Linked Learning & The Transition to College: Challenges and Opportunities

Heather Lattimer

Cherylnn Mason

Alexis Migliaccio

General Background

• Lackluster college graduation rates –• Fewer than 6 in 10 students who enroll in a 4 year college will earn

a degree within 6 years• Only 1 in 8 students who enroll in a 2 year college will successfully

transfer and earn a bachelor’s degree within 6 years

• Significant disparities based on income & background –• 90% of college freshman from top income quartile will earn degree

within 6 years; Only 11% of college freshman from lowest quartile will earn degree within 6 years

• Across all individuals in 18- to 24-year age range, 54% of students from wealthy families earn degrees; 9% of students from poor families earn degrees.

Credit: Anthony P. Carnevale and Jeff Strohl/‘‘Rewarding Strivers.’’ 

General background

• Significant cost and debt increases• Tuition has risen at 5x the rate

of inflation over the past 30 years

• Average student graduates with approx. $30,000 in debt

• Nationally student debt in the U.S. exceeds $1 trillion

Credit: The Economist, December 1, 2012  

General background

• Concerns about college learning• 45% of students made no gains in critical thinking, analytical reasoning, and

communication skills during their first 2 years of college• 36% made no statistically significant gains across all 4 years• “American higher education is characterized by limited or no learning for a

large proportion of students” – Richard Arum & Josipa Roksa, Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses

• College continues to be primary driver of economic mobility & financial stability• Average American adult with college degree earns 2x amount earned by

average adult without a degree• Adults without a degree are 4x as likely to be unemployed• College graduates are happier, healthier, more likely to be married, be engaged

parents, & contribute to their communities.

The study

• 1st generation college students• 68 participants• Wide range of high school & college experiences

• Narrative inquiry approach• High school experiences• College experiences• Transition from high school to college• Family, friends & community• Goals and expectations

• Peer interviewers

Findings: Universal Strengths

• Strong motivation to go to college• Family encouragement• Desire to “give back”

• “College was a definite for me. I think it has a lot to do with my parents not being able to go to school and knowing that I have so many siblings that are going to follow in my footsteps. To show them what success looks like is really important to me.”

• “My parents want me to succeed in life They want me to do the best I can. For my father, he wants me to continue on this path and finish college. For the only one in his family that would, that attempted and probably will finish college. That is the main goal for my parents right now.”

• “My dad didn’t finish high school. He worked from the time he was 17, nonstop, 7 days a week. He knew that if he had at least finished high school a lot more doors would have been open for him. So it was always kind of like drilled into our brains that education is important. I think the majority of the reason I’m here is because of my parents and the majority of the reason I stay here is because of my parents.”

Findings: Universal Challenges

• Poor Advising• “I just haven’t had anyone or met anyone on campus who I feel

some kind of guidance from. I feel like I am on my own.” • “I was on academic probation my first year but no one ever said

anything. My professors could have said something when I was failing tests but no one reached out or tried to help.”

• “I don’t have a mentor. I get the feeling that every student just kind of does their own thing, like they have to mentor themselves.”

• Lack of Community• Uninspiring Teaching• Financial Stress

Findings: Universal Challenges

• Poor Advising• Lack of Community• “In so many of my classes I feel like I’m just a number.” • “It’s really hard. Particularly because everyone else lives together

and as soon as they get here they have a friend. They have a roommate and for me because I am a commuter it was more like I’m just here to go to class. I’m just here to go study in the library. I’m not here to go to the dining hall for dinner and hang out with all of my friends. I feel like I’m having a way different college experience than the people that live here.”

• Uninspiring Teaching• Financial Stress

Findings: Universal Challenges

• Poor Advising• Lack of Community• Uninspiring Teaching• “In college I feel like I’m sitting in a class and I’m learning about

stuff that I don’t feel like I’m ever going to need.” • “I feel like in college there’s a lot of lecture, lecture, lecture and

you don’t really get anything out of it.” • “For my first semester I kept on falling asleep in class. It isn’t that

I wasn’t there to learn. It’s just that I was so bored that I kept on falling asleep.”

• Financial Stress

Findings: Universal Challenges

• Poor Advising• Lack of Community• Uninspiring Teaching• Financial Stress• “Not all the decisions that I’ve made at college have been financial ones

but I can’t say that the money issues haven’t held me back.” • “I was on scholarship but even paying for half of the tuition was really

rough. I had to work two jobs and I would work you know 30 hours a week and go to school full time at the same time. I had no free time at all. That was really rough.”

