Prepared for the Meeting of the Education Committee, University of Wisconsin Board of Regents, Thursday, June 10, 1999 The report below raises questions about UW System campus submissions for implementing Plan 2008, and touches on three closely related matters. It documents the intractability of minority student academic achievement in the pre-college years. It assesses the success of the recently completed 1988 Design for Diversity initiative in laying the groundwork for Plan 2008. It presents a fact-based vision of a proposed UW System diversity initiative, one that offers the possibility of faster progress toward the goal of greater race and ethnic diversity in the undergraduate student body. Finally, based on these analyses, it presents recommendations for strengthening diversity efforts throughout the UW System.
I. Why is the Diversity Problem So Intractable?
It is not because of lack of good will and good intentions that targeted minority student success falters. It is not because of lack of commitment on the part of administrators, faculty, staff, and students.
Rather, it is because Wisconsin schools produce an altogether inadequate number of targeted-minority students who are academically well-qualified to do university work. This is a matter of public record. The few statistics offered here are readily available. They are not secret, but if they have been discussed and debated — as they ought to be — I have missed it. My first source is the Wisconsin Student Assessment System tests of all tenth-graders, 1997-98.
- Wisconsin’s public high schools enrolled 69,660 tenth graders. Among them were 5,011 Wisconsin African-American tenth graders.
- Of all tenth-grade students, 17,588 scored “Advanced” in Reading. But only 192 African-American tenth graders scored “Advanced” in Reading. 17,588 represents a substantial pool of good prospects for higher education. 192 does not.
- Of all tenth-grade students, 5,811 scored “Advanced” in Math. But only 26 African-American tenth graders scored “Advanced” in Math.
- The results are similar for African-Americans in Science and Social Studies.
- This same situation prevails for the other targeted-minority groups. Or consider Wisconsin high school graduates. My second source is the ACT High School Profile Report for Wisconsin 1997 on Wisconsin high school students taking the ACT during the 1996-97 academic year.
- Wisconsin’s public high schools graduated 55,189 students in the class of 1996-97, including 2,264 African-Americans (based on Department of Public Instruction data).
- Of all Wisconsin high school graduates, 22,622 took the ACT test, completed the core academic curriculum, or graduated in the top half of their class. But only 552 African Americans took the ACT test, completed the core academic curriculum, or graduated in the top half of their class. 22,622 represents a substantial pool of good prospects for admission to UW System campuses. 552 does not. By contrast, the 1998 enrollment goal for the 1988 Design for Diversity initiative called for the UW System to double its enrollment of new African American freshmen. Applied to Wisconsin resident freshman, African American enrollment in Fall 1998 was to reach 914; actual enrollment in Fall 1998 reached only 600.
- Again, the situation is similar for the other minority groups.
The inescapable conclusion is that the high schools of Wisconsin produce too few — in actual numbers, very few — targeted minority students and graduates who are academically well-prepared to undertake university work.
A key goal of Plan 2008 should be to enlarge the number of K-12 students who are qualified to attend and can benefit from college. This is in addition to the goals of increasing targeted minority enrollment, retention, and graduation rates, and creating a less hostile climate for targeted minority students.
Plan 2008 does recognize the supply-side problem, namely, the need to improve the number of high school graduates attending college. Specifically, it calls for establishing more pre-college programs to prepare targeted minorities to succeed in college, and for encouraging more partnerships with K-12 schools to increase the college-going aspirations and academic preparation of targeted minorities.
But, are these steps enough? Are they anywhere near enough? Will these pre-college programs enroll minority students who already plan to attend college anyway, or will they actually increase the number of minority students who are interested in and capable of undertaking college-level work?
Based on the UW System’s long experience with diversity programs, Plan 2008, as it is presently constituted, will continue the record of the past decade rather than dramatically improve it. If the UW System’s diversity policy is to succeed, its success will be determined by the academic preparation that Wisconsin communities provide for and encourage among their young people, particularly those from targeted minority groups. Until Plan 2008 gives more attention to this matter, it holds little promise for success.
Would it not be appropriate for the UW System and the Board of Regents to assume a strong leadership role in the movement to reinvigorate and improve pre-university education? This could be done as part of an effort to renew and extend the Wisconsin Idea in a new and creative direction. After all, what is more important to the UW System, to the state’s employers, and to Wisconsin’s citizens than a first-rate K-12 school system? What is more important than a K-12 school system that emphasizes student learning and academic accomplishment and that prepares students for postsecondary opportunities, whether these experiences involve education, training, or immediate employment?
Recommendation:
Commission a study to explore and make recommendations about how the University of Wisconsin System can work aggressively with State of Wisconsin officials, public school people, community leaders, and private sector representatives to help strengthen K-12 schooling and improve student learning as part of its efforts to reinvigorate the Wisconsin Idea.