Nicole Holland, Raquel Farmer-Hinton, and Melissa Roderick. Paving Postsecondary Pathways in Small, Urban High Schools: Developing the School, College, and Career Connections for Young Women of Color. 

The proposed investigation seeks to enhance the college and career preparatory efforts of one small, urban school that predominately serves young women of color, many of whom are from low socioeconomic backgrounds and who may be the first in their families to pursue a college education. The question guiding this study is, “To what extent can frequent and focused college planning interventions (from an outside source) influence the high school experiences and college knowledge of students attending a small, urban high school with an emerging postsecondary planning mission?” The intervention will be different from what the school currently offers in that it will focus on developing students’ college knowledge early in their high school careers (and continue throughout), while requiring students to share that information with their families and apply that information to concrete college preparatory activities. The intervention will also make explicit connections to academic preparation, college planning, and career aspirations. This mixed method investigation will include observations, interviews, and focus groups from students and their families, alumnae, and school personnel; as well as, survey data from students and alumnae; as well as school level data from the partner school, and longitudinal senior survey data from the Consortium on Chicago School Research. The findings from this study will inform students and their families, school personnel, researchers, and policy makers of the types of college knowledge and school-based resources that students from traditionally underrepresented college-going populations require in order to help close the college preparatory, enrollment, and graduation gaps.

Nicole Holland
Northeastern Illinois University, Department of Education Inquiry and Curriculum Studies

Raquel Farmer-Hinton
University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Department of Educational Policy and Community Studies

Melissa Roderick
University of Chicago, School of Social Service Administration