Helping Students Prepare for Careers and College: Schools' Use of Family Engagement Practices

• In Event: 68.044 - Family Engagement During Transitions to Secondary and Postsecondary Educational Settings

Abstract

Currently, schools’ efforts to prepare students for careers and college tend to exclude families, ignoring the reality that students’ orientation to schooling and their own future are informed by their families and communities. This study explores the practices of schools using a more ecological approach to career and college preparation (CCP) with students, describing school implementation and perceptions about the effectiveness of various family and community engagement practices to CCP. Analyses showed there was diversity in schools’ family and community engagement practices focused on career and college readiness, as well as in the perceived effectiveness of these practices. Also, the data suggest that this may be a more salient topic for families of older students.

Authors

• Steven B. Sheldon, Johns Hopkins University

• R. Tyler Ames, Johns Hopkins University – Baltimore

• Joyce L. Epstein, Johns Hopkins University