Higher Education and Careers

Barriers to College Attainment: Lessons from Chicago

Nagoka, J., Roderick, M. & Coca, V. (2009). Barriers to college attainment: lessons from Chicago. Washington, DC: Center for American Progress

Topics Covered: Higher Education and Careers;

Summary: Several barriers face students as they attempt to bridge the gap between their educational aspirations and college degree attainment: poor academic preparation that undermines minority and low-income students’ access to and performance in college, students’ difficulties in navigating the college enrollment process, and the declining real value of financial aid combined with rising college costs. This paper draws on the findings from a multi-year research project at the Consortium on Chicago School Research, or CCSR, at the University of Chicago that is studying the college qualifications, enrollment, and graduation patterns of Chicago graduates and examining the relationships among high school preparation, support, college choice, and postsecondary outcomes.

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Children in Immigrant Families - The U.S. and 50 States: National Origins, Language, and Early Education

by Child Trends and the Center for Social and Demographic Analysis at SUNY-Albany / Donald Hernandez, Nancy Denton, and Suzanne Macartney

Hernandez, D., Denton, N., and Macartney, S. (2007, April). Child Trends and Children in Immigrant Families - The U.S. and 50 States: National Origins, Language, and Early Education. Albany, NY: Center for Social and Demographic Analysis at SUNY-Albany

Topics Covered: Data (Demographics, Facts, and Figures); Higher Education and Careers; Learning Disabilities and Special Education; Literacy and Reading / Writing Instruction; Literacy and Reading / Writing Instruction; Early (Pre-K);

Tags: Asian ELL Students; Bilingual Instruction; Bilingualism / Biliteracy; Latino ELL Students; Other ELL Students (Middle Eastern, African, European, etc.); Parent Involvement and Outreach / PTA;

Target Population: Preschool

Research Questions the Report Poses: None; instead makes the case that newcomer families and the children within them are, and will continue to be, a significant demographic in American education

Summary: At the time of this report's publishing, children from newcomer families (families with at least one foreign-born parent) account for 20 percent of the nation's schoolchildren. This research brief, whose data is based on the year 2000 census, makes the case that children of newcomer families will continue to make up a significant portion of American schoolchildren, especially since rates of white, non-Hispanic schoolchildren are expected to decline in the coming decades. The report notes that the specific national origin of newcomer families varies widely from state to state. It also makes the assertion that the nearly 50% of children in newcomer families who speak both English and another language well represent a great opportunity to promote bilingualism in the United States. However, the nearly 25% of children in newcomer families who live in linguistically isolated households will continue to pose a challenge for the American education system. The report also cites children from newcomer families going to pre-school with lower prevalence than children from native born families.

Findings:

• 25 percent of children from newcomer families have a parent who was born in the United States.
• Two-thirds of children from newcomer families have parents who have lived in the United States for ten or more years.
• 80% of children from newcomer families are US citizens
• Almost 60% of children have at least one parent who speaks English exclusively or very well
• Three-quarters of children from newcomer families speak English exclusively or very well
• Almost half of newcomer children speak both English and another language fluently or close to fluently
• Approximately a quarter of newcomer children are from linguistically isolated households
• Children from newcomer families going to pre-school with lower prevalence than children from native born families

Policy Recommendations:

• More resources need to be devoted to getting good early education to children from newcomer families
• A re-examination must take place of education policy toward language instruction, especially views of bi-literacy and bilingualism
• Education programs can and should improve outreach to newcomer parents

• Link to Full Report

To order a hard copy of the report, contact:
Child Trends
Bonnie Wahiba
4301 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Suite 350
Washington, DC 20008
E-Mail: bwahiba@childtrends.org
Phone: (202) 572-6136
Fax: (202) 362-8420 (third floor, Suite 350)

Improving Academic Preparation for College: What We Know and How State and Federal Policy Can Help

by Robin Chait & Andrea Venezia. Center for American Progress.

Chait, Robin and Andrea Venezia. (2009). Improving Academic Preparation for College: What We Know and How State and Federal Policy Can Help. Washington, D.C.: Center for American Progress.

Topics Covered: Access, Equity, and Adequacy; Higher Education and Careers; Literacy and Reading / Writing Instruction; Adolescent (7-12); Multicultural Education / Diversity / Culturally-Responsive Inst;

Tags: American Indian ELL Students; Asian ELL Students; Curriculum; Instructional Programs; Latino ELL Students; Other ELL Students (Middle Eastern, African, European, etc.);

Target Population: This article targets the general population, especially those Latino and minority groups in high school or first year in college.

Research Questions the Report Poses: This article raises the question of students' academic preparation to transition from high school to postsecondary education.

Summary: This article discusses students' academic performance during high school to prepare them for college. This article supports current survey results that show that students are interested in pursuing a college degree; however, the transition can be difficult due to their poor academic preparation. In the article, the authors discuss what it has been done now to improve academic preparation and the role of the federal and state policymakers to make a different in students' lives as prospect college students.

