Program and Service Descriptions

Middle College High School (MCHS) is a unique collaborative program that enables high-potential, "at-risk" students to obtain a quality high school education while concurrently receiving direct and invaluable access to college courses and services.

A high school located on and integrated into the community college environment, the MCHS merges high school and community college curricula and experience in a fashion that significantly enhances academic success and provides students with an empowering and viable path to improve their lives. High school students attend classes at a community college and earn credit toward a high school diploma while having the opportunity to concurrently take college courses and to receive more intensive counseling and administrative attention.

Program goals include reducing high school dropout rates by improving the academic skills, self-concept and self-esteem and decision-making skills of participating students. Through participation in the MCHS, transfer rates, student retention, persistence and career opportunities are enhanced. The MCHS provides reduced class size and curricula responsive to student needs that are linked with effective support services.

Attending a MCHS offers advantages over a traditional high school, which include:

• An opportunity to acquire the skills to become a motivated learner. "Self -starter" skills which are essential to success in higher education and in business are too often neglected in the more impersonal environment of a traditional American high school.
• Intimate student body and class sizes and lower teacher-student and counselor-student ratios are vital to the program's success.
• An enhanced academic and social environment with students receiving invaluable access to the host college facilities (learning resource centers, science labs, computer labs, student centers, tutoring centers, transfer centers, etc.).
• An opportunity to earn community college occupational and/or transferrable credits while still in high school, thus reducing the completion time to earning a certificate and/or associate degree.

Middle College High School (MCHS)

History

"Middle College is a national treasure; it should be replicated nationwide." Ernest L. Boyer, former President Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching

The initial MCHS was conceived and developed at LaGuardia Community College in New York City in 1974 and was designed to proactively address the large number of students that were dropping out of the city's high schools. The model of a high school located on and integrated into the community college environment was developed to lower high school dropout rates among what were termed high-ability, at-risk youth.

Noting the positive impact of the LaGuardia model, California educators persuaded state legislators to provide planning and startup funding for two California pilot programs. The two initial sites, at Los Angeles Southwest and Contra Costa community colleges, were founded in 1988.

Resources

• Legislative Items on Dual Enrollment [pdf]
• Middle College National Consortium
• Dual Enrollment Guide - A Guide to Launching and Expanding Dual Enrollment Programs ~ The RP Group
• Early College, Early Success:  Early College High School Initiative Impact Study
• Effective Practices for Promoting the Transition of High School Students to College
• Minding the Gap - Why Integrating High School with College Makes Sense and How to Do It ~ Edited by Nancy Hoffman, Joel Vargas, Andrea Venezia, and Marc S. Miller
• MIS Data Element Coding for Middle College High School

Funding

The program's two initial sites are Contra Costa College and Los Angeles Southwest, which have received national recognition as successful models.

Colleges receiving state grant funds are required to provide a dollar-for-dollar match. Because the grants are sufficient to pay for a relatively limited number of high school personnel, the high school partner makes significant fiscal contributions to the MCHS, as does the community college partner that provides the program facilities. Funds used to match MCHS grants must be permanent monies from district Proposition 98 funds. Participating K-12 and college districts frequently contribute considerably more than the $99,000 grant amount.

The success of the MCHS program has prompted increased interest from community colleges, high school districts, and legislators to develop sites in their respective communities; however, funds are only available for a limited number of programs and the current fiscal climate in California is not one that will allow program expansion at this time. Nonetheless, reviewing and establishing funding priorities is an annual process, and the expansion of the program in the program is a possibility.

Such expansion would benefit both the number of students served at new sites and better served at existing sites, and would also benefit the California economy as outcome measures show that the program reduces high school dropout rates that often lead to individuals relying upon public assistance and also graduates productive members of society who typically continue their college education or directly enter the workforce. return to top