tremend us mystery to people how to get through the process," he says. "The under– served populati n has yet to ee the connection b tween the need to take certain course -or even the belief they can succeed in certain courses– and what comes after high school. Fre– quently you talk to youngsters who say they are go ing to college, but they don't put together what that really means in term of preparation." An area-wide miss ion to re pond to needs and reduce duplication is an es ential part of PEN. A part of the program, PSU' School of Education i working with schools in six ea t Multn mah County Districts to dis– cover educational programs that would be important to the collec tive whole. The pe pie involved in PEN who will help put the e improved services in motion include representatives from business, minority and social agencies, parent groups, the Greater Portland Trust in Higher Education, and state government. B ozer is joined on the teering committee, by Kevin Concannon, rate human resources director; Jim Hager, Beaverton chools superintendent; John Keyser, Clack– amas Community College pre ident; Judith Ramaley, PSU president; Joyce Reinke, a sistant superintendent of schools; and Vern Ryles, Popper Supp– ly CEO. Frisbee, whose work with the Governor's Commi sion he lped create PEN, is excited about the prospects. "There are more people here who care and are trying to deal with the problems than in any city our size or larger," he ay . D -