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College Through a
Different Lens
Developing a College Preparation Program
Christian Romero
UCLA Teacher Education Program
Faculty Advisor: Jaye T. Darby, Ph.D.
June 2013
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Christian Romero
Social Science
Abstract
There have been various approaches in the way high school programs and/or clubs
prepare students to go to college. Much of the assistance has been through mediums that offer
support in test prep, financial aid, college applications, scholarships and through similar means
that help students with the college process. While such efforts are of great importance, I believe
that there is not a lot of programs that go beyond the criteria stated when it comes to preparing
students for college. In other words, students are not necessarily educated about other important
academic and social aspects of the university. My inquiry project focuses on researching
supplemental academic and social aspects of a university and implementing the data into a
college preparation curriculum. The data is presented in weekly college seminars in order to
receive feedback on the value of the information shared with them. With the goal in mind to
establish a future college preparation pilot program that will be grounded on the effective data
collected.
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Table of Contents
Abstract..................................................................................................................................2
Dedication .............................................................................................................................3
Table of Contents ................................................................................................................4
Segment 1 ..............................................................................................................................5
Selecting an Inquiry Project...................................................................8
Inquiry Focus ........................................................................................ 11
Developing a Deeper Understanding of the Inquiry Question ................. 13
Segment 2 ........................................................................................................................... 20
Developing a Social Justice Action Plan ........................................................ 20
Resources ............................................................................................... 20
Peer Surveys .......................................................................................... 20
Interviews: Associate Principal & Counselor.................................. 22
Pilot Program-The College Seminars ............................................................. 22
First College Seminar........................................................................... 23
Collecting Data ................................................................................................... 25
Segment 3 ........................................................................................................................... 27
Brief Introduction ............................................................................................. 27
Analysis of the Resouces .................................................................................. 30
Findings From the Resources ............................................................ 30
Use of Peer Surveys ............................................................................. 33
Collaborating with the Associate Principal and Counselor .......... 37
Interview with the Career Counselor ............................................... 41
College Seminars .................................................................................. 43
Seminar 1 ................................................................................. 44
Seminar 2 ................................................................................. 49
Seminar 3 ................................................................................. 50
Encouraging Insights ............................................................ 54
College Preparatory as an Elective ..................................... 55
New Understandings to Guide Future Practice .......................................... 57
Impact of the Inquiry Stance ........................................................................... 59
Appendix A-Letter to Seniors ........................................................................................ 63
Appendix B-Peer Survey Questions.............................................................................. 64
Appendix C-Seminar 1 Lesson Plans............................................................................ 65
Appendix D-Seminar Pre-Survey and Post-Survey Questions ................................ 66
Appendix E-Seminar 2 Lesson Plans............................................................................ 67
Appendix F-Schedule Visual Representation Used in College Seminar 3 ............. 68
References .......................................................................................................................... 72
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Segment 1
Context
The Freire District where I am a substitute teacher is located in the West region of the
United States and serves three high schools and one continuation school. For this inquiry, I will
focus on one of the high schools. Aztec High School is considered by members of the
community, student body, and the staff to be the best among the three high schools (October
field notes). Nonetheless, it is speculated that such reputation is at stake due to recent
circumstances. In recent years, the competition by the local private education sector has affected
the student enrollment in the Freire District. Because of the decrease in enrollment, the district
administrators responded by voting in a motion that permitted open enrollment to be
administered in the three high schools. This action created an interesting situation at Aztec High.
Not that long ago, the enrollment of the school was 800; the past two years the enrollment has
been 1,800 and 2,500 respectively. The reason for the threefold increase in enrollment at the
school has to do with the academic reputation of Aztec High. Recently, Aztec High School was
recognized as a California Distinguished School among other honors. Many believed that the
academic reputation of the school was largely due to the small school size. But with the pressure
of losing students to local competition, the actions by the district has brought forth new dynamics
into Aztec High. One evident change is that students are transferring from the other two high
schools within the district (Tampa High and Vegas High) into Aztec High due to students’ and
parents' preference. Although Aztec High was once a small high school community that could
only occupy about a thousand students, the district was pressured to accommodate the students
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or risk the chance of losing them to another district or local private charter schools (September
field notes).
These unprecedented numbers of students have brought new challenges to Aztec High
and have even impacted the student culture. According to one student, she believed that the
school was understaffed and underprepared to handle the hike in student enrollment. Her notions
were based on the fact that administrative decisions affected her in the first week of school as her
classes were relocated on two occasions. She even witnessed firsthand three new teachers for the
same course within the first couple of weeks of school (September field notes). Other data that
supports the changing circumstances in Aztec High include standardized test information. As of
last year, both Tampa High School and Vegas High School have seen an average of a fifty point
jump in student test scores. Meantime Aztec high saw a fifteen point improvement, albeit Aztec
High’s score is about one hundred points higher than its district counterparts. The fact that
students are transferring into Aztec High demonstrates the academic impact of the students
coming from the other two struggling high schools. Supporting this notion is the fact that Aztec
High currently has about forty percent of current freshmen failing at least one of their classes
(Counselor presentation notes). While this data does not necessarily reflect the numbers from
transferring students, the fact is that of the three schools in the district, the open enrollment
policy makes it evident which school parents favor.
The latest annual information of Aztec High (2010-2011) indicates that the school is
composed of three-fourths Latino. The school reflects the ethnic population of the surrounding
communities. The second largest ethnic group at Aztec High is African-Americans (12%),
followed by students of Asian ethnic groups (4%). The remaining population of students include
a small percentage of Caucasians and Non-Hispanic Whites ethnic groups (4%): Filipino,
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Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, and students of two or more races. With the fairly diverse groups of
students at Aztec High, students bring different perspectives to the school culture and their peers.
The seniors I interviewed think that they are the last “good” class of Aztec High and that
the school is heading “downhill.” The Senior group of students represents the last class group at
Aztec High that were present when the school had an enrollment of about 800 students.
Therefore, I focused on their thoughts about Aztec High to have their take on the changes their
school and the district have experienced throughout their high school years. One senior student
said that she notices a different school with the presence of hundreds of incoming freshmen and
that the school is not adapting to the “influx” of students attending Aztec High. This has resulted
in a class divide that was evident at a homecoming rally. The students were divided by class
level, and the audible upperclassmen chants heard frequently were “freshmen suck.” Ironically,
the event was organized to promote school spirit through entertainment that was provided by
student organizations and the staff of Aztec High. When I brought up the matter to several
seniors, most of their responses reaffirmed their subordinate beliefs about the large
underclassmen enrolling at Aztec High. Seniors that have attended Aztec High since their
freshmen year remembered a different school culture. They attributed the change in student
culture to the unprecedented enrollment levels and the changes made by the district. Although
they did not articulate it in that way specifically, they made several references to the increase in
enrollment numbers. In addition, they mentioned that "good" teachers had resigned from the
school or were transferred to the other two high schools. With the unstable circumstances, the
seniors had an overall feeling of an Aztec High School that was no longer the same. (October
field notes; November field notes).
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In familiarizing myself with the school, I want to explain my position at Aztec High as it
relates to the inquiry process. First and foremost, my scope in the context I can provide about the
school is limited as I am a substitute teacher for the Freire District. The position is based on
availability, and Aztec High is just one of four schools I can be assigned for based on
availability. However, I have selected Aztec High as my inquiry site because given the
organizational challenges that the school is encountering, there is a high demand for substitutes.
There is a strong possibility that I will continue to have assignments at this site for the rest of the
school due to understaffing. And since I firmly believe in a transformative philosophy, I decided
to focus on the student culture to find inspiration for an inquiry topic. But first, I need to get
comfortable with the school site's expectations, protocol, personnel, and students within the
specific days I have the opportunity to work at that specific site. With this in mind, it will take
some time to strategically select my inquiry approach.
Selecting an Inquiry Project
After much deliberation, I have decided on an inquiry that will prepare me for the
establishment of an innovative program. An area of interest since my undergraduate years has
been college retention. My interest originates from the friendships I established during my
freshmen year of college. Living in the college dorms gave me the opportunity to meet new
friends and share many good memories with them during our first year. Eager to return as a
sophomore and see my friends again, I witnessed that not many of my friends returned to
continue their studies. Their absence bothered me and left me wanting to know the reason they
did not return. It was only after the fact that I acknowledged the realities of college retention. I
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learned that many of my friends confronted academic and personal circumstances that prevented
them from continuing their schooling. After witnessing more friends drop out of the university, I
then learned the importance of preparing oneself for the college institution.
With this in mind, this inquiry will serve as a stepping stone into the development of a
program or club that will help prepare students for life in college. I believe that my program will
gear towards a different direction in college preparation from other established programs based
on my personal experiences. Programs such as AVID only focus on certain aspects of college
such as SAT prep, financial aid, and college applications. AVID’s website states that the AVID
formula “is simple-raise expectations of students and, with the AVID support system in place,
they will rise to the challenge.” While we should applaud how AVID has benefited thousands of
students, college readiness should go beyond students receiving their college acceptance letters.
I have asked seniors at Aztec high in my interviews: “What happens after you are accepted to a
college; specifically, the period between your acceptance letter and your first day of
college…how do you begin to prepare?” Most students were honest and said they didn’t know
what to do or "had no clue" (field notes, November).
For this inquiry, the implementation of a program is going to be in its novice phase.
From a planning standpoint, I would like to meet with a group of volunteering students once or
twice a week for at least six one-hour sessions. As of right now, I will have to get administration
approval, select a location, and plan the college preparation curriculum that will be utilized in
each session. Although my resources at this point of time are limited, I would need to research
ideas that will provide the supplemental college data that students from Aztec High will find
resourceful. The last component of the of the program is the structure. I need to be conscious of
how I am going to provide the information to the students participating in the inquiry.
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Guiding my thinking in the research for the inquiry is a 2003 study by the Association for
the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) that reported leading factors for students leaving college.
One of the leading factors was academic preparedness. According to the study, between 30 and
40 percent of all entering freshmen are unprepared for college-level reading and writing. The
college environment can also be a factor as the report indicates: "Lack of diversity in the student
population, faculty, staff, and curriculum often restrict the nature and quality of minority
students’ interactions within and out of the classroom” (Perna L.W., Redd K.E., & Watson S. S.,
2003). Finances are the last major factor in student retention. Students are either affected by the
amount of working hours they have to endure to stay in school, or they simply cannot afford their
tuition.
Identifying leading factors is important to my inquiry because it has a significant impact
on the population of students I will be serving. However, the ASHE report (2003) is also
resourceful in this regard because it provides a framework that focuses on "retaining minority
students in college." The framework is insightful in providing information that I can share with
students who will participate in my inquiry. The ASHE (2003) reports the following factors that
are essential for retention among minority students (Perna L.W., Redd K.E., & Watson S. S.;
2003):

Rely on proven research

Suit the particular needs of the campus

Be institutionalized and become a regular part of campus service

Involve all campus departments and all campus personnel

Take into consideration the dynamics of the change process and provide extensive
and appropriate retraining of staff
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
Be student-centered

