Community-School Partnership for Edgewood Independent School District

Alberto Robledo-Madera, Hilda Moran, Allison Joubert, and Alexsandro Sanchez

Department of Educational Leadership & Policy Studies, University of Texas at San Antonio

HSA 5403 Partnerships for College Readiness and Success

Dr. Tanya Gaxiola Serrano

July 2, 2021
TRANSCRIPTION DETAILS
File Name: Final Project - Edgewood Independent School District & Partnership for College Readiness
Length of File: [00:20:49] 10 Pages
Date Transcribe: Friday, July 2, 2021

School: The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA)

TRANSCRIPTION RESULTS

Alberto Robledo-Madera:

Introduction

Good morning, afternoon, or evening listeners. Welcome to the HSA 5403 Summer 2021

Partnerships for College Readiness and Success Group 3 Podcast. Your hosts for today’s podcast are

Allison Joubert, Hilda Moran, Alexsandro Sanchez, and yours truly, Alberto Robledo-Madera. Today we

are discussing Edgewood Independent School District in Bexar County. Edgewood ISD has both a higher

dropout rate and a lower graduation rate on average than the averages for both rates across the state of

Texas. Group 3 has looked into information about Edgewood ISD as well as the surrounding community

and has developed a partnership to work towards improving these rates from a P-20 perspective.

Problem Statement

We know that Edgewood ISD has a higher than average rate of dropout and a lower than average

rate of graduation. What we would like to know is an effective method of improving upon these rates as

well as fostering a college-bound mentality within Edgewood ISD. We believe that every student should

have the same opportunity to advance past K-12 education into postsecondary education and feel that

students of Edgewood ISD are not receiving this opportunity compared to other schools within Bexar

County. We will look to propose a partnership to aid in providing this opportunity to Edgewood ISD

students that takes into account the demographics of both the students and surrounding community, the

current rate of success as pertains to SAT scores, AP/IB enrollment and exam scores, and other risk

factors.
Demographics

According to The Texas Tribune (2019), the vast majority of students in Edgewood ISD are

Hispanic with a resounding 96.6%. The second largest racial group is African Americans where they

makeup 1.7% followed by 0.7% Asian and 0.7% White. 0.2% of students are two or more races, 0.1% are

Pacific Islander and a very small amount are American Indian.

When looking at risk factors, 76.3% of students are considered At-Risk, 93.7% are Economically

Disadvantaged, and 22.1% exhibited limited English proficiency. Enrollment by program shows that

21.1% of students were enrolled in a Bilingual/ESL program, 26.7% in a Career/Technical program, 5.4%

in Gifted and Talented, and 11.4% in Special Education.

Academics

According to The Texas Tribune (2019), Edgewood ISD had an 87.6% graduation rate of students

who started the ninth grade in the 2015-2016 school year and received a high school diploma on time.

Compared to the average graduation rate in the state of Texas of 90%, Edgewood ISD is slightly behind

the curve.

A similar comparison can be made when looking at the dropout rate of students in grades 9-12 in

the 2018-2019 school year within Edgewood ISD and the average dropout rate in Texas. Edgewood ISD

had a dropout rate of 3.6% whereas the state of Texas had an average dropout rate of 1.9%.

While these two comparisons show less fortunate numbers when compared to the average

numbers statewide, students in Edgewood ISD did participate in at least one AP/IB exam at a higher rate

than the statewide average with 31.5% of students participating versus 25.2%. However, the results

contain a stark contrast with only 14% of Edgewood ISD students receiving a passing score on at least

one of these exams versus a statewide average of 51%.

With regards to college exams, students in Edgewood ISD were also behind the curve of the

statewide average on the SAT with a median score of 851 vs 1027 statewide. This disparity is smaller

with regards to the ACT where the average score of students in Edgewood ISD is 19.2 vs 20.6 statewide.

When factoring in these average scores as well as the TSI Assessment test, Edgewood ISD is significantly
behind the average statewide in producing college-ready students with 33.1% in Reading and 16% in

math (15% overall) compared to statewide numbers being 60.7% in Reading and 48.6% in Math (44.2%).

History

Next, we will be having Hilda Moran giving information on the history of Edgewood ISD as well

as information about the district with regards to teachers, administration, and the community at-large.

Hilda, the floor is yours. [00:04:36]

Hilda Moran:

History, District, Teacher, Administration, and Community at Large Section

Thank you Alberto for the introduction to our podcast. With that said, let's learn a little more

about the Edgewood Independent School District’s (EISD), teachers, administration, and community at

large.

