PSEO ICAN Grant

Free PSEO course  – Composition I

Minnesota West has been awarded a grant from Jobs For the Future (JFF), in partnership with the Greater Twin Cities United Way (GTCUW) and The Learning Accelerator (TLA) to offer online college Composition I courses (ENGL 1101) to PSEO high school students throughout Minnesota. This opportunity is funded under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Education Innovative and Research (EIR) Program.

ENGL 1101 Composition I (3 credits) – This online course fulfills Minnesota Transfer Curriculum Goal areas 1 (Communication) and 2 (Critical Thinking). This course is designed for students with the goal of pursuing a 2-year transfer degree (AA) or bachelor's degree. This course is sometimes a requirement for technical programs and will benefit all students who want to improve their writing skills.

Why take advantage of this grant opportunity?
JFF has partnered with the American Institutes for Research (AIR) to conduct a research study looking at the effectiveness of online dual enrollment English courses that deliberately incorporate growth mindset learning strategies to support online learning instruction and student perseverance and completion.

Your instructors will be trained and supported to provide students with opportunities to learn, practice, and refine the following skills:

  • Relationships: Build and maintain positive relationships with others, including peers, professors, and educational institutions.
  • Growth Mindset & Academic Identity: Develop a self-concept that includes the belief that they can be academically successful in a collegiate setting with effort and persistence. Individuals with a growth mindset embrace challenges, persist when they encounter barriers, learn from constructive criticism, and seek inspiration in others’ success.
  • Problem-Solving: Solve common challenges in a virtual collegiate setting using targeted skills and strategies.
  • Self-Management: Self-regulate and self-direct their learning to meet the expectations of a collegiate course.

Am I eligible to participate?

Eligible students must be admitted to Minnesota West as PSEO students (click here for admissions process), consent to special data gathering and providing feedback on the course and experience, and have parental consent to participate.

Consent form
• English: ICAN Informed Consent - English
• Karen: ICAN Informed Consent - Karen
• Oromo: ICAN Informed Consent - Oromo
• Spanish: ICAN Informed Consent - Spanish

The course IDs of the Spring 2025 sections eligible for this project are:  000340 and  000840

DATA PRIVACY: To assess and demonstrate the impact of this innovative model, JFF and AIR will collect the following data from the school district (if available):

• Gender  
• Race / Ethnicity 
• Eligibility for FRL (or an alternative indicator of low-income status) 
• English learner status 
• Individualized Education Plan (IEP) status  
• Unweighted GPA from previous school year (Grade 10 or 11)  
• Final grade in the college course
• End of the year unweighted GPA

All background characteristics of students and participating school districts will be removed from data submission prior to submission to JFF and AIR including student name, grade level, and school district. The remaining information will be combined with the data from all participants and shared with AIR in a manner that guarantees student and school district anonymity.

Students will be asked to share their college student email addresses for survey follow-up (to receive a $25 gift card to thank them for participating).
Students will complete two surveys where they share their opinions about the quality of the course, the instructors, and their learning. 

Questions? Contact a K-12 Coordinator