First Generation College Students

A number of studies conducted in the past fifteen years have concluded that grit, the persistence and perseverance to achieve goals, and growth mindset, the belief that skills and intelligence can be developed, are positive predictors of achievement; however, little focus has been placed on the implications at institutions purposed to educate minorities, first generation college students, and learners from diminished socio-economic backgrounds. The purpose of this paper is to introduce, describe, and document the methods involved in the preparation of a mindset intervention built into a freshmen development course, and established after years of longitudinal research, that is designed to have a positive impact on the outlook, achievement, and persistence of first generation and under-prepared students. A series of models were created, custom self-assessment scales designed, and a lesson plan prepared purposed to deliver a mindset intervention to edify students about and change perce...

This article describes a program that combines meaningful community-based experiential learning for collegiate students with leadership-based mentoring, delivered either face-to-face or virtually, that helps K–12 students see college as an option for their future. The CAMP (Collegiate Achievement Mentoring Program) model is a partnership between institutions of higher education and K–12 schools, in which collegiate student mentors are paired with children in high-poverty K–12 schools to improve leadership and career-readiness skills for collegiate mentors and leadership and college-readiness skills for mentees. The CAMP model has positively impacted the academic and social outcomes of more than 1,500 student mentors and mentees in four states. This article describes the genesis, development, process, and outcomes of the CAMP Osprey program at the University of North Florida as a model for other educational institutions to replicate and adapt to meet the needs of their students. The ...

The research questions guiding this analysis are: (1) How do the formal educational experiences of unauthorized college students affect their postsecondary education goals? (2) How do undocumented students attend college on a daily basis (e.g., transportation, finances, studying, employment, support networks)? (3) What role does social, political, and economic support play in unauthorized students' success in college? The purpose of the analysis is to outline the most significant challenges that undocumented college students face in pursuing a postsecondary education. The intent is to inform a research community about those challenges and suggest future research directions. Research Design: The manuscript begins with an overview of previous research on the topic of undocumented immigrant postsecondary students. The authors discuss three traditional areas in which first-generation, low-socioeconomic-status students encounter difficulties while pursuing a college education-financial obstacles, academic preparation, and perceptions of belonging. The article then considers the challenges these students face by way of a yearlong qualitative study that involved interviews and observations with 40 students and 5 educators knowledgeable about undocumented students. The authors frame these findings within a social capital theoretical framework that helps identify two themes-relationships and finances-concerning how undocumented students' access to social capital can be limited by their immigration status.

When I started my dissertation work on Chicana mother-daughter pedagogies, I was looking for Chicana first-generation college students who considered their mothers to be integral to their educational success. 1 I was interested in documenting the teaching and learning practices of immigrant mothers who had little formal education but had raised high-achieving daughters who were now professors or in doctoral programs. I wanted to disrupt the narrative that Chicana immigrant mothers do not care about their children's education by showing how these mothers envisioned higher education for their daughters, despite never being part of that world themselves. This was my story after all; my mother did not attend college, yet I know that without her, I would not have gone on to pursue higher education. The daughters in my research were all raised in predominantly Latinx working-class communities in Los Angeles, and the mothers were all immigrants from Mexico. 2 They immigrated to escape poverty or abusive relationships, or to support their families financially. When I sat down with the mothers, they all spoke about the substantial role religion played in raising their daughters. Many attributed their daughters' educational success to Dios. 3 The daughters ranged in

A meta-analysis of 35 studies found that social class (socioeconomic status) is related to social integration among students in higher education: Working-class students are less integrated than middle-class students. This relation generalized across students’ gender and year of study, as well as type of social class measure (parental education and parental income). However, type of social integration measure was a significant moderator. In particular, the social subscale of the Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire obtained the largest effect (r = .18, p < .001). Significant effects were also found using measures of the sense of belonging and participation in formal and informal social activities. Future research in this area should use multidimensional measures of social integration and investigate potential mediators of the social class-social integration relation.

