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The purpose of this paper is to discuss the role of both the school counselor and the school psychologist in preparing students in urban school settings for college and/or the workforce. Throughout this paper, the authors discuss how collaboration is critical to ensuring students are successful at every school level (e.g., elementary, middle and high) to avail themselves of various postsecondary opportunities upon graduation. The authors give recommendations for practice and future research to implement and increase knowledge around collaboration between school counselors and school psychologists in preparing students in urban school settings to be college- and career-ready.

This is a conceptual paper on school counselors and school psychologists using the Eight Components of College and Career Readiness Framework to collaborate on preparing students for postsecondary options.

With support from key stakeholders like administrators, teachers and parents, school counselors and school psychologists can work collaboratively to increase students’ college and career readiness. For example, school counselors and school psychologists may start by creating and implementing a needs assessment, as it relates to the developmental tasks of students (i.e. self-regulation, self-efficacy, self-competence) that must be negotiated to ensure college and career readiness. School counselors and school psychologists should also examine out-of-school suspension, expulsion, school arrest and disciplinary referral data (Carter et al., 2014).

Collaboration around college and career readiness is important to the academic success and future of students in urban school settings. School counselors and school psychologists complement each other in preparing students for college and the workforce because their training has prepared both for addressing academic needs, assessment, mental health issues, career development, behavioral concerns and social–emotional needs of students (American School Counselor Association, 2012; National Association of School Psychologists, 2014). Further, school counselors and school psychologists are in a pivotal position to create a college-going culture by using evidence-based activities, curricula and practices.

The purpose of this paper is to ascertain how two urban principals, in high schools that feature comprehensive college-and-career readiness practices, utilize distributed leadership to facilitate their implementation.

This study employed qualitative methods. Drawing upon semi-structured interview data, observational data gathered as part of site visits, and internal and electronic documents, case descriptions were developed of each school, focusing on principals’ activities in support of career pathways.

The principals contributed significantly to their schools’ college-and-career readiness reforms and programming. Although their approaches were distinct, six common themes were identified: facilitating processes to form a shared vision, developing relational trust, a focus on learning, successful partnerships, conducive structures, and developing leadership skills and capacity. The principals described utilizing distributed leadership approaches – including practices, structures, and tools – to support these reforms.

This study represents the initial phase of a multi-year research project investigating the implementation of college-and-career pathways in urban communities. Prior research has overlooked the important role of principals in leading and facilitating these reforms, and this study contributes to the literature because it focuses on principals’ contributions in supporting college-and-career readiness. Additionally, in both cases, substantive, regular leadership contributions were made by business representatives external to the organization.

The purpose of this paper was to highlight ways two novice secondary English teachers negotiated the politics of college and career readiness along with the literacy needs of students, in the age of accountability.

This three-year longitudinal qualitative case study focused on two participants in English teacher preparation and their first two years in the classroom.

The findings focus on participants’ definitions of college and career readiness as it pertains to their English Language Arts classrooms. Next, the focus is on two themes: tensions these novice teachers experienced as they attempted to build classrooms focused on postsecondary readiness, and the ways in which they worked to bridge the gap between their definitions of college and career readiness and the realities of their classrooms.

Connections among high stakes testing environments, postsecondary readiness and literacy teacher education are important to the field. Studying the experiences of novice teachers can fill a present gap at the intersection of these concepts.

Curriculum in teacher education should introduce standards, as well as provide a platform for negotiating and critiquing them. Three focus areas to help pre-service teachers mitigate tensions between minimum skills assessments, college readiness and literacy are personal experience, collaboration and reflective partnerships.

There has been little to no research done on the tensions between preparing all students to be college and career ready and the minimum skills based priorities that govern many school systems and its impact on novice teachers. This classroom reality is important to literacy teacher education.

