238. Unstack the Odds--Access Programs, Part 3

Unstack the Odds: Help All Kids Access College—and Graduate!
by

Joe Rottenborn

Executive Director, Mahoning Valley College Access Program (MVCAP)

16. Access Programs, Part 3

Accessing college and succeeding there can be a family affair. Indeed, there seems to be an association between family involvement and students’ matriculation—and graduation. Hence, it is understandable that the fourth criterion of college access programs reviewed by Jennifer Lee Schultz and Dan Mueller is Involve and encourage parents/family. [emphasis in original] As those authors indicated, “Students with parents who are knowledgeable about college are more likely to attend college. Effective outreach programs address this predictor by involving parents and other family members, providing college information to parents, and teaching parents how to support their children’s education (Perna, 2002; Corwin et al., 2005; Swail & Perna, 2002).” (Jennifer Lee Schultz and Dan Mueller, Effectiveness of programs to improve postsecondary education enrollment and success of underrepresented youth: A literature review, NorthStar Education Finance, November 2006. p. 10.) http://www.mncollegeaccess.org/sites/b862decd-72ee-44b5-80f8-4f0ac42e8716/uploads/NorthstarLitReviewWithoutRICFSum_11-06.pdf

In their study of culture and outreach initiatives, Octavio Villalpando and Daniel G. Solorzano noted that “For students of color, parent involvement in a college preparation program represents an important way of maintaining a connection with their culture.” Furthermore, they stated: “As Gandara (1995) noted in her longitudinal study of educational mobility among Chicanos, the families and parents of students of color symbolize a powerful cultural representation that often enables students to shape their attitudes and aspirations around a sense of responsibility and commitment to their community.” (Octavio Villalpando and Daniel G. Solorzano, “The Role of Culture in College Preparation Programs: A Review of the Research Literature,” in William G. Tierney, Zoe B. Corwin, and Julia E. Colyar, editors, Preparing for College: Nine Elements of Effective Outreach, Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2005, p. 20.) http://www.sunypress.edu/pdf/61028.pdf

Laura J. Horn, Xianglei Chen, and Clifford Adelman used logistic regressions to quantify the importance of parental involvement, stating that “Students whose parents frequently discussed school-related matters with them had more than double the odds of enrolling in a 4-year college (odds ratio=2.17) than students whose parents had little to no discussion with them. Parent discussions—even some discussion—also had a strong effect on increasing the odds of a student attending any postsecondary education (odds ratios 1.57 and 2.45, respectively, for some and much discussion).” (Laura J. Horn, Xianglei Chen, and Clifford Adelman, Toward Resiliency: At-Risk Students Who Make It to College, Office of Educational Research and Improvement, p. 16.) http://www.mprinc.com/products/pdf/toward_resilency.pdf

But involving parents can be challenging—particularly, when a child comes from a low-income family or otherwise underrepresented group. As Laura W. Perna and Michelle Asha Cooper commented in their study, “Nonetheless, although virtually all parents want to promote their children’s educational attainment, low-income parents often are unable to become involved in their children’s education because of economic, social, and psychological barriers (Perna 2005a).” (Laura W. Perna and Michelle Asha Cooper, “Intervening Early and Successfully in the Education Pipeline,” in Reflections on College Access & Persistence: In Honor of the 40th Anniversary of the Higher Education Act, Advisory Committee on Students Financial Assistance, September 2006, p. 47.)

Indeed, Perna and Cooper concluded that “Despite the high apparent prevalence of parental involvement components in early intervention programs, Tierney (2002; Tierney and Auerbach 2005) suggests that parents are only superficially involved, likely because programs often lack the time, funding, staffing, and other resources that are required for more substantial involvement.” In fact, they state that “. . . little is known about the most effective ways to promote parental involvement in early intervention programs (Perna and Titus 2005).” (Laura W. Perna and Michelle Asha Cooper, “Intervening Early and Successfully in the Education Pipeline,” in Reflections on College Access & Persistence: In Honor of the 40th Anniversary of the Higher Education Act, Advisory Committee on Students Financial Assistance, September 2006, p. 48.)

