Development and Progress of the Appalachian Higher Education Network


AHE NETWORK IMPACT AND STATUS


The replication sites are now achieving success rates similar to those of the original site in Ohio. High schools funded by the first replication site in West Virginia have shown consistent, sustained gains in their college-going rates and many are now approaching or have surpassed the national average. In Hale County, Alabama, one of the poorest counties in the nation, all five participating high schools have reported college-going rates well above the national average of 63.3 percent, with two schools well into the 80s, one school in the 90s, and one school reporting 100 percent of all high school graduates going on to some sort of post-secondary training. Participating schools in Kentucky have shown increases of 20 to 30 percentage points, with one school reporting 92 percent of all graduates continuing their education. Of the five participating high schools in Appalachian Mississippi, all are now near or above the national average with 56 to 100 percent of graduates continuing their education. The Tennessee center is working with six high schools and has seen college-going rates increase almost 16 percentage points on average in their first full year of operation. The centers in North Carolina and Virginia are just starting up.

Table II
Percent of High School Graduates Entering Two- or Four-Year Institutions from High Schools Participating with the Appalachian Higher Education Network Centers in 2002

Center and
year it began operating

Ohio
1993
West Virginia
1998
Kentucky
2000
Alabama
2000
Mississippi
2001
Tennessee
2002
North Carolina
2003
Virginia
2003

Data provided for individual schools participating during the 2003–2004 academic year.

Pre* 2003** Pre 2003 Pre 2003 Pre 2003 Pre 2003 Pre 2003
58
47
43
46
32
64
30
53
47
45
39
44
39
68
48
74
55
48
58
44
62
46
68
56
71
56
74
39
81
68
46
31
41
56
43
36
54
49
47
57
49
33
68
/
/
80
55
60
58
61
66
47
67
64
N/A***
N/A
N/A
N/A
/
/
47
62
57
43
64
50
40
73
48
26
/
/
/
/
/
63
62
71
97
92
66
64
89
49
53
/
/
/
/
/
48
57
52
44
50
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
84
87
100
94
72
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
66
89
37
39
56
59
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
94
91
92
56
100
85
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
29
42
24
43
27
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
55
37
59
50
N/A
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
No data available for North Carolina at this time. Initial schools to be selected in the spring of 2004. No data available for Virginia at this time. Initial schools to be selected in the spring of 2004.

Average percentage-point gain

Ohio
13.1
West Virginia
17.2
Kentucky
19.6
Alabama
37.2
Mississippi
28.7
Tennessee
15.8
* Pre-intervention college-going rates reported as a percentage of the high school senior class. Dates of initial intervention may vary.
** College-going rates reported for high school seniors in the spring of 2003; some high schools may have had funding for multiple years.
*** School is in its initial year of funding; individual school data not yet available.

Appalachian Regional Commission Role

ARC provides training and support to the center directors. Sarita Gattuso, director of the West Virginia center, coordinates these services, which she provides along with Wayne White, director of the original center in Ohio. Together they mentor new directors and provide consultative services and training to the new sites. New center directors attend the Ohio and/or West Virginia grantee conferences to learn more about the process, and White and Gattuso travel to new sites to observe and assist with their implementation. ARC also provides training and assistance in obtaining other sources of funding. It is expected that after two years of support from ARC, each center will have demonstrated its effectiveness at increasing the college-going rates of high school students and will be able to attract adequate funding to maintain services.

From FY 1999 (ARC follows the federal October-September fiscal year. For example, FY 1999 began October 1, 1998, and ended September 30, 1999) through FY 2003, ARC provided $982,405 (includes a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation of $75,000) to help grow and expand the AHE Network and has budgeted another $200,000 for FY 2004. (See Table III below.) Nineteen percent of the funding is used for support activities, including training and mentoring for the new centers. The remaining 81 percent is provided directly to the centers to support start-up and initial operating costs. As of September 2003, ARC investment had leveraged over $1,108,540 in state and local funds.

Table III
Appalachian Regional Commission Financial Support of AHE Network Centers
by Fiscal Year in Dollars

Fiscal year

Training and Support West Virginia Alabama Kentucky Mississippi Tennessee North Carolina Virginia Total
1999   31,500             35,000
2000 57,337 38,500 50,000 50,000 192,337
2001 50,450   50,000 49,455 50,000       199,905
2002 28,000 50,000 31,163 61,000 170,163*
2003 49,000 75,000 50,000   30,000 61,000 60,000 60,000 385,000
Total 184,787 145,000 200,000 99,455 111,163 122,000 60,000 60,000 982,405

*

 

Amounts include partial funding for the training and support and for the centers in Mississippi and Tennessee from a $75,000 grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in FY 2002.