Little attention is given to black male experiences and decision-making process around college-going. A qualitative study (interpretive phenomenological analysis [IPA]) was conducted using a strengths-based perspective to understand the experiences of three first-generation black men college students attending a predominately white institution. Superordinate themes include perceived benefits to attending college, barriers to college admission and attendance and influential programs and supports. Recommendations for school counselors helping black males are included.

The authors used a narrative approach to illustrate the stories and experiences captured by the three young men who participated in the study. Hays and Singh (2012) suggested using a narrative approach for telling the stories of marginalized groups. IPA (Smith, 1996) was the approach used to identify superordinate themes, because the authors wanted to better understand the participants’ K-16 experiences. As a qualitative approach, IPA provides detailed examinations of personal lived experiences on its own terms rather than pre-existing theoretical preconceptions.

The participants’ accounts clustered around three superordinate themes: perceived benefits to college, barriers to college admission and attendance and influential programs and supports.

Although there are studies that provide insight on the factors that impact first-generation, black men’s success in attending college, there are few studies that have used a strengths-based perspective to investigate key experiences that lead to college enrollment. Those experiences that lead first-generation black male to attend college are pivotal and provide insight into important points of intervention and support. School counselors and other educators can use these insights to inform practices and the creation of supports for black men in their respective schools.

This essay is for the Community Voices feature of the special issue titled “The Role of English Teaching and Teachers in Supporting Youths’ University Futures and Literacies.” This paper aims to provide various recommendations for English teachers and teacher educators who are invested in fostering the college aspirations of students.

This essay is for the Community Voices feature of the special issue titled “The Role of English Teaching and Teachers in Supporting Youths' University Futures and Literacies.” A group of six educators convene to develop recommendations for English teachers and teachers educators that can be helpful when engaging with students regarding their college aspirations.

This essay is for the Community Voices feature of the special issue titled “The Role of English Teaching and Teachers in Supporting Youths’ University Futures and Literacies.” We provide nine recommendations for English teachers and teachers educators to support students' college access and readiness.

This essay is for the Community Voices feature of the special issue titled “The Role of English Teaching and Teachers in Supporting Youths’ University Futures and Literacies.” This paper generates new insights to further develop college readiness and access within English classrooms.

The purpose of this paper is to examine data use practices within a cross-sector initiative involving high school career academies. It discerns how partners used data to assess the public value of academies and address equity concerns.

A case study methodology was applied to examine cross-sector activities supporting the district’s career academy reform. Data were collected through interviews, observations and document analysis. Datnow and Park’s (2018) conceptual framework involving key equity dimensions guided the analysis.

Partners used data for both accountability and continuous improvement. Educators were required to document student growth for state accountability purposes, while providing evidence of the public value of the academies to the community. Data use for continuous improvement included identifying annual goals to improve academy performance. There was a lack of a district-wide focus on equity, with educators taking a passive approach to academy and career pathway selections by student subgroups.

The findings provide insights into data use practices school and district leaders can implement to ensure equitable student participation in career academies and appropriate data use within cross-sector collaborations.

Students who are traditionally underrepresented in career fields, including students of color and females, need intentional efforts to encourage their participation in high-skill, high-wage career fields.

This study identifies critical issues involved with data use for equity when promoting education-centered cross-sector collaboration, while also highlighting existing tensions between data use for accountability and continuous improvement.

Heavily regulated higher education institutions may not be able to possess the autonomy to produce students who are both college and career ready. This paper aims to explore the role of the Ministry of Higher Education in Jordan in determining the content and direction of general education requirements, the historical roots of this type of intervention and its possible implications for the future of liberal arts in general education requirements.

The paper is a critical and historical reflection that combines practitioner research perspectives – the author is a university president – with reference to a single case study from a Jordanian university to demonstrate the real-life context of government intervention in general education requirements.

