Beyond the Student: How Culture and Context Shape Students' College Readiness in a Low-Performing Urban High School

• In Event: 52.050 - The Challenge of College and Career Readiness: Definitions, Policies, and Implications for Underrepresented Students

Abstract

College readiness (CR), or the preparation required to avoid remedial coursework and persist to graduation, is typically defined as the cognitive and non-cognitive competencies that individuals possess (Conley, 2012). However, scholars have suggested that enhancing college-going among underserved populations requires situating conceptions of readiness in sociocultural context (Carter, Locks, & Winkle-Wagner, 2013; Castro, 2013). For example, mainstream CR frameworks omit culturally-specific skillsets that non-dominant students may need to persist (Welton & Martinez, 2013). College-ready competencies also develop vis-à-vis students’ schooling contexts, requiring attention to not only individuals’ skills or knowledge but also their opportunities to learn (Arnold, Lu, & Armstrong, 2012).

This study seeks to understand CR in relation to the cultural experiences and schooling contexts of urban youth. To that end, I examine how first generation low-income students of color develop college-going identities in an urban high school. I use the term college-going identity to refer broadly to students’ skills, knowledge, aspirations, and self-perceptions that position them for postsecondary transition. I draw on ethnographic methods and a sample of 30 college-bound seniors attending one low-performing urban high school. Data derive from interviews, focus groups, observations, field notes, and document analysis conducted over a five-month period. Informed by Bourdieu’s (1986) theory of cultural capital and Yosso’s (2005) theory of community cultural wealth, findings offer insight into the cultural and structural dynamics that shape students’ orientation toward college. Implications for college readiness development among non-dominant urban youth are discussed.

This study contributes to the literature in several ways. First, low-income students of color who graduate from urban high schools face particular challenges persisting in higher education (Lichtenberger & Dietrich, 2012). Improving CR interventions requires refining conceptions of readiness to address the unique challenges this population faces. Second, examining the ideas students develop about college while still in high school is useful to support improved CR research and practice (Rosenbaum, 2001). Third, students are directly affected by schooling processes and can offer valuable insider knowledge, yet their voices are often absent from the literature (Mitra & Gross, 2009).

Author

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