The premise of this book is simple: if the chapter writers could go back in time and talk with themselves when they began their studies, what advice would they give? Isn’t hindsight a bonus? Each chapter will offer this hindsight. The chapters will not be their personal stories, but useful lessons learned through their experiences. Those lessons will be offered to aspiring and current graduate students to help ensure that their studies are successful. Chapters contain contributions from a range of academics and academic-practitioners, from those getting established in their careers to those that are more novice and emergent. Its contributors include scholars from many universities throughout the United States. Contributors cover essential aspects of graduate study, such as writing and publishing, relationships with supervisors, utilizing rejection and critique, and becoming a researcher. Contributors write of studying for higher degrees and coping with family, illness, disability, and distance. Culture is bridged between Hispanic scholars and their colleagues in mainstream academia, and international students offer advice to those coming to these shores to study. This volume provides indispensable advice that every graduate student could utilize and follows on from the successful publication of Postgraduate Study in Aotearoa New Zealand: Surviving and Succeeding (McMaster & Murphy, 2014). The US edition will be part of an international ‘survive and succeed’ series currently being produced in Australia, the UK and South Africa.

The college-for-all movement is variously framed as a civil rights issue, an economic imperative, and a requirement for navigating our increasingly globalized society. In response, large urban school districts across the United States have adopted and implemented new policies for graduation that require high school students to complete a college preparatory education. These policies are relatively new, and their impli- cations are just beginning to emerge. As a case of public scholarship, we describe the collective problem-solving process that unfolded over a decade, from 2007 to 2017, as researchers and practitioners in a new K-12 urban public school worked together to expand access to college for traditionally underrepresented students. We describe three practical problems—how to frame, support, and track a college-for-all reform effort—and detail how grappling with these problems locally provides unique insight into the larger college-for-all policy context. In particular, we explore the role of learning supports, status hierarchies, and resources in realizing the college-for-all ideal. We also articulate a fundamental framing tension between social justice as redistribution and recognition and suggest that the notion of parity of participation guide policy and action.

As educators and service providers in urban schools encourage student college going at higher rates than ever, policy and practice on school improvement discourses would benefit from incorporating students' perspectives underlying family-based, college-going dilemmas that frame their college preparation. This qualitative article features the voiced experiences of 11th-grade adolescent boys, one Black and one Latino, from one school, as they grapple with both internal dilemmas (e.g., fear of changing and being distanced from their family) and external dilemmas (e.g., their expected familial commitments) inherent in their college access, success, and graduation. Using a conceptual framework that considers the social, cognitive, and institutional factors influencing their college preparation, this article focuses on social factors and advocates for institutional practices that better meet student needs.

Using social capital theory as a framework, the authors examined data from the Educational Longitudinal Study (ELS: 2002) to examine how student contact with high school counselors about college information and other college-related variables influence students’ college application rates. In addition to some college related variables, the number of school counselors, and student contact were significant predictors of college application rates.  Implications for school counselors and counselor training are included.

Credit momentum policies, or performance-based financial aid policies, have become increasingly popular among policymakers seeking to improve degree completion rates. This paper examines Indiana’s 30-credit-hour completion policy on first-time, full-time students who receive the Twenty-First Century Scholars (TFCS) Promise Program. Using administrative data from the Indiana University’s University Institutional Research and Reporting, representing 7842 low-income students who enrolled shortly before the policy was implemented, I use a difference-in-differences framework to explore the heterogeneous treatment effects of a credit (academic) momentum policy that was supported by the Complete College America 15 to Finish initiative on the academic progression and completion of promise scholarship recipients at Indiana University Bloomington and Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis, compared to non-TFCS Pell recipients from the Fall 2011 cohorts through the Fall 2014 cohorts. I find some evidence to suggest that credit momentum policies are associated with small increases in cumulative credits and grades but had no effect on degree completion status (Year 4 Graduation Status, Year 6 Graduation Status). I also find evidence that TFCS female and first-generation recipients responded positively to the policy change but find no evidence that the policy affects promise recipients differently by race/ethnicity. While consistent with prior work on credit momentum, these findings are among the first to explore the academic performance of college promise recipients. Together, these findings indicate that credit momentum policies may improve academic progression and completion for low-income, first-generation students who receive a promise scholarship. Implications for policy and research are discussed.

