Multilingual Learners Access and Support in Career and Technical Education: The Role of School Counselors

• In Event: Equitable Access and Promising Practices: Supporting Multilingual Learners Beyond the “Core”

Abstract

Federal policy has, for decades, guaranteed equal access to educational opportunity for multilingual learners in U.S. schools, including in areas outside the “core” such as career and technical education (CTE; U.S. Department of Justice & U.S. Department of Education, 2015). Yet, data indicate that MLs may experience difficulty accessing CTE (RMC Research Corporation, 2021) and are underrepresented in CTE programs in many states (Author, 2022a; Sugarman, 2023). However, little research has examined the mechanisms underlying disparities in MLs’ CTE enrollment on a local level (Sugarman, 2023). Thus, this study is focused on the central role that school counselors play in ensuring MLs’ access to CTE programs.

Data are from a multi-sited critical ethnography (Fitzpatrick & May, 2023; Marcus, 1999) at two schools in Rhodes County (pseudonym): Rhodes County Technical Center (RCTC), a regional career and technical school, and West Boulevard High School (WBHS), a large urban public high school. Data consisted of 152 pages of fieldnotes, 55 interviews with 46 participants (13 counselors, nine teachers, nine administrators, 12 MLs, and two families and de-identified quantitative data from 1319 applications for CTE programs at RCTC. Analysis included describe and in vivo coding, analytic memos, and QuantCrit (Saldaña, 2015; Castillo & Gillborn, 2022). In order to concentrate in a CTE program, high school students in Rhodes county must apply to RCTC, which offers 40+ half-day CTE programs. The application process begins with counselors from WBHS, who assist students with and approve applications, and concludes with counselors at RCTC, who evaluate applications on a rubric and place students.

Drawing on critical race theory’s critiques of meritocracy (Mitchell, 2013) and interest convergence/divergence theory (Bell, 1980; Guinier, 2004), I found that RCTCs’ enrollment policies, which were English-only and justified through discourses of meritocracy, systematically disadvantaged MLs, demonstrating RCTCs’ lack of interest in ensuring equal opportunities. In an effort to counterbalance these inequitable practices, some counselors created support for MLs to complete the RCTC application, while others advised MLs to choose other options. Unfortunately, a lack of understanding of the barriers that affect MLs’ opportunities in high school undermined the effectiveness of counselors’ interventions. On a structural level, counselors did not have the support or resources necessary to properly support MLs through course selection; they lacked access to translated materials and interpreters, had minimal professional development on MLs, had heavy case-loades, and were frequently assigned quasi-administrative duties that took time away from supporting students. Quantitative data from RCTC showed that, despite counselors’ efforts, MLs scored significantly lower on the application rubric than English proficient applicants (𝑤 = 12739, p = .002, d = .260) and that rubric scores significantly predicted placement in a first choice CTE program (𝒳2[13, N = 1319] = 393, p < .001, OR = 1.110, 95%CI [1.093, 1.126]).

While support for MLs has focused on teacher development, these results show a critical need for targeted professional development for school counselors and administrators in order to ensure MLs have equitable access to CTE programs, and other programs outside of the core.

Author

• Mark R Emerick, Vassar College