ERIC Number: EJ1051387
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015
Pages: 24
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0018-1498
EISSN: N/A
Accountability Strain, College Readiness Drain: Sociopolitical Tensions Involved in Maintaining a College-Going Culture in a High "Minority", High Poverty, Texas High School
Welton, Anjale; Williams, Montrischa
High School Journal, v98 n2 p181-204 Win 2015
Currently school reform discourse encourages states to adopt college readiness standards. Meanwhile, federal and state accountability and related mandated reforms remain a policy concern. As such, it is important to examine the interplay between accountability and the establishment of a college-going culture in high "minority", high poverty high schools. This qualitative case study integrated critical ethnographic approaches to examine how a high "minority", high poverty enrollment high school negotiated the politics of implementing a college-going culture in the midst of responding to state accountability sanctions. In-depth interviews with faculty and students as well as observations revealed that the state accountability sanctions were not the only stressors that conflicted with the establishment of a college-going culture. Multiple sociopolitical factors precipitated a negative academic climate as well. For instance, pressures to improve the high school's poor accountability rating led to a school-wide instructional focus on the state exit exam, which interfered with the school's college-going culture. Finally, while the school offered programs and supports that provided college information, this information was not disseminated in a systematic way that would reach all students.
Descriptors: Accountability, College Readiness, College Bound Students, High School Students, Minority Group Students, Poverty Areas, Educational Change, Educational Policy, Sanctions, Qualitative Research, Case Studies, Ethnography, Politics of Education, Stress Variables, Barriers, Exit Examinations, Information Dissemination, Educational Legislation, Federal Legislation, Academic Failure, Demography, Teacher Persistence, Labor Turnover, Disadvantaged Environment, Educational Environment, Advanced Placement Programs, Academic Achievement, Semi Structured Interviews
University of North Carolina Press. 116 South Boundary Street, P.O. Box 2288, Chapel Hill, NC 27515-2288. Tel: 800-848-6224; Tel: 919-966-7449; Fax: 919-962-2704; e-mail: uncpress@unc.edu; Web site: http://uncpress.unc.edu/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Secondary Education; High Schools
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Texas
Identifiers - Laws, Policies, & Programs: No Child Left Behind Act 2001
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A