Be sensitive to student needs and to diverse populations
Inquiry Focus
Data from the ASHE report (2003) provides insight that is important to share with high
school students. However, that is just one component of the entire inquiry process. What is most
important is the preliminary focus of my inquiry as it will dictate the direction of the pilot
program. In particular, my questions pertain to how the information will be delivered and to
whom. In starting a college preparation program, I first plan to focus on the audience. I need to
brainstorm what population I want to target. Exposure to college is important, but I need to be
strategic in whom I present the information to so I can have optimal results. Consider if my
audience consists of students who want to go to a vocational school or join the army after high
school. Under such position, I believe I will not be able to engage the students as I would engage
students that are interested in going to college. And while my participating students will all be
high school students, I will also have to consider whether or not I will want to collaborate with
students from all grade levels or just the upperclassmen.
With the information I will be presenting there are two main concerns. The first concern
deals with what information to present in the inquiry. As I mentioned earlier, the ASHE report
(2003) findings are information I will want to share with participating students. Given that the
demographics of Aztec High serve a population of students that are from underserved
communities, they need to acknowledge the setbacks they can encounter if they plan on going to
college. Beyond the ASHE report (2003), I have no current legitimate resources that can
contribute to the information I will present to participants of my inquiry. Nonetheless, it is
encouraging to know that there are a lot of resources that have information about college. I must,
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however, be cautious of narrowing down the information to select intuitively what I feel is
important for students to understand.
Just as important, my second concern with my inquiry has to do with how to present the
information to the students. One pressing question I have is in what way can I deliver the college
information that is important to students knowing that there is a high possibility they have never
been exposed it (October field notes). There is no doubt I want to engage students in
conversations that revolve around college, but this will be a challenging task knowing that the
university is a complex institution that students are unfamiliar with. My goal is not to merely
present the information, but to have them analyze the implications of how it will affect them
once they go to college.
Lastly, given my personal situation as a substitute teacher and the fact that I have to get to
know the Freire district, my approach is not grounded at this moment. As I have stated, it will
take time some time to adjust to my position within the Freire District and deal with the
circumstances accordingly. However, I have a vision on the direction of the initiation of this
program that will guide what actions are necessary in organizing my inquiry. By conducting this
inquiry, I will learn valuable information that will shape the program I intend on establishing.
Not only will I learn from a development standpoint, I believe that there is plenty of logistical
experience I will learn in organizing the program. On that note, what I look forward to the most
in this inquiry is the fact that I will be working with students in order to educate them on what
the college institution is all about.
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Segment 2
Developing a Deeper Understanding of the Inquiry Question
Since completing Segment 1 of my inquiry, I have accepted a long-term substitute
position with Tampa High, one of the high schools in the Freire District. My new responsibilities
are to cover for the teacher who taught Introduction to Engineering and Computer Applications.
There are also new circumstances that I have to take into account with the new role I have
accepted within the district. The most obvious factor with my new position is the long-term
commitment that has put some limitations in regards to time I can commit to the inquiry project.
As a full-time teacher, I must plan curriculum, teach, grade work, along with other duties.
With my new role in the district, there has been a shift in the direction of my inquiry. As
stated in Segment 1, all of my inquiry work was directed at Aztec High School. That is no longer
the case because I will be at a Tampa High at the beginning of the second semester at Tampa
High. This move has its advantages and disadvantages. A long-term position at Tampa High
means that I will be at one location for almost an entire semester. This provides certain
advantages that I would not have if I was a substitute teacher. For example, I will now have
access to resources that will help me with the logistic aspect of the college seminar. In addition, I
will be at the location throughout the entire week, something that was not guaranteed as a
substitute because my assignments were based on need and were not all in the same location. On
another note, the most notable disadvantage is that my progress at Aztec High has ceased. Since I
will be working with new people and I am located at a new location, I cannot transfer any of the
information I have obtained at Aztec High. Nonetheless, I do have a better knowledge of how to
approach the situation. With these new responsibilities, I have reconsidered what objectives I
want to set for the inquiry.
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Since starting a pilot program that prepares students for college is a great challenge in
itself, I have shifted the focus of my inquiry to meet more plausible objectives. The college
preparation program stems from my personal experience that I would like to mention before
elaborating on the inquiry question. While I have shared my college experience in Segment 1
about my friends and their struggles to continue their higher learning, another personal moment
occurred in high school. Since Tampa High shares demographics that are reminiscent of my own
high school, I presume that high school seniors that are heading to college are going through a
similar experience as when I was a senior1. During my senior year, I was lost about what my
plans where going to be following high school graduation. My acceptance to a four-year
university was the only thing at the time that eased the uncertainty. However, not knowing what
to expect in a remote institution, I sought direction about what I committed to. The only guidance
I received was from my counselor. However, the discussions I had with him about college were
general; there was nothing really concrete or elaborate in our discussions about college.
Fortunately, I had a cousin that went to the same university I had been accepted to. While she
brushed on some important details about college in her conversation, it was her excitement in
talking about her experiences that persuaded me to really consider embracing the fact of going to
college. To some extent, I want to do the same with students in my inquiry, but I want to do it in
a way that is educational and has a purpose. Before I even strategized for this inquiry, I reflected
on my personal experience, and I analyzed the possible ways of preparing students for college.
These ideas are an important component of my inquiry because they shaped the objective of this
inquiry: to have participating high school seniors acknowledge what college is all about so they
can be comfortable when they enter college as freshmen.
1
My thoughts are based on my conversation with the counselor on the lack of college resources, a condition that
was prevalent at my high school. My presumptions will be addressed when the inquiry commences, and I survey
the high school seniors in Week 1 of the college seminars.
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That is why my inquiry question is essential in establishing my goals. Given that this
inquiry is non-traditional because it is not necessarily covered in the classroom setting, I need to
research college preparation material that will target the needs of the population of students I will
be working with in the pilot program. Such population of students I will be working with can be
defined as college-bound seniors and seniors that are interesting in going to college (See
Appendix A). There may seem to be some disregard in my part not to include high school
freshmen, sophomores, and juniors; after all, college preparation should begin at an early stage
of a student's career. While I concur with such notion, the program I envision will serve a
population of students who will directly benefit from a college preparation program because it is
within their immediate future plans. While I want to reach a larger audience, I feel that this
inquiry will serve as a learning experience that will shape my future plans, and that is why I need
to target students that will be going to college or have a strong interest in going to college.
Furthermore, I am shifting the approach in how I will deliver my inquiry. At first, I
wanted to establish something along the lines of a club or a program. But after much thought, I
have decided to conduct my inquiry through weekly college seminars that will be held after
school. Given the fact that the university is an institution that is complex, there is a lot of
material to cover. Hence, I want to create a space where students can exchange ideas about
college topics that matters to them.
Now that I have mentioned my targeted audience and the structure of our gatherings, I
want to discuss the inquiry question in depth. Ultimately, my inquiry question is on finding the
college information that is most important to the high school seniors that I will have the privilege
of working with. I want to learn how my high school senior year experiences compare to the
students I will meet throughout the inquiry. I remember entering that last semester as a high
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school senior and the daunting feeling about thinking of what was in store for me. Ironically, if I
could have told my high school senior self that college was going to be one of the best
experiences of my life, that would have been a great relief for me. To some extent, I believe that
this inquiry will put me in a position to prepare high school seniors and get them excited about
going to college.
Another essential aspect in the pilot program I will conduct is what the seminar structure
has to offer. We must consider the population of students that I will be working with and how to
meet their needs. It is necessary that I am deliberate in the style I will be conducting my inquiry
so it can have optimal results. Since Tampa High has similar demographics to Aztec High, a
commitment to sociocultural learning is a priority. Specifically, I will focus on the cultural
modeling that Howard (2010) addresses in his book to ensure that I embrace the students' culture
in the college seminar to promote student learning. The following are components of Howard's
Cultural Modeling: (1) positioning students as sources of authority to use their firsthand
knowledge to solve academic problems; (2) the selection of texts or learning materials that deal
with problems and issues that students face in their day-to-day environments; and (3) privileging
students' knowledge as intellectually rich and valuable in the learning process, thus reversing the
manner in which many schools tend to devalue it.
I will now give a breakdown of how the three components of the cultural modeling are
relevant to the college seminars I will be planning. Even though the first component is directed at
solving academic problems, there is some relevance with facilitating a college seminar. For
instance, I want the curriculum to be student driven. There needs to be a bridge of ideas in
between what I know about college and what students feel it is they need to know. Tapping into
the students' funds of knowledge is essential in college preparation because retention data details
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what the ramifications can be if students are not prepared (Moll, 1998). According to a study by
Gabriel (2001), minority students had to overcome four barriers in order to remain in college: (1)
Discontinuity (e.g. rural to urban transition), (2) Lack of nurturing (e.g., lack of family support,
lack of role models), (3) Lack of presence (e.g., cultural isolation, lack of relevant issues in
curriculum), and (4) lack of resources. Hence, students participating in the college seminars
should be made aware of factors that can impact their education and what they can do to take
appropriate action to continue their studies. I argue that students should know retention data
firsthand because it is information that has not been shared through intentional discourse. In
understanding what college retention entails, we are preparing students for the forthcoming
challenges of the college institution.
In regards to the second component of Cultural Modeling, the information I present in
the seminar has to be relevant to students in order for them to grasp the information. I have to be
cautious with how I present the information because students may feel some disconnect with
what I'm presenting. The reasoning behind this is simple: How can students engage in something
that they are yet to experience? That is the reason I'm going to bring their funds of knowledge
into the conversation. Moll (1998) argues that students have a base knowledge that can be
applied in the classroom. And while my inquiry will not be conducted in a traditional classroom
setting, I will open the conversation in college seminars with topics that students have some prior
knowledge of.
The last component of Cultural Modeling complements the selection of materials
discussed in the second component. Although I am considered the expert in the college seminars,
there needs to be an effort to view the knowledge shared in the seminars critically and to ensure
the students are active participants of the process. Hence, I purposely structured my inquiry to be
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college seminars because a space is given for students to address their questions about college
through dialogue. This structure also allows me to facilitate the dialogue that students are having
about college topics instead of "banking" the information to the students. In essence, we are
embracing sociocultural theory by having students create a community of learners in which the
students and I work collaboratively in deconstructing what going to college entails. Rogoff
(1988) emphasizes that creating such a communal climate allows both the experts and students to
play an active role in the learning process. It is reasonable to question the expert's role in this
process considering the matter is not a school subject but a dialogue about college unfamiliar to
the students. I should mention that, while I am the expert, sociocultural theory allows students to
shape the learning experience that would otherwise not take place if I cover the material on my
own. The process will be more meaningful when they bring their notions and questions, and we
discuss the matters together.
Furthermore, I must incorporate the information about the college barriers that I have
already shared. The development of college students is critical in the first year. Therefore,
college-bound students that participate in my pilot program will be made aware of the issues
while they are still in high school. This form of preparation embraces the social justice
philosophy because the students and I will learn about the challenges that can impact first-year
students from urban high schools at an early stage. It will also be important to study what actions
students can take in preparing for college. Tinto (2007) addresses that freshmen who are still tied
to their communities once they start to attend college have higher rates of retention. Research
also indicates that the most important areas in having successful retention are academic and
social involvement. While it is obvious that the university shares some accountability to meet the
expectations of its incoming Freshmen, there is also a sense of responsibility that students must
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adapt to in order for them to continue their education. It is, therefore, necessary to show such
findings with students who will participate in the college seminars within a sociocultural
environment.
In facilitating the seminars, one tool that I will use to engage students is technology.
Students of contemporary high schools interact with media more than ever through technological
means (Marshall & Sensoy, 2011). Students can be seen on campus or in the classrooms with
various devices—Tablets, Smart Phones, IPods. I will use the technology to demonstrate content
that is relevant to college seminars. Since college is portrayed in popular culture, students will
bring with them a certain perception of what they think college life is like. Even though what
students learn in mass media can be inaccurate and frequently prejudicial, Gay (2002) argues that
the messages that they transmit are a legitimate source of dialogue.
Another essential aspect that I must be conscious of is student engagement. The fact that
the college seminar is voluntary and will take place after school is a concern for me. The
National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine (2004) states that adolescents have
various alternative activities to pursue. Although I cannot control who decides to participate in
my inquiry, I have to make an effort to retain students that do participate in the college seminars
so that we can continue discussing the various college topics. According to the National
Research Council and the Institute of Medicine (2004), there are psychological variables that
make after-school programs succeed in student engagement: competence, control, and a sense of
belonging. Engagement will be a factor that I must be tentative to while conducting the seminars.
Given the fact that my inquiry question relies on student input and what they feel is important,
what student engage in is an effective indicator of what students are taking away from the
seminar.
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Developing a Social Justice Action Plan
Resources
My first step in developing my action plan will be gathering resources for my inquiry. I
plan to check out books that are relevant to what students will be experiencing their first year of
college. My goal will be to focus on narrowing down the plethora of information that college
preparation books cover. In the beginning of my research, I am going to get hold of as many
books as possible that prepare a student for college. Considering that my inquiry question
revolves around finding material for my future pilot program, I'm going to take everything into
account before I begin to narrow down the criteria for the college seminars. Given the time
restraint of the inquiry, I should share the fact that I will be mindful of the ASHE report (2003)
when reviewing the resources. The ASHE report (2003) provides invaluable data as the report
addresses factors that are essential for college retention. My plan is to integrate the ASHE report
(2003) with information that I believe is important so I can present it to students participating in
the college seminar.
Peer Survey
The data provided above is just the beginning of my action plan as I need more
perspectives on the matter. Therefore, I will survey my peers about their high school senior
experience as it relates to preparing for college. I will ask them the following questions to shape
my thoughts on the college seminar content: (1) What were your concerns as a high school senior
before you began your undergrad education? (2) What information about college do you think
would have been helpful during your first few semesters/quarters of your undergrad career? (3)
As a professional, what topics (or discussions) about college do you feel would be important to
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cover with admitted high school seniors? Out of the three questions I will ask my peers, I'm
going to specifically focus on the first question as it is the most relevant to the seniors
participating in the inquiry.
The information I gather from the peer survey might intersect with the college
preparation research; nonetheless, the information that they share may have a different
perspective. Consider the perspectives from the authors of the books. The authors are not
necessarily educators and hence will have their own perspective on the matter of preparing their
readers for college. On the other hand, the input of my colleagues comes specifically from an
educator's perspective. Because most of us have experience educating high school students, we
are in a unique position to understand what information is necessary to prepare high school
students for college based on our field experience. I plan to retrieve the knowledge my peers
have on college preparation through the peer surveys.
For the peer surveys, I have selected specific questions to ask my peers that will guide
my thinking. If you look back at the survey questions, I will ask my peers questions that will
allow me to find answers that focus on college preparation matters. Question one focuses on their
high school experience since it is a question about their high school activities. The second
question makes a reference to their first year in college. As for the last question, their thoughts
are based on their professional stance on what they feel is important for seniors to know about
preparing for college. With the survey responses, I will be able to compare the results with a
comparative analysis of the information that was found in the college preparation books.
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Interviews: Associate Principal and Counselor
Part of the process of starting a pilot program is finding administrative support and
approval. I have introduced myself to the Associate Principal, albeit I have only had an informal
discussion with her about my college seminar plans. However, she did give me some ideas of
how things were shaping up in the district as it relates to what I wanted to do. In recent years,
there has been budget cuts which has resulted in the reduction of staff positions and school
programs. Due to her busy schedule, that is all she shared in our time together. Afterwards, she
referred me to one of the counselors to assist me in implementing the college seminars. Having a
conversation with the counselor allowed me to have a better understanding of the senior situation
at Tampa High. The counselor shared with me that there is only one career counselor who is
primarily responsible for the entire school in terms of college and career preparation (2/18/13
field notes). She also listened to my vision for the pilot program, and we pre-planned steps to get
me started. The plans gave me a real sense on how to approach my college seminars and plan my
research so I could implement the information in the college seminar.
Pilot Program- The College Seminars
The format of the seminar steps will consist of the same structure. I will have weekly
seminars after school from March 21, 2013, until the inquiry period ends. As of right now, I have
a general direction of what I would like to do. First and foremost, I want to focus on what
participating students want to discuss; I want to utilize students' dialogue and concerns into the
planning process of the college seminars. This will allow me to incorporate material that satisfies
the topics students want to address. I know what topics I would like to bring to the students’
attention, but they will have to be strategically placed with what the students would like to learn.
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As I have mentioned in the beginning of segment two, taking such action will exemplify a
sociocultural learning experience that the Cultural Modeling fosters (Howard, 2010). I would
like to now go over my first college seminar in detail as it will set the direction of the rest of my
inquiry project. After describing my plans for the first week, I will organize the information I
will be covering in the weekly college seminars by topic. I will only tentatively plan my ideas on
the topics because I am going to be flexible with how I plan the material to cater to the students'
needs.
First College Seminar
I plan to begin the college seminar by introducing myself to the classroom. I want to
share my experience as a high school senior on the verge of going to college with them in order
to have them think about their current situation as college-bound seniors. I will also explain what
an inquiry is and how they are contributing to the process as participants. The first activity I will
have for them is to introduce the students several quotations on various perspectives about
college students that have been published in books. I am going to make sure that each quotation I
select covers a different aspect of college. For example, take the following quotation from one of
the books I have borrowed: "I think if I'm not in class I must be late for something or missing
something. I'm so used to being in school eight hours a day!" (Bernstein & Kaufmann, 2010, p.
47). With this specific quote, I can have students analyze what it means to be in a new
environment that requires them to cope with new time management skills. I hope the activity will
stir some thoughts on the subject discussed because students will have to think about what they
just read in order to address what their concerns or thoughts. Before the seminar ends, I would
like to have students write about what they would like to learn about college and why they would
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like to attend college. This information will be the first step in planning concrete substance for
future meetings.
The following information displayed in the chart details ideas that I have planned that
will guide my college seminar discussions. Since our seminars meet on a weekly basis, I will
have enough time to reflect and execute a plan that will adapt these topics into what participating
students of the seminars are interested in.
College Seminars and Topic
Tentative Information Covered
College Seminar 2:

