Gene I. Maeroff, a senior fellow at the Hechinger Institute on Education and the Media, talked of the imperativeness of partnerships between schools and colleges at a forum sponsored by Colleges of Worcester Consortium Inc. "There is now a wider understanding that there is, if not a seamless web, at least a series of connections, like locks on a canal, all along the educational continuum and that institutions ignore these links at their peril," said Maeroff, who has written extensively on K-12 education.

Maeroff authored a national study that studied how K-12 schools developed productive collaborations with colleges and universities. He suggested such partnerships strive to reach kids early and equip them with the backgrounds necessary for them to be admitted to and be successful in institutions of higher education.

The article, entitled "Consortium Reinforces Linkage to School Systems," appeared in the March 1 edition of Telegram.

Published Monday, Mar. 15, 2004