Nonetheless, it seems that if parents are generally supportive of a student’s learning, however, family involvement can occur through other family members—like older brothers or sisters. As Pedro Noguera, a professor of education at New York University, said, “My learning story is this: my parents were by far my most important teachers. They taught me the value of hard work, of honesty and of discipline. They taught me that it is more important to be responsible than to seek honor or recognition. They never understood the workings of college, so they never pressured us about where to apply or what to study. In fact, they could help us very little as we navigated school and undertook the complex process of applying to college (the older siblings did that for the younger ones).” (Pedro Noguera, “My Parents, My Teachers,” in Valerie Strauss, “A story on the power of parents as teachers,” The Washington Post: The Answer Sheet, April 19, 2001.) http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/a-story-on-the-power-of-parents-as-teachers/2011/04/19/AFnWzk2D_blog.html

The fifth characteristic of college access programs that Jennifer Lee Schultz and Dan Mueller reviewed was to Help students navigate the college admissions process. [emphasis in original] As the authors succinctly put it, “Research has shown that helping students complete college applications and helping students prepare for entrance exams are important predictors of enrollment (Horn & Chen, 1998).” (Jennifer Lee Schultz and Dan Mueller, Effectiveness of programs to improve postsecondary education enrollment and success of underrepresented youth: A literature review, NorthStar Education Finance, November 2006. p. 10.) http://www.mncollegeaccess.org/sites/b862decd-72ee-44b5-80f8-4f0ac42e8716/uploads/NorthstarLitReviewWithoutRICFSum_11-06.pdf

From the student’s perspective, Horn, Chen, and Adelman indicated “Similarly, getting help with college applications and preparing for entrance exams also remained important predictors of enrollment.” (Laura J. Horn, Xianglei Chen, and Clifford Adelman, Toward Resiliency: At-Risk Students Who Make It to College, Office of Educational Research and Improvement, p. 19.) http://www.mprinc.com/products/pdf/toward_resilency.pdf

In their review of literature, Perna and Cooper indicated “Research suggests that African American students and students with lower incomes are more dependent than other students on high school personnel for college-related knowledge and information (Furstenberg, Cook, Eccles, Elder, and Sameroff 1999; Lareau 1987). The 2004 National Association for College Admissions Counseling (NACAC) Counseling Trends Survey reveals that school counselors are often the primary providers of information about financial aid (Hawkins and Lautz 2005). (Laura W. Perna and Michelle Asha Cooper, “Intervening Early and Successfully in the Education Pipeline,” in Reflections on College Access & Persistence: In Honor of the 40th Anniversary of the Higher Education Act, Advisory Committee on Students Financial Assistance, September 2006, p. 46.)

I know from our 10 years of work with high school advisees in the Mahoning Valley College Access Program (MVCAP) how students can benefit from this assistance. Indeed, helping students file applications by deadlines facilitates their accessing of higher education. In addition, preparing students for the ACT (by taking its practice tests in the allotted time) exposes them to working faster—to say nothing of acquiring “test-wiseness” as they learn the ACT’s format.

232. Unstack the Odds--To Beat the Odds, Part 2

Unstack the Odds: Help All Kids Access College—and Graduate!

by

Joe Rottenborn

Executive Director, Mahoning Valley College Access Program (MVCAP)

15. To Beat the Odds, Part 2

“Academic preparation,” “Academic Resources,” and high school curriculum have all been cited as correlates of access and success in higher education for low-income and underrepresented students. But which specific subjects have been shown to be strong predictors?

Reading [emphasis added] has been emphasized as important to student success, since students who don’t read well may never get to college. Indeed, a new report by of Anthony Hernandez of Hunter College links reading inability and poverty to dropping out from high school. According to Hernandez, students who have difficulty reading and are poor face “double jeopardy.” As the author noted: “Educators and researchers have long recognized the importance of mastering reading by the end of third grade. Students who fail to reach this critical milestone often falter in the later grades and drop out before earning a high school diploma. Now, researchers have confirmed this link in the first national study to calculate high school graduation rates for children at different reading skill levels and with different poverty rates. Results of a longitudinal study of nearly 4,000 students find that those who don’t read proficiently by third grade are four times more likely to leave school without a diploma than proficient readers. For the worst readers, those couldn’t master even the basic skills by third grade, the rate is nearly six times greater. While these struggling readers account for about a third of the students, they represent more than three fifths of those who eventually drop out or fail to graduate on time. What’s more, the study shows that poverty has a powerful influence on graduation rates. The combined effect of reading poorly and living in poverty puts these children in double jeopardy.” [emphasis added] (Donald J. Hernandez, Double Jeopardy: How Third-Grade Reading Skills and Poverty Influence High School Graduation, The Annie E. Casey Foundation, April 2011, p. 3.) http://www.aecf.org/~/media/Pubs/Topics/Education/Other/DoubleJeopardyHowThirdGradeReadingSkillsandPovery/DoubleJeopardyReport040511FINAL.pdf

Clifford Adelman also recognized the necessity of reading to succeed. According to him, “It is a megawork in progress, much of which depends on students’ reading skills on entering high school. If students cannot read close to grade level, the biology textbook, the math problems, the history documents, the novel—all will be beyond them.” (Clifford Adelman, The Toolbox Revisited: Paths to Degree Completion From High School Through College, Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, 2006. p. xx.) http://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/research/pubs/toolboxrevisit/toolbox.pdf