Academics


College Seminar 3:




Social Life


College Seminar 4:



College Life

College Seminar 5:

Majors & Careers

College Seminar 6:




Finances
Comparing the academic demands of high school from
those of college
Incorporating real college syllabi and cover why it's
important
Going over the differences between college professors
and high school teachers
Taking notes in large lectures
Studying habits
Dorm life and culture
Address topics from books in my research (to be
determined)
Use media that portrays "college social life" to open up
dialogue
Greek life, professional organizations, and extracurricular
activities
Time management
Incorporate info. from research (to be determined)
Use social networking sites to identify the college life
experience
Discussing the identical shift of high school student to
college student
Discuss how exactly is college going to prepare students
to achieve their career goals
Emphasize the discrepancies with the fact that college
gives you skills that are necessary for obtaining
professional ambitions; not that college completion
guarantees a professional position
Discuss financial aid, loans
Credit Cards pros/cons
Scholarships
Saving Money
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Once again, these topics cover important criteria that is crucial for students to be
successful in college. However, it should be taken into account that all the weekly college
seminar topics are tentative. As stated above, the student-centered seminars are going to dictate
the dialogue that is conducted in the weekly sessions. In addition, other unforeseen factors might
change the direction of the college seminars. Whatever the outcome may be, I will do my best to
modify the weekly college seminar sessions so I can make the necessary adjustments.
Collecting Data
If we refer back to the Developing a Social Justice Action Plan section, the first steps
mentioned is gathering resources for the pilot program. I should now be explicit on how I will
collect data from such material. I have already stated that I plan to check as many books possible
that cover college preparation. If possible, I will like to check out books that are specifically
addressed to college freshmen since they target high school students that are college bound. I
will also take into consideration any book that addresses college material if I believe they present
valuable information.
Another way of collecting data is through field notes since observations need to be made
about the college seminars. I have briefly covered the conversations I had with the associate
principal and the counselor. Their input identifies factors that are important to consider in
developing the college seminars. Furthermore, it is crucial to record student interaction and
collect their thoughts on the material that is being presented. Not only should I examine the
structure of the seminars, but I must be critical of the dialogue and the engagement levels of the
participants. Concentrating on how participants respond is a good indicator of how engaging the
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presented information is and how the seminar structure supports the dialogue. Hence, field notes
give me the opportunity to focus on factors I deem important (Dana & Yendol-Hoppey, 2009).
Just as important as observing is reflecting on my experiences. Reflecting is fundamental
to this inquiry approach because I want to accomplish specific results. Making observations and
reflecting in a journal compliments field data because I can analyze the direction that the
program is going in. By looking at both pieces of information, I can see what variables are a
factor in shaping the dialogue. I will learn what is working and what I need to work on so that I
can get optimal results. Given the fact that I am working with students, I will involve them in the
process of data collection. I want them to evaluate the information that is being presented to
them as well as get their thoughts on various matters throughout the discourse that will assist me
in answering my inquiry questions. Moreover, surveys provide data that gives me an opportunity
to analyze how the participating students think about what is taking place in the seminars. I can
look at the effectiveness of my planning and what the students think about the material being
presented.
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Segment 3
A Brief Introduction
At the beginning of the school year, I had this vision of starting a college preparation
program that was centered around retention data that I was going to share with students
interested in going to college. As evident by the ASHE report (2003) presented in segment one,
the focus on the program was utilizing college retention data to create a framework that would
guide my program. In my mind, the goal was to prepare students for the challenges that lay
ahead of them upon entering the college ranks. A large emphasis was put on the college retention
data because I believed students needed to be educated about issues that could potentially affect
their college education. Such was my approach prior to starting my substitute position job with
the Freire District.
As the first semester of the school year commenced, I was in the process of becoming
familiar with all the high schools in the district. After three weeks of subbing at the three
different high schools, I noticed that most assignments that were available came from Aztec
High. Upon learning about the district bureaucracy and the student culture, I had decided to
choose Aztec High as my inquiry site. It was not that long into the second semester of the school
year that I was offered the opportunity to be a long-term substitute at another high school located
in the same district as my original inquiry site. The new position created unexpected
modifications in my inquiry due to the fact that I was moving to another school. To a certain
extent, I had to start over again in some aspects of my inquiry. Most of the progress I had made
at the old inquiry site was no longer applicable at Tampa High as I was collaborating with
different staff members and the resources were different.
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The new long-term substitute teaching position was one of two factors that played a role
in shifting my approach in conducting the college preparation program. First, accepting a longterm substitute position made me reconsider the ambitious nature of my college preparation
program. Because I had to teach two different courses, I began to rethink what I wanted to
accomplish. Instead of starting a college program, I reconsidered my inquiry question to achieve
a plausible goal—identifying what college related topics participating students in the college
seminar were interested and what information they found resourceful. Likewise, I narrowed the
population of students targeted to high school seniors. The rationale behind that decision was
that I wanted to help out students pursuing higher education in the imminent future. With the
college program objective being preparing students for college, I now needed the information
that would constitute a solid program that would prepare senior students for college. The second
factor took place when I was researching information to present to the high school students.
Along with retention data I had gathered, I wanted more substance to present to the students. I
went to the local library and checked out as many books about college. It was not until I began to
research the information in the books that I decided to expand on the information I wanted to
present. I realized that not only is college about presenting the challenges that students will have
to overcome, I will be doing participating students a disservice if I do not mention academic and
social aspects of college that are as important as the college retention data.
Just as important as finding the informational resources for the college program I
envisioned, was the framework that guides the college seminars. The sociocultural framework
that guided what information I presented in the college seminar is the work by Howard (2010)
discussed in segment two. The "cultural modeling" approach appraised by the scholar is a "antideficit model that recognizes the wide range of cultural repertoires of practice that all students
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bring from their homes and community experiences to the classroom" (Howard, 2010, p. 58).
Analyzing the information through the sociocultural lens of Howard's "cultural modeling" was
fundamental in guiding my inquiry praxis. Because the college seminars conducted valued
student input and dialogue, all the steps in my action plan had to foster a sociocultural
environment (Mill, 1998; Rogoff, 1994). From the selection of the information in college texts to
conducting the college seminars, the sociocultural framework contributed in the development of
a college seminar that embraced a collaborative philosophy and information sharing.
With my goals to strengthen the information aspect of my pilot program, I conducted a
three-fold action plan. The first step was analyzing the available resources. In this case I used
information from books and scholarly websites. I also surveyed my college peers in the hope that
their input would corroborate and extend what I had researched through the books and online
resources. Next, there was a logistics plan that was necessary in order for me to conduct the
inquiry process. This plan centered around organizing weekly college seminars that gave me the
opportunity to collaborate with high school seniors and utilize the research conducted in the first
step of the action plan. Within the logistical steps of the action plan, I also collaborated with the
associate principal and the counselor in order for them to guide me in establishing the college
seminars. Additionally, I interviewed the career advisor as she was an expert in preparing
students for college. The last step of my action plan was the college seminar itself. I had the
opportunity to work with remarkable individuals who were eager to start their post-secondary
education. It was the college seminar setting where I put theory into practice into theory, the
presented research, and the collected data.
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"Learnings" and Findings from the Action Plan
Analysis of the Resources to Support Culturally Responsive College Preparatory Seminars
My first step in answering the inquiry question was finding the informational resources
necessary to share with the students participating in the college seminars. My strategy at first was
to check out as many books as possible that covered any aspect of preparing students for college.
After analyzing the titles and scanning their content, I selected a few books to focus my research
energies on—books that would give me an opportunity to provide a sociocultural framework
(Howard, 2010) for my planned seminars. The retention data I had researched earlier in the
inquiry process also guided my thinking in my search.
If you refer back to Segment 1, I stated that I wanted to concentrate my energies on
retention. Yet, retention is a complex topic that even some of the most prestigious universities
continue to grapple with how to solve (Tinto, 2007). For example, Gabriel (2001) attributed the
lack of social integration and the lack of academic preparedness as two of the biggest problems
with student retention. This data provided an important issue to my students' lives which
supported "cultural modeling" (Howard, 2010). Retention data provided the fundamental starting
point in the resources research process as it gave me two aspects to focus on—an academic
aspect an a social aspect. One selection I made was the freshmen survival guide that Bernstein
and Kaufmann (2010) wrote that covered a range of topics within the academic aspect and the
social aspect of college. They covered what a typical Freshmen will experience their first year inand-out-of class, and their input was based on testimony given by college students of all grade
levels. For example, when giving advice about the social aspect of college and friendships, they
quoted a student's opinion saying, "Surround yourself with good people. It's more about quality
than quantity when it comes to friends" (Bernstein & Kaufmann 2010, p. 239). The objective of
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the authors was to have current college students give their take on a number of college topics.
While this book has minimal academic merit, I believe that it covered some important
sociocultural aspects of college that have to be discussed that are not necessarily associated with
college academia per-se.
The selection of this book was also appropriate to Howard's "cultural modeling" that
emphasizes the importance of "privileging students' knowledge as intellectually rich and valuable
in the learning process, thus reversing the manner in which many schools tend to devalue it"
(Howard, 2010, p. 58). The fact that this book has social aspects of college made me want to
utilize it in order to tap into the students' funds of knowledge (Moll, 1998). And since the book is
a freshman survival guide, the informal testimonies provided in the book offered a great
opportunity for students to have dialogue about what is presented to them and therefore have
access to the social aspect of college.
While the freshmen survival guide book covered many aspects of college for my resource
list, I also selected three books that emphasized the academic aspect of college. Ong (2004) gave
a very thorough approach to efficient study habits to be academically successful in college. The
scholar covered a range of tips: how to take notes on lectures, how to write papers, how to
prepare presentations, and how to develop speech skills. Roberts (2010) is a professor from
Harvard who wrote about the overall academic experience of the university. The scholar's
perspective offers a distinguished take on how to enrich the academic experience in two ways.
First, he encouraged students to challenge themselves with the classes they take, and then he
promoted the notion of getting to know the professors. The last book focused on developing
academic skills by Bader (2011). The book covered important habits to possess in order to be a
well-rounded student.
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The only book that was legitimately researched-based was the work of Nathan (2005), a
professor of anthropology who adopted a pseudonym in order to enroll as a freshman and
conduct ethnographic fieldwork about first-year college life. Moreover, her work was intriguing
given the fact that she did her fieldwork at the very university she was a professor in. Her