Two sources leave telling traces of tensions in Albrecht Dürer's closest personal relationships. One, a letter that Dürer wrote to Willibald Pirckheimer, preserves for us a shocking and intimate exchange between the two men. Dürer sent the missive from Venice in 1506 and dated it "about fourteen days after St. Michael's Day," which places it in the middle of October. lt subsequently remained lost and forgotten for centuries together with other letters and papers behind a secret panel in a Nuremberg house. The subject of the discussion was the artist's wife, Agnes.

What is the impact of social class on college integration? Higher education institutions are becoming more diverse, yet the integration of underprivileged students remains a chal- lenge. Using a social network approach, we analyze the general integration of low socio- economic status (SES) students, as well as how segregated by class these friends are. The object of analysis is the extreme case of an elite university that, based on a government loan program (Ser Pilo Paga), opened its doors to many low-SES students in a very unequal country, Colombia. Using a mixed methods perspective, including a survey, 61 in depth interviews, and ethnographic observation, we analyze friendship networks and their mean- ings, barriers, and facilitators. Contrary to the literature, we find that low-SES students had, on average, the same number of connections and were no more isolated than students from upper social classes. Also, low-SES students’ networks were not more segregated, even if relations with the upper classes were less likely and required more relational work than with middle or lower class friends. This high level of social integration stemmed from the intense relational work that low-SES students engage in, so as to fit in. Middle class friends act as a catalyst that can enable cross-class friendships.

First-generation college students face a number of unique challenges in college. These obstacles may have a dis-parate effect on educational outcomes such as academic achievement. This study presents findings from an analysis of the Baccalaureate & Beyond Longitudinal Study using hierarchical multiple regression techniques to measure the influence of first-generation status on cumulative grade point average (GPA) in college, controlling for pre-college and college variables. Findings suggest that first-generation status is a significant predictor of GPA controlling for an extensive array of background and intervening variables. Initially, background variables accounted for a small but significant proportion of college GPA variance. Final results suggest that first-generation status significantly explains differences in cumulative GPA, accounting for nearly 22% (p < .001) of GPA variance. Findings are congruent with college impact theory and support prior conclusions. Still, a number of important relationships and implications for future research are discussed.

First-generation college students (FGS)—postsecondary students whose parents did not complete college degrees—are a theoretically critical group for understanding social inequality in higher education and processes of social mobility. They are successful in navigating into higher education institutions in spite of a lack of parental experience, and may derive particular benefits from their social origins in terms of motivation and novel sources of support. However, college experiences can prove challenging for FGS due to more limited social and cultural capital. Sociologists have arrived relatively late to the study of this group. I argue that sociological perspectives can add to our understanding of FGS by investigating the ways that first-generation status intersects with other dimensions of identity and experience (race/ethnicity, gender, social class, sexuality, immigration status, etc.). Sociological insight can also further develop understandings of how institutional variation as well as institutional neglect and abuse shape FGS experiences and outcomes.

Recommendations for driving results in college graduate employment and career advancement. While mainly providing broad range ideas and structures, this publication also provides vivid detail and recommendations on how to drive results through organizational structure and methodology.

This dissertation explores one white working-class family’s hopes, fears, illusions, and tensions related to social mobility. I tell stories from my experiences as a first-generation college student, including: ethnographic fieldwork; interviews with my family, community members, and former teachers; and narratives from other working-class academics to provide an in-depth, evocative, and relational look at mobility. I explore the roots of vulnerability in my family and how I was socialized into understanding belonging and worthiness in particular ways, and how this socialization influences my feelings of belonging and worthiness in the academy. The goal of this research is bridging – past and present selves, working-class and academic cultures, work and family – for me and my family and other first-generation students and their families.