To underscore the importance of reading in college, Adelman cited these data: “Thirty-nine percent of 4-year college students who were assigned to remedial reading courses completed bachelor’s degrees, compared with 60 percent of students who took only one or two other types of remedial courses, and 69 percent of those who were not subject to remediation at all.” (Clifford Adelman, Answers in the Tool Box: Academic Intensity, Attendance Patterns, and Bachelor’s Degree Attainment, Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, 1999, p. 5.) http://www.nacada.ksu.edu/NationalConf/2007/Handouts/S229H3.pdf

Mathematics and science have also been identified as being important for students to succeed in college. Indeed, according to the report Reclaiming the American Dream, “The level of math taken in high school correlates strongly with a student’s likelihood of completing college, for example, with ‘the tipping point of momentum towards a bachelor’s degree now firmly above Algebra 2.’ The number of units in lab science courses is a similarly good predictor.” (William Bedsworth, Susan Colby, and Joe Doctor, Reclaiming the American Dream, The Bridgespan Group, October 2006, p. 4.) http://www.nhscholars.org/Documents/ReclaimingAmericanDream.pdf

Adelman also commented on the importance of mathematics for students to succeed in postsecondary education. As this researcher stated, “Of all pre-college curricula, the highest level of mathematics one studies in secondary school has the strongest continuing influence on bachelor’s degree completion. [emphasis added] Finishing a course beyond the level of Algebra 2 (for example, trigonometry or pre-calculus) more than doubles the odds that a student who enters postsecondary education will complete a bachelor’s degree.” (Clifford Adelman, Answers in the Tool Box: Academic Intensity, Attendance Patterns, and Bachelor’s Degree Attainment, Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, 1999, p. 3.) http://www.nacada.ksu.edu/NationalConf/2007/Handouts/S229H3.pdf

231. Unstack the Odds--To Beat the Odds, Part 1

Unstack the Odds: Help All Kids Access College—and Graduate!

by

Joe Rottenborn

Executive Director, Mahoning Valley College Access Program (MVCAP)

15. To Beat the Odds, Part 1

Socioeconomic status (SES) matters when it comes to students accessing college and graduating. An analysis by researchers at Penn State University of a national cohort of students from 10th grade in 1980 through their postsecondary experience in 1993 quantified those odds. According to their findings, “Thirty-five percent of the members of the High School Sophomore Cohort of 1980 obtained at least a bachelor’s degree by 1993. When the socioeconomic background of the student is examined, our analyses suggest a stratification pattern whereby: Lowest-SES students have a 13% chance to graduate within 11 years. [emphasis added] The graduation rate for Highest-SES students is 57%.” (Alberto F. Cabrera, Kurt R. Burkum and Steven M. La Nasa, Pathways to a Four-Year Degree: Determinants of Degree Completion Among Socio-Economically Disadvantaged Students, Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, 2003, p. i.) http://www.sheeo.org/access/On%20the%20Right%20Path.pdf

Simply put, low SES students without sufficient academic preparation have reduced chances of success in college. As the authors of the report Reclaiming the American Dream stated: “Students who lack sufficient academic preparation in high school, particularly low-income students, have exceptionally little chance of attending and completing college.” [emphasis added] (William Bedsworth, Susan Colby, and Joe Doctor, Reclaiming the American Dream, The Bridgespan Group, October 2006, p. 19.) http://www.nhscholars.org/Documents/ReclaimingAmericanDream.pdf

Unfortunately, according to that report, although low-income students often expressed the intention of going to college, they often lacked the necessary academic preparation. As Reclaiming the American Dream stated: “Put simply, at least one-third of all low-income students expect to go to college but do not plan to take the coursework that will enable them to pursue that path.” [emphasis in original] (William Bedsworth, Susan Colby, and Joe Doctor, Reclaiming the American Dream, The Bridgespan Group, October 2006, p. 11.) http://www.nhscholars.org/Documents/ReclaimingAmericanDream.pdf

The Penn State researchers analyzed what they termed “Pathways to a Four-Year Degree.” In their view, “The High School Sophomore Cohort of 1980 followed nine different pathways to a 4-year degree. These paths were formed by a combination of academic resources secured in high school and the first type of postsecondary institution attended. The chance to secure a 4-year degree varies in relation to the particular pathway followed.

• The pathway most likely to lead to a 4-year degree is one defined by acquiring high academic resources in high school and entering at a 4-year institution upon high school completion. Those who followed this path had a 78% chance to graduate within 11 years.

• Most Highest-SES students followed this pathway, resulting in an 81% graduation rate.

