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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.
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