Click image to open PDF overview of MTP at the Community College level proposal
Mother Tongue Project has been working to develop a concept for MTP at the community college level in an effort to support more young families' academic and family literacy. With 1/5 of U.S. undergraduates parenting or caring for dependent children—the majority, 2.1 million, single women—we believe MTP belongs in post-secondary education (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).
Mother Tongue Project's community-college proposal addresses growing accommodation needs for underprepared, parenting, post-secondary students: a highly supported, two-semester, topic-centered English sequence. It will offer parenting students a strong foundation in academic literacy skills, an accelerated sequence from developmental to college-level coursework, and improved chances for school retention and degree completion—all of which stands to set up young parents for higher-level employment, more stable family economics, greater child wellbeing, and a strong network of students and alumni engaging with each other.