Teaching in a Diverse World

Educational opportunity: Low income, first generation students and Upward Bound
-Elyse Pratt Ronco and Panel

This session was interesting to say the least. This program called “Upward Bound” is a program that is a part of a group of five programs called “Trio”. This program was created under the Higher Education Act written during the “war on poverty” under the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson. This program helps students overcome their class and socio-economic challenges. It is funded through the Department of Education. There are over 865 programs and they serve just fewer than one million students.

The students involved in this program are four times more likely to go to college. They are usually from low income families and they are the first in their family to go to school. One in three students is usually one or the other, low income family or first in their family. This is the criteria or eligibility for the program. After this criterion is looked at once it is not looked at again ensuring the student to stay within the program until the very end. The cap for what is defined as a low income family is an income of 33,000 for a family of four. Some of their facts were really interesting. They found that 36% of children in Maine live in poverty and 85% of people in Maine do not have their Bachelor’s degree. Within this program, race, religion, and gender are taken out and income and education are the primary and key factors.

This program starts at sixth grade and goes all the way through post-bachelors programs. The program is intensely focused on relationships. They want to help those specific students through their cultural and academic barriers. Upward Bound provides academic and personal support with college visits, college info, financial aid help, and stipends. There are summer programs every year and they are six weeks long. During those six weeks they are academic intensive, meaning they take 5 classes a week. They also get a taste of career experience because they much also have a job during these six weeks. They get to experience social and cultural opportunities that they might not have had the chance otherwise. I think that this program is extremely beneficial to those who face those class and socio-economic challenges.

Although I think this program is beneficial I must admit that this session made me somewhat angry. They do loose two to three students a year due to various circumstances. But then I found myself becoming angry that they target the demographic that they do. I understand that they visit certain schools, but what determines a school being needy in order for them to be able to visit? I felt that even though I went to private school, I worked really hard all three years with three jobs at one point in order to pay for school. Why could they not visit more schools and try to find more students in various areas that need the help? I also did not understand, partly because they did not address, what high schools can do to help the students and to promote the programs.
I also started to think about why aren’t there more programs for students who are in need of financial aid? I wish that this program could expand and include more people who also have needs. I think the program should either broaden or other programs all across the country need to be created to help students in this way.