CPI Flourishes, Takes Root at IUPUI

Lewis Jones, CPI site coordinator for Gambold Middle School (left in the picture) led an activity in Medieval History, culminating in a simulated battle with weapons and armor from the time period.

INDIANAPOLIS – Like a well-nourished seedling, a program designed to boost the number of Hoosier students who enroll in college has flourished and taken root at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI).

In academic parlance, the College Preparatory Initiative (CPI) has become embedded in the curriculum.

Established in 1999 at IUPUI with about $900,000 in funding from the Lilly Endowment, the College Preparatory Initiative (CPI), encourages students in sixth, seventh and eighth grades at Washington, Gambold, Farrington, and Forest Manor schools to meet high academic expectations and prepare themselves to attend college.

Studies have shown that a student’s educational aspirations have usually been determined by the ninth grade.

While Lilly Endowment funding got the program going at IUPUI, the one-time infusion of funds wasn’t intended to keep it operating for the long-term. The Lilly funding ended at the end of the 2003-2004 academic year.

Nonetheless, the program’s future was always bright, said Andrew Hays, CPI director. “At IUPUI, there is a culture of working with young people and helping them take advantage of opportunities.”

CPI school coordinators work one-on-one with students throughout the week at the middle schools Coordinators track academic progress, coordinate tutoring, and provide information about college.

Another key CPI activity is bringing middle school students to IUPUI on several Saturdays, providing them with a fun experience that also shows what college is all about, Hays said. CPI assigns IUPUI students as mentors to be with the youngsters when they are on campus.

The only problem was that CPI had no funds to pay for mentors or easy way to recruit mentors, other than spending time and effort to recruit them. “We wanted to get to the point where we weren’t recruiting all the time,” Hays said.

CPI first reached out to partner with IUPUI’s Twenty-first Century Scholars program, also housed at University College. “We wanted to use Twenty-first Century Scholars at IUPUI as mentors with our middle school students because they knew from their own experiences what kinds of challenges and problems middle school students face.”

The Twenty-first Century Scholars program is designed raise educational aspirations of students from low- and moderate-income families. Income-eligible 7th- and 8th-graders who enroll in the program and fulfill a pledge of good citizenship are guaranteed the cost of four years of college tuition at any participating public college or university in Indiana.

CPI then turned to the IU School of Education at IUPUI. Last fall, aspiring education majors began serving as mentors, too. The mentoring sessions enabled these students to fulfill a service learning requirement and fit the school’s emphasis on urban education and on maintaining strong community partnerships.

“The School of Education students bring an enthusiasm to the program,” Hays said. “The kids know they care about them.”

The fall semester experience went so well that the School of Education asked to send a new batch of students to serve as mentors for the spring semester.

The mentors have proven to be a driving force behind the success of the CPI program, he said. “It is the relationship that develops between the mentors and the middle school students that keeps the middle school students engaged and returning to the campus.”

“It's wonderful to know college students and middle schoolers, that are almost complete strangers, can meet and bond through learning activities in a short amount of time,” said Leah Kidwell, one of the mentors. “Everybody learned and everybody laughed and that makes for a good day.”

Michael Reed, another IUPUI mentor commented, “CPI has been a great experience for me. It has enabled both college and middle school students to work collaboratively on fun scholastic activities in an attempt to stimulate middle school students’ interests in college.”