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

230. Unstack the Odds--Success, Part 4

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

by

Joe Rottenborn

Executive Director, Mahoning Valley College Access Program (MVCAP)

14. Success, Part 4

Another proposal to help students be successful in college focuses on “success indicators” or “intermediate measures of success” (e.g., “basic skills acquisition and the completion of a specific number of credits or particular gateway courses”) as opposed to “milestones that must be attained in order to get to completion.” (Jeremy Offenstein and Nancy Shulock, Taking the Next Step: The Promise of Intermediate Methods for Meeting Postsecondary Completion Goals, Institute for Higher Education Leadership & Policy, September 2010, p. ii.) http://www.jff.org/sites/default/files/ATD_TakingtheNextStep_092810.pdf

According to Jeremy Offenstein and Nancy Shulock, researchers at California State University, “academic behaviors that have been shown to correlate with success and that fall into this category of measure include completing college math within the first two years, enrolling in a summer session, and minimizing late registration and course withdrawals.” (Ibid., p. 5.)

An additional focus is the time students require to finish college. Sarah Turner, professor of economics and education at UVA, addressed a conference on this issue in October 2010. According to Turner, "from the 1970s to the 1990s, the proportion of students who completed a bachelor's degree in four years shrank by 13 percentage points. . . . These days earning a bachelor's degree takes at least five years, Ms. Turner said. The decline, however, was found mostly at public four-year universities that are not flagship institutions, she said. In fact, at highly selective private institutions, the number of students completing their degrees in four years increased by 8 percent between 1972 and 1992." ‘This is very much a story of stratification,’ Ms. Turner said.” One reason for the longer time to complete degrees, Turner suggested, is “students today often find it hard to finance their educations and have to work during college. Work is crowding students' time to take courses.” (Jennifer Gonzalez, “Helping Students Complete Degrees On Time,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, October 6, 2010.) http://chronicle.com/article/How-to-Help-Students-Complete/124839/

Stan Jones, president of the nonprofit organization Complete College America, speaking at the same conference, noted that “. . . institutions were not designed for working students, a group he called the ‘emerging new majority.’ Working students tend not to have strong high-school backgrounds and usually attend college part time rather than full time, he said. ‘Yet we put them into the same system as other students and are disappointed that we don't get good results.’ Mr. Jones advocates scheduling classes in a convenient block of time to make it easier for students with work and family commitments to attend and help them graduate faster.” (Ibid.)

Enhancing success in community colleges has also been addressed, since they enroll “over 40 percent of all degree-seeking, postsecondary education students.” Unfortunately, according to a 2004 federal report, “approximately 60 percent of those students are referred to at least one remedial or developmental education course—and less than a quarter of those ultimately receive a degree or certificate.” (J. Wirt, et al., The Condition of Education of Education 2004, U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics in College Completion Tool Kit, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education, March 2011, p. 8.) http://www.ed.gov/sites/default/files/cc-toolkit.pdf

Blogger Lynn O’Shaughnessy offered tips to help students succeed in community colleges. Her suggestions included checking out schools in the Community College Survey of Student Engagement, paying attention to transferring credits, asking about articulation agreements with four-year institutions to facilitate transfer, seeking tutoring when necessary, considering on-campus housing (if available), and looking into “honors colleges;” as she stated: “A community college with an honors component can be a great alternative for smart students who are strapped for money . . . .” (Lynn O’Shaughnessy, "7 Ways to Succeed in Community College," CBS MoneyWatch, October 5, 2010.) http://moneywatch.bnet.com/saving-money/blog/college-solution/7-ways-to-succeed-in-community-college/3225/

Unfortunately, efforts to help community college students—particularly, those who are at-risk--to succeed have not always produced significant results on a national level. An independent evaluation of the initiative “Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count,” begun in 2004 by the Lumina Foundation for Education, concluded the following: “Trends in student outcomes remained relatively unchanged, with a few exceptions. [emphasis in original] On average, after Achieving the Dream was introduced, colleges saw modest improvements in the percentage of students completing gatekeeper college English courses and courses completed. In contrast, students’ persistence and the percentage of students completing developmental math, developmental English, developmental reading, and gatekeeper math courses remained substantially the same.” (Elizabeth Zachry Rutschow, et. al., Turning the Tide: Five Years of Achieving the Dream in Community Colleges, MDRC, February 2011, Overview.) http://www.mdrc.org/publications/578/overview.html

229. Unstack the Odds--Success, Part 3

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

by

Joe Rottenborn

Executive Director, Mahoning Valley College Access Program (MVCAP)

