Mother Tongue Project at Santa Fe Community College (MTP@SFCC) offers parenting students a highly supported, topic-centered English-course sequence that links foundational college academic skills with family literacy awareness. Supporting programming, such as community-wide information workshop series, reinforces the value and potential of parenting students at Santa Fe Community College and in our broader community—and the need for ongoing conversation among us.
MTP@SFCC English = Two consecutive semesters of cohort-based coursework topically focused around parenthood that will bring parenting students through SFCC’s first college-level English classes.
This basic college English requirement unlocks students’ access to certificate- and degree-pathway courses.
Lived experience informs study, and academic literacy is tied to family literacy throughout.
Class materials and semester stipend for cohort students.
MTP@SFCC will begin in FALL 2023. For more information, email: info [at symbol] mothertongueproject.org
Student Parent Access (S.P.A) Series = Monthly information workshops at SFCC on topics of parenting, education, household management, employment, and relationships. Led by local professionals who balanced school and parenting, S.P.A. sessions are designed to be both inspiring and practical—and open to all parenting members of our community, regardless of SFCC enrollment.
Free sessions include food and child care (registration required).
S.P.A. Series begins TUESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2023. For more information, email: info [at symbol] mothertongueproject.org
Why post-secondary?
One-fifth of U.S. undergraduates are parenting or caring for dependent children—the majority, 2.1 million, are single women (Institute for Women's Policy Research). Parenting students are tight on time and money, and they disproportionately require academic remediation before they can take college-level classes toward a degree or credential. Research indicates these factors bear on the fact that “[o]nly 28% of single-mother learners earn a degree or credential within six years" (IWPR). This is a critical area for MTP investment, especially because these learners can decrease their chances of living in poverty by 32% for each additional level of education they receive.**
Through our relevant, relationship-based acceleration of English fundamentals, MTP@SFCC hopes to prepare more parenting students for certificate and degree achievement. Research shows that “[c]ontextualized instruction, or basic skills taught in the context of real-world problems and major course content, has been related to earning more college credits and an increased likelihood of persistence.”*** Framing an accelerated English sequence within examinations and discussions of parenting issues follows this tenet, guiding students through personal and academic reflection as well as through foundational academic and family literacy skills. We anticipate this combination will improve student-parents’ chances for school retention and degree completion. Ultimately, we hope the combined benefits will lead to opportunities for higher-level employment, more stable family economics, greater child wellbeing, and a strong support network of parenting students and alumni.
*Graham, Matthew, et al. Women Employed and Ascend Aspen Institute, 2012, Low-Income Single Mothers at Community College: Recommendations for Practices to Improve Completion.
**Single Moms Success, Education Design Lab, 9 Feb. 2021, eddesignlab.org/project/singlemomssuccess/.
***Chenoa S. Woods, Toby Park, Shouping Hu & Tamara Bertrand Jones (2019) Reading, Writing, and English Course Pathways when Developmental Education is Optional: Course Enrollment and Success for Underprepared First-time-in-College Students, Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 43:1, 5-25, DOI: 10.1080/10668926.2017.1391144. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10668926.2017.1391144