University education is inextricably linked with employability rather than inquiry-based disciplines that produce both intellectual development and technical skills. Jordanian universities, heavily regulated by the government, are required to allocate between 21 and 27 credit hours to general education requirements. Lost between universities that are mandated to have them and policymakers who impose them, general education requirements, as recently reformed, possess neither the ability to produce intellectual skills or career-readiness skills.

This paper highlights the importance of university autonomy in determining its approach to general education requirements to allow students to develop both career-readiness and college-readiness skills.

Black and Latino males face challenges to college-going that may alter their decision to attend college. However, many Black and Latino males have successfully enrolled and matriculated through college. This study aims to explore the precollege factors that influenced the college enrollment and persistence for first generation Black and Latino male collegians (N = 5) at a predominantly white institution located in the Northeastern area of the USA. Two major themes (i.e., pre-college barriers and pre-college facilitators) along with several subthemes emerged from the data. The authors discuss recommendations for teachers, school counselors, and administrators in assisting Black and Latino males prepare for enrollment and persistence in college.

A qualitative approached was used for this research study. A focus group was incorporated because it enabled participants to discuss their experiences in a single setting with other participants with similar backgrounds and thus through contrast and group dialogue vital insights related the phenomena of interest can be identified (Kitzinger, 1995). Individual interviews were conducted to engage in a more in-depth data collection process with the participants in a one-one-setting.

Pre-college barriers and pre-college facilitators were the major themes of this research study. The subthemes originated from the frameworks of Community Cultural Wealth (Yosso, 2005) and Constellation Mentoring (Kelly and Dixon, 2014).

The paper will contribute to the research literature, as the authors are exploring the experiences of Black male collegians from a Northeastern PWI. There is a dearth of literature in this area of research.

This study examines how English teachers use culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) to support postsecondary readiness for underrepresented students in the context of dual credit (DC) coursework in the USA. Postsecondary readiness, termed “college readiness” in the USA, refers to the skills and knowledge students need to succeed at a university. DC courses are university-level classes delivered to high school students through partnerships with postsecondary institutions, most often two-year community colleges. The purpose of this study is to highlight practices and institutional conditions that enable English instructors to foster postsecondary opportunity for all.

Using an interpretive approach, this qualitative study analyzes data derived from in-depth interviews with five community college English instructors who teach DC to diverse high-school students and who apply CRP in their classroom practice.

Findings reveal that instructors used culturally relevant approaches not only to help students access dominant college-ready skills, but also to reimagine what constitutes college readiness to begin with. Instructors also took advantage of their unique positioning as postsecondary instructors working with secondary students, leaning on academic freedom to push boundaries with their curriculum.

This study shows how English instructors are uniquely positioned to enhance university preparation and build a more inclusive vision of postsecondary readiness for all students. The study also highlights institutional conditions, such as teacher autonomy, pedagogical training and administrator support, that can promote culturally relevant postsecondary preparation in English classrooms.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the need for postsecondary education and the gap between students’ academic preparedness and the demands of college-level work.

The authors examined the advantages and disadvantages of different postsecondary institutions, their admission requirements, the cost of attending and the realities of degree attainment for underprepared students. The authors focus specifically on problems faced by students with weak literacy skills who enroll in universities that do not have admission requirements. They consider the importance of early learning and educational experiences that positively affect college readiness and highlight the responsibilities of institutions and faculty in assisting underprepared students who are enrolled in postsecondary programs.

Findings suggest the key to college readiness and postsecondary academic success depend on students’ ability to attain (a) proficiency in literacy at early grade levels, (b) knowledge of expository texts, (c) study strategies, and (d) personal behaviors such as paying attention, completing assignments, persisting in difficult tasks, and self-regulation that contribute to academic success.

This paper presents a synthesis of findings from reports on postsecondary students’ preparedness for college-level work. In that the authors draw on their experiences as professors in different types of institutions, this article is highly original and makes a unique contribution. Currently, there is a belief in the USA that everyone needs a college education. The authors demonstrate that this view is neither accurate nor realistic.