Absent voices: Intersectionality and first-generation college students with disabilities

College students with disabilities stand at a crossroads when transitioning from high school to college, and yet, are often absent from discussions regarding underserved populations in higher education. This absence is particularly notable in scholarship employing the lens of intersectionality. To address this gap, this qualitative case study employs a strengths-based lens to examine how typically marginalized college students used the strengths of their socially constructed identities as a dynamic force to find keys to academic success

School counselors in action reframing professional development to engage families

Co llege enrollment rates in the U.S. have increased over the last 40 years, yet students from undcrservcd communities remain underrepresented. Families in these communities aspire for their children to go to college, but often lack access to the necessary social capital to transform aspirations for their children into action. Federal 6 initiatives focused on increasing educational attainment for students in underserved comn1tmities emphasize the critically important role of the school counselor. The school counselor is ideally positioned to reduce barriers to family engagement in the college access process. Yet, there is a lack of focused support and professional development resources for school counselors. To gain more in sight into how professional development might improve counselors\u27 abilities to support family engagement in college access, I employed an action-oriented qualitative case study to critically consider how urban school counselors took action to address local educational inequities and engage families as partners in the postsecondary process

School counselors in action reframing professional development to engage families

Co llege enrollment rates in the U.S. have increased over the last 40 years, yet students from undcrservcd communities remain underrepresented. Families in these communities aspire for their children to go to college, but often lack access to the necessary social capital to transform aspirations for their children into action. Federal 6 initiatives focused on increasing educational attainment for students in underserved comn1tmities emphasize the critically important role of the school counselor. The school counselor is ideally positioned to reduce barriers to family engagement in the college access process. Yet, there is a lack of focused support and professional development resources for school counselors. To gain more in sight into how professional development might improve counselors\u27 abilities to support family engagement in college access, I employed an action-oriented qualitative case study to critically consider how urban school counselors took action to address local educational inequities and engage families as partners in the postsecondary process

Scholars in tandem: Finding joy in collaboration to cross paradigms and transform research and practice

The US media abounds with unkind rhetoric brought on by cascading systemic inequities. Many in higher education are calling for scholars to use their collective voice and take action to address these inequities. As critical scholars with a unified social justice lens, we contend that crossing boundaries to collaborate is crucial to addressing the growing social and educational inequities experienced by students and families in underserved communities. In this qualitative paper, we employ scholarly personal narrative to explore how collaborating across research paradigms and cultural differences has broadened our perspectives, advanced our pedagogy, transformed our research, enhanced our practice, and brought joy to our professional lives

Absent voices: Intersectionality and first-generation college students with disabilities

College students with disabilities stand at a crossroads when transitioning from high school to college, and yet, are often absent from discussions regarding underserved populations in higher education. This absence is particularly notable in scholarship employing the lens of intersectionality. To address this gap, this qualitative case study employs a strengths-based lens to examine how typically marginalized college students used the strengths of their socially constructed identities as a dynamic force to find keys to academic success

Empowering parents in the college planning process: An action inquiry case study

Involving parents in the college-planning process is essential to increasing access for students from low-income communities of color. Using the action inquiry model, we explore how collaboration between a school district and a university can empower parents to engage in meaningful conversations and planning related to college access. This qualitative case study draws from 3 years of data gathered from the development and implementation of a college-access program designed for underperforming middle and high school students who would be first-generation college students. Our findings suggest that parents want access to specific information, desire a deeper connection with other parents going through the process, and lack proper knowledge to feel empowered to lead discussions with their children

Creating Opportunities Via Education: A research partnership empowering parents

Parents in the college-planning process is essential to increasing access for students from low-income communities in California. Using the action inquiry model, we explored how collaboration between a school district and a university empowered parents to engage in meaningful conversations and planning related to college access. This qualitative case study drew from three years of data gathered from the development and implementation of a college access program designed for underperforming middle and high school students; however, the partnership evolved over a six year period. In addition to discussing the findings, we will share how the partnership developed between the researchers, school site leaders, district leaders and family leaders. The mostly first-generation students and their families actively participated in conversations about planning for college. Findings suggested that community partners with whom the parents were familiar provided credibility and were essential to the success of the program. Implementing individualized strategies through interactive activities helped students and their families ask questions relevant to their situations. Further, as the strengths of each family were recognized and utilized parents were empowered to become knowledge producers and lead college-planning discussions with their children. The strength of this study lies in the consistency of the partnership with the middle and high school administrators, parents, and students

Reframing professional development: An actionable case study of a collaborative urban school counselor network

While college enrollment rates in the U.S. have increased over the last 40 years students from underserved communities remain underrepresented. Federal initiatives focused on increasing educational attainment for students in underserved communities emphasize the critically important role of the school counselor. Further, the school counselor is ideally positioned to reduce barriers to family engagement in the college access process. However, there is a lack of focused support and professional development resources for school counselors. We employ a qualitative case study to critically consider how a collaborative network of school counselors took action to address local educational inequities and engage families as partners in the postsecondary process

Scholars in tandem: Finding joy in collaboration to cross paradigms and transform research and practice

The US media abounds with unkind rhetoric brought on by cascading systemic inequities. Many in higher education are calling for scholars to use their collective voice and take action to address these inequities. As critical scholars with a unified social justice lens, we contend that crossing boundaries to collaborate is crucial to addressing the growing social and educational inequities experienced by students and families in underserved communities. In this qualitative paper, we employ scholarly personal narrative to explore how collaborating across research paradigms and cultural differences has broadened our perspectives, advanced our pedagogy, transformed our research, enhanced our practice, and brought joy to our professional lives

Creating Opportunities Via Education: A research partnership empowering parents

Parents in the college-planning process is essential to increasing access for students from low-income communities in California. Using the action inquiry model, we explored how collaboration between a school district and a university empowered parents to engage in meaningful conversations and planning related to college access. This qualitative case study drew from three years of data gathered from the development and implementation of a college access program designed for underperforming middle and high school students; however, the partnership evolved over a six year period. In addition to discussing the findings, we will share how the partnership developed between the researchers, school site leaders, district leaders and family leaders. The mostly first-generation students and their families actively participated in conversations about planning for college. Findings suggested that community partners with whom the parents were familiar provided credibility and were essential to the success of the program. Implementing individualized strategies through interactive activities helped students and their families ask questions relevant to their situations. Further, as the strengths of each family were recognized and utilized parents were empowered to become knowledge producers and lead college-planning discussions with their children. The strength of this study lies in the consistency of the partnership with the middle and high school administrators, parents, and students