A number of studies conducted in the past fifteen years have concluded that grit, the persistence and perseverance to achieve goals, and growth mindset, the belief that skills and intelligence can be developed, are positive predictors of achievement; however, little focus has been placed on the implications at institutions purposed to educate minorities, first generation college students, and learners from diminished socio-economic backgrounds.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce, describe, and document the methods involved in the preparation of a mindset intervention built into a freshmen development course, and established after years of longitudinal research, that is designed to have a positive impact on the outlook, achievement, and persistence of first generation and under-prepared students.

A series of models were created, custom self-assessment scales designed, and a lesson plan prepared purposed to deliver a mindset intervention to edify students about and change perceptions of grit, locus of control/self-efficacy, growth mindset, and goal setting. The mindset intervention, as presented in this paper, was delivered as part of a pilot implementation to students enrolled in a freshmen professional development course at a Mid-Atlantic HBCU in the Fall of 2019.

As the cost of college tuition has increased, policymakers and practitioners have begun to examine the proliferation of college promise programs (i.e., tuition-free grant programs, debt free college programs) across the United States (Perna & Smith, 2020). These initiatives typically aim to lower or eliminate the cost of college attendance and in doing so increase college completion among underrepresented groups: predominantly low-income, first-generation, students of color. While several states and cities have announced or launched promise programs designed to improve college retention and completion, scholars of education policy and practitioners know relatively little about the implications of these initiatives, and whether certain policies or procedures are best suited to specific contexts.

The purpose of this study is to determine what effect a statewide 30-credit hour annual completion policy had on the academic outcomes of college promise program recipients at two 4-year public research universities, Indiana University Bloomington (IUB) and Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis (IUPUI). The policy, which has been emulated in many states, aims to encourage students to take 15 credits per semester (or 30 credits per year) and thereby remain on course to complete a bachelor’s degree in 4 years (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, 2015; Lumina Foundation, 2017; SHEEO, 2008; U.S. Office of the Press Secretary, 2009). While the new legislation adopted in Indiana is an attempt by the Indiana Commission for Higher Education (ICHE) to improve college completion and on-time graduation of students, very few scholar-practitioners, aside from a few within the University of Hawaii system and Complete College America (CCA), have provided evidence that attempting to complete 30 credits per academic year significantly improves academic performance and subsequently, degree completion rates among underrepresented students. This study examines the implementation of and subsequent policy change to the early-commitment college promise program, Indiana Twenty-First Century Scholarship (TFCS) Program.

Using administrative data from the Indiana University’s University Institutional Research and Reporting (UIRR) office, representing 7,842 low-income students who enrolled shortly before and adopt the policy was implemented, this observational study employs a quasi-experimental, difference-in-differences (DiD) approach to explore the impact of the Indiana Code Title 21 (IC-21-12-6-7) (30 credit hour annual completion policy) on students’ academic outcomes. Specifically, this quantitative study examines the heterogenous treatment effects of this policy change on the academic performance (e.g., cumulative credit hours accumulated, cumulative grade point average [GPA], degree completion status) of Indiana TFCS recipients at IUB and IUPUI, compared to non-TFCS Pell recipients from the same time period (Fall 2011 through Fall 2014 cohorts). The study will be guided by the following research questions: (1) Did the 30-credit hour annual completion policy (15 to Finish) achieve its intended effects: increasing credit accumulation, improving student progress and increasing graduation rates? and (2) Are any of the identified policy effects moderated by demographic factors (race, gender, generation) and pre-college characteristics (high school GPA, SAT score)? Does the policy appear to have differential effects for various types of students?