14. Success, Part 3

“Moreover, we find that learning in higher education is characterized by persistent and/or growing inequality. There are significant differences in critical thinking, complex reasoning, and writing skills when comparing groups of students from different family backgrounds and racial / ethnic groups. More important, not only do students enter college with unequal demonstrated abilities, but their inequalities tend to persist—or, in the case of African-American students relative to white students, increase—while they are enrolled in higher education.”--Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa, Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010, excerpt pp. 121-25. http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/028569.html

What are some recommendations to increase the chances of success in college for underrepresented students? The Latino Roadmap report suggested the following [emphasis in original]: “Increase student retention efforts for working students in good standing. The majority of Latino college students work while enrolled. Given changes in the economy, more students in good standing encounter shifts in their work schedules after they begin a semester that can decrease their retention or the quality of education they receive." (Roadmap for Ensuring America’s Future By Increasing Latino College Completion, Excelencia in Education, March 2011, p. 14.) http://www.edexcelencia.org/initiatives/EAF/Roadmap

"Require a simplified transfer pathway to colleges and universities. About half of all Latino undergraduates are enrolled in two-year institutions. Unfortunately, too few complete an associate degree or transfer to a college/university. To encourage completion of an associate degree and continuation to a bachelor degree, the confusing pathway to transfer from one institution to another should be simplified." (Ibid., p. 16.) http://www.edexcelencia.org/initiatives/EAF/Roadmap

228. Unstack the Odds--Success, Part 2

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

by

Joe Rottenborn

Executive Director, Mahoning Valley College Access Program (MVCAP)

14. Success, Part 2

A key factor in college academic success, at the micro level, appears to be how successful the student had been in high school. My study of both the college graduates and the non-degreed former MVCAP advisees from the high school Class of 2004 who were still enrolled in college during 2008 indicated as much. Indeed, for those 78 (of 568) students who had already earned their two- or four-year degree in 2008, the average [high school] GPA was 3.58; the average ACT composite score was 23.47. (In fact, for these graduates, only 5 had GPAs lower than 3.0 and but 9 had ACT composites lower than 20.) For those students who had not yet earned their two- or four year degree in 2008, but who were still enrolled in college, the average [high school] GPA was 3.08; the average ACT composite score was 20.68.

These findings suggested what might be viewed as a “common-sense” hypothesis: those high school graduates who matriculate and continue in pursuit of their degree will have been “good students” in high school; those who graduate from college in four years will have been even stronger students in high school. http://mvcap.blogspot.com/2009/11/9-results-from-class-of-2004.html

A related important factor in an individual’s academic success would seem to be that student’s ability to study and his or her study-habits. As preparation for college, however, surveys indicate that, on average, high school students do not study very much. Washington Post education writer Jay Mathews offered his findings in that regard: “I cited time diaries collected by the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research showing that 15- to 17-year-olds in 2002 and 2003 devoted about 3 ½ hours a day to TV and other leisure while their average time spent studying was 42 minutes. I pointed out that the annual UCLA Higher Education Research Institute survey of college freshmen shows about two-thirds did an hour or less of homework a night in high school.” (Jay Mathews, “Why ‘Race to Nowhere’ documentary is wrong,” The Washington Post—Class Struggle, April 3, 2011.) http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/class-struggle/post/why-race-to-nowhere-documentary-is-wrong/2011/04/03/AFBt27VC_blog.html

Furthermore, college students aren’t studying as much as they once did. Indeed, in looking at hours spent studying over time, economists Philip Babcock and Mindy Marks from the University of California Santa Barbara concluded the following: “. . . full-time students at four-year colleges in the U.S. are investing much less time in academics than they once did. Full-time college students in 1961 allocated about 40 hours per week toward class and studying, whereas full-time students in 2003 invested about 27 hours per week. Decreased academic time investment is observable in a wide range of subsamples—across all observable demographic groups and all types of four-year colleges.” (Philip Babcock and Mindy Marks, “The Falling Time Cost of College: Evidence from Half a Century of Time Use Data,” March 24, 2010, p. 19.) http://www.econ.ucsb.edu/~babcock/College_time_use_NBER.pdf

In addition, Babcock and Marks found that, with some exceptions –“ higher parental education, being female and not working are all associated with higher study times in 2003” (Ibid., p. 12)-- “. . . study times declined for students in all parental education categories. Similarly, study times declined for all race and gender categories, overall and within both sub-periods . . . . Study times fell for all choices of major, overall and within both sub-periods. Students at liberal arts colleges studied more than other students, but study times fell at all types of colleges, overall and within both sub-periods.” (Ibid., p. 15.)

“Interestingly,” the authors noted, “women used to study about the same amount as men, but study more than men in recent cohorts. Engineering students studied more than other students and the gap has widened.” (Ibid.)

