Ramp-Up to Readiness

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Planning for Ramp-Up to Readiness began in 2006, just as the University of Minnesota created the College Readiness Consortium (originally known as the Consortium for Postsecondary Academic Success). President Robert Bruininks hired Kent Pekel, former teacher and K12 administrator, as the executive director. Pekel obtained a Bush Foundation grant, and began a formal planning process to create what is now known as Ramp-Up to Readiness.

Pekel and consultants who were experienced licensed school counselors, educators and youth workers studied a substantial body of research in the field of college readiness.  At the University, forty-five faculty and staff members reviewed and provided input on the original drafts, then called the Minnesota Postsecondary Plan. Extended focus groups were also conducted at the first Minnesota College Access Summit where more than 100 leaders of non-profit organizations, institutions of higher education, K-12 schools and government offices and agencies received an overview of the Postsecondary Plan project and provided feedback in breakout groups.

At the conclusion of the extensive outreach one thing was clear: creating a framework for postsecondary success that could be used with junior and senior high school students would fill a major void in the educational architecture of our state.

As one participant in the College Access Summit put it, a common understanding of the knowledge, skills and habits that students need to be truly college-ready “would align our goals so the teachers, counselors and college programs were all on the same page.”

A core research team was assembled, and Theresa Battle, former teacher, middle school principal, and central office administrator, was hired as project director. The research team consisted of:

• Sandra Christensen, Birkmaier Professor, Department of Educational Psychology, University of Minnesota
• Christine Greenhow, postdoctoral associate, learning technologies program, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, University of Minnesota
• Kristofer Layon, director of Web design and online collaboration, University of Minnesota
• Larry Litecky, president, Century College
• Theresa Battle, project director, University of Minnesota
• Kent Pekel, executive director, College Readiness Consortium, University of Minnesota

In addition, 11 Minnesota secondary schools, including alternative programs, signed on to help design and develop the program. The schools (with their district) include:

• Centennial Senior High School, Circle Pines
• Central Senior High School, St. Paul
• Century Junior High School, Forest Lake
• Chaska Senior High School, Chaska
• Forest Lake Senior High School and Area Learning Center, Forest Lake
• Forest Lake Area Learning Center, Forest Lake
• Murray Junior High School, St. Paul
• Richfield Senior High School, Richfield
• Shakopee Senior High School, Shakopee
• South High School, Minneapolis
• Southwest Junior High School, Forest Lake

The Minnesota Office of Higher Education provided grants to five of the schools to support their participation, and the Bush Foundation grant supported the other six. Each school chose to focus on different grades or sections of their student body, and came together to share their learning. All were enthusiastic, and participated for a full two years of design work.

But in the end, the most powerful endorsements came from the students themselves. Students involved in the Ramp-Up design told us that:

“At first, I had no clue what to do after high school. Now I am going to try my hardest to graduate and go to college.”

“I thought that school was only a place to hang out in. Now I take that back, school is more than you expect when you are trying to reach for your goals. It's just getting us ready.”

And that’s exactly what Ramp-Up to Readiness aims to achieve.