W ho is at risk in school, and what does race have to do with it? In responding to the first part of this question, researchers have relied extensively on quantitative analyses. Historically, such studies have either calculated the "likelihood" of poor educational outcomes (e.g., dropping out of high school and/or course failure) for different demographic categories or documented the underperformance of one demographic category compared to another on a host of academic measures, including grade point average (GPA), high school completion, and, most often, performance on standardized achievement tests. In empirical analyses of this kind, race has often been reduced to a variable, and study after study has demonstrated its reliable and robust correlation with indices of educational achievement and attainment (e.g.,
This study reconsidered school effects on college enrollment by focusing on strategies that schools use to facilitate college transitions. It also examined whether school strategies influence different outcomes for students from different racial/ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. Using data from the High School Effectiveness Study, the analysis identified three distinctive "college-linking" strategies: traditional, clearinghouse, and brokering. The results revealed that the strategies that schools use to help students navigate the college-linking process are associated with variation in college enrollment. They suggest that schools that operate primarily as a resource clearinghouse, in which organizational norms limit their role as agents in the college-linking process, foster significant racial/ethnic variation in students' outcomes.
This study examines the relationship between networks that provide high school students with "social capital for college" (SCFC) and their access to selective institutions. It also explores the link between racial disparities in access to selective colleges and the composition of students' SCFC networks. Findings indicate that while composition of students' SCFC networks did not vary by race, it was associated with significant differences in the selectivity of their first choice colleges. They also indicate that students in our sample who relied heavily on their peers for information related to college-going are less likely to pursue access to the most selective colleges.
Keywords college access, urban education, African American students, Hispanic studentsIn the past three decades, access to postsecondary education has become an increasingly influential factor shaping adult opportunities and an important
Preparing high school students to skillfully and successfully navigate the pathway to college is a growing concern among researchers and policymakers. This issue has raised important questions about what urban school districts can do to build capacity among their high schools to guide students and families toward successful college transitions. This analysis examines how district-level policies impacted the capacity of two urban high schools to establish and maintain college counseling strategies that effectively prepare students to manage the transition to college. Drawing upon concepts from institutional theory, the analysis illustrates how pressures from urban policy environments can threaten the viability of a college counseling strategy that has strong positive implications for urban high school students.
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