Mentoring Underrepresented Undergraduates in a Language and Literacy Research Apprenticeship Program: Strategies for Success

• In Event: Increasing Diversity in Higher Education: A Look at the Pathways to the Educational Sciences Program

Abstract

Language and literacy are at the heart of every subject in school. Students must
be able to understand and participate in classroom conversations as well as read and write
about a wide range of subjects. Yet, roughly two thirds of American primary and
secondary school students are unable to read and write at grade level. A disproportionate
number of those identified as “not performing at grade level” are students from low income, minority, English learning backgrounds, or are students with language and literacy related learning disabilities.
Moreover, addressing cultural and linguistic diversity remains a significant challenge for literacy and language scholars. Gutiérrez and Rogoff (2003) challenge researchers to move beyond static, individualistic orientations of culture that stigmatize racially and linguistically diverse students towards community-oriented perspectives that highlight the strengths of these youths’ traditional and nontraditional literacy and language practices. Others (Hawkins, 2004; Paris & Winn, 2013; Willis, 2009) call for high-quality language and literacy research that effects instructional change in schools and improves classroom learning for students of color.
This paper captures the mission and vision of the University of Maryland College Park (UMCP)’s and Bowie State University (BSU)’s Pathways Training Program–Project RISE (Research Institute for Scholars in Education)–and its effort to prepare undergraduate students from traditionally underrepresented groups with a broad range of subject matter knowledge and
methodological skills for generating rigorous, relevant research addressing the language and literacy needs of academically, culturally, and linguistically diverse populations. To accomplish this, fellows participate in two, semester long paid research experiences with 12 research faculty from UMCP (one per recruit) who serve as research mentors and support their learning. In the first semester, fellows work with their research mentor to develop basic research skills such as refining research questions and collecting and coding data for analysis. In the second semester, fellows work with their research mentor on project analysis and with their academic mentor on dissemination of the work they have been conducting over the course of their year. By the end of the program, fellows acquire the tools they need to be able to submit a high-quality language and literacy article for publication, with their research mentor, or make a presentation at a local, state, or national conference, culminating with a formal presentation of their research project.
Open-ended survey data related to the research skills of the first cohort of Project RISE fellows was collected for this mixed-method study which reveals the advantages of our apprenticeship model and the capability of fellows to develop high-quality research skills (e.g., compose qualitative and quantitative research questions, create and store test score data summary spreadsheets, collect and code quantitative data) and develop greater self-confidence as language and literacy researchers. The results suggest possibilities for apprenticeship-based programs, such as Project RISE, to develop a pipeline of talented language and literacy researchers from traditionally underrepresented groups who bring high-quality ideas, approaches, and perspectives to addressing the issues and challenges faced by the nation’s diverse students and schools.
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Authors

• Shenika Hankerson, University of Maryland - College Park

• Susan De La Paz, University of Maryland

• William Drakeford, Bowie State University