Developing a College-Going Culture in a Middle School

1. Developing a College-Going Culture in a Middle School Su Jin Gatlin Jez, PhD WestEd for The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation

2. Overview • Why middle school? • College-going culture in middle school • What’s going on at Hope Prep • Key components Hope Prep identified to an ideal college-going culture • Barriers to implementation

3. Postsecondary aspirations are high but attainment is low Ninety percent of eighth graders plan to complete college but only between five and 11 percent actually do so Much is known about the strongest predictors of college success

4. The role of school culture in promoting college success • College-going culture - a school culture conducive to realizing high levels of academic achievement and structured to promote key cognitive skills • College-going culture has been recognized as an important component in supporting students in achieving their postsecondary goals

5. Extending the idea of a college-going culture to middle schools • How do faculty, staff, and students describe the school’s current college-going culture? • What are the faculty and staff’s goals for the school’s college-going culture? What have they identified as key components of an ideal college-going culture? • What are the barriers to implementation, as perceived and cited by faculty, staff, students, and parents?

6. About Hope Early College Preparatory Academy (Hope Prep) Early college, charter school serving grades six through 12 60 students in each of its middle school grades Located in a neighborhood ridden with drug-related gang crime in a large California city 91% Latino, 7% black More than a quarter of the students are English Learners, 80% receive free/reduced price meals, 97% participate in compensatory education 85% of teachers in first or second year of teaching careers; 22% of teachers are interns; 15% have emergency credentials

7. Data • Faculty and staff interviews • All 13 middle school teachers, four administrators, and five staff members who work closely with students and their families • Student survey • Sample of students surveyed (n=79) • Student focus groups • Eight focus groups: stratified by grade level and gender • Parent survey (n=54) • Materials distributed by school (e.g. newsletter sent by principal to parents)

8. Topics covered in interviews, surveys, focus groups McDonough’s nine components of a college-going culture: College talk Clear expectations Information and resources Comprehensive counseling model Testing and curriculum Faculty involvement Family involvement

9. Building a college-going culture: what Hope Prep is currently doing Attitudes and expectations: it’s not if; it’s when The look Informational displays Terms to know Information on specific colleges Banners celebrating school’s college successes College banners and themes Saturday seminars for students and parents that build college knowledge

10. Building a college-going culture: cited as key but not yet implemented Curriculum Activities Counseling Connecting family

11. Building a college-going culture: barriers perceived Capacity issues Time Professional knowledge Leadership priorities Student motivation

12. Conclusion and future research • Concept is straightforward but implementation and practice are tricky • Future research: does building teacher capacity to promote college-going culture lead to effective school practices

13. Thank you! Su Jin Gatlin Jez sjez@wested.org (415) 615-3119