We’re Going
to College!?!?
Working with First Generation
College Bound Girls
and Their Families
National Conference on Girls’ Education
February 2012
Irma L. Rangel YWLS
Magnet school in the Dallas ISD
 Public-Private partnership between
Dallas ISD and Foundation for the
Education of Young Women
 First public school for girls in Texas
 Opened in 2004
 470 girls in grades 6 through 12
 72% of high school students qualify for
free/reduced lunch
 96% underrepresented in college
population
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Irma L. Rangel YWLS
Rated Exemplary by TEA
 U.S. Department of Education
National Blue Ribbon School 2011
 100% of students are college bound
 Class of 2012 is fourth graduating class
* 57% are first-generation
 Students and families served by one
DISD counselor and a full-time
CollegeBound Advisor
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First Generation Defined
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Broad definition: Student whose
parents have not attended
college and/or have not earned a
college degree
Narrow definition: Those
students whose parents’ highest
level of education is a high school
diploma or less
First Generation
Enrollment Statistics
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28% of White students
45% of Black/African-American students
48.5% of Hispanic/Latino students
32.2% of Asian students
35.6% Native American/Alaskan Native students
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)
U.S. Department of Education
2010 report on 2007-2008 post-secondary enrollment
Characteristics
May come from lower income families
 May be from underrepresented backgrounds
 May have parents born outside the United States
 May speak a language other than English at home
 May receive lower scores on standardize
admission exams
 May maintain lower grade point averages than
their non-first generation counterparts
 May not have a support base at home for
understanding the college search and admission
process
 Are more likely to be working while in school
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Factors that affect
their access to college
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Lower levels of academic preparation
Lower educational aspirations
Less knowledge about the college
application process
Fewer resources to pay for college
Less encouragement and support to
attend college, particularly from
Parents
Redefining College
Readiness
Although a rigorous high school
curriculum is essential to postsecondary
success, academic preparation alone does
not guarantee degree completion.
 Define “college knowledge” as a specific
skill set – social, academic and cultural –
necessary for successful transition to
postsecondary education and degree
completion.

Burleson, Hallett & Park, College Knowledge: An Assessment of Urban
Students’ Awareness of College Processes, AACRAO: College & University,
Fall 2008.
Redefining College Readiness
(Burleson, Hallett, Park)
Financial Access
 Involvement and Campus Life
 Relationships
 Time Management
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The Fourth “R” = Resilience
Irma L. Rangel YWLS
The Search for
Sustainable Girls
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They want to achieve and succeed in major ways
unheard of in the past.
In the quest to develop talents and aspirations,
they have carved for themselves a frightening new
territory where there is no concept of enough.
The chance to become everything has become an
impulse to become everything.
Our girls seem to have a mechanism that leaves
them without sufficient boundaries. Girls just
keep adding…and adding…expectations, creating
an endless list of chores and goals.
Anne Pabst, The Search for Sustainable Girls, The Journal of
College Admission, Fall 2010
Symptoms of Girls at Risk
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Fatigue
The need to do more
The constant measuring of themselves
Being easily disappointed in themselves
The need to care for others
The hyper-awareness of parents’ desires
The wistful looking into their past
Devotion to coffee
The passion for appearance, the worry
Anne Pabst, The Search for Sustainable Girls, The Journal of College
Admission, Fall 2010
Parents
Parents often do not have and lack access
to “college knowledge”
 Knowledge limited by their own lack of
experience with the college admission
process
 Knowledge limited by lack of access to key
information sources (i.e. the Internet,
parent-teacher conferences, college
nights) due to barriers such as language or
work/family responsibilities (cannot
afford to miss time from work, cannot
secure childcare or may be single parent)
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From the Rangel archives…
“I need you at home mija!”
2. Return to Mexico with family
3. Conflicting messages and failure to individuate
4. “You are bringing shame to the family!”
5. A question of identity
6. History of poverty
1.
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Many of our students co-parent
Many of our students work to support their families
Students often compared to older siblings, cousins etc. and their
college bound attempts and experiences
Often cannot afford campus visits
May not consider living on campus because of family expectations
and responsibilities
Raising Aspirations
for College
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Connect college to job and career interests
Inform about college and how to pay for it
Help students perceive themselves as
college material
Students need to understand that college
is possible
Be personal and persistent about college
Question isn’t “Am I going to college?” but
“Where am I going to college?”
Navigating the
College Admission Process
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Start early, meet often
Take it step by step
Share information on financial aid
applications and how to pay
Get the family involved
Make connections to the community
Best Practices
Parents
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Share tips on how to communicate with
daughter and idea of what to expect from
her
Utilize resources and speakers from ACT,
College Board, Department of Education,
community based organizations,
university partners
Grade level programming beginning in
middle school
College Bound Super Saturday
Parent University
Best Practices
Parents
Offer meetings during the day, in the evenings
and on weekends
 Provide child care
 Provide bilingual materials
 Printed newsletters and handbooks (supplement
internet presence)
 Get parents on a college campus
 Connect them to veteran alumnae parents
 Connect them to organizations at partner
universities
 Senior Transition Events
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Best Practices
Students
Utilize resources from ACT, College Board,
Department of Education, community based
organizations, university partners
 Grade level programming
(NACAC Guiding the Way to Higher Education)
 Share tips on how to communicate with parents
and idea of what to expect from them
 Develop Advisory Curriculum
 Partner with teachers, Senior Class Advisors
 Pre-College Admission Camp
 College Fairs on and off campus
 Handbooks and organization systems
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Best Practices
Students
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Comprehensive summer camp program
Mentoring Program
Sponsor college campus visit with parent(s)
Senior Transition Events
Alumnae Events & Support
Pair younger students with alumnae
Alumnae Panels and presentations
Alumnae serve as ambassadors for their
colleges/universities
Engage alumnae in college bound activities
Utilize social media to support alumnae
Visit alumnae on their campuses
Connect alumnae to local support
Mother Daughter
Programs
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Offer workshops, open houses, leadership conferences,
summer camps, pairing with undergraduate women
Programs begin as early as 6th grade and continue through
freshman year in college
Mother Daughter Program - University of Texas, El Paso
Hispanic Mother Daughter Program - Arizona State
University
Con Mi Madre – Junior League of Austin
Mother Daughter Academy – Angelo State University
Mother Daughter Program – University of Texas, Pan
American
Mother Daughter Program – Lubbock Betty Anderson
branch of the AAUW
Mother Daughter Program – Knox College
First Generation Students
may experience…
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Culture shock/stress
Confusion regarding what is expected of them as
college students
Family responsibilities that conflict with
academic responsibilities
Lack of family understanding about these
responsibilities
Alienation from family support
Alienation from new campus culture
Frustration with the “system”
Difficulty connecting with professors
Alumnae Stress Points
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Feelings of guilt (leaving family/siblings behind)
Making friends
Getting to know her way around campus
Difficulty accessing resources and connecting to
services
Balancing studying and social scene
Feeling financially “less than”
Course load and different academic assessment
models
Knowing how and when to ask for help
Believing it is okay to ask for help
Easing the Initial Transition to College
“Getting into college is one thing.
It’s actually sticking it through that’s the hard part.”
Prepare students
academically for college
Encourage participation in summer bridge or orientation
programs
Continue support throughout first year of college
Help students acclimate to college environment
Involve parents
Help students manage the financial aspects of college
Tips for First Generation Students
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Get involved on campus
Join a study group
Leave your room and reach out to make friends
Get to know your professors
Locate a diversity advocate
Educate yourself on financial aid options
Educate yourself on campus resources
Tune into how you are doing physically, emotionally,
intellectually, socially and spiritually and take care of
yourself
Seek help when you recognize a problem
Adapted from material published by Marquette University
Conclusions &
Recommendations
Get the message out to ALL students about
college as early as possible
 Partner with colleges/universities,
community based organizations and
state/federally funded pre-college
programs
 Better prepare students for college
through rigorous coursework rich in preAP, AP, IB or dual enrollment
opportunities
 Continue support for students once in
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THANK YOU!
Ann Marano
CollegeBound Advisor
Irma Lerma Rangel
Young Women’s Leadership School
Dallas, Texas
(972) 749-5221
amaranofou@dallasisd.org