Results suggest that the 30-credit hour annual completion policy showed a positive significant effect on credits and grades but had no effect on degree completion status at IUB (a small town, primarily residential, more selective, flagship research university). In addition, the study found a significant interaction effect for Gender and Generation Status when accounting for pre- and post-policy groups. Specifically, Gender yielded significant interaction effects on TFCS recipient academic outcomes in terms of Year 1 Cumulative Credits, Year 2 Cumulative Credits, and Year 1 Cumulative GPA, suggesting that female students at IUB appear to have significantly benefited from the 30-credit hour annual completion policy. The policy had no interaction effect on low-income, first-generation students enrolled at IUPUI (an urban, primarily nonresidential, moderately selective research university) for both the academic progress continuous variables and the college completion status binary variables. These findings demonstrate that the policy, which was related to a broader, national 15 to Finish initiative did not produce its intended effect, nor did it have any adverse consequences for low-income, first-generation students.

The results of this policy evaluation research have important implications for policymakers, politicians, university administrators, and advanced practitioners who seek to design college promise programs for completion. This research contributes to the empirical literature on state policies aimed at increasing student progression and completion. Moreover, this study extends beyond the CCA’s 15 to Finish initiative and highlight the broader effects of required academic performance policies on student success. The study will inform public debate about and adjustments of the policy and will also highlight several directions for future research.

The author argues that first-generation college students (FGS) have compounded challenges when they pursue graduate education. As a first-generation college student, he was not able to gather advice from family or his job supervisor, who had no experience with graduate school. Drawing from his experience and the existing FGS-related research, the author details practical advice for making a successful transition from college to graduate school. He concludes with a list of essential questions that prospective graduate students should ask themselves and their mentors when considering graduate study.

The chapters in this book reflect a situated analysis of the General College (GC), which is a flexible set of models that co-exist programmatically to support learners from diverse backgrounds who enter college with a variety of academic achievements,social skills,and workforce talents.This book essentially provides a historical look at the college’s foundation with a more contemporary “snapshot”of the college’s theoretical and curricular frameworks from the vantage point of faculty and staff members who write directly about their own classrooms and experiences. The goal of the chapters and ultimately the book collectively is to demonstrate how,as a group,the individual members of the GC professional community work together to provide an educational model that supports the widest range of students possible. This is a highly developed, sophisticated, and somewhat complex approach to undergraduate education as the end goal of all individuals in the college is to move students successfully from GC to their desired major at the University of Minnesota. This includes not only providing success in academic skill development but also success in the social and economic purposes of education, such as developing engaged citizens, socially and culturally aware people, and skilled workforce employees. The notion of the General College presented at this time demonstrates a set of activities and ideas that support student learning in higher education,with an emphasis on drawing upon the expertise of recent theoretical and curricular approaches that provide the best means for transitioning undergraduates,specifically including those who were formerly underserved by their social contexts and educational institutions. The General College includes curricular approaches and theoretical frameworks that reflect a type of programmatic coexistence,a “loosely coupled” system, where various disciplines of the college interact and design
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approaches for their academic content area to embed skill development into their core areas.The educators all share concepts,such as supporting transitions, providing skill development, and preparing student learners for future academic courses and social activities such as work or civic engagement.GC educators address student motivation,skills,cultural awareness, social and academic literacies,and mastery of content areas.They may vary in their theoretical frameworks in terms of how their own courses, outcomes,and assignments are implemented and conceived.As the frameworks are diverse across the GC program, they may overlap or present divergent models for engaging students in the day-to-day activities of GC courses. However,in this diversity,they also complement each other to provide the widest range of supports for students who take the sequence of courses to prepare for their transition to a future major at the university. In other words, the GC model as presented in the examples in this book presents a variety of activities and approaches that,when operating together across the disciplines toward a central mission, complement each other as students move through the program.This is the most innovative approach possible, and the GC program has a historic legacy of providing flexibility and a comprehensive set of courses that best fulfill this mission and GC’s role within the greater university community.