perspective was helpful in my resource research because she was a scholar who wrote from a
dual perspective—as a professor and as a student. In fact, her fieldwork inspired me to use some
of her research procedures in lesson planning for one of my college seminars. In particular, her
approach in analyzing how the freshmen students she interacted decided to express themselves
sparked an activity that involved using the popular Facebook social network website. Gay (2002)
believes that by using the technology that students use daily, the teacher is creating culturally
relevant pedagogy as a result of implementing what students like into the curriculum.
After reviewing sections of the books to analyze the organization that the authors used in
presenting their ideas, I began to look for topics that were recurrent and that I found useful for
my purposes in developing college preparatory seminars. Every book was reviewed carefully,
and I took all the relevant information possible into consideration in deciding which topics and
themes I would use for my seminars. Based on the college preparation literature, the following
chart details broad categories and their related topics (Bernstein & Kaufmann, 2010; Ong, 2004;
Roberts, 2010; Bader, 2011; Nathan, 2005).
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Chart A
Categories
Topics
Topics
Topics
Social Aspect
Greek Life
Extracurricular Activities
Relationships
Dating
Friendships
Networking
Health
Alcohol
Drugs
Sex
Academics
Classes
Faculty
Study Habits
Advice
Finding Support
Finances
Time Management
Other Aspects
Dorm Life
Homesickness
Diversity
Based on the following books2: How to Survive Your Freshman Year (4th ed.); The Thinking Student's Guide to College; Dean's
List: 11 Habits of Highly Successful College Students; My Freshman Year; and From Fto Phi Beta Kappa
The purpose of creating a table to organize the information was to have a broad overview
of what is being presented in books that prepare students for college and provided me with a
deeper understanding of key topics for the seminars. This process also provided me a wellrounded perspective of information that prepares students for all aspect of the university
environment. Furthermore, this analytical chart was a logical starting point for the action plan
because I was able to create categories with their respective topics. What began as search for
categorizing information into two sets of criteria, resulted in expanding the information into
including other aspects of college. Last, given that there is a lot of general college prep
information, I planned to use the analysis to shape the seminars.
Use of Peer Surveys to Support Cultural Relevant Pedagogy
With the college preparation research from the books I gathered, I wanted to solidify the
information by receiving more insight from another perspective. A complementary source to the
2
Below the table you can find the name of the books that were used in the research proceedings. For complete
reference, see reference page.
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literature researched was surveying my peers on their thoughts on preparing high school seniors
for college (Appendix B). The reason I chose my peers for the survey was based on their social
justice philosophy on education. Howard (2010) emphasizes in his work that educators that have
embraced a sociocultural perspective are more likely to succeed in promoting a learning space
that is collaborative and values student-oriented learning. Along with my peers' philosophy
pertaining to social justice education, another reason why I selected my peers was that they are
devoted to a profession that has them working in a field that advocates for students from urban
schools. In other words, my colleagues possess qualities that lead them to do what is best for the
students they work with, and, therefore, they are looking after the best interests of students based
on their experiences working with them. It should also be mentioned that my colleagues are
diverse individuals who represent different ethnicities and cultures. Fundamental qualities of the
peers I surveyed as their diversity and own perspectives. While those aspects of my peers are
different, an important aspect we share is the common goal for social justice.
In total, I had seventeen colleagues share their thoughts in a survey about reflecting on
their last semester as high school seniors, knowing that they were college bound. Although I did
realize that it had been a number years since my colleagues graduated from high school, I believe
the information was relevant because everyone is aware of their personal stance on any situation
that is personal—whether past or present. I will now elaborate how the survey results helped me
get a better understanding on how their perspectives, which contributed to the seminar
development process. Analyzing my colleagues' data, I found information critical to planning my
seminars.3
3
I distributed the survey stating to my peers that I was conducting it for informational purposes only. To protect
the privacy of the participants, I am only paraphrasing the information.
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Chart B
Networking
Choosing a Major
Courses
Studying Habits
Planning
Finances
Time Management
Seeking Help
*The topics above are based on peer responses for questions 2 and question 3 of the questionnaire
For this chart, I collected all the survey data and assessed how to categorize what was
shared. The information was organized with sociocultural theory aspect in mind (Howard, 2010).
Howard (2010) emphasizes in his model how privileging student knowledge is crucial in the
learning process. By framing question one of the peer survey to reflect on an experience that is
specifically relevant to high school seniors, I noticed how my peers answered the question in
order to inform me on what information I might want to share with my students. In other words, I
strategically connected information I planned to present in the college seminars with information
that high school seniors might want to learn, partly based on this peer survey.
Chart B illustrates how the survey answers for questions 2 and question 3 are centered on
professional and academic preparation. If we compare the survey results to the information in the
resource books in terms of topics, it is evident that the information in the books includes nonscholarly advice for freshmen entering college. My peer's responses to question 2 and question 3
showcase the complex nature of selecting topics that belong to academic and non-academic
aspects of college. Academic aspects like mentoring programs, office hours, and finding
resources were some elements that my peers shared. On the other hand, non-academic elements
like networking, living on campus, and culture shock were also mentioned in response to the
second question of the survey. Consequently, there was a majority response that supported
academic preparation for question 3. Of the seventeen surveys conducted, thirty-three items were
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jotted down, and more than eighty percent of the responses were associated with a form of
academic preparation.
With the amount of emphasis by my peers on ensuring that I prepared seniors for college
by covering the academic aspect of college, the results persuaded me to revisit the data
researched from the books in order to gain a better perspective on what information to use in my
college seminar. I revisited the three academic-based skill books mentioned earlier (Ong, 2004;
Roberts, 2010; Bader, 2011) and reviewed the information I analyzed and took notes. After much
thought, I decided to use Ong (2004) as the go to resource for the academic skills information I
wanted to present to my seniors. While I did not have the specific details of how I was going to
present the information, I had an idea of what I was going to incorporate in the seminars to
improve the academic skills of participants. In particular, I wanted to cover the following
academic skills: 1) groundwork, 2) note-taking, 3) writing papers, and 4) exam preparation (Ong,
2004). Based on the notion that academics was a significant factor in college dropout rates
(Gabriel, 2001), I believed that focusing on these academic skills would be a good start in
developing and learning about academic skills necessary for college success.
Groundwork refers to the academic skills you need to develop that is not necessarily
graded but is crucial to academic success (Ong, 2004). This academic skill is necessary because
students need to manage their time between all or some of the following demands: work, college
coursework, and their personal lives. Hence, skills such as skimming a book, highlighting, and
knowing what to focus on permits students to use their time efficiently. A professor of mine once
said, "If you are going to take notes on your book, make sure you only do it once and never refer
back to the book again...why would you waste your time again doing something you should have
done right the first time." Little advice like the one mentioned by my former professor can make
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all the difference in preparing students to study and organize outside the classroom setting. The
same strategies can be applied to note-taking in class; skills such as selective listening,
abbreviating words, and organizing ideas promptly can improve the academic habits of a college
student. With the last two academic skills, the goal is to focus on providing resources to help
students when they are in a situation in which they will have to write a paper and take a midterm
or a final.
The purpose of the survey was to provide additional information that complemented the
research conducted online and the books that prepared students for college. Surprisingly, the
results made me reconsider the importance of delivering an academic element within the college
seminar development that encompassed specific skills necessary for academic success. In
deciding what skills to focus on, Ong (2004) offered a strong foundation in what direction to take
because of his academic accolades. The book the scholar wrote offered more than explaining the
importance of academics in college, he actually shared strategies that he himself implemented in
his college years. Now that I had to reconsider my approach to academic skills, I had to find a
way to provide the information to Tampa High seniors participating in the college seminars.
Collaborating with the Associate Principal and the Counselor
After reviewing the resource books and survey results, the next step of the inquiry
process was to make the necessary preparations in planning for the college seminars. The support
of the Associate Principal was instrumental in providing a sociocultural structure for the high
school students participating. The administrator was a strong advocate of my work and therefore
gave me access to deliver a critical pedagogy curriculum that was fundamental to embedding
culturally responsive teaching within the college preparation curriculum by providing the
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necessary resources (Gay, 2002). Culturally responsive teaching develops a more in-depth
learning approach that was discussed in Segment two of the inquiry. Howard (2010) supports
pedagogy that embraces students' capital and makes learning a joint activity between the teacher
and the students. Hence, the associate principal involvement, even if it was just in the logistical
component of the inquiry process played a role in providing the necessary resources. Notably,
the room she arranged for my use gave me the opportunity to re-arrange the seats from their
traditional placement of rows and columns that stifles student and teacher interaction.
The classroom environment is often overlooked, but it should be emphasized that the
classroom setting provides five functions, one of which is social contact (Weinstein &
Novodvorsky, 2011). At first, the associate principal offered the teacher's lounge as a possible
location for the college seminars, but after discussing the matter, she agreed that something more
simple was manageable (field notes, 2/8/13). Part of the reason why the teacher's lounge was not
a good fit was that it was a big space, and it did not have the technological resources. A big space
would have proved a challenge to a college seminar because students would have most likely
spread out because of the amount of space available. As for the technological resources, it was
just in the best interest of the college seminar functions to have a room that supported what I was
trying to do.
In conjunction with the college seminar space, I did ask her what her thoughts were on
Tampa High students and their college preparation. She hinted that students needed more
support, and that the school was still undergoing improvements (field notes, February). Although
I did not confirm with her, I believe what she was talking about deals with what has been going
on in the district. My sole semester at Aztec High (refer to segment 1) gave me an opportunity to
meet students, staff, and administrators as an outsider interested in wanting to know about the
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district. I discovered that a lot of teachers were being reassigned within the district, and there was
a lot of adapting to do with student enrollment fluctuating within the three high schools in the
district. In addition to enrollment challenges, finances have been an issue with the district which
has resulted in reducing the number of school employees. Altogether the Freire district has been
dealing with an overhaul in its organization in recent years that has affected the services
provided to the students. While the associate principal was in a position to withhold such
information from me, there is no doubt it impacted what I was trying to do, not in the sense that
it interfered with my inquiry. However, it indirectly affected the population of students I was
working with. For instance, there was no organizational structure that was in place to help the
seniors as a group (field notes, February). A person would have to know exactly what he or she
was looking for in order to obtain the necessary information and go about a college seminar.
Such was my case; there was no effective network in communicating information and events that
were occurring on campus. My impression was that administrators and staff members had fewer
resources and support due to monetary cuts and therefore more responsibilities to be in charge of.
After our general discussion of my inquiry question and ideas, the associate principal referred me
to the counselor to assist me in planning the weekly college seminars.
The school counselor was very supportive of my pilot program, and she gave me
