Kalamazoo Community Foundation gives $300,000 to KVCC college readiness program

Adults who are under-prepared in academic basics will have a new opportunity when a three-year program launches at Kalamazoo Valley Community College this fall.

The program is made possible through a $300,000 grant from the Kalamazoo Community Foundation.

The program called ExpressWays will be based in Anna Whitten Hall on the college’s Arcadia Commons Campus in downtown Kalamazoo.

Instruction is offered in basic math, reading and writing skills paced as the student needs. The new initiative is designed to help participants move into traditional courses or toward job-readiness training and certification.

KVCC’s William Willging will direct the project. “The most academically challenged students seeking admission to the college will be required to go through ExpressWays,” says Willging. Enrollment will be determined by scores on placement tests.

The six characteristics of the ExpressWays approach are: personalized learning paths, a small classroom setting, a low student-to-tutor ratio, computer-based instruction, increased interaction with tutors and a flexible schedule that accommodates family and work responsibilities.

“Some students need an extra boost to bridge the gap between high school and post-secondary education and through ExpressWays, KVCC is reaching out to these students in an innovative way. By investing in these students, we are investing in the future of our community,” says Juan Olivarez, Kalamazoo Community Foundation chief executive officer.

The new KVCC initiative addresses findings of a 2008 report by the Michigan Education Association. In its “Dropouts: One Is Too Many” report the MEA says a flexible curriculum and caring adults help keep people in school.

“It’s pretty clear that for a lot of students the way the traditional school system was set up didn’t work for them,” Willging says. “That is why it is so critical to find nontraditional ways of learning that work for them.”

Writer: Kathy Jennings
Source: William Willging, KVCC