Brief History

Before discussing the history of Edgewood, I would like to help you visualize and familiarize

yourself with the surrounding area. According to the US Census Data, Bexar County is the 5th largest

county in Texas with an estimated population of 2,048,290 people. EISD lies in the heart of Bexar county

within the city of San Antonio which is the 2nd largest city after Houston and the 7th largest city within

the United States of America. San Antonio’s population contains over 1.5 million people. Currently, there

are approximately 11,708 households in the school district with a median income of $31,399 dollars and a

median age of 35 years old (Bureau). EISD is a public school district and is located inside loop 410, in

between Interstate Highway 10, Highway 151 and through Hwy 90 on the Westside of San Antonio. The

total population is 109,370 people spread out over three different zip codes (78237, 78228, 78226).

Edgewood first formed in 1905 as a one room house known as the Frey School. In 1950, it

officially obtained its “Independent School District'' status in January of 1950. As of 1986, according to
“The Story, The People'' by the Community Relations Office (1986), Edgewood had grown to be the 35th

largest school district in Texas.

Today, there are 19 public schools serving 10,471 students who call Edgewood their home. As

stated in Edgewood’s website, the mission of EISD is to provide an exceptional learning experience that

engages, empowers, and prepares students to compete and reach their highest potential in an ever-

changing world. Their vision is for every child to be successful in life. Over the years, each generation

remembers Edgewood differently from the next, but one universal motto remains the same for its

participants…”We are Edgewood Proud!”.

District Information

The current Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Eduardo Hernández, joined the Edgewood ISD family

in June 2018 after the Board of Managers conducted a nationwide search for their district's next leader.

Dr. Hernandez recognizes that Edgewood ISD employees, families and community members are all

dedicated to building the legacy of academic excellence that has long been part of this district's history.

During his more than 19 years of service in education, Dr. Hernández has established a reputation of

being a focused, strategic educational leader who has a positive record of improving student achievement

and effective communication skills that strengthen employee and community support. Upon arrival in

Edgewood ISD, Dr. Hernández plans to develop and initiate an entry plan that focuses on listening and

learning the dynamics that make this school district unique (EISD: About EISD, 2021).

As of May 2016, the Edgewood ISD, which is a public educational agency operating under the

applicable laws and regulations of the State of Texas, has been governed by a five-member School Board

of Managers appointed by the Texas Education Agency otherwise known as the TEA. When the Board of

Managers were appointed in 2016, the TEA allowed publicly elected Board members to jointly govern

the District with the remaining Board of Managers for the fiscal year ending on June 30, 2019.

Collectively, the seven-member board is now considered the School Board or (the “Board”) (EISD:

About EISD, 2021).

Equivalent teachers whose ethnicity is primarily Hispanic at 76 percent, with 17% being White, 5%

African American, and 2% other. Approximately, two-thirds of these teachers hold a bachelor’s degree, a

third have achieved a Masters, while 1% hold doctorate degrees. The student to teacher ratio is at the

national average of 16 students to 1 teacher with the average teacher experience just above 10 years.

Edgewood ISD’s schools are separated into 14 elementary schools which offer program options

such as Head Start, In-District Pre-K, and Pre-K 4 SA, 3 Middle Schools, and 3 High Schools. While

school is in session, Edgewood ISD is dedicated to providing families with a diverse portfolio of school

choice options that are specifically designed to provide a personalized learning approach for their

students. EISD achieves this within their 5 Innovation Zones which students can choose from dynamic

programs such as STEAM, Leadership, Single Gender, Public Service, Dual Language, Pathways in

Technology, Early College High School, Fine Arts, and a college career readiness program for 18+

special needs students. Edgewood is considered an open-boundary school district where all students from

the San Antonio Area can apply to an Edgewood School of Innovation. (EISD: About EISD, 2021).

[00:09:35]

Allison Joubert:

Community-School Partnership

Thank you Hilda. In this section of the podcast we will discuss a community-school partnership

for college readiness for K-12 students; a partnership that will focus on FGCS for purposes of this project.