feedback upon hearing my ideas. We then started to develop an organizational plan to contact the
seniors for the seminars. Logistically, she got approval for a weekly location for my college
seminars. Next, she sent a letter to all teachers who taught senior classes in order for them to
spread the word along my plans. Along with all the assistance, I asked for her general thoughts
about seniors and college. She commented that students really needed any help they can get
when it comes to college preparation. She stated that "students at Tampa High generally do not
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receive the services they should receive in preparing them for college" (field notes, 2/18/13). Part
of her reasoning was that all the district monetary decisions have created layoffs and have cut
programs and services. She agreed with the notion that besides summer orientation and college
summer programs, there is not that much assistance to seniors who have been admitted to college
or who want to go to college. She also mentioned that student attendance was a concern. She also
stated that as students join the upper class ranks, their participation in events decreases. She then
noted: "Senior year is very hectic because students have senior activities, prom, jobs, and
graduation to worry about." Such statements affirm the data provided earlier that illustrates how
students have a lot of options when it comes to after-school programs (The National Research
Council and the Institute of Medicine, 2004). Following the advice of the counselor, I definitely
made a priority in organizing the college seminars.
By working in conjunction with the school counselor, I was able to obtain knowledge that
I would otherwise not been exposed to had I not collaborated with her. In addition, collaborating
with her gave me a new outlook on how the institution operates. The high school institution is a
very vast network of organization that has a lot of bureaucracy and organization that is necessary
in executing all the functions of the school. As an aspiring educator, I had some prior knowledge
of the importance of the operational aspect of an institution, but it was not until I tried to
organize the college seminars that I was able to see the effect on the logistical aspect of setting
up the college seminar firsthand.
As a logistical component, the school counselor located my targeted population through
their English teachers since it was a course they had to take their last year of high school in order
to graduate. In promoting the event, she was able to have direct access to the teachers that were
in a position to best help out the college program. The school counselor also contacted the
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activities director so that my information would be part of the daily P.A. announcements that
were addressed during third period. Without her involvement in the development of the college
seminars, I would not have appreciated the value of collaboration in putting together a program
for the students. Perhaps the biggest lesson learned in this collaborative process was the
organizational commitment needed in establishing programs.
Interview with the Career Counselor
After conducting my interview with the career counselor, I had a tremendous amount of
respect for her dedication to her work. First and foremost, she was the only career counselor in a
school of over 1,600 students. In regards to the seniors, my impression was that she had a
"seasonal" period to work with this group. In other words, I had this notion that seniors would
come see the career counselor early on their school year in order to prepare for college and/or
vocational pursuits. Such was not the case, as her work was year-round. Her duties included
coordinating all activities that will prepare students for their future. This schedule meant that she
had to coordinate events with representatives from schools and companies. She was also in
charge of providing all the resources necessary for students when it came to summer programs,
summer jobs, internships, scholarships, and creating informational bulletins.
What really impressed me about the career counselor was the fact that she was doing all
this work by herself. She commented that the school is supposed to have three career counselors,
but due to the budget cuts a couple of years ago she has worked alone for quite a few years now.
In terms of collaborating with other staff members, there is not a strong structure that supports a
collaborative network. She says that a lot of the things are important. However either she will not
have a chance to promote what she has going on, or teachers will be unwilling to excuse their
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students during their instruction time. To my surprise, when I asked about her working with the
counselors in terms of college preparation, she told me that the counselors simply refer the
students to the career center in order for them to get help.
Once I got an overview about her job responsibilities and whether or not she received
support from the staff, I began to focus my seminar planning on the seniors and the college
process. When it comes to working with seniors, she did emphasize that participation was a
struggle. Using her terms, she says that she had to "pull teeth" in order to have students dedicate
some of their time to applying to college and/or applying for a job. Also, the career counselor
stated that even if students were interested in a college, program, or job opportunity, a lot of
students had a hard time following through with the process. One example she gave me was
about a student who wanted to go to a community college, but once the student saw the amount
of paperwork involved, the student withdrew from the opportunity.
In response to the interview conducted, I decided to be proactive and do everything in my
power to promote the college seminars. The school counselor had already assisted me in sending
letter to the teachers that taught seniors. To continue the promoting efforts, I decided to go
around classrooms and give a quick five minute speech presenting what the college seminar was
all about. With my speech delivery, I emphasized three important aspects of college: the social
aspect, the academic aspect, and the professional aspect. In my presentation, I attempted to be
innovative in how I described my seminar. In other words, I did not want the students to get the
generic presentation of how college is important and that they will learn useful information.
Instead, I tried to give specific examples of what I didn't know about college and how I learned
the hard way about what college life was like through personal experiences (field notes, 3/13/13).
In terms of the social aspect, I shared my experiences joining organizations on campus. Without
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my involvement in such organizations, I would have not embraced the college environment the
way I did because I was at a remote location with almost no friends. Next, I shared an academic
aspect mishap in which I learned a lesson on the academic reality of the university I was
attending. During my freshmen year, I shared with the students how I walked into the lecture hall
not realizing I had an in-class midterm test to do. That unfortunate experience gave me a hard
lesson on how to prioritize my academic schedule. As for the professional aspect, I shared how
my involvement in college helped me find two jobs even though the U.S. economy at the time
was just barely recovering at the time of my college graduation.
After the presentations, I reconsidered what I had discussed with the school counselor,
and I appreciated her insight on some of the challenges of getting seniors to commit their time to
preparing for their plans after graduation. The only class that fully responded to the information I
presented was an AVID class. Most of the seniors in the class were interested in what I had to
say. Some of the items that caught their attention was when I said that this seminar was for them
and what they wanted to learn about college, and the fact that I mentioned I was going to use the
social network website Facebook in the first seminar (February reflections.) As for the two other
senior English classes, I only got twelve names combined as opposed to almost the entire AVID
class of thirty.
College Seminars
After my planning the development of the college seminars by conducting research,
collaborating with staff, and promoting the event, the first college seminar was underway.
The location of the college seminar was in a bungalow that provided the necessary space to move
objects such as seats and tables if necessary. The day the counselor and I chose to hold the
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seminars was Thursday, a day in which it was believed there would not be a lot of scheduling
conflicts with other events. I also promised the students that I would have food and drinks for
their participation. And since I had plenty of time to prepare for the first college seminar, the
lesson plan for the seminar was ready for implementation.
Seminar 1
Before seminar one started, I asked student to fill out a pre-survey (Appendix D), so I
could get a better understanding on what they wanted to learn about and also to give me the
opportunity to acknowledge some of their thoughts about college. Since this was the first week
conducting a college seminar, I wanted to start collecting base-line data from the students. One
of the questions asked the students where they will like to go to college, a majority of the
responses by students were local universities or community colleges. About three-fourths of the
students choices were local. As for the rest, the students wanted to go to further destinations, but
they still wanted to stay in the state. The most popular destinations for the remaining choices
were universities in the Bay Area region or the San Diego region. These results impacted the
way I began my college seminars by focusing on the universities in the University of California
and California State systems.
Two of the questions were worded in a manner that would give me insights about their
beliefs about college. The first question asked them to define what college meant to them, and
the other focused on what they knew about college. With both questions, approximately 95% of
the students felt that college was an institution that would provide a "better future." Following
the question about their notions of college, I then asked the students about what they would like
to learn about college. Over half of the surveys mentioned "everything." In my opinion, the
"everything" answer represented a statement that declared a student did not know where to begin
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in identifying what exactly about college he or she wanted to know. While there was nothing
wrong with such a genuine answer, it did pose a challenge on my part because there was not a
clear starting point to address such general answer. With this in mind, I decided to start with the
very basics in the first college seminar, attempting to explain the differences between high
school and college and the student population.
Although the pre-survey indicated that students did not know any specifics about college,
I was prepared to begin the first college seminar with the goal in mind to articulate the
differences between high school seniors and college freshmen. While planning the lesson plan
for the first seminar, I got an idea after reading the work by Nathan (2005) on using one of her
methods of conducting her research in the first college seminar. The idea came from one of her
accounts when she first arrived at the dorms. She decided to take notes on how college freshmen
decided to represent themselves through the use of images and words that they posted in front of
their doors. I utilized the same concept to use the student's funds of knowledge (Moll, 1998) in
order to have them discuss the differences between what a high school student believed was
important compared to what a college student believed was important.
In particular, I asked students to analyze their Facebook photos and categorize them in an
order they saw fit. For example, if the picture was one students took with the family, then they
would tally the picture in the "family" category. Likewise, if it was a picture they took on their
own, they can label such a picture as an "individual" picture and so forth. After the volunteering
students counted their tallies, I asked the same students to put their numbers on the board. After
the students put their results on the board, we brainstormed on ways we could put categories
together so that we have a more concise list. The following were the results4:
4
Results from 3/21/13 seminar
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Categories Single Family Arts Friends Skateboard Food Random Political
Results
38
37
16
10
4
3
2
1
I then quoted Nathan's findings so the students could compare how students from high school
and college freshmen expressed themselves: "Concentrating on the literal content alone (of
pictures) misses the underlying values-fun, expressiveness, individuality, freedom, spontaneitywhich are really the point" (Nathan 2005, 24). Through the activity, students got a better sense of
college students’ broader interests.
Through the use of Facebook, I was able to successfully engage students with the use of
technology since I was connecting the information through their funds of knowledge (Moll,
1998) with the social networking website used via smart phones that almost all students
possessed (Marshall & Sensoy, 2011). As on her post-survey question on what she liked most,
Veronica responded by saying, "talking about college and the activity (Facebook)." There is no
doubt that this particular approach in delivering the information engaged the students in the
material. Following the sharing of Nathan's quotation, I then asked the students to explain the
similarities and differences among the two student groups given the fact that the data collected
was from individuals who were no more than a year older than them.5 What ensued was that
students began to discuss their funds of knowledge in terms of what they felt explained the
dissimilarities among high school students and college students. Afterwards, I wanted students
to share other thoughts about college topics. Since it was the first college seminar, I opened up
the floor to have students inquire freely about college topics. In addition, it was a great
opportunity for me to learn what they wanted to know in order for me to plan for the following
college seminars.
5
It should be noted that the college students referred to in the book were not current Freshmen, but Freshmen in
