This study examined acculturation among Latino bilingual education teacher candidates to identify psychosocial distinctions among 3 identified groups: 1st-generation college students, 2nd-generation paraprofessionals, and immigrant "normalistas" (normal school foreign-trained teachers). Using acculturation scales, we observed overall group and…

The overarching goal for this project was to examine the potential for increasing IDA use for educational purposes and to explore higher education's involvement with IDAs, as well as the potential for greater participation. The three main objectives for the project were to: (1) describe and understand current education IDA initiatives,…

All college students face new challenges and transitions, but for first-generation adult community college students, those challenges are more pervasive than those of their second-generation peers. The problem addressed is that first-generation adult community college students are at greater risk than their second-generation peers of dropping out…

The college choice requires the adolescent to gather and synthesize vast amounts of information, reconcile sometimes competing personal and familial goals, and manage a range of emotions. This decision process represents a major developmental crisis with which the adolescent must cope. Scholars have noted that psychological strain and heightened…

Mountain Empire Community College (MECC)'s service region covers the extreme southwestern corner of Virginia and includes four counties and one city: Dickenson, Lee, Scott, and Wise Counties, and the city of Norton. With a service region population of 93,000 residents, MECC currently serves over 5,000 students annually (Mountain Empire Community…

With so much interest around the use of new media, many people concerned with improving college access are striving to master this emerging set of resources in order to better reach students, who without encouragement, are unlikely to pursue higher education. But, how much do individuals understand about the way low-income, first-generation, and…

Documenting that there are 62 U.S. colleges and universities where the six-year graduation rates for Black undergraduate students have recently outpaced those of their White peers, the report by the Washington, D.C.-based Education Sector, an independent education policy think tank, has pointed out that schools where underrepresented minorities…

A gap exists between the degree to which African Americans embrace the cultural value of higher education attainment (Butchart, 1988; Du Bois, 1935; Mickelson & Greene, 2006; Washington, 1900; Woodson, 1919) and the reality of their unsatisfactory undergraduate degree attainment at traditional white institutions (TWIs) (Allen, 1992; Allen,…

According to the national results of the English diagnostic test (2004) applied to Chilean 8th and 12th graders, the current English teaching methodology used in this country is not efficient nor effective. Consequently, a different methodology is urgently needed, particularly in a context where students primarily come from rural areas and will be…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to find predictors of student success. Using a predictive correlational design, the intent of the study was to find the relationships between the dichotomous dependent variable with the categories, degree recipients and non-degree recipients, and the independent variables, student characteristics and risk…

A growing body of research confirms that parents have a profound impact on their children's educational attainment, particularly in the secondary grades. Yet many Latino parents, particularly those of first-generation college students, lack information and knowledge about what their children need to prepare for college and are less likely to help…

This report summarizes three separate evaluative research projects, which address different but related aspects of Indiana's Twenty-first Century Scholars program, a state-supported effort to promote pre-college preparation and postsecondary access for low-income students. Considered collectively, the studies support the following assertions: (1)…

This brief considers the policy implications of the college experiences of African American women at a predominantly White, research institution. The findings of this ethnographic study indicate that first-generation Black women grappled with academic and financial barriers to both their initial and continued transitions through college. Their…

This article provides an overview of objective and subjective class differences in experiences of postsecondary education. Using the metaphor of a funnel, it argues that cumulative disadvantage results when first-generation and low-income college students are disproportionately filtered out at each stage of the postsecondary education process.…

Research in the area of student engagement has shown that the more engaged minority students are with faculty and staff, with other students, and with the subject matter they study, the more likely they are to learn and persist toward achieving their academic goals. Secondary data from the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE)…