Latina Students, an Early College High School, and Educational Opportunity

Abstract

This case traces the involvement of a principal of an Early College High School (ECHS) and her understanding of performance of Latina students attending the school. Latina students are the lowest academic performers in the ECHS, despite the school obtaining high accolades in terms of accountability. To best understand the phenomena of underperformance of Latina students, the principal hires a consultant. The consultant discovers aspects of the ECHS and aspects of schooling as experienced by the Latina students that contribute to underperformance. The case raises important issues for aspiring leaders, making it an excellent example of the complexities embedded in student achievement.

Radically Early College Entrants on Radically Early College Entrance: A Heuristic Inquiry

“…With the goals of quantitative research being mainly generalizability and broadness (Polit & Beck, 2010), this implies a limited focus on lived experiences as explored by qualitative research. This is corroborated by the majority of early college research focusing on academic outcomes rather than affective aspects of early college (Berger et al, 2010;Edmunds et al, 2010;Edmunds et al, 2012;Fischetti et al, 2011;Heilbronner et al, 2010;Locke et al, 2014;Oliver et al, 2010;Sayler, 2015;Schumacker et al, 1995;Sethna et al, 2001). Some work focuses on affective aspects specifically Noble et al, 1999;Shepard et al, 2009), but it is a bit more common for papers to explicitly investigate both (Dai & Steenbergen-Hu, 2015;Janos et al, 1989;Woodcock & Olson, 2013), as the two topics are inherently linked, so they tend to bleed into each other (i.e.…”

“…The majority of work on early college is quantitative (Berger et al, 2010;Edmunds et al, 2010;Edmunds et al, 2012;Fischetti et al, 2011;Haxton et al, 2016;Janos et al, 1989;Oliver et al, 2010;Schumacker et al, 1995;Sethna et al, 2001;Shepard et al, 2009), though there is some qualitative work on early college as well Locke et al, 2014;Noble et al, 1999;Woodcock & Olson, 2013). With the goals of quantitative research being mainly generalizability and broadness (Polit & Beck, 2010), this implies a limited focus on lived experiences as explored by qualitative research.…”

“…Early entrance to college is an academic feat: across studies on early college high schools and early college entrance programs, participants reported that the curriculum was challenging Edmunds et al, 2012;Woodcock & Olson, 2013) and required the use of a variety of executive functioning skills such as time management, stress/mood control, and task commitment Locke et al, 2014;Schumacker, Sayler, & Bembry, 1995). Some early college entrants described issues with transitioning from a traditional high school environment to the unique world of early college .…”

“…Family relationships for early college entrants were complex. Students at early college high schools who were first generation college students had trouble talking to their parents about college in any way, though this issue is not unique to early college Locke et al, 2014). Early college entrance program students, however, were living in a residential program away from their families and sometimes very far away from home.…”

“That’s the Point of Going”: A Qualitative Inquiry Into the Experiences of Black Males at an Early College High School

“…ECHSs offer limited extracurricular opportunities for students, and athletics is not a part of the school model. Last, Locke, Stedrak, and Eadens (2014) found a disparity between the EC expectations and students’ home lives. Although their study focused on Latina students specifically, findings revealed the EC’s advocacy for the importance of college was mismatched with the messages they received at home (Locke et al, 2014).…”