"A Ditcher and a Scholar": How Tracking Shapes College-Going Identity Development Among Urban Youth

• In Event: Roundtable Session 6
  In Roundtable Session: Access, Aspirations, and Capital: How Tracking Shapes Trajectories

Abstract

Research and policy designed to increase postsecondary attainment often focus on students’ skills and behaviors. However, social, cultural, and institutional factors intersect in complex ways to disrupt the college-going trajectories of students from non-dominant backgrounds. The opportunities afforded to students of color in the K-12 system influence their identification with formal schooling and, in turn, their motivation and behavior. Drawing on ethnographic methods and figured worlds theory, this study investigates how the urban high school context generally and tracking specifically influence college-going for non-dominant youth through the lens of student identity. Implications for the college preparation of first generation low-income students of color are discussed.

Author

• Julia Cassman Duncheon, The University of Texas - El Paso