Rhode Island Governor Drives Agenda, Raising Questions About Sustainability

By Scott J. Cech

Providence, R.I.

If you had glanced through the narrow, wired-glass window of Rhode Island College professor Moira E. Collins’ Writing 150 classroom here on a cold morning in March, the tableau would have looked utterly routine: college-age students at desks circled seminar-style around their professor.

Had you just glanced, however, you would have missed one of the most tangible products so far of this state’s 3-year-old P-16 council.

Inside, the two dozen high school seniors handing Collins drafts-in-progress of their cultural-anthropology research papers constituted the inaugural class of Pathways to College . The dual-enrollment program represents Rhode Island’s first state-directed effort specifically aimed at helping students at risk of academic failure navigate...