2005.
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The students wanted to know more about the college classes and the professors. After
several questions on the same matter, I decided to first explain the college class format: the fact
that you can take a class three times a week, two times a week, or once a week. When they asked
about the professors, I shared some of the insight that Roberts (2010) shared in his book.
Specifically, I shared that professors had more of a responsibility to publish as opposed to the
regular high school teacher who was in charge of the students' learning. They were surprised at
such findings. I recall one student asking, "Then why are we paying a lot of money if professors
do not care about our education?" It was then that I had to breakdown the complexity of the
institution and reemphasize the reason it was important to discuss such topics, so students can
have a better understanding of the college experience (field notes, 3/21/13).
On another note, I wanted to analyze the structure of the event, the information presented,
and the level of student engagement. In examining the effectiveness of the information
aforementioned, a method that helped me in my analysis was the post-survey (Appendix D). I
had the students fill out at the conclusion of the first seminar. I used both my reflection notes
(3/21/13) and the post-survey results in analyzing the data. After the seminar, I was satisfied that
I implemented the cultural pedagogy framework (Howard, 2010). I observed that the philosophy
of the framework allowed students to share their thoughts and voice their opinions on what I had
to present. This is evident in the seminar because after we finished the Facebook activity,
students added to the discourse as they inquired about college classes and professors. The postsurvey results indicated a constructive criticism of the college seminar structure was lack of
participation. When asked what did they liked the least about the college seminar, a third of the
students said that "nobody talked." In reflecting about the first college seminar, I realized the
issue was not the lack of students talking, but that the same individuals were dominating the
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conversation. Additionally, students mentioned that they did not like the time frame, a procedural
mishap that I was aware of during the seminar (personal reflection, 3/28/13). Part of the reason
was that I had to get food immediately after school, and the seminar began late. Another
explanation was that I should have done a better job at facilitating the questions being asked. I
planned this part of the lesson with a time frame in mind, but I did not apply it in the seminar.
Nonetheless, the structure delivered the space I had envisioned in discussing the college material
with the students.
As far as the information covered, there was a lot of encouraging feedback. When asked
what they liked the most about the college seminar, there were several responses. One student
wrote, "talking about college & the activity." The student was referring to the Facebook activity
at the beginning of the seminar (post-survey, 3/28/13). There were two students who wrote that
they liked the "new information" and the "different topics covered." They did not elaborate on
the specifics. Hence, a takeaway from the survey responses in the future is to focus on the
wording of the questions that I ask on surveys in order to address the specific information I
would like to know. When asked what information caught their eyes in the seminar, about threefourths of the responses mentioned learning about the "college schedule." Other students liked
the discussion about what took place in classes and getting to know information about what
professors do. On the other hand, constructive criticism I received in the post-survey regarding
the information presented included two students sharing that something they did not like about
the seminar was that the information was "slow and boring." The other student stated that he
believed he already knew a lot of the information we discussed in the seminar (post-survey,
3/28/13).
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Along with the information covered and the structure of the seminar, I also analyzed
student engagement. Overall, I believed students were engaged in what was presented to them
based on their input in the post-survey. A response that gave me a gratifying feeling was when a
student put what they liked the most was "the fact that someone has helped me b/c I'm not in
AVID." This insight motivated me to make the mission of the future pilot program to support the
students who are willing to take time in order to gain essential information about college.
Although a small sample, the results of the first seminar were encouraging. Almost every student
informed me that he or she learned something from the seminar that was "new" or "helpful" to
him or her. Most of the constructive criticism was based on procedural steps that I can work on
to improve the experience in presenting the information I shared in the first college seminar.
Respectively, it should be noted that I was trying to establish a good base knowledge of
information for an innovative program that prepares students for college. While the program has
a lot of potential, there was still a challenging but rewarding learning curve to understand the
various aspects of establishing something new.
Seminar 2
After having a successful opening seminar, I was looking forward to the second one. But
as I approached our gathering location and waited for about half-hour, no students showed up.
As it turned out, there were a lot of conflicting events that I did not take into account that were
perhaps contributing factors to the lack of attendance in the college seminar. Among the events
were two fundraisers in the same day. The first event was scheduled right after school;
the event was the first annual Hoops for Hope fundraiser, a basketball game that had teachers
compete against the boys varsity basketball team. Students had to pay a small entrance fee to see
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their peers take on the faculty. In addition, there was entertainment provided for the students and
there was snacks and food for sale (field notes, 3/28/13). The second event was scheduled almost
right after the first event finished. The Activities Director organized a pasta night in which
students paid for a dinner priced at a great value, and the proceeds for that dinner were also
donated to a local charity.
Instead of being dismayed at the lack of attendance, I decided to put things in perspective
to learn from the experience. One of the first things that came to mind was the fact that this was
already a concern prior to implementing an action plan. However, I realized through this
experience that I could have taken better measures to prepare for this event. For one, I realized
the importance of being aware of the events that take place in the school. My teacher instincts
should have transferred to being a college seminar coordinator. What I mean by this reflection is
that as a teacher, we are conscious of the many things that can affect our instruction. If there is a
test, we cannot assign a big project or extensions might be a necessity because of student stress.
Similarly, I could have better responded in adjusting accordingly to the circumstances of that
week. As the data of the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine (2004)
indicate, students have a lot of options in choosing what to do. That date was not viable given
what was taking place. Also, that week was the week before Spring Break (personal reflection).
This definitely proved to be a lesson in coordinating logistics for an event.
Seminar 3
Due to time constraints, this seminar proved to be the last one with students in
attendance. The topic for this seminar was time management (Appendix E). My purpose in
covering this topic was introducing students to the demanding schedule of a college student.
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Planning how to use time effectively is fundamental in establishing habits that will result in good
academic performance (Ong, 2004). Also, based on the peer survey results, time management
was a skill that a handful of my colleagues believed (Table B) was necessary for students to be
prepared for college. Besides the emphasis on time management, I aimed at finding a way that
students would be able to relate to what was being presented in the college seminar.
In attendance, there were only two female students of which I will use the pseudonyms
of Mea and Nancy to share their contributions and thoughts in the college seminar. Both of the
students wanted to go to local universities. Mea had made up her mind and committed to UCLA,
as for Nancy, she had narrowed her choices to UCR and UCSB. Another common interest was
that they were both in AVID, and they were the first in their family to go to college. Because it
was only two of them present, I was able to cater the college seminar information to their
personal interests (field notes, 4/11/13).
The first step in the lesson plan for the third college seminar had a two-fold objective.
First, by going over the importance of the syllabus, I wanted to teach students how to decipher
the important document that all university courses have, and then I wanted to emphasize the
importance of time management. With the first objective, I handed out four genuine syllabi that
I retrieved from the internet. The four syllabi were from different universities across the United
States. All syllabi were from freshmen courses. The first syllabus was from a communications
class. The reason I chose this syllabus was because they had different types of assignments.
Some were in written form, and some were presentations. In addition, this class had an
assignment in which students had to attend an event to earn course points. The second syllabus
was from a rhetoric class, a common class that a lot of freshmen will take their first year of
college. This class had a handful of reading material, and assignments included short-essays and
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long papers. The third syllabus was from a philosophy class. What I liked about this class
syllabus was that it had pop quizzes. This detail illustrated for the seminar that a minor part of a
college class can have repercussions if students do not properly prepare for it. Lastly, there was a
sociology class syllabus that had a unique grading structure that I made the students aware of
when we had our conversation. I told Mea and Nancy to pretend that they had enrolled in these
specific classes and that the syllabi were presented to them during the first week of school. I did
not mention any of the information I have just shared. I asked them to analyze the syllabi and to
jot down some questions they might have.
Upon the students analyzing the information for about seven minutes, I asked for their
thoughts. Mea shared with me that she was overwhelmed with the information. Following her
response, I asked Nancy what differences she noticed between a syllabus that a high school
teacher hands out compared to a syllabus given at the college level. She made some general
observations: the length, the detail, grades, the exact books they were to read. I then went over
the following material and asked them information so they could observe the material and
hopefully have questions. I went over the importance of office hours and how they should not
hesitate to ask for help. I emphasized that the first thing they should do upon receiving their
syllabus is to put all the deadlines on their planner. I made them aware of the possibility that
some classes might have a different grading system that was not traditional. I covered how
professors can have and will have their own expectations from their students. In going over this
information, I tried to share some of my personal stories as they related to the items I was
covering. What ensued was a question and answer session. The students wanted me to share
what the classrooms were like. They wanted to know about the books that they had to read and
whether it was "hard" to study. Overall, most questions pertained to the academic aspect of
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college. Nonetheless, the theme of their questions had to do with what took place inside a lecture
hall and questions relating to assignments (reflection notes, 4/11/13).
When I was planning this college seminar, I wanted to also present the information by
providing them with a visual representation of what their academic schedule would look like if
they had really taken the classes with syllabi they had examined (Appendix F). Hence, I put their
class schedule with all the important dates. On the self-made schedule, at the end of every week,
I abbreviated all the readings they had to do, and I even tallied the total amount of pages they had
to read per week. I believe that having this visual presentation painted a clear picture to the
students on how intense a schedule could get when going to college. Granted, we only covered
the academic schedule, touching on other matters such as personal responsibilities and having a
social life to balance a hectic schedule, made the students aware of the importance of time
management.
After the seminar, I began to think about the presentation of the information so that I
could be critical of the delivery and the substance of the seminar. Looking back at the seminar, I
would separate the syllabi part of my lesson plan with the part of the lesson that covered visual
representation of an academic schedule. I believe that I did a decent job in connecting the two,
but each one requires in-depth dialogue. In regards to the syllabi, I would definitely organize it in
a way that gives the students an opportunity to discover on their own the various components
that make it necessary to understand a syllabus. While I presented the necessary information,
changing the activity would put more emphasis on students learning the information
collaboratively. But given the fact that I did not guide their thinking before distributing the
syllabi, the students were left to analyze all the information on their own (field notes, 4/11/13).
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I would take the same approach with the visual representation of a schedule. The graphic
organizer was useful because the students were able to analyze the academic demands of having
the twelve unit requirement that constitutes to a full course schedule. However, in my opinion, I
believe that students needed more substance so that they can value how hectic a college schedule