(Purpose) The purpose of this directory was to identify, describe, and evaluate evidence that the education practices improve academic performance, close the achievement gap, and improve persistence towards graduation for low-income, first-generation, and historically-underrepresented 6th grade through college students. (Method) The sample for the directory was derived from TRIO and GEAR UP professionals located in the upper Midwest region that are affiliated with the Educational Opportunity Association (EOA). EOA and the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Minnesota created a clearinghouse to disseminate evidence-based practical activities and approaches to improve success of students who are low-income, first-generation, and historically-underrepresented in education. The administrative and education best practices in this publication have been reviewed and approved by multiple members of an external expert panel of qualified reviewers. Each practice has been approved as promising, validated, or exemplary based on the level of evidence supporting it. The rigorous standards applied during the review process are similar to previous national evaluation efforts by the U.S. Department of Education (Results) The approved education practices of this 353 page directory represent each of the five major federally-funded TRIO and GEAR UP programs: (a) Educational Talent Search, “Emergency Field Trip Contingency Plan”, “Program Policies and Procedures Handbook”, “Peer Coaching Handbook”, “Academic Improvement Plan”, “Middle School Summer Curriculum”, (b) Upward Bound, “Upward Bound Senior College Exploration”, “Study Hall Days at a College Campus”, “Podcasting Academic and Career Counseling”, “Academic Advising Management System”, and “Planning Effective Campus Visits”; (c) Educational Opportunity Centers, “Coaching TRIO Students”, “Right Start to College Seminar for Adults”, and “Post service Assessment Tool”; (d) Disability Services, “Access College Today Program”; (e) Student Support Services, “Creating Global Experiences for College Students”, “Advising Syllabus”, “Integrated Approach to the First Year Experience”, “Horizons Study Abroad Experience”, “Procedures for a Study Abroad Program”, “Evaluation Tools for a Study Abroad Program”, “Integrated Learning Course”, “Tutoring for Students with Disabilities”, and “Tutor Training and Professional Development”; (f) Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement, “McWrite: Developing Scholarly Writing Skills”; and (g) GEAR UP, “High School Financial Literacy Curriculum”. (Implications) Rather than looking to others for solutions, the federally-funded TRIO and GEAR-UP grant programs have the expertise needed to solve vexing problems with student success. These programs are incubators of best education practices that can be implemented elsewhere. Detailed information is provided about the education practice purposes, educational theories that guide it, curriculum outlines, resources needed for implementation, evaluation process, and contact information. Educators need to investigate these education practices to discover effective learning practices that can be adapted and adopted for use in supporting higher student achievement, closing the achievement gap, increasing persistence to graduation, and meeting the needs of culturally-diverse and historically-underrepresented students. (Additional Materials) Appended to the directory are: (1) Profiles of TRIO and GEAR UP Programs with Best Practices; (2) EOA Clearinghouse External Expert Panelists; and (3) Procedures for Evaluation of Submissions to the EOA Clearinghouse.

The file contains 16 chapters which report on collaborations between Illinois community colleges and universities to involve potential students in Early Childhood Education licensure programs.  Edited by Stephanie A. Bernoteit, Johnna C. Darragh Ernst, and Nancy I. Latham.  Published by the Illinois Educational Research Council and Illinois Board of Higher Education.  (creative commons copyright)

In the last decade there has been an increase of research of the Latina educational experience from K – 12 to college. This work has also tapped into the experiences of Latinas in the academy in their roles as faculty and administrators. However, there is still limited work on the process of getting into graduate school (the admission (access) process) and on what the day-to-day graduate school journey for Latinas from across disciplines/colleges looks like. In this paper using Latina/o Critical Race Theory (LatCrit), a branch of Critical Race Theory (CRT) as the theoretical framework is an essential tool that analyzes and teases out the relationship between the author and the institution(s), that is both the public school system and the ivory tower. By using CRT/LatCrit as an analytical lens to reflect on her own educational journey, the author was able to highlight and theorize elements enhancing her cultural identity, sense of belonging, and further understand the role of family in her aspirations and pursuit of a doctoral degree. Thus, this paper explores 1) access and retention in the early schooling years and 2) the challenges faced and successes experienced by Latinas in the undergraduate journey. This paper ends with a discussion of how the lessons learned early on assist in overcoming challenges in order to gain access and navigate graduate school.