If college students aren’t studying as much, what other factors might affect their chances of success? A study presented to the American College Personnel Association (ACPA) at its annual convention in March 2011 by Todd Wyatt, doctoral student at George Mason U., indicated the following: “Alongside time spent studying outside of class, alcohol consumption is the most significant predictor of a student's grade point average. It has more impact than working, watching television, online social networking — even attending class.” (Allie Greengrass, “Study: Spare time, drinking factors into school performance,” USA Today, March 30, 2011.) http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2011-03-30-spare-time-academics-drinking_N.htm

To enhance a student’s chances of success, Wyatt emphasized the importance of tutoring, stating “. . . The most important thing to take away from his research is the importance of effective tutoring.” Wyatt indicated: "Although tutoring has been proven time and time again," he said, "it's a really hard nut to crack, simply because students resist it almost like it's a sickness. They see it almost as a punishment." (Ibid.) Thus, at the risk of glibness, to improve a student’s likelihood of success at college, he or she should study more, party less, and take advantage of tutoring!

227. Unstack the Odds--Success, Part 1

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

by

Joe Rottenborn

Executive Director, Mahoning Valley College Access Program (MVCAP)

14. Success, Part 1

When it comes to “success” in college, we usually think of graduation or completion of a program (e.g., certificate). Typically, the most selective colleges—that is, those schools having the highest admission standards, taking mainly students with strong grade-point averages, class-ranks, and ACT or SAT scores—graduate the highest percentage of their students. A key statistic for college success affecting graduation is retention rate, frequently defined as the percentage of freshman who return to start their sophomore year. To see the retention rates of students admitted to colleges with varying rates of selectivity, consult the ACT report National Collegiate Retention and Persistence to Degree Rates at this link: http://www.act.org/research/policymakers/pdf/retain_2009.pdf

Insofar as why students may not succeed in college, there are a number of reasons often cited. But a recent survey by Public Agenda, underwritten by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, of over 600 young adults (ages 22 to 30) who had completed some college, belied common myths in suggesting the prime cause. According to its findings: “The number one reason students give for leaving school is the fact that they had to work and go to school at the same time and, despite their best efforts, the stress of trying to do both eventually took its toll. More than half of those who left higher ed before completing a degree or a certificate say that the ‘need to work and make money’ while attending classes is the major reason they left. Balancing work and school was an even bigger barrier than finding money for tuition. Those who dropped out are almost twice as likely to cite problems juggling work and school as their main problem as they are to blame tuition bills (54 percent to 31 percent).” (Jean Johnson, Jon Rochkind, Amber N. Ott, and Samantha DuPont, With Their Whole Lives Ahead of Them: Myths and Realities About Why So Many Students Fail to Finish College, Public Agenda, December 2009, p. 5.) http://www.publicagenda.org/files/pdf/theirwholelivesaheadofthem.pdf

Other “realities” cited were the following: “Young people who fail to finish college are often going it alone financially. They’re essentially putting themselves through school.” (Ibid., p. 9.)

“Among students who don’t graduate, the college selection process is far more limited and often seems happenstance and uninformed.” (Ibid., p. 12.) Indeed, the report found that “Those who did not complete are more likely than those who completed college to have selected their school based on convenience rather than academics.” (Ibid., p. 13.)

Tamar Lewin, reporting on this study in The New York Times, emphasized the importance of students’ financial and familial situation, saying this about the findings: “Among those who dropped out, nearly six in 10 were getting no help from their parents in paying tuition. Among those who got degrees, more than six in 10 have help from their family in paying tuition. About seven in 10 of the dropouts said they had no scholarship or loan aid; among those who got degrees, only about four in 10 went without such aid.”

Lewin further underscored the income and family backgrounds of these students, as she noted: “Among those who completed a degree, 72 percent had household incomes above $35,000. Among the dropouts, more than half had household incomes below $35,000. And while 7 in 10 of the college graduates had parents who had completed at least some college work, 4 in 10 of the dropouts had parents who had not gone beyond a high school diploma.” (Tamar Lewin, “Study Sheds Light on Students Leaving College Early,” The New York Times, December 9, 2009.) http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/09/agenda/?src=twt&twt=NYTimesCollege

226. Unstack the Odds--Information, Part 2

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

by

Joe Rottenborn

Executive Director, Mahoning Valley College Access Program (MVCAP)

13. Information, Part 2

We have data on students’ information about college from The MetLife Survey of the American Teacher: Preparing Students for College and Careers, conducted by Harris Interactive in the fall of 2010 on a national sample “. . . of middle and high school teachers, students, parents of public school students, and business executives from Fortune 1000 companies . . . .” (MetLife Survey, Overview) http://www.metlife.com/about/corporate-profile/citizenship/metlife-foundation/metlife-survey-of-the-american-teacher.html

The following results regarding when students are informed about college were noted in that survey [emphasis in original]:

“Most students are not getting the information they need to go to college in time for that information to be most effective. Eight in ten or more middle school students have not spoken with a teacher (79%) or school counselor (84%) about what classes they should take or other things they should do to be ready for college, have not seen examples of real college-level assignments and student work (81%), have not visited a college (81%) or have not had a college student visit their school to speak with them and other students about college (87%).” As the survey findings indicated, “It is not until grades 11 or 12 that a majority of students have had these experiences: spoken with a teacher (70%) or school counselor (76%) about what classes they should take or other things they should do to be ready for college, seen examples of real college-level assignments and student work (57%), visited a college (53%) or had a college student visit their school to speak with them and other students about college (52%).” (The MetLife Survey of the American Teacher: Preparing Students for College and Careers, Part 1: Clearing the Path, p. 21.) http://www.metlife.com/assets/cao/contributions/foundation/american-teacher/MetLife_Teacher_Survey_2010.pdf

Survey items addressed students who are the first in their family to seek college access. As results indicated: “There is some indication that schools are sensitive to the needs of “first-generation college goers” – students whose parents have not graduated college themselves. Students whose parents have no more than a high school education are more likely than those who have a parent who is a college graduate to have visited a college (41% vs. 34%) or to have had a college student visit their school (36% vs. 30%).” (Ibid.)

Regarding students’ expectations for college, the survey results were revealing: “Most students believe they understand what they need to do to succeed in college. Nine in ten students (88%) agree that they understand what they need to do to succeed in college, including 44% who strongly agree. Six in ten students rate their school as excellent (19%) or good (42%) at providing information to them about what it means to be ready for college and a career. A similar number rate their school as excellent (18%) or good (41%) in providing information to them about what the requirements are to succeed in college.” (Ibid., p. 21)

When it comes to specific information, and when students received it, results were less positive—particularly, for middle-school students. According to survey results: “Many students and parents need more information about the requirements to get into, pay for and succeed in college, particularly during middle school. One-third of high school students (35%) rate their school as fair or poor on providing information on the requirements to succeed in college, compared to 52% of middle school students. Students who say they will go to college are less likely than others to rate their school low in this area (37% vs. 59% of those who do not plan on going beyond high school), and students who have considered dropping out of school are more likely than others to rate their school low (70% vs. 37%).” (Ibid., p. 21.) http://www.metlife.com/assets/cao/contributions/foundation/american-teacher/MetLife_Teacher_Survey_2010.pdf

As for their sources of information, some illuminating results were also found. According to the responses: “For most groups of students, teachers are one of their top two sources of information on what success in college requires. The top sources of information on college success for middle school students are parents (83%), teachers (76%) and school counselors (48%). At the high school level, the same proportion of students relies on teachers (76%), fewer rely on parents (66%) and more rely on school counselors (65%). High school students also make broader use of other sources including college websites (56% vs. 31% of middle school students), friends (40% vs. 33% of middle school students) and current college students (38% vs. 26% of middle school students). School counselors are more likely to be a source of information for high school students whose parents do not have any college education, compared to those with a parent who is a college graduate (72% vs. 59%). High school students whose parents have no college education are less likely than those who have college-educated parents to use their parents as a resource (49% vs. 81%). Student reliance on teachers is similar regardless of their parents’ level of education. (Ibid., p. 24.) http://www.metlife.com/assets/cao/contributions/foundation/american-teacher/MetLife_Teacher_Survey_2010.pdf

225. Unstack the Odds--Information, Part 1

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

by

Joe Rottenborn

Executive Director, Mahoning Valley College Access Program (MVCAP)

13. Information, Part 1

Regarding information about college, the Roadmap for Latinos recommended the following: “Inform parents and family members about the pathway to college and provide support to students to attain a degree. [emphasis in original] Almost half of Latino students are the first in their family to attend college and over one-third live off-campus and at home with their parents. Therefore, information about how to prepare and pay for college should be provided early and often to students. Given almost half of Latino college students are the first in their family to go to college, the awareness of the education system and process for accessing college may be limited. Effective programs by community-based organizations and others to inform parents and families early and often in the education process increases preparation, access, and choice in postsecondary education.” (Roadmap for Ensuring America’s Future By Increasing Latino College Completion, Excelencia in Education, March 2011, p. 12.) http://www.edexcelencia.org/initiatives/EAF/Roadmap

The Latino Roadmap also proposed the following regarding information: “Establish or expand community partnerships to compliment institutional efforts to increase students’ access to and success in postsecondary education. [emphasis in original] Community partnerships play a role in student retention, completion and success. Community organizations can provide services such as childcare, transportation assistance, special tutoring schools cannot afford to provide. They can help students who face high barriers to completion.” (Ibid., p. 13.) http://www.edexcelencia.org/initiatives/EAF/Roadmap