Bridging Worlds of Research, Practice, and Policy: An Emerging Hispanic-Serving Institution Partners With P-20 Alliances

• In Event: Bridging Multiple Worlds: Innovative Cultural Partnerships Among Students, Families, Schools, Communities, and Universities From Preschool Through College

Abstract

Scholars and educators have begun to monitor ethnically diverse college students’ dilemmas of alienation and belonging across their campus worlds, including classes, extra-curricular activities, cultural centers, and ethnic student organizations (Kuh et al., 2006; Patton, 2011).

Objectives
This paper describes how addressing these questions, with innovative bridging of research, practice, and policy from the perspectives of students, staff, and institution-level analyses, is helping one university transform into a Hispanic-Serving Institution.

Theoretical Perspectives
We drew on Bridging Multiple Worlds Theory (Cooper, 2011), focusing on alliances bridging from preschool through college (P-20) that support students’ identity pathways to and through college without losing ties to their cultural communities; and theories of alienation/ belonging and educational resiliency (Cabrera & Padilla, 2004) tracing students’ challenges and resources integrating academic and racial-ethnic identities.

Research Methods
This three-part, mixed-methods study was conducted at a California public research university that is an Emerging Hispanic-Serving Institution.

Data sources. First, a student research team conducted three focus groups with 12 Latino/a second-year students in biology, economics, and psychology to learn about their educational and career goals and their challenges and resources navigating pathways to a sense of belonging to campus and cultural communities; entering their majors; and graduation. Second, researchers worked with directors of 11 university retention services programs to develop integrated logic models (Coffman, 1999) to link their missions, students’ participation in program activities, sense of belonging, and retention and graduation. Third, we linked these studies with analyses of institutional data to examine campus-wide participation in retention services, students’ sense of belonging, and their retention and graduation.

Results and Implications
Educational resilience. Most reported doubting their abilities in mathematics, and many had failed their first math class while under-utilizing class and campus resources. But those who took action from early difficulties entered their majors and drew resources in and beyond their ethnic groups, showing educational resilience.

Synergy among cultural and academic programs. To build synergy among campus resources in academic advising, mathematics, writing, and cultural communities, 11 student retention programs aligned their logic models. For example, centers serving African American and Latino students aligned logic models of their services with student learning outcomes. Mapping who did and did not participate and roles of student interns as cultural brokers helps programs strengthen and synergize ongoing work.

Institutional analyses: Belonging and Migration. Institutional analyses of the entire student body revealed lower overall belongingness was associated with higher attrition during students’ first two years and students’ “migration” from mathematics-intensive STEM majors to those with more flexible prerequisites in the social sciences.

These findings point to needs for “developmental advising” to socialize educational resilience, especially in STEM fields; reaching out to students, as few initiated advising on their own; mentoring to foster their sense of belonging, academic self-efficacy, and career plans that integrate ethnic, social class, and gender identities while navigating multiple worlds (Azmitia & Sumabat, 2013). Regional P-20 alliances are aligning mathematics teaching across K-12, community colleges, and universities and strengthening professional development with longitudinal data.

Authors

• Catherine R. Cooper, University of California - Santa Cruz

• Mitzi Bandera, University of California - Santa Cruz

• Carmen Macias, University of California - Santa Cruz