A reader sent me the following press release. It describes how college freshmen who get a scholarship will have an electronic monitoring system, where they are expected to check in and report. It appears that the system relies on the student to check in regularly and interact with his or her electronic tracking system. Maybe this will be helpful. Or maybe it will be like that annoying Microsoft Paperclip that used to pop up uninvited and offer to help you whether you wanted help or not. What happens when the students don’t respond? What is the follow through if they respond and say they don’t understand what is happening in their Algebra class? Will someone send help? Will it be like the thingies that senior citizens wear around their necks to call for help when they fall down? Will anyone answer? Or will they get an electronic response that asks them to log in and press 1 if they speak English, and press 2 if they want to complain, and press 3 if they need help with their student loan, and press 1 if their roommate is annoying them, and so on.
College Success Foundation – DC Using New Technology
to Mentor and Monitor College Freshmen
Initiative to Assist D.C. Students in Adjusting to Campus Life and Studies
Washington, D.C. – The College Success Foundation – District of Columbia (CSF – DC)
announced today the launch of a pilot program to help college-bound D.C. students successfully
complete their first year of college. The program monitors students’ adjustment to college life
via interactive, multimedia modules that students access online or via smart phone apps. The
pilot will be conducted in partnership with csMentor, Inc. and funded through a grant from the
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
“Making the leap from high school to a successful first year of college is a particular challenge
for the underserved students we work with,” said CSF – DC Executive Director Herbert R.
Tillery. “We are excited to test a new technology-based tool that allows us to consistently
monitor our students’ academic and social adjustment to campus. That data will help us
pinpoint students who may be struggling and allow us to intervene at an early stage.”
Students participating in the pilot will receive and respond to Mentoring Interactive Programs or
“MIPs” via the web and mobile device. Each on-demand MIP includes a short video message
from a mentor and is combined with a “Check In” – a brief set of questions. The video message
anticipates challenges freshmen face as they prepare for and then move through their first
college term. Responses to the weekly “Check In” paint a cumulative picture of the student’s
academic and social adjustment. The technology analyzes that data to create regular Progress
Updates shared with the student and with CSF – DC.
“We are pleased to be partnering with the College Success Foundation – DC to help District
students make it through their first year of college,” said csMentor Advisory Board Chair Dr.
Steven Gladis. Dr. Gladis is author of the widely read book Surviving the First Year of College:
Myth vs. Reality. “Higher education nationally has been in a dropout crisis for decades. For
every two college freshmen who complete their first year, one will drop out. And those numbers
haven’t improved over time.”
The pilot will involve approximately 250 college-bound District of Columbia students.
# # #
College Success Foundation — District of Columbia
For more than 5 years, CSF – DC has inspired students in 6 high schools in Ward 7 and 8 to
pursue their dream of attending college by providing a unique integrated system of support and
scholarships they need to graduate college and succeed in life. The College Success
Foundation – DC is a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
this is very disturbing
How impersonal and inhumane- how about having a mentor actually call them on the most ubiquitous of electronic devices on a college campus, the cell phone? If they really wanted to help them make the transition in, they would not ask them to do something that few if any people have to do- wrist bracelet/ankle bracelet tracking device. Resentment around having to check in will surely grow, how degrading for the poor recipients. Now, if they gave out the bracelets to use with the incentive of money for college, that would probably be a different result. It would be like participating in a paid experiment
I hope I am wrong but it sounds like a data gathering tool to get info on the students and create a huge database of information….not to help them but to tweak some product? It doesn’t sound very personalized which is what those students need. A video message from a mentor? Is this mentor someone they choose and have a trust relationship with? what kinds of video message from an unknown mentor could help a new college student feel cared for? So if the student opens up and is depressed will the check-in system refer them to a real person or just give them a video message? If the student reports alcohol or drug related issues what happens? Who uses the information? Who has access to it? Will they lose their scholarship? Can the information they share come back to haunt them as adults? If a student doesn’t want this video mentoring or chooses not to check in or answer the questions, do they have to turn down the scholarship? If so then this really isn’t a scholarship!
It is a guinea-pig-ship!
