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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.

In this chapter, the authors discuss how school counselors may create a college-going environment for African American males in middle school. The authors use Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) Ecological Systems Theory to explain how environmental influences impact African American males’ college trajectory, both positively and negatively. Moreover, they use Ecological Systems Theory to discuss how multiple stakeholders (e.g., school counselors and parents) and various structured activities that align with the Eight Components of College and Career Readiness (NOSCA, 2010) may promote college preparation among Black male middle school students. The authors also present two case vignettes as examples of how school counselors may assist African American males for postsecondary options. In closing, the chapter concludes with implications for educational policy, research, and practice.

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.

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.

College placement assessments in the USA have underperformed in predicting college readiness. This has prompted a wave of reforms to placement practices and policies. Recently, student preparation for placement assessments has come to the forefront as a means for enabling better evaluation of college readiness. In this study, the authors explored the effects of an intervention aimed at preparing students for precollege placement assessments. The intervention focused on the provision of mathematics discipline-specific literacy skills because demonstrating mathematical mastery depends on students’ ability to read, understand and translate text into mathematical computations.

In this study, the authors used a randomized control trial design. The design enabled the authors to draw causal inferences while examining the effects of a placement assessment preparation intervention on mathematics placement and course outcomes. The authors also examined the intervention’s effect across incoming first-year college students with varying levels of readiness.

Findings demonstrated a positive and significant effect on assessment scores and placement for intervention participants with a stronger effect for those with higher levels of readiness. Intervention participants exhibited comparable academic success outcomes as those who did not receive the intervention.

Little assessment research has explored the intersection of mathematics and literacy skills in relation to college readiness assessment. In addition, findings support the utility of preparation for college placement assessments.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the components of college students' readiness for connectivist learning in technology-enhanced learning environments through the development of the readiness for connectivist learning scale (RCLS).

After the constructs of the scale had been identified, their items were created based on the relevant literature. In order to ensure the content validity of the items, a sorting procedure was implemented and they were reviewed by experts in the field. The construct validity of the scale was tested using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with data from 718 students from a university in Turkey.

The findings of the current study indicated a four-factor solution, which includes information and communication technology (ICT) self-efficacy (seven items), autonomous learning (seven items), information literacy (eight items) and learning networks (five items). A significant, strong and positive correlation of students' scores on the RCLS with those of the online learning readiness scale (Hung et al., 2010) supported the criterion-related validity of the scale. The value of Cronbach's alpha coefficients for the RCLS showed good reliability for the scale.

With the assessment of college students' readiness level for connectivist learning, it is possible for them to anticipate their success in connectivist learning environments themselves and thereby to improve the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary for their success in these environments.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of documentation on the educational experiences, college readiness and aspirations of undocumented Latinx migrant and seasonal farmworkers.

This ethnographic study was conducted in a High School Equivalency Program at a large university in the Midwest. Data was collected during two semesters across a three-year span. Participants included six Mexican migrant and seasonal farmworkers who were preparing to earn their General Educational Development (GED) diploma. Using the grounded theory, data was collected and analyzed simultaneously where initial and focused coding took place, followed by cross-case analysis.

Analysis of student interviews, participant observations and in-depth fieldnotes that include the K-12 educational experiences, experiences during and after the High School Equivalency Program reveal that undocumented Latinx migrant and seasonal farmworkers aspire to earn a GED diploma to access a better future inclusive of college. However, the legal liminality, the uncertainty and ambiguity of being undocumented, impacts their educational journey prior to, during and beyond the High School Equivalency Program. Furthermore, undocumented Latinx migrant and seasonal farmworkers are unable to change their material conditions with a GED because of their documentation status.

Although researchers have studied the education experiences of Latinx migrant and seasonal farmworkers, analysis and consideration of documentation status is missing. This study contributes much needed findings about the impact of documentation status on the educational experiences, college readiness, and aspirations of Latinx migrant and seasonal farmworkers.

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.

The authors focus on using Critical Race Theory (CRT) as a lens through which to analyze the holistic welfare development of Black male student-athletes, namely their identity development and overall college and career readiness. The authors contend that if structured and delivered well with the appropriate supports, athletics can be more of a mobilizing mechanism for Black males versus an exploitive one. Specifically, athletic identity does not have to be exclusive, but rather one aspect of the student-athletes' multidimensional sense of self. To this end, the authors outline specific research, practice, and policy recommendations that address the unique challenges of Black male student-athletes in K-16.

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.