• “It’s like, you’re going to this school because it has a good name but you are doing the same thing that you would at a community college, which is just commute, go home, not really talk to anyone. It makes me wonder if it is worth the cost.”

Disaggregated Data

• Linked Learning & Similar Schools• Small school environment• Project based learning• Interdisciplinary teaching• Work based learning experiences

Findings: LL Strengths

• Higher Likelihood of Going to College• “I don’t know where I’d be without my teachers and counselors from

high school.”• “I’m not sure I would have made it to college, certainly not a four

year college, if I hadn’t gone to my high school where the teachers really cared about me and really pushed me. When I would hear a teacher say that she was proud of me, and hearing her telling me that like she believed in me, it made me believe in myself and think that I could graduate from high school and go on to college.”

• Strong Community of Support• Greater Individuality• Prepared for Life after College

Findings: LL Strengths

• Higher Likelihood of Going to College• Strong Community of Support• “The relationship between teachers and students… it brought a sense

of community, being such a small place. We learned to work together and really relied on one another.”

• “I would say that one of the highlights of high school would be just the interaction with my friends and teachers. You kind of got to know your teachers more than at an average high school. Just hanging out and being around people who were different but we were all connected and we kept each other accountable.”

• Greater Individuality• Prepared for Life after College

Findings: LL Strengths

• Higher Likelihood of Going to College• Strong Community of Support• Greater Individuality• “I think that my school has such a different way of teaching students that it

really allows for them to kind of discover themselves and I believe that’s how education should be… As you are learning you are learning about yourself as well as the world around you.”

• “I gained a sense of individuality and independence. They really expected you to go out on your own for presentations and internships. I look back and I’m really grateful for that.”

• Prepared for Life after College

Findings: LL Strengths

• Higher Likelihood of Going to College• Strong Community of Support• Greater Individuality• Prepared for Life after College• “The main purpose of my school was not really to prepare you for

college but to prepare you for life.”• “I definitely believe that my high school prepared me for the real world.

In some ways it was more like a work environment than a school environment.”

• “We had projects and internships with deadlines and consequences. It taught me how to work together to solve problems and how to talk to people that may be older than you. It made me more mature and helped me figure out what I want to do with my life.”

Findings: LL Challenges

• Difficulty Transitioning to College• “None of us really did as well as we thought we were going

to do. We had all excelled in high school.”• “I don’t think my first semester was a success. I definitely

struggled. Looking ahead to second semester, I don’t know… I guess I’m scared.”

• Pedagogical Differences• Care & Community

Findings: LL Challenges

• Difficulty Transitioning to College• Pedagogical Differences• “I feel like I’m really fortunate to have gone to my high school, but at the same

time I do sometimes wish I had gone to a more traditional school so that I could have been more prepared to endure college classes.”

• “College professors go so fast with things that I can’t really retain the information as well as I guess some other students are used to because they went to high schools where they were used to having lectures every day.”

• “I didn’t really have the necessary study skills when I got to college. My high school taught me to how to manage projects and interview for internships but I didn’t know as much about taking notes during a lecture or studying for tests. I’m not sure how useful those things will be in real life, but for college it’s important that I know how to use quizlet to make flashcards.”

• Care & Community

Findings: LL Challenges

• Difficulty Transitioning to College• Pedagogical Differences• Care & Community• “In high school, like I said, the teachers really invested their time in you and

really cared about you. So college was a hard transition. In my math class, specifically, the professor made it clear that she did not care whether I failed or I passed.”

• “In high school I was so passionate and driven about anything that we were talking about in the classroom that I just naturally took on this position of being a leader… since coming to college I haven’t seen that side of myself. I’m not involved in any extra-curriculars and there’s not a lot of group work in my courses where I can go into the community and share what I’m learning. So definitely feel like sometimes, where has that side of me gone? The leadership side? Is she still there? Where can I find her? Because I miss her. I miss feeling like I could be a capable leader.”

Youth Voices: In Their Own Words

• Cherlynn Mason – San Diego State University • Alexis Migliaccio – University of San Diego

Discuss

1) What aspects of the student experiences stood out for you? Why?

2) What are the implications…1) For K-12 educators?

2) For colleges and universities?

3) For community service providers?

3) How can the Linked Learning Hub communities work together to build K-16 success for students?