First Generation College Students, those from families where neither parent completed more than a high-school education, comprise a diverse and growing group that faces cultural, social and academic challenges both in the university system and after graduation. For over 15 years, the faculty and staff of Texas State University have worked together with students in the First Generation College Student Organization (FGSO) to build developmental relationships that address these issues. Along the way, these activities have been captured in two documentary videos, in which FGSO members describe their experiences, first as students in the 2003 video and then, in 2013, as young professionals. These students have gone on to become teachers, novelists, counselors, performers, small business owners, and international businesswomen. Our presentation will describe the evolution and key strategies of our successful mentoring program and will be accompanied by video clips in which a diverse group of FGSO students reflect on their struggles, challenges, and successes both as first generation students and in their chosen careers, where many have gone on to become mentors themselves.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diem nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut lacreet dolore magna aliguam erat volutpat. Ut wisis enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tution ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis te feugifacilisi. Duis autem dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit au gue duis dolore te feugat nulla facilisi. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci taion ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex en commodo consequat. Duis te feugifacilisi per suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex en commodo consequat. Duis te feugifacilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adip iscing elit, sed diem nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut lacreet dolore magna aliguam erat volutpat. Ut wisis enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tution ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis te feugifacilisi. Duis autem dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit au gue duis dolore te feugat nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diem nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut lacreet dolore magna aliguam erat volutpat. Ut wisis enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tution ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis te feugifacilisi. Duis autem dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praeent luptatum zzril delenit au gue duis dolore te feugat nulla facilisi.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diem nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut lacreet dolore magna aliguam erat volutpat. Ut wisis enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tution ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis te feugifacilisi. Duis autem dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit au gue duis dolore te feugat nulla facilisi. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci taion ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex en commodo consequat. Duis te feugifacilisi per suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex en commodo consequat. Duis te feugifacilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adip iscing elit, sed diem nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut lacreet dolore magna aliguam erat volutpat. Ut wisis enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tution ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis te feugifacilisi. Duis autem dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit au gue duis dolore te feugat nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diem nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut lacreet dolore magna aliguam erat volutpat. Ut wisis enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tution ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis te feugifacilisi. Duis autem dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praeent luptatum zzril delenit au gue duis dolore te feugat nulla facilisi.

AMAE Special Issue: Testimonio as Radical Story-Telling and Creative Resistance. Throughout my life I have come home to Modesto, California more times than my heart can remember; it is my heart that remembers and keeps my hometown ever present. Today, I am an Assistant Professor at the University of San Francisco. Yet, who I am today is profoundly intertwined with the little girl who grew up in the Central Valley as a daughter of working class Mexican immigrants. This is my testimonio—my truth-telling story—of how I learned from the sacrifices my parents made as Mexicano immigrants pursuing a dream of a better life for their children in Central Valley California, and it is the story of learning from my family’s knowledge, strengths, cultural resources, and Community Cultural Wealth.

Abstract
Undergraduate students lack the opportunity and environment to contemplate and develop ecoliteracy skills that serve to integrate subject matter into their everyday experiences. Ecoliteracy is grounded in Capra's web of life theoretical framework and represents students' capacities to read world systems objectively with their head, heart, hands, and spirit. Contemplative pedagogy provides educators with exercises that give students time to reflect on the integration of learning. Ecoliteracy and contemplative pedagogy research has shown little quantitative data pertaining to how contemplative pedagogy affects undergraduate student ecoliteracy. To address that gap, this causal-comparative study measured the use of contemplative pedagogy exercises relative to undergraduate student ecoliteracy. A convenience sample of 150 undergraduate students who did and did not experience contemplative pedagogy exercises completed the New Ecological Paradigm Scale and Self-Compassion Scale Short Form. Independent-samples t tests measured the differences between the 2 groups. Findings indicated that students who did not experience contemplative pedagogy exercises in the classroom were more likely to self-report higher ecoliteracy. A possible interpretation of these findings is that current contemplative pedagogy exercises may focus students' attention internally and not adequately promote the world-centered view that would more readily advance student ecoliteracy skills. Results of this study provide further insight that may inform professional development and contemplative pedagogy exercises that empowers students' ecoliteracy skills by encouraging critical thinking, action, and compassion towards positive social change.