So, basically, they’re putting poor college students on house arrest..? Le sigh.
Basically it sounds like they are seeing whether they can replace flesh and blood mentors with an electronic monitor. It certainly would be “cost effective.” How about another arm in this experiment with real live mentors as well as a control condition of no support beyond what the student seeks out.
My money is on the annoying paperclip.
I may be just be getting cynical in my old age, but then again….. Is anyone else besides me getting visions of electronic mentoring and monitoring program check-ins being required of all new teachers as they navigate their first year or two in the classroom in search of “best practices” (oh how I despise that term) to improve their student data? New teachers really benefit from mentor relationships, but real live mentors are expensive. Electronic monitoring to the rescue!
Can you say BIG BROTHER??
As a former classroom teacher who was eager to get involved in a meaningful way with students after I moved to D.C., I can say with complete honesty that the College Success Foundation regularly engages students in meaningful relationships with mentors. There are hundreds of mentors that volunteer their time (no paid mentors in the program) and are “required” to have meaningful interaction with students at least once per week, either via telephone or in person. An in-person meeting has to happen at least monthly as well. Students are mentored beginning in either their junior or senior year of high school and throughout college if they receive a scholarship from the Foundation. From my understanding, this additional electronic service will not replace the in-person mentoring and personal contact. It is meant to provide essentially “data” on the program and help students get used to the use of technology they will need later in life.
Before condemning a program that many students have flourished in, it may be helpful to actually interview someone from the program, or at least get more details than cutting and pasting a 3-sentence description from the website.
Re-read the post. It said nothing critical of the College Success Foundation.
No, you’re right. It didn’t directly. It listed a number of things that could happen- none of them resulting in positive outcomes for students. Perhaps, “if students indicate they are struggling in algebra, their mentor will contact them and talk them through locating a tutor. If students grade or attendance fall off after a rough break-up, the mentor will call and ask them how they are feeling or recommend counseling services. If a student indicates they have been offered ‘better’ loans through their credit card provider, the mentor can direct them to a loan calculator to help them make an educated decision about what loan to take.”
If you have been following this blog, you would have read several posts expressing concern about “galvanic skin response monitors,” and other electronic devices meant to monitor students and teachers, funded by the Gates Foundation. I have a bias favoring people over electronic devices. Nothing in the post you refer to was about CSF directly, not even the title. Don’t be defensive.
I read the blog very regularly; I just wanted to point out that the purpose of this is to combine technology and in-person services as a means of preparing students for a future where they will no doubt be taking at least one class online and/or working remotely for some time period. Thank you for the quick responses.
CSF Mentor,
Your dialogue confirms for me that there is something NOT right with this electronic monitoring. Why would you need both if the personal interaction is “encouraged”. My son is going to college and they have mentors, a career center, advisors and tutors on campus. I would much rather my son go and speak to someone before having to wear an electronic device. Your responses tell me that this device is something sneaky with an alterior motive attached and it is not for the student’s benefit. You must really think we are stupid.
I have no doubt that you are very intelligent as you are reading this blog and obviously have taken an active interest in the topic.
I’m sure your son’s career center has electronic resources as well; at this point, the majority of college students receive their grades and progress reports online and have some kind of degree-audit document that helps them as they are planning their course schedules. These are simply supplemental resources, which can never replace one-on-one contact with mentors, counselors, social workers, psychologists, etc.
I simply wanted to say that people (particularly commenters) shouldn’t assume the sole purpose of this system was to “monitor” students rather than provide supplementary assistance. Gates obviously has an interest (both financially and personally) in integrating software wherever they can. We should reserve judgement on whether this can be helpful to students until it has been implemented. Everyone can agree that one-on-one assistance from a professional mentor or counselor may be best for all students, but for some, it may not be enough.
I wasn’t sure where to post this, but I was watching “Through The Wormhole” on the science cannel and they showed an experiment done with one of the bio-metric monitoring devices. Here is a link to the entire program:
The experiment happens in minutes 18-25. I thought it was interesting to see what one of these devices looks like and the kinds of graphs and information that is gathered from it.