Opinion | Aspiration to opportunity: Increasing access for every Michigan student

Last October, I drove across the state to talk to high school students. I wanted to ask students about their aspirations for their lives after high school, and what schools should be doing to set them up for success, however they defined it. As the Michigan Executive Director of Teach Plus, a national nonprofit focused on developing teachers’ skills as leaders in order to improve outcomes and opportunities for students, I needed to ensure that our work reflects what communities — especially teachers and students — want to be true of our state’s education system.

We often quote research that tells us what students need, but when it comes to setting policies that affect them, few are asking students what they want for themselves. Sam, one student I spoke with, put it succinctly: “I want to be financially secure, and I want to like my job.”

In each classroom, from Grand Ledge to Detroit to Rochester, I heard similar sentiments. Students I met with knew precisely what they wanted their adult lives to look like: They wanted successful and fulfilling careers that allowed them to live comfortably, support a family, and perhaps travel.  Some wanted to own their own businesses, while others knew exactly what role in the medical field they wished to step into.

There are many things we can do to help kids be successful after high school. I believe that one of the most promising actions we can take is to give them access to high school courses, experiences, and credits they need to start down their desired life paths. What is and isn’t available to students in Michigan varies widely. Nia, a student in Detroit, explained that she didn’t have any courses available to her that would prepare her to become a radiologist, her intended career.

As I drove across the state, the patterns in which students did and did not have access to a wide variety of postsecondary-focused courses like Advanced Placement, dual enrollment, Early Middle College, and Career and Technical Education became obvious: schools with higher proportions of white and wealthy students had access, while schools with more Black, Latino, geographically isolated, and poorer students did not.

The racial and socioeconomic gaps in access to postsecondary-focused courses show up in the data as well. For example, according to MI School Data, Black students are 18.19% of Michigan’s student population, but only represent 11.4% of students enrolled in Early Middle College — a five-year program that provides students with opportunities to earn college credits while enrolled in high school. This is an economic issue, too.  Forty-two percent of students enrolled in Career and Technical Education (CTE) classes are economically disadvantaged, compared to 54.27% of the state student population.

The racial and socioeconomic gaps in access to postsecondary-focused courses exist for a variety of reasons. Most insidiously, when enough adults over many years and locations implicitly or explicitly believe that “those students” (poor, rural, urban, differently abled) aren’t capable or worthy of achieving great things for themselves, you get an education system that works for some and not for others. That is why one of the first steps we must take to close the gaps in access to postsecondary-focused education is to set a statewide graduation requirement for all students to attempt a certain number of credits in these courses. A mandate that every student gets exposure to rigorous postsecondary-focused classes and experiences cuts through any excuses as to why they don’t have access in the first place.

This is not only possible, it’s already happening in some locations.  All 10th grade students at Northview High School in Grand Rapids, no matter their background, are required to take Advance Placement (AP) Seminar as their sophomore year English class.

Other, more technical changes will have to be made to close gaps in access to postsecondary-focused courses. Beyond dedicated and adequate funding, schools must have supportive systems in place to ensure access to postsecondary-focused courses for every student. This includes prioritizing the placement of school counselors in schools with the highest concentrations of poverty.

Finally, teachers like the ones I work with through Teach Plus must lead the way on closing the gaps in access to postsecondary courses in Michigan. Teachers know how to contextualize and implement new requirements, what kind of professional development they will need to teach advanced courses, and how to bring together other stakeholders with a similar vision. Teach Plus is excited to lead a coalition of stakeholders who are passionate about setting students up for success and now, with so many organizations interested in this issue and with state budget proposals on the horizon, it is the time to build a strong, cohesive plan that we can work on implementing together.

Driving home from my classroom visits gave me a chance to reflect on all I had heard from students. The hopes and desires were largely the same, even if the opportunities to achieve those outcomes were not. Regardless of race, class, or location, we must do more as a state to ensure Michigan students can achieve their wildest dreams and aspirations.