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Accountability
Targeted Assistance
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Provider: Boston Higher Education Resource Center (HERC)
Congregation Lion of Judah
68 Northampton Street, 3rd Floor
Boston, MA 02118
Samuel Acevedo
info@bostonherc.org
Executive Director
Phone: 617-442-5608
Fax: 617-541-1357
www.bostonherc.org
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| Provider Details |
| Program Areas: | Reading, Writing |
| Grades: | 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 |
| Place of Service: | Other |
| Type of Organization: | Faith Based, Not For Profit |
Experience with:
Limited English Proficient (LEP) students: Yes
Students with disabilities: Yes |
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| Program Description (written by provider) |
| The Boston Higher Education Resource Center (HERC), a faith-based organization in Roxbury, provides tutoring, academic support, mentoring and college preparation services to at-risk children and youth in Boston, Dorchester and Roxbury. Its SES program will provide small group tutoring in reading and English language arts to at-risk-middle and high school students. It will use direct tutoring strategies and computer-assisted instruction programs that support the curriculum of the Boston Public Schools (BPS). HERC has worked successfully with more than 35 BPS, and it has been effective in helping at-risk students—including students with learning disabilities and behavioral problems—to achieve academically and gain acceptance into colleges. HERC’s SES program will leverage strategies and resources from its successful mentoring and academic support programs. |
| Evidence of Effectiveness (written by provider) |
HERC has a series of programs that serve at-risk and high-risk youth, including: a) Passport, an academic support and college preparation program for high school juniors and seniors; b) SAT Preparation programs that provide academic and test-taking skills training to first-generation college-bound and economically disadvantaged students; and c) the Mentor Program, in which middle school and high school students are paired with college students who provide support, encouragement and tutoring; and d) the “Super Mentor” program, a part of the Mentor Program that provides mentoring and academic support to high-risk students—i.e. students with learning disabilities or behavioral problems. HERC leverages the services and resources of each program to provide maximum benefit to each of its students. Most Passport students, for instance, also participate in the SAT Preparation program, and many students receiving mentoring support also participate in Passport. This integrated strategy has yielded very positive results, including:
• All of Passport’s students except one graduated high school with their respective classes. (The one exception experienced a personal tragedy that required her to miss a semester of school. She will graduate this year.) This graduation rate is remarkable when compared to BPS’ four-year graduation rate of 59%.
• 98% of Passport students were accepted into four-year colleges, and 100% of Passport students who graduated high school in 2005 and 2006 were accepted into four-year colleges. Passport graduates have attended University of Pennsylvania, Boston College, Smith College, Wheelock College, UMASS-Boston and other prestigious colleges. The success of Passport in preparing BPS students for acceptance into four-year colleges is particularly impressive considering that, district-wide, only 74% of BPS’ high school graduates attend either two-year or four-year college immediately following graduation.
• Many Passport students have received full scholarships to attend four-year colleges. In 2007, nearly 20% of graduating Passport students received full scholarships. In 2006, 50% received full scholarships. In 2005, more than one-third received full scholarships, including one full scholarship to Brown University.
o There are numerous individual success stories for Passport students, including—
o A Passport student was valedictorian of the Fenway High School Class of 2007
o A Passport student, daughter of non-English-speaking single mother, was Salutatorian of Brighton High School’s Class of 2005 and recipient of the Horatio Alger award.
o 100% of students who took the SAT before and after their participation in the 9-week SAT Preparation program increased their scores. The average increase in 2006 was 147 points.
o 89% of students participating in HERC’s SAT preparation program improved their performance in pre-, post- and interim- SAT practice examinations
o Two students saw dramatic increases in their SAT scores following participation in HERC’ SAT program—one increased by more than 200 points, the other by 300 points
HERC’s impact on the academic achievement and related outcomes of its program’s participants has been also evaluated positively by several outside funders, including the U.S. Department of Education (which supported HERC’s Mentor Program through a multi-year Safe and Drug Free Schools’ Mentoring program), the OJCS and several private foundations. These evaluations cite specific evidence of program effectiveness, including evidence of positive impact on academic outcomes. The most recent Program Review/Site Visit Monitoring Report of HERC’s OJCP-supported Mentor Program (March 2007), for instance, reported that HERC met all objectives—including academic achievement objectives—and cited individual success stories, including that of a high-risk student with limited English proficiency who received one-on-one tutoring that enabled her to pass the English portion of the MCAS.
For the SES program, HERC will use the assessment program of the PASSKEY Prescriptive Learning System (PASSKEY) to assess the achievement level and learning gaps of each student at the commencement of his/her involvement in the SES program, to diagnose specific achievement and learning gaps and to establish appropriate interventions. PASSKEY assessments will be the primary measurement tools used by HERC to assess student achievement, and PASSKEY learning programs will be used, along with HERC’s traditional tutoring methods and practices, to support student learning.
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| District(s) Served |
Please note that these are the districts this provider is approved to serve through this contract. Not all of these districts may be required to offer supplemental educational services through Title I of the No Child Left Behind Act. Check with your school or district for more details.
| Boston Public Schools | Boston Preparatory Charter Public District | Roxbury Charter High Public District |
| Boston Day and Evening Academy Charter District | Boston University Charter | Codman Academy Charter Public District |
| Neighborhood House Charter District | Boston Collegiate Charter District | Boston Renaissance Charter Public District |
| Roxbury Preparatory Charter District | Uphams Corner Charter District |
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