can be. There was information such as work study and social aspects of college that were not
considered in the visual representation. There is no doubt that both of the topics covered were
crucial in being prepared to college for future revisions, I will definitely breakdown these topics
into parts in order for students to understand the larger picture of what the implications the
subjects are on their higher education learning (field notes, 4/11/13)
Once again, I had students fill out the post-survey that would underscore the quality of
the college seminar experience after the seminar concluded. Although there was only two
students present, the feedback reassured me that I had once again covered useful material.
When asked what did they liked about the college seminar, Mea said, "presented information
well," and Nancy said, "when we talked about the courses and how the grading system works."
As for what they did not like, Mea commented, "nothing, not many people," and Nancy replied
"everything I learned was useful." As was the case during the first seminar, I learned during this
inquiry process to be more critical about the way I have students respond to surveys. It was only
after the fact that I realized that the clearer I am with the questions, I will have a better
understanding of the information I am looking for.
Encouraging Insights
While there were only two seminars conducted due to time restraints and unforeseen
circumstances, there is plenty of good work that I should be mindful of for future guidance. The
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feedback I received through the survey responses were a good indicator of what students found
out to be helpful. Even if the sample size was small, there were a lot of similar responses that
demonstrate that what I covered was useful for the group of students. The majority of students
appreciated the breakdown of how the college class schedule operates: that most classes can be
taken one to three times a week and how their length will vary accordingly (Week 1 survey). As
discussed earlier in the third college seminar section, Mea and Nancy believed that the time
management lesson plan was of good use to how they will prepare and organize in the future
(reflections, 4/11/13). The information presented here is a small portion of the data I intended to
collect because of the challenges I encountered throughout the inquiry process. Upon further
review of the data I managed to collect, the fact that students found the college information
presented to them useful is a promising sign of the potential the substance of the pilot program
has.
College Preparatory as an Elective
As a result of the aftermath of the inquiry process, one important question has to do with
how the information is presented to the students. For the inquiry project, I decided to conduct
weekly after school seminars. After much thought, I would like to see the results of a college
preparation program that is undertaken as an elective course. There are several reasons to
undertake a college preparation course as an elective. For one, high school seniors have a lot of
pressure and activities going on in their last year of high school. Therefore, having the option to
attend a college preparation seminar after school presents another activity they will have to
attend. Second, there are a lot of high school seniors who have the opportunity to select more
electives their final semester of high school. While I did not run through the numbers with the
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counselor on what percentage of students fit in this category, I am certain that seniors are looking
for elective courses that meets the district's minimum requirements of classes they must take in a
semester. I believe that under such circumstances, a college preparation elective will be
appealing to seniors looking to satisfy their credit requirements, while simultaneously, go
through a course that is of great benefit to them. And since the course is an elective, students will
consciously decide to take the course and will therefore have no obligation to commit to the
course. Third, the curriculum will have remarkable potential because the students will meet
every day for that one elective period. There will be no pressure for cramming all the
information into one session. Perhaps the most unique aspect of the college preparation
curriculum will be the in-depth discussions that can take place. Previously, I mentioned about
struggling with the notions of finding a balance between covering the ins-and-outs of college and
having meaningful dialogue that revolve around college issues. To illustrate, consider the
following question that pertains to a college issue: Should professors cut down on their research
and publishing workload to provide a better learning experience for their students? I will leave
that up to debate; nonetheless, that matter cannot be covered thoroughly in a college seminar.
However, in a college elective, time will not be a factor in presenting the issues for students to
analyze and breakdown.
Of course, there will be other logistical work needed for an elective structure, but going
through the inquiry learning process has given me a good experience on what has worked and
what needs to be modified or revamped, for that matter. In this instance, an elective seems like a
plausible step in moving in the right direction. After struggling with some details in the inquiry
process, I believe changing the format of the college preparation from a college seminar to an
elective seems like an appropriate step. On a positive note, I was encouraged at the positive
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feedback that I received from the participants of the few college seminars that were held. After
all, most of the constructive criticism was based on organizational functions that can be solved
with careful planning . In conducting an elective on college preparation, an alternative option is
presented in finding a structure that will best prepare students for college.
New Understandings to Guide Future Practice
Reflecting on the inquiry process made me realize that this is just the beginning of
something exciting. The aftermath of the process has established more questions that I must
address if I want to create a strong foundation for what I envision. The following are ideas that I
need to be aware of in order to guide my future practice of preparing students for college. I have
organized these ideas into elements that will strengthen my practice. The first has to do with the
inquiry goals and future considerations I need to address. The second idea focuses on the data
and what I have learned from this process and the future implications. The last idea focuses on
alternative ways to advocate for students to go to college.
Analyzing the outcome of my inquiry made me reflect on my inquiry question. Because
student participation challenged the findings I wanted to collect, I realized that the emphasis I put
on collecting information about college preparation should be left as a work in progress. In other
words, I should focus on providing information to students and assessing whether or not they
understand it, instead of having them evaluate the criteria. As for the information itself, I want to
have enough data that covers important topics about college. I believe that if I can cover a whole
semester's worth of college information, I can work from there on evaluating how effective the
information is. Of course, I will need some time to make decisions on whether what I'm covering
is resourceful, or perhaps I should modify it or omit it from what I share. Next time, I must also
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take into account how prepared the students are for college. I was so worried about the
information aspect of my inquiry that I disregarded other elements that are important in
preparing students for college. I believe if I would have asked such a question, I would have
gained some valuable insights on what students feel makes them prepared to go to college and
what I can do to help.
Subsequently, gathering data is another element I must be critical about. A significant
amount of my analysis focused on what went well in the seminars and what information students
liked. I believe that I was so focused on making information engaging to the students that I did
not consider analyzing the connections students were making with the content. I learned through
conducting the surveys that I have to be more intentional in the data I collect. I asked students
important questions, but students did not produce specific answers because of the wording of the
questions. That illustrates the importance of being aware of how to collect data and how to use it
for the purposes of the inquiry.
In developing a program, having alternative options is important. As described earlier,
my first choice is an elective. Based on my inquiry project results, I believe having an elective is
a rational alternative to the after-school seminars I conducted. However, I must be ready for the
next step if I cannot establish one in the future. An idea I have thought about is having a senior
college club, following the direction of the after-school college seminar. In the event that I am
unable next year to establish an after-school program, a club, or ideally an elective, I plan to be a
personal resource to seniors planning to attend college. However, my goal is to continue and
further develop the program I piloted in this inquiry. In the future I would also like to keep in
touch with students and support their progress throughout college.
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Starting an innovative program is very challenging at first because there is a lot to take
into consideration and a lot of modifications to make. Personally, I realized if it were not for the
dedication of committed individuals in my youth, I would not be in the position I am today
because I discovered I had a passion for learning in college. This explains the contribution I want
to make as an educator to students who are the future of this country. This inquiry marks the
beginning of a college preparation program that will motivate students to pursue their dream
through higher education.
Impact of the "Inquiry Stance"
In engaging in action research, this inquiry inevitably increased my awareness as a social
justice educator from a different perspective. Before the inquiry, my notion of a social justice
educator pertained to the responsibilities that educators have in the classroom. However, I
learned that a social justice educator goes beyond the confines of the classroom space and
advocates for change within a larger context. My experience throughout the inquiry process
made me realize more about the logistics of establishing and implementing an innovative
program. Furthermore, I learned more about the structure of the high school institution and the
impact it has on the students it serves. Just as important, I learned the value of teamwork and
collaboration in finding support in implementing what you have in mind.
In terms of the institution, it is through the challenges that I encountered that I was able to
learn about the organizational aspect of a high school. Since I had to sort out the logistics in
organizing my college seminar, I was put in a situation where I had to collaborate with the
administrators and the staff members who guided me in the right direction. At Tampa High, I
was impressed with the numerous school functions available to students. Yet, the lack of a
Romero 60
coordinated effort of organization limited the outreach of the programs to potential participating
students. This lack of a network also prevented staff members from volunteering for school
functions because they were not aware of them. Ultimately, while I applaud the efforts of these
educators that dedicate time to programs outside of the regular school day, not having the right
organization hurts the impact it can have on the students. Through my inquiry, I realized that
networks in schools need to work in order for students to benefit.
As for logistics, I learned that starting an innovative program is a challenging process.
Time and resources are invested in providing a program that operates at an optimal level. In
paraphrasing Thomas Edison, I did not fail, I just found various ways that didn't work. In starting
a pilot program, I must have the same mindset when it comes to logistical challenges. The key
word is perseverance. If I truly believe in what my pilot program has to offer, I will continue to
strive in order to achieve my vision. That is how my logistical challenges in my inquiry process
helped me grow as an educator. I realized that I must establish a strong foundation for my pilot
program because it has a purpose that is beneficial to students from urban schools now and in the
future.
One of the most rewarding and humbling experiences that took place in the inquiry
process was the collaboration with remarkable individuals. I learned that in order to do what is
best for the students, there has to be collaboration involved. It is a much more exciting process
when you want to establish something with like-minded individuals on board. Reflecting on the
inquiry process made me reflect on my TEP experience and the motivating feeling of working
alongside cohort members who embraced the same educational philosophy of a social justice
educator. It was unfortunate to see the ideas that staff members had in supporting student
learning experiences that never came to fruition because of the overwhelming logistical and
Romero 61
financial struggles. With this in mind, a significant takeaway was the importance of collaborative
work because of the people I had the opportunity to work with. I am grateful that I came across
individuals who cared for the education of the students at Tampa High. It was their positive
energy that motivated me to continue my inquiry even when I didn't see the results I had
originally planned.
Along with collaborating with the staff at Tampa High, working with the students was
such a delight. Throughout our conversations, they were able to sense the excitement I had for
what their future plans. During our seminars, they wanted to know about my personal
experiences, and I did my best to tell my narrative while simultaneously reminding them to be
open-minded with what I was sharing. One of my favorite moments came during the first
seminar as students were participating in the Facebook activity I had planned. I realized that
some students had a moment amongst themselves because they were going over the pictures of
their high school years. I believe that it had hit them that they were nearing the end of the high
school journey and facing the beginning of something new and exciting. Personally, I always
