"The

1. Dr. Michelle Miller-Adams, Research Fellow
W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research
Presentation at Looking Back, Moving Forward Conference
Richmond, VA, March 13-14, 2013

2. 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
Kalamazoo
County
(pop.)
201,550 212,378 223,411 238,603 250,331
% African-
American
4.8 7.5 8.7 9.7 11.1
City of
Kalamazoo
(pop.)
85,555 79,722 80,277 77,145 74,262
% African-
American
10 15.6 18.8 20.6 22.2
Population Trends 1970-2010
Source: U.S. Census

3. 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
KPS
Enrollment
17,285 13,280 12,584 11,245 12,739
% African-
American
17 30 36 44 43
% low
income
<50 <50 <50 56 69
School District Trends 1970-2010
Source: Kalamazoo Public Schools
Portage Public Schools (2010): 5% African-American, 25% low-income

4. School District Boundary

5. Kalamazoo Public Schools Enrollment Trend
5
9000
10000
11000
12000
13000
14000
15000
FallHeadcount
Academic Year
Kalamazoo
Promise
Announced

6. 6
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
Kalamazoo Public Schools
Battle Creek Public Schools
Grand Rapids Public Schools
Lansing Public Schools
Flint City School District
Saginaw City School District
Pontiac School District
Similar School District Comparison

7. The Kalamazoo Promise
 Announced November 2005, to continue in perpetuity
 Funded by anonymous private donors
 First-dollar program (before other financial aid)
 Place-based: Kalamazoo Public Schools
 Covers 65-100% of tuition and fees at any in-state, public
post-secondary institution for KPS graduates
 Minimum 4-year residency & enrollment requirement
 Universal: Every graduate is eligible
 Students have 10 years in which to use funding

9. What makes Promise programs potential tools
for community transformation?
Promise programs seek to change the culture of a
community, not simply award scholarships. They are:
 Place-based – focus on a geographically bounded
community
 Universal or near-universal – everyone has a stake;
broad buy-in throughout the community
 Long-term – allow time for people to make choices
based on the program’s benefits

10. Promise programs are not all alike…
Models vary by:
 Student eligibility
 Universal (all graduates eligible) or minimum GPA (usually 2.5) and/or
attendance requirement
 Eligible post-secondary institutions
 Local only, in-state public, or any institution (with tuition cap)
 2-year only, 4-year included
 Public or private (with tuition cap)
 Level of student support services provided
 Funding
 Private (businesses, individuals); philanthropic; public (tax resources)

12. “If the college scholarship draws middle-class families
into the district and, if, also, there is some effort at
promoting equity within the school system – that is
to say you don’t have one part of the district that is
overwhelmingly middle class and another part that is
poor (in other words, if you get economic school
integration) – that will be far more important than
any of the traditional approaches of spending money
on high-poverty schools.”
- Richard Kahlenberg, quoted in Miller-Adams,
The Power of a Promise (2009), p. 90.

13. Demographic (non) impact
2005 2012
Enrollment 10,548 12,725
% low-income 62 69
% African-American 48 43
% Caucasian 40 38
% Hispanic 9 12
Source: Kalamazoo Public Schools

14. Achievement/Attainment Impacts
 Enrollment growth
 Foundation grant (est. $26 million)
 First new school construction in four decades
 Improving statewide standardized test scores
 Improving high-school graduation rates
 Strong college attendance and completion
 Shift in college choices (Miller-Adams and Timmeney 2013)
 High-school achievement gains (Bartik and Lachowska 2012)
 More positive media coverage (Miller-Adams, in progress)

15. Additional Resources
 Questions or comments:
 miller-adams@upjohn.org
 http://michellemilleradams.com
 http://thepromiseofkalamazoo.org
 W.E. Upjohn Institute - Kalamazoo Promise Research
 Special Topics: Kalamazoo Promise
 http://www.upjohn.org
 5thPromiseNet conference – Kalamazoo
October 23-25, 2013