Understanding the demographics of the Edgewood ISD and its surrounding community as predominantly

Hispanic, Santiago & Calderón Galdeano, report this population as the fastest growing and youngest

population nationally. It is clear to see that creating opportunities for access to higher education will not

only benefit the residents of Texas, but the nation. According to the article, First-Generation College

Students (FGCS) in Christian Academia, this population has unique needs that differ from the needs of

non-FGCS. This partnership will comprise both Academic-focused and College knowledge-focused

programming.
Target Outreach

Although all students within the K-12 age spectrum will be welcomed, there will be a heightened

awareness of the FGCS. The FGCSt is defined as students who are a member of the first generation in

their family to attend a four-year institution of higher education in the United States. FGCS are

demographically diverse, but Hispanic/Latino students make up 38% and African American students

make up 23% with Native American and Asian American following closely behind at 17% and 19%

respectively. Caucasian American students hold the place of having the least percentage of FGCS

students in the United States. These findings reveal that compared to their non-FGCS peers, FGCS are

more likely to be ethnic/racial minority students (Eklund, 2012). To begin considering the programming

content of the partnership, we must consider the needs of the students that will be served. According to

the Ecklund article, research reveals significant differences between FGCS and non-FGCS in pre-college

life. These differences pose increased risk for FGCS non-enrollment and early departure from college.

Cultural Preparation

Cultural preparation includes knowledge of cultural norms, rules and expectations,

communication and relationships, educational pathways, and bureaucratic navigation skills. Many first-

generation students often lack this cultural knowledge of college. Not having the benefit of a parent or

sibling having navigated college before them, they are left unprepared for the experience. Knowledge

such as when to begin preparing for college, how to take placement exams, and how to apply to college is

valuable to new college aspiring students. Caucasian FGCS are more likely to get this type of pre-college

preparation support from their high school than their racial/ethnic minority peers. When schools are

unable or unwilling to provide this preparedness training, college-educated parents possess the cultural

knowledge to prepare the child, but for the FGCS this does not exist. Therefore, the partnership will be

able to provide this knowledge to better prepare the student for college life.
Church – The Community Partner

Inadequate parental involvement in college preparation has been reported by some FGCS. For

these parents, providing support to and involvement in the child’s educational aspirations can be

challenging. Many parents of FGCS are unable to provide the college cultural capital that would enable

them to guide and prepare their college-bound students through the system. The experiences of people of

color such as racism and discrimination can have a negative effect on self-confidence, but involvement in

some activities within religious congregations such as teaching, and group leadership can build feelings of

confidence (Purdy & Meneely, 2015). Religious congregations can provide tangible aid in the form of

information and advice such as coping strategies and referrals for assistance. Many churches include the

teaching of the scriptures in a formal method of Christian education most often referred to as Sunday

School. Having the church as a community partner with schools to provide college readiness

opportunities, could benefit from the Sunday school programming that are already established in many

churches. Many churches have structured their Sunday School in cohorts such as, Pre-school, Early

Elementary grades 1-2, Elementary grades 3-5, Junior High grades 6-8 and High School grades 9-11.

Applying the College Knowledge focus to the younger age groups and combining both College-

Knowledge and Academic Focus in grades 8-12 will help to address the persistence gap from 8th to 9th

grade (Aleman et al. 2019).

Program Establishment

Edgewood ISD already has an established Family Leadership Institute (FLI). The curriculum for

FLI is ten Modules taught in five sessions. A Google search of the three zip codes that comprise the

Edgewood ISD identified 22 Churches surrounding the district. A partnership program with the churches

and the Edgewood Family Leadership Institute would allow for the 5-session curriculum to be adjusted

based on the age of the students. Having current college students teach the various sessions to the

children, will allow students to see and hear from currently enrolled college students establishing

credibility. Being intentional in selecting a diverse body of college student facilitators will alleviate the

hierarchical relationship that Delgado Bernal, Aleman, 2017 mention, may occur when those from outside
of the community come in to save this population. The college student-teachers can be paid through

work-study for participation in the program. Partnering with Edgewood ISD, the church will provide a

no-charge venue, captive audiences, and a group of students that have established relationships. The

program can be taught once a month on Sundays since parents and students are present for Sunday School

and this session can be highlighted as “College Prep Sunday School.” The meetings they hold would be a

good starting point to propose the partnership with the church leaders with congregations in the

immediate Edgewood ISD area. [00:15:12]

Alexsandro Sanchez:

School-University Partnership

Furthermore, in addition to the community-based partnerships, I propose a highschool to college

program that will supplement anything that is missing that a gearup or upward bound program does not

cover. I really was blown away by this quote from Ira Harkavy titled The History and Development of a

Partnership Approach to Improve Schools, Communities and Universities. He cites a chilean sociologist

Eugenio Tironi that essentially states that the answer to the type of education one needs in schools can be

found in the question of what type of society do we want? If we want to have a particular outcome (i.e. a

type of society) then our education system must be geared towards that end. Promising a 60x30 is all well

and good if the infrastructures in place can make that goal. Without that strong foundation, this 60x30

plan proposed by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board is nothing more than a political

maneuver to placate the public and buy more time (Harkavy et al., 2016 p. 304).

