Contact:
Jonathan Lackland
217.557.7334
lackland@ibhe.org
Candace Mueller
217.557.7354
mueller@ibhe.org
September 30, 2014
CLOSING ACHIEVEMENT GAPS FOR UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITY AND LOW-INCOME STUDENTS
Board will hold discussion on on models for increasing enrollments, persistence and graduation rates at Illinois colleges
SPRINGFIELD – On October 7, the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) will focus attention on model programs increasing college completions. In response to the findings from the progress report on the implementation of the Illinois Public Agenda for College and Career Success that Illinois is losing ground in closing the achievement gaps between whites and students of color or from low-income families, the Board has formed an Action Team for Reducing Attainment Gaps. With leadership from the Action Team, a group discussion is planned to examine existing gaps in educational performance among underrepresented students and successful strategies for eliminating these gaps.
The discussion with the Board will be led by a panel describing model programs and policies implemented by institutions of higher education. The panel members invited to the Board meeting are Dr. Layla P. Suleiman Gonzalez, Executive Director, Illinois Latino Family Commission; Dr. William Trent, Professor, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Dr. Elizabeth Roeger, Dean, Elgin Community College; and Dominique Raymond, Vice President for Alliance State Relations, Complete College America.
“The opportunities for more Illinoisans to attend and successfully complete college must be expanded. We know there are game-changing strategies being implemented in Illinois, that we can learn from in order to reduce the achievement gaps,” stated Lindsay Anderson, IBHE Chair. “This meeting initiates the first discussion organized by one of the Board’s four Action Teams established to identify ways the IBHE can partner with Illinois’ institutions of higher education to increase success for more Illinois college students.”
The IBHE will meet at 1:00 p.m. on October 7, in Regents Hall in Lewis Towers at Loyola University, 111. E. Pearson Street, Chicago.
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