Opportunities for Involvement with PreK-12 Schools and Systems

College Readiness Consortium

In 2006, the University created the College Readiness Consortium to
develop a state-wide strategy for increasing the number and diversity of
Minnesota students who graduate from high school with the knowledge,
skills and habits for success in higher education. Since that time, the
Consortium has:

· Played a leadership role in revising Minnesota's K-12 academic
standards in math and science to better align with the knowledge and
skills students need to succeed in college;

· Created a year-long executive development program that helps school
principals and charter school directors create and sustain schools in
which every student is on the path to college readiness;

· Designed Ramp-Up to Readiness, an innovative new program that guides
junior and senior high school students through a research-based sequence
of courses, projects, activities and experiences that prepare them for
postsecondary success;

· Created K12@U, a Web-based portal (www.k12.umn.edu
http://www.k12.umn.edu/) through which K-12 students, educators and
parents can access the University's extraordinary educational resources.

We invite all faculty and staff interested in PreK-12 education to
become involved with the Consortium through one or both of the following
activities:

University PreK-12 Network
University faculty and staff who work with or are interested in preK-12
education exchange ideas and address common priorities. The meetings are
open to all and will be held on the following dates during the 2010-2011
academic year:

· November 16, 2010

· January 19, 2011

· May 11, 2011

All meetings are from 9:00-11:00 a.m. in the Presidents Room at Coffman,
Twin Cities Campus.

Connecting Parents to Education Opportunities (CPEO)
This seven-week parent education program is expanding from Minneapolis
Public Schools to Brooklyn Center, Duluth and Rochester this year. At
the conclusion of the program, the parent participants attend a
"graduation ceremony" at which they receive a certificate from the
University and a few words of congratulations from a member of the
University's faculty or staff. If you would like to represent the
University at one of the ceremonies at a school in Minneapolis or
Brooklyn Center during the 2010-2011 school year, please contact Char
Greenwald at green715@umn.edu , or 612-625-3695.

We hope you will join us in taking advantage of these and other
opportunities to help prepare the children who will one day be our U of
M students.