From High School to College: Enacting Community Cultural Wealth to Challenging the School-Prison Nexus

• In Event: Debunking the Grit Narrative and Drawing on the Strengths of Black and Latinx College Students

Abstract

Objectives
Recent research documents that students who graduate from policed under-resourced high schools believe that college preparation in high school will hinder college transition (Madrigal-Garcia & Acevedo-Gil, 2015). This study is rooted in the notion that K-12 schools with higher percentages of Students of Color provide limited college preparation (Anyon, 2014; Oakes, 2006) and entail criminalizing schooling contexts (Kasprisin, 2013; Rios & Galicia, 2013). Stovall (2016) contends that “The relationship between schools and jails represent a school to prison nexus, marking a space where both institutions operate as one in the same under the same set of rules.” (p. 2). This study addresses a dearth in the literature by examining transitions and persistence in four-year colleges for Students of Color who were previously socialized in a school—prison nexus.   

Theoretical Framework
This study examined how college Students of Color move beyond “perseverance and passion” (Duckworth, Peterson, Matthews, & Kelly, 2007, p. 1087) to activating community cultural wealth (Yosso, 2005) when resisting a school-prison nexus (Stovall, 2016). Previous studies find that Students of Color activate various capitals within community cultural wealth to access college (Flores-González, 1999; Flores-González, 2002; Liou, Antrop-González, and Cooper 2009; Yosso 2005). Therefore, this presentation examines how students go beyond grit to use community cultural wealth to challenge the school—prison nexus by enrolling in college.

Methods
Methods included photovoice semi-structured interviews and each student was interviewed twice. Photovoice (Wang & Burris, 1994) is a method where participants take photos and share stories about the photos during an interview. Photovoice interviews allow participants from marginalized communities to address concerns and strengths but move beyond reflection toward action to affect change (Wang & Burris, 1994).


Data sources
The study included interviews with 40 low-income first-generation Students of Color who graduated from a high school-prison nexus, began as freshmen at four-year institutions, were enrolled full-time, and were in their second or third-year of college. Data was analyzed using inductive and deductive coding with process and causation coding (Saldaña, 2015).

Results
Findings highlight that in addition to aspirational capital, Students of Color enacted familial, social, and resistance capital. Students noted the use of familial capital to transition academically and persist in college, especially in terms of allocating space and time in the home to study. Student participants enacted social capital by connecting with students who came from similar schools and backgrounds to successfully foster a sense of belonging (Hurtado & Carter, 1997). Finally, upon transitioning to college, it became clear to student participants that the high school did not prepare them for college, which facilitated the activation of resistance capital.

Scholarly Significance
Nevertheless, recent research documents that students who graduate from policed under-resourced high schools believe that college preparation in high school will hinder college transitions (Madrigal-Garcia & Acevedo-Gil, 2015). This qualitative study goes beyond representing high school experiences with GPA (Mattern, Shaw, & Kobrin, 2010) and aims to highlight that community cultural wealth fosters successful transitions for Students of Color who graduate from a high school-prison nexus.

Author

• Nancy Acevedo-Gil, California State University - San Bernardino