Edgewood ISD has not had a really good track record in recent history, toxic infighting in the

administration, revolving door of staff and faculty and losing students to charter schools that are seen as

alternatives to a failing school system have sapped the funding from the district. Less students means less

money in the form of grants for gearup and the like. With the hiring of Superintendent Eduardo

Hernandez Edgewood ISD appears to be coming back from the brink and even was able to squeeze an

additional 8 million dollars towards the budget to help with raises, bolster social work and hire more

bilingual staff and faculty to help bridge the gap between the community and the school (Swaby, 2019).
 One thing that my classmate Allison mentioned in a previous lecture is that just the simple

exposure to an idea may be enough for a spark to ignite in the mind of a student about higher education.

What I propose is to have a program that will partner with its local alamo college and UTSA. It is my

understanding that the majority of high schools in the ISD pertain to Palo Alto College with one being

handled by St. Phillips. At Texas A&M Prairie View had a really cool solution to solving the high DWF

rate (D-grade, withdrawal and failure) within their engineering programs. They had a summer bridge

program just before they were to begin in the fall. Professors in math, physics, chemistry and computer

science that would polish up skills in the foundational coursework in the morning with practical hands-on

demonstrations would be given in the evenings. The goal was to give students a connection to how their

beginning coursework plays into future careers (Cui et al., 2011). Our program could be applied to all

grades in a high school but particular focus would be on juniors and seniors. Professors from the core

class subjects; math, science, history and english to come and give practical knowledge and advice and to

talk about their experiences and education. Preferably Faculty that have had a difficult road in the

educational journeys to serve as an inspiration for those students who are not college ready and feel

disheartened by higher education. I would also open it up to any staff member who wishes to give back to

the community. For the end of the school year August 2020 the district spent just under 350,000 dollars

on guidance, counseling and evaluation. Unless I am reading this wrong but this cannot be how much is

spent across the board. It must mean that perhaps each school is supposed to supplement anything they

get from the district? (Edgewood Independent School District, n.d.)

The ascender program at Palo Alto college pairs staff and faculty who have earned college

degrees to share their experiences with a select group of students and act as an outreach program to

ensure students stay on track to finish their degrees. I very much like the idea of pairing “regular” non-

counselor type people with students so they can see that the road to success is not linear and maybe see a

little of themselves in the stories of our employees. I think even professors who do not have time to

volunteer their time should allocate maybe 5% of their courses overall grade to outreach. Imagine if most

professors allowed students to buffer a bad test score or paper within an hour or simply by meeting with a

student to just simply get the idea of college into their heads from a different source. It is how when your
parents say something you might tend to go “uh huh” but someone else says the exact same thing and you

are more receptive to it. I wish that was not true but it is and so having people who are older than them.

The academic focused programs are really good if the student body is having trouble with college

readiness and does give the students good exposure to college but it's a short term thing and geared for

smaller groups. This feels too much rooted in deficit thinking because it is focused too much on getting

them college ready in a short amount of time. They may do well enough for the program to be a success

but how well of a foundation is being laid down? Will it carry a student all the way through their

bachelor’s? The College-knowledge focus programs are longer term but they have a much lighter touch

and geared towards students who are better prepared academically who have a decent college trajectory

save for some minor tweaks to their arc (Barnett et al., 2012).

I would want our program to cater to both groups of students. Everyone would get the exposure

to the college process. Those who are not academically ready will get a steady and consistent education

through year 9-12 to build their skills while those who do not need that attention will be able to tap into

any refreshers the student feels they need to maintain their readiness. In their senior year the focus would

increase to make sure that they do not drop the ball in terms of making sure they have everything ready to

start applying to colleges.

What I want for our program is based largely on my own experiences where I was given very

little attention and I fell through the cracks and I could very well have another sad tale in the book of

higher education. I often wonder what would have happened if I had someone like myself as a counselor,

or a program that had the time, money, and resources to have an intrusive presence in my academic life.

After much research, we know that EISD is composed of a wide range of students and that with

partnerships we help students graduate high school, be prepared and go on to college/university to obtain

a degree. This concludes our podcast for today and we thank you for taking the time to listen in. Have a

great day!

[End Transcript: 00: 20:49]

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