There has been an increase in student enrollment at postsecondary institutions. This change is a result of increased educational access, especially for the unrepresented races such as African American and Hispanic and other minority groups. The increase enrollment has led to an increase in student retention issues (Engle & Tinto, 2008; Hess, Schneider, Carey, & Kelly, 2009; NCES, 2015). The purpose of this study was to identify the key factors that affected retention of first-generation college students. The key factors that were examined were family income and EFC, housing status, academic major, race/ethnicity, gender, the availability of the EOF state funded program and student athletics. This study used Bloomfield College, a small, private, liberal arts four-year institution in New Jersey as the focus of the study. The study was conducted using pre-existing data from the Fall 2009 new student cohort, it then filtered the eligible students into two unique groups: first-generation students and non-first-generation students. The Fall 2009 new student cohort at Bloomfield College enrolled 439 students, of the eligible students that were examined in the study 321 were first-generation students and 100 were non-first-generation students. These two groups of student were examined based on the key factors to better understand why first-generation college students were at risk to be retained from their freshman year until graduation (Laskey & Hetzel, 2011). At the conclusion of the study, it was evident that first-generation students were indeed at risk to be retained in comparison to their peers (Campbell & Campbell, 1997; Engle & Tinto, 2008; Laskey & Hetzel, 2011). The following factors were found to have a significant effect on their retention rate: family income and EFC, commuter students who were unable to reside on campus, academic majors, race/ethnicity, and female students. The other factors that were examined exhibited no statistical significance but students were lost due to those factors. This study of student retention especially of first-generation students will be beneficial for an institution like Bloomfield College because its small size allow for greater attention to detail in trying to improve student retention.

U.S. colleges place a high value on the fulfillment of academic obligations by their students. The academic achievement of each individual student is the institutional priority; this is an individualistic frame of reference. However, many Latino first-generation college students have been raised to prioritize family obligations; their home socialization is collectivistic. Our exploratory study investigated how Latino first-generation college students experience home-school value conflict between family obligation and individual academic achievement during their transition to college. A group interview followed the prompt of a conflict scenario that each group member first responded to in writing. The written responses provide evidence of the prioritization of school or home and the conflict that can arise in making these decisions. The group discussions that followed identified multiple types of home-school conflict and provide insights into how these conflicts are experienced. Conflicts revealed by the data included attending family events or visiting parents versus doing academic work, family assistance versus focusing on academics, allocating money for travel to see family versus allocating money for educational expenses. In turn, these home-school value conflicts were experienced both as lasting over time and as playing a negative role in students’ academic achievement and sense of well-being.

This chapter investigates factors that facilitate postsecondary enrollment for subpopulations of high school students. Students that find themselves at risk and those with parents who have no college experience receive primary consideration.

Community partnerships must build strong support systems inside and outside the classroom to help students complete their postsecondary programs. In an effort to support these collaborations, the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP), supported by Lumina Foundation, developed this tactical guidebook to explain how community sectors work together to ensure that all students succeed in college and go on to high-quality employment. Use this guidebook to learn more about how different communities target supports to underserved student populations to eliminate equity gaps in student retention and success.

To address concerns about student veterans, including lagging BA attainment and troubling drop-out rates, researchers, policy-makers and practitioners would benefit from a more in-depth understanding of the processes student veterans undergo as they transition out of the military and into higher education. This paper synthesizes the literature related to the transition processes and post-secondary experiences of student veterans, nontraditional students, first-generation students, and under-represented minority students in order to identify points of convergence and divergence. These disparate literatures all recognize that the transition to higher education provides additional challenges, relative to the challenges faced by traditional students; however, over the past several decades a growing