remind my students moments like those make teaching worthwhile.
In conclusion, I will like to address my views on social justice through a college
standpoint. I firmly believe that higher learning is a great opportunity for students to grow
through self-discovery and a chance for them to utilize their acquired skills in order for them to
give back to their communities. Such is the moral of one of the mini-stories that can be found in
the book by Sandra Cisneros (1989) in which the main character states that she will leave her
community in order for her to come back to it. In the character's words, "They will not know I
have gone away to come back. For the ones I left behind. For the ones who cannot out"
(Cisneros, 1989, p. 110). I believe that it is important for students from communities that are
Romero 62
underserved to get the opportunity to go to college to utilize what they have learned in order to
eventually give back. While such is not always the case, communities will only get better
through the dedication and work of their own community members. It takes leadership and
organization to change a community.
That is how I'm going to embrace my social justice philosophy to make a contribution to
my community. I want students to experience the college life because it is an opportunity to
explore the world through an institution that delivers a new perspective on our purpose. This is
another point I share with my students. I tell them that if they want to understand the world, they
must get away from the bubble they are living in. College is one of several opportunities for
them to experience something that is new and exposes them to things outside of their comfort
zone. It is important that we continue to paint this picture to our students that college is a
worthwhile experience. Although it is encouraging that students from urban communities are
going to college in record numbers, the next goal should be to help them to graduate from the
college institution. College is a gateway for students to gain skills that benefits them individually
and has the potential to benefit communities. That is why as a social justice educator I will
continue to push for this program. Just like established programs such as AVID, I hope that my
college preparation program will make a significant difference in students' lives.
Romero 63
Appendix A
Seniors,
I want to extend an invitation to join my weekly college seminars. What is a seminar? A
seminar is a gathering of individuals to exchange information and discuss about a given topic.
Our topic of course will be about college.
Have you been accepted to college or plan on going to college? If the answer is yes, then
my next question is: Are you prepared to go to college after the school year is over?
Consider the following:
 Do you know what a college unit is? What a college schedule looks like?
 Do you know what work study is? How to pay for college?
 Do you know what office hours are?
 Do you know what living healthy in college means and why that is important?
 Do you know the study habits you need to possess to be successful in college?
 Do you know what fraternities/sororities are? Do you know what they do?
 Do you know how college will help your career goals?
If you are interested in learning about the information above and more then join me in my
college seminar!
What: College Seminars
When: Every Thursday (starting March 20)
Where: P-2
About Me:
My name is Mr.Romero. I am a former graduate of HHS. During my senior year I was
accepted to San Diego State University (SDSU). Since I was the first in my family to go to
college, I didn't know what to expect once I graduated high school. I know I was going to be a
Freshman at SDSU, but that was it. Unfortunately, I received little guidance in preparing myself
for college. After surviving my first semester of college, I realized how much I wished I would
have known about what college is all about. There are a lot of programs/clubs that help you to
get to college, but there is only a few or none that assist you with what college really is about.
After graduating SDSU, I decided I wanted to be an educator and therefore applied to a
Masters Program and got accepted to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Like
the class of 2013, I will also be graduating this year.
Lastly, one promise that I made to myself while completing my studies was that I wanted
to help students go to college and have the same experience I did as a student. And this is my
first step in fulfilling that promise.
Romero 64
Appendix B
The following were the questions I asked my peers:
1. What were your concerns as a high school senior before you began your undergrad
education?
2. What information about college do you think would have been helpful during your first few
semesters/quarters of your undergrad career?
3. As a professional, what topics (or discussions) about college do you feel would be important
to cover with admitted high school seniors?
Romero 65
Appendix C
PLANNING FOR THE LESSON- College Seminar 3/21/13
List what the teacher will be doing and what the students will be doing.
Time
Teacher
Students
Prep
Sign-In Sheet
Food/Drinks
Write Questions on the Board
-Share with them that the college
experience is a positive one no matter
where you go
5 mins
Pre-Survey
Have students fill out the pre-survey as
they eat
Intro
-Mr.Romero
-Support: Number & E-mail
-Long-Term Goal: Leadership
Program that prepares students for
college
-Participate and Collaborate
(Networking)
-Respect the classroom
a. Let students know about
14-3
Facebook/Social Media
1.Instructions
a. Pair students into groups of
4-5 and have them move
around. Make sure they are at
random
b. In your groups (make sure
they know it's voluntary),
have students share tenfifteen of their pictures and
categorize them (i.e.-food,
individual (solo shot), family,
inappropriate
c. Make sure they are photos
that the student took and not
ones were they were tagged.
Unless that is all there is.
d. Have students keep tally
e. As a group, summarize
who/what a high school
student is
f. Share tally with class
5-7
mins
20-25
mins
10-15
mins
Discussion
1.Share Rebekah Nathan Background
and findings about student dorm lives
1.Students will use social media site to
categorize pictures for activity
2.Students will participate in a structure
that allows them to socialize with peers
STUDENTS CAN LET STUDENTS
BORROW THEIR DEVICES
"concentrating on the literal
content alone (of pictures)
misses the underlying valuesfun, expressiveness,
individuality, freedom,
spontaneity-which are really
the point." p.24
-Students will analyze what a high
school student is to a college student
Resources/
Materials
Romero 66
Appendix D
College Seminar Pre-Survey and Post-Survey
Pre-Survey
1.In your own words, define what college is to you.
2.What colleges will you be attending or do you want to attend?
3.Why are you going to college and what do you know about what college is?
4.What would you like to learn about college?
5.Why did you decide to come to the college seminar today?
Post-Survey
1.Is there any information, or topics discussed, that caught your attention or stood out?
2.What did you like the most about today's college seminar?
3.What did you like the least about today's college seminar?
4.What would you like to learn about in the next or future seminars?
Romero 67
Appendix E
PLANNING FOR THE LESSON- College Seminar 3/28/13
List what the teacher will be doing and what the students will be doing.
Resources/
Materials
Markers
Paper
Old Work
Time
Teacher
Students
Prep
Sign-In Sheet
Re-arrange Chairs
Name Tags
Write Warm-up
Projector/Speakers/Pull out info
Intro
-Name Tags-Explain. Participation:
Asking Questions and Critical
Thinking
-Seminar Guidelines-encourage notes
-Survey-Classes
-Review Warm-up
Syllabus Activity
1.Look over the syllabus
2.Give students some time to analyze
the syllabus and ask questions
3.Go over the syllabus with students
and the questions
Imagine not going to college and
starting to work after graduation. Think
about how your weekly schedule will
look like and what will life in work
would look like. Jot down your ideas
1. First Thoughts? (1-2)
2.what do you notice about the work
week?
3.what about the day-to-day functions of
work?
1.What were your first thoughts when
going over the information?
2.How is it different from a high school
syllabus?
3.What are some of the similarities and
differences that you see among the
different syllabi?
4.What did you notice about the grading
system?
Syllabi
10-15
mins
Schedule
1.Go over the schedule
2.Comment on the following
a. Spreading of Classes (time)
b. Reading
c. Grading
Schedule
from PC
10
mins
Ratemyprofessor.com
First explain the function of the
website. Then go over Clanton and
Jacobo as the example.
1.Professor
a. Researcher -insight into the field
b. use ratemyprofessor cautiously
*Emphasize the importance of writing
down all the dates (they can make note
on back of guide); planning
*After the syllabus review, emphasize
the importance of the first midterm or
test (you can then share data: students
missing class)
*books, get books online
*explain numbers in front of course
*quarter v. semester
*be ready to adapt
*share relationship w/ syllabus
*jacobo and braceros (show book)
*relationship with professors
10
mins
Closing Remarks
Connect warm-up & professionalism
Professional world is college w/o
midterms
Personal
schedule
5-7
mins
10-15
mins
PC
Jacobo book
Romero 68
Appendix F
Week 1
Monday
Comm. 103
(9-9:50)
Soc 101
(10-11:15)
Tuesday
RWS 101
(10:50-12:05)
PHIL101
(1:30-2:45)
Wednesday
Comm.103
(9-9:50)
Soc 101
(10-11:15)
Thursday
RWS 101
(10:50-12:05)
PHIL101
(1:30-2:45)
Exercise 1
Friday
Comm.103
(9-9:50)
Intro Speech
Saturday
RWS
1.13-22
2.Ch.1
PHIL
1.1-13
Sunday
41 pgs
Week 2
Monday
Comm. 103
(9-9:50)
Soc 101
(10-11:15)
Tuesday
RWS 101
(10:50-12:05)
PHIL101
(1:30-2:45)
Wednesday
Comm.103
(9-9:50)
Soc 101
(10-11:15)
Thursday
RWS 101
(10:50-12:05)
PHIL101
(1:30-2:45)
Friday
Comm.103
(9-9:50)
Saturday
RWS
1.159-168
2.CH 2
PHIL
2.317-351
2.97-104
Sunday
SOC
1.Ch.1
COMM
1.CH.1
2.CH.2
130 pgs
Week 3
Monday
Comm. 103
(9-9:50)
Soc 101
(10-11:15)
Tuesday
RWS 101
(10:50-12:05)
PHIL101
(1:30-2:45)
Cultural
Artifact
Outline
Wednesday
Comm.103
(9-9:50)
Soc 101
(10-11:15)
Thursday
RWS 101
(10:50-12:05)
PHIL101
(1:30-2:45)
Friday
Comm.103
(9-9:50)
Saturday
RWS
1.15-19
2.CH.3
PHIL
1.373-386
2.CH 13-14
3.221-225
121 pgs
Sunday
SOC
1.CH.2
COMM
1.CH.3
2.CH.4
Week 4
Monday
Comm. 103
(9-9:50)
Soc 101
(10-11:15)
Quiz
Tuesday
RWS 101
(10:50-12:05)
PHIL101
(1:30-2:45)
Wednesday
Comm.103
(9-9:50)
Soc 101
(10-11:15)
Thursday
RWS 101
(10:50-12:05)
PHIL101
(1:30-2:45)
Friday
Comm.103
(9-9:50)
Saturday
RWS
1.CH4
PHIL
1.80-93
2.493-515
Sunday
SOC
1.CH.3
COMM
1.CH.5
Tuesday
RWS 101
(10:50-12:05)
PHIL101
(1:30-2:45)
Theme 1
Wednesday
Comm.103
(9-9:50)
Soc 101
(10-11:15)
Thursday
RWS 101
(10:50-12:05)
PHIL101
(1:30-2:45)
Friday
Comm.103
(9-9:50)
Cultural
Artifact
Speech
Week 5
Monday
Comm. 103
(9-9:50)
Soc 101
(10-11:15)
115 pgs
Saturday
RWS
1.CH.4
2.136-145
PHIL
1.62-74
101 pgs
Sunday
SOC
1.CH.3
2.CH.4
COMM.
1.CH.6
Romero 69
Week 6
Monday
Comm. 103
(9-9:50)
Soc 101
(10-11:15)
Week 7
Monday
Comm. 103
(9-9:50)
Soc 101
(10-11:15)
Tuesday
RWS 101
(10:50-12:05)
PHIL101
(1:30-2:45)
Theme 2
Wednesday
Comm.103
(9-9:50)
Soc 101
(10-11:15)
Quiz II
Thursday
RWS 101
(10:50-12:05)
PHIL101
(1:30-2:45)
Friday
Comm.103
(9-9:50)
Civic
Engagement
Outline
Tuesday
RWS 101
(10:50-12:05)
PHIL101
(1:30-2:45)
Wednesday
Comm.103
(9-9:50)
Soc 101
(10-11:15)
Thursday
RWS 101
(10:50-12:05)
PHIL101
(1:30-2:45)
Friday
Comm.103
(9-9:50)
Civic
Engagement
Speech
Saturday
RWS
1.CH.5
2.431-437
PHIL
1.109-122
2.625-635
109 pgs
Saturday
RWS
1.CH.6
2.20-32
PHIL
1.636-648
2.48-57
Sunday
SOC
1.CH.4
COMM.
1.CH.7
2.CH.8
Sunday
SOC.
1.CH.5
COMM
1.CH.9
93 pgs
Week 8
Monday
Comm. 103
(9-9:50)
Soc 101
(10-11:15)
Tuesday
RWS 101
(10:50-12:05)
PHIL101
(1:30-2:45)
Theme 3
Wednesday
Comm.103
(9-9:50)
Soc 101
(10-11:15)
Exam
Thursday
RWS 101
(10:50-12:05)
PHIL101
(1:30-2:45)
Midterm
Friday
Comm.103
(9-9:50)
Saturday
RWS
1.396-402
PHIL
1.CH.4
Sunday
SOC.
1.CH.6
COMM
1.CH.10
66 pgs
Week 9
Monday
Comm. 103
(9-9:50)
Soc 101
(10-11:15)
Tuesday
RWS 101
(10:50-12:05)
PHIL101
(1:30-2:45)
Midterm
Wednesday
Comm.103
(9-9:50)
Soc 101
(10-11:15)
Thursday
RWS 101
(10:50-12:05)
PHIL101
(1:30-2:45)
Friday
Comm.103
(9-9:50)
Saturday
RWS
1.CH.7
2.72-75
PHIL
1.403-412
Sunday
SOC.
1.CH.7
COMM
1.CH.11
72 pgs
Week 10
Monday
Comm. 103
(9-9:50)
Soc 101
(10-11:15)
Quiz III
Tuesday
RWS 101
(10:50-12:05)
PHIL101
(1:30-2:45)
Theme 4
Wednesday
Comm.103
(9-9:50)
Soc 101
(10-11:15)
Thursday
RWS 101
(10:50-12:05)
PHIL101
(1:30-2:45)
Friday
Comm.103
(9-9:50)
Saturday
RWS
1.CH.7
2.182-186
PHIL
1.413-428
79 pgs
Sunday
SOC
1.CH.8
COMM
2.CH12
Romero 70
Week 11
Monday
Comm. 103
(9-9:50)
Soc 101
(10-11:15)
Tuesday
RWS 101
(10:50-12:05)
PHIL101
(1:30-2:45)
Theme 5
Wednesday
Comm.103
(9-9:50)
Soc 101
(10-11:15)
Thursday
RWS 101
(10:50-12:05)
PHIL101
(1:30-2:45)
Friday
Comm.103
(9-9:50)
Saturday
RWS
1.346-352
2.179-181
PHIL
1.429-438
2.32-44
Sunday
SOC
1.CH.8
2.CH.9
COMM.
1.CH.13
89 pgs
Week 12
Monday
Comm. 103
(9-9:50)
Soc 101
(10-11:15)
Tuesday
RWS 101
(10:50-12:05)
PHIL101
(1:30-2:45)
Theme 6
Wednesday
Comm.103
(9-9:50)
Soc 101
(10-11:15)
Thursday
RWS 101
(10:50-12:05)
PHIL101
(1:30-2:45)
Friday
Comm.103
(9-9:50)
Saturday
RWS
1.CH.9
2.CH.1-6
3.CH.7-10
PHIL
1.14-29
2.601-613
247 pgs
Sunday
SOC
1.CH.9
2.CH.10
Week 13
Monday
Comm. 103
(9-9:50)
Soc 101
(10-11:15)
Technology
Speech
Outline
Tuesday
Wednesday
Comm.103
(9-9:50)
Soc 101
(10-11:15)
Quiz IV
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
SOC.
1.CH.10
Week 14
Monday
Comm. 103
(9-9:50)
Soc 101
(10-11:15)
Tuesday
RWS 101
(10:50-12:05)
PHIL101
(1:30-2:45)
20 pgs
Wednesday
Comm.103
(9-9:50)
Soc 101
(10-11:15)
Thursday
RWS 101
(10:50-12:05)
PHIL101
(1:30-2:45)
Friday
Comm.103
(9-9:50)
Technology
Speech
Outline
Saturday
RWS
1.CH11-19
PHIL
1.659-676
2.270-308
Sunday
SOC.
1.CH.11
COMM
1.CH.14
2.CH.15
3.CH.16
285 pgs
Week 15
Monday
Comm. 103
(9-9:50)
Soc 101
(10-11:15)
Tuesday
RWS 101
(10:50-12:05)
PHIL101
(1:30-2:45)
Theme 7
Wednesday
Comm.103
(9-9:50)
Soc 101
(10-11:15)
Quiz V
Thursday
RWS 101
(10:50-12:05)
PHIL101
(1:30-2:45)
Friday
Comm.103
(9-9:50)
Saturday
40 pgs
Sunday
SOC.
1.CH.1
2.CH 2
Romero 71
Week 16
Monday
Comm. 103
(9-9:50)
Tuesday
RWS 101
Final
Wednesday
Comm.103
Exam 2
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
PHIL101
FINAL
PAPER
*Does not include surprise quizzes for Philosophy & Communication Classes
*Does not include event for Communication Class the class
*There is a total of 9 Textbooks you will have to buy for the class; and also a clicker for comm. class
Sunday
Romero 72
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Cisneros, S. (1989). The house on mango street. New York: Vintage Contemporaries.
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