EUGENE–A $1,446,000 grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts will help put the finishing touches on new admission standards for Oregon’s public universities.

"The Oregon University System, in collaboration with the Oregon Department of Education, is a leader in the growing effort to align high proficiency-based standards kindergarten through college. We are pleased to support their important work," says Ellen Burbank, Education Program Officer with the Pew Trusts.

The Oregon University System (OUS), under the direction of UO education professor David Conley, offers a major breakthrough in matching requirements for enrolling in college with the new skills and understandings required for graduating from high school.

The three-year grant to the Proficiency-based Admission Standards System (PASS) project, administered by Conley, will phase in Oregon’s new university admission standards.

Under the new requirements, student applicants must demonstrate they can do college level work before they are admitted to any of the state’s public universities.

Conley directs policy for the PASS program, which originally was charged with writing what levels of proficiency the Oregon University System would require of students seeking admission to the state’s public colleges and universities.

"In less than three years the first high school students who have met new graduation standards required by Oregon’s education reform act will begin to apply for admission to the state’s colleges and universities," Conley says.

"This grant allows us to work with high school teachers to make sure we’re all on the same page in terms of what we’re expecting students know and can do to be ready for college."

The project will sponsor three meetings each year where teachers from 50 participating high schools will assess student work and compare their judgments to other teachers and university professors. Teachers who attend the meetings will be expected to train others in their schools to teach and evaluate the proficiency standards.

The grant also will allow Conley’s team to work directly with teachers at participating high schools to help them move to the new standards-based system. Oregon’s universities also will identify changes they need to make. The grant will support teams at each OUS campus to help them develop student applications based on proficiencies. The project will develop materials for a sophisticated website to help teach the new methods to other teachers.

The Oregon Department of Education will provide $350,000 in matching funds to the project. The Oregon University System will contribute another $220,000.

The Pew Charitable Trusts, one of the nation’s largest philanthropies, support nonprofit activities in the areas of culture, education, the environment, health and human services, public policy and religion. The trusts, based in Philadelphia, make strategic investments that encourage and support citizen participation in addressing critical issues and effecting social change.

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