• Most Lowest-SES student journeyed on a pathway defined by moderate academic resources and first enrollment in a 2-year institution. Only 3.3% of these students earned a 4-year degree.” [emphasis added] (Alberto F. Cabrera, Kurt R. Burkum and Steven M. La Nasa, Pathways to a Four-Year Degree: Determinants of Degree Completion Among Socio-Economically Disadvantaged Students, Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, 2003, p. i.) http://www.sheeo.org/access/On%20the%20Right%20Path.pdf

Nonetheless, in the view of Clifford Adelman--who had first analyzed that national 1980 cohort of high school sophomores until these students were age 30 in 1993--academic preparation [emphasis added] could help overcome the handicap of a student’s low socioeconomic status. In his words: “Academic Resources (the composite of high school curriculum, test scores, and class rank) produces a much steeper curve toward bachelor’s degree completion than does socioeconomic status. Students from the lowest two SES quintiles who are also in the highest Academic Resources quintile earn bachelor’s degrees at a higher rate than a majority of students from the top SES quintile.” (Clifford Adelman, Answers in the Tool Box: Academic Intensity, Attendance Patterns, and Bachelor’s Degree Attainment, Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, 1999, p. 3.) http://www.nacada.ksu.edu/NationalConf/2007/Handouts/S229H3.pdf

This senior researcher from the U.S. Department of Education also addressed the importance of academic preparation on underrepresented students. In his view, “The impact of a high school curriculum of high academic intensity and quality on degree completion is far more pronounced and positive for African-American and Latino students than any other pre-college indicator of academic resources. The impact for African-American and Latino students is also much greater than it is for white students.” (Clifford Adelman, Answers in the Tool Box: Academic Intensity, Attendance Patterns, and Bachelor’s Degree Attainment, Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, 1999, p. 3.) http://www.nacada.ksu.edu/NationalConf/2007/Handouts/S229H3.pdf

Like Adelman, the Penn State researchers found that other factors could mitigate the effects of low SES. As they concluded: “The 44% SES-based degree completion gap separating Lowest-SES students from Highest-SES students is reduced to 24% when a myriad of factors are considered simultaneously. Degree completion is affected most by SES, academic resources, degree aspirations, enrollment patterns, taking college courses in math and sciences, financial aid, and having children while attending college.” (Alberto F. Cabrera, Kurt R. Burkum and Steven M. La Nasa, Pathways to a Four-Year Degree: Determinants of Degree Completion Among Socio-Economically Disadvantaged Students, Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, 2003, p. i.) http://www.sheeo.org/access/On%20the%20Right%20Path.pdf

Therefore, despite having the odds stacked against them, some low-income students and those from underrepresented groups do matriculate and graduate from college. Several factors have been found to be most integral to their success. A 2006 study done for The Bridgespan Group suggested the most important in no uncertain terms. As its authors, echoing Adelman, stated: “Academic preparation is the most effective means of increasing the odds that students will graduate from high school ready for college, matriculate, and eventually receive their degrees. Cliff Adelman, a Department of Education researcher, has found that, ‘A rigorous high school curriculum has greater impact on bachelor’s degree completion than any other pre-college indicator of academic preparation, regardless of socioeconomic status or race.’ These results have been confirmed specifically for low-income students by A. F. Cabrera, who reports that low-income students enroll and progress in college at much higher rates when they graduate high school academically-prepared.” (William Bedsworth, Susan Colby, and Joe Doctor, Reclaiming the American Dream, The Bridgespan Group, October 2006, p. 4.) http://www.nhscholars.org/Documents/ReclaimingAmericanDream.pdf

According to Clifford Adelman, “Academic Resources” are one of two most important variables to consider; he defines this concept as “a composite measure of the academic content and performance the student brings forward from secondary school into higher education. This measure is dominated by the intensity and quality of secondary school curriculum.” [emphasis in original] (Clifford Adelman, Answers in the Tool Box: Academic Intensity, Attendance Patterns, and Bachelor’s Degree Attainment, Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, 1999, pp. 1-2.) http://www.nacada.ksu.edu/NationalConf/2007/Handouts/S229H3.pdf

Adelman quantified the importance of various components of these “Academic Resources” as follows: “High school curriculum reflects 41 percent of the academic resources students bring to higher education; test scores, 30 percent; and class rank/academic GPA, 29 percent. No matter how one divides the universe of students, the curriculum measure produces a higher percent earning bachelor’s degrees than either of the other measures. The correlation of curriculum with bachelor’s degree attainment is also higher (.54) than test scores (.48) or class rank/GPA (.44).” (Clifford Adelman, Answers in the Tool Box: Academic Intensity, Attendance Patterns, and Bachelor’s Degree Attainment, Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, 1999, p. 3.) http://www.nacada.ksu.edu/NationalConf/2007/Handouts/S229H3.pdf