Findings:

• Poor academic performance during high school due to poor academic preparation for college can predetermine the failure of students during college.
• Current research shows that to make a different in academic preparation, school administrations and teachers have to create a rigorous academic program that needs to be continuous and based on rich coursework.
• Organizations like Achieve, ACT, and the Education Policy Improvement Center are providing feedbacks for students to better their transition from high school to college.

Policy Recommendations:

• Policymakers should begin to address the importance of academic preparation for students, especially in high school, entering college.
• The federal government should be responsible of distributing and communicating the general public the steps to take to gain greater academic preparation and skills in schools.
• Policymakers should propose and manage the strategies implemented to guarantee the success of the programs.

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To order a hard copy of the report, contact:
Center for American Progress 1333 H Street, NW, 10th Floor, Washington, DC 20005

Perceptions of College Financial Aid Among California Latino Youth

by The Tomas Rivera Policy Institute / Maria Estela Zarate and Harry P. Pachon

Zarate, E.Z., and Pachon, H.P. (2006). Perceptions of College Financial Aid Among California Latino Youth. Tomas Rivera Policy Institute: Los Angeles, CA.

Topics Covered: Higher Education and Careers;

Tags: Latino ELL Students; Rights, Parents; Rights, Students;

Target Population: Post-Secondary

Research Questions the Report Poses: Are Hispanic students well-informed about their financial aid options for higher education? How does knowledge about financial aid affect Hispanic students' choices to pursue higher education?

Summary: Despite surveys and research showing that Hispanic parents and students alike both consider college to be both important and valuable, many Hispanic students do not pursue higher education. This report makes the assertion that if Hispanic students and their parents were better informed about the concepts involved with and procedure surrounding financial aid that more Hispanic students would pursue college.

Findings:

• 98% of respondents in the survey said that they felt it was important to have a college education
• 38% of respondents did not feel the benefits of college outweigh the costs
• Not being able to work and incurring debt were the opportunity costs associated with going to college
• The opportunity costs associated with going to college were not being able to work and incurring debt
• More than 50% of the respondents incorrectly thought students have to be U.S. citizens to apply for college financial aid
• Few respondents could accurately estimate the cost of attending either the University of California or California State University
• Overall, respondents demonstrated a lack of familiarity with government grants for education

Policy Recommendations:

• Students need to be better informed about the "less tangible, but real, social status differences that exist between the college-educated and the non-college educated" so that they feel that the opportunity costs of attending college are worth paying
• Because of misperceptions about how much college actually costs, Latino students may continue to be underrepresented on college campuses. To this end, perceptions must be corrected by presenting students with information about the realistic costs of attending college.
• Latino students need to be better informed about Cal Grants and Pell Grants, as well as other grant and loan opportunities available through state and federal government.
• Students and their parents both need to be educated about the system of college finances, including scholarships, loans, grants, and government guaranteed loans.
• Student perceptions about the significance of legal residency status vs. U.S. citizenship status need to be corrected, especially given the citizenship status of many students' parents

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n/a

The Return to English in a Non-English Speaking Country: Russian Immigrants and Native Israelis in Israel

by Kevin Lang and Erez Siniver/National Bureau of Economic Research

Lang, Kevin and Siniver, Erez, The Return to English in a Non-English Speaking Country: Russian Immigrants and Native Israelis in Israel (August 2006). NBER Working Paper No. W12464.

Topics Covered: About ELLs; Access, Equity, and Adequacy; Data (Demographics, Facts, and Figures); Higher Education and Careers;

Tags: Bilingualism / Biliteracy; Fluency; Language Proficiency; Other ELL Students (Middle Eastern, African, European, etc.);

Target Population: High School, Post-Secondary

Research Questions the Report Poses: What role does English play for Russian immigrants to Israel and Israel natives? How does this role differ?

Summary: The purpose of the study presented is to examine the return to English knowledge by reviewing samples of Russian immigrants and Israeli natives. The importance of such data as cited by the article is 1) due to the high level of press on/about globalization and the importance of foreign language knowledge, 2) that examining the Hebrew acquisition as well as the English acquisition among Russian immigrants to Israel they are addressing the criticism of literature on the role of host-country language acquisition on assimilation, and 3) to contribute to other literature showing language-skill complementarities.

Findings:
Below are the findings as listed in the report (p. 2):

• In cross-section estimates there is a significant return to English knowledge for both immigrants and natives with high levels of education.
• Language acquisition is an important element in immigrant/native earnings convergence, but most of this convergence is explained by factors other language acquisition.
• The results are confirmed using panel data on wages and knowledge of Hebrew and English over time.
• The benefits of English knowledge vary across occupations in ways that are largely consistent with past evidence on language-skill complementarities.
• Natives and immigrants with high levels of education benefit similarly from knowing English. While immigrants with low levels of education do not benefit from knowledge of English, there is some evidence that native Israelis do.
• Conditional on occupation the rate at which immigrants learn English and Hebrew are largely orthogonal. Therefore earlier work on the importance of knowledge of the host country language (Hebrew) does not appear to be significantly biased by the absence of measures of English knowledge.

Policy Recommendations:
N/A

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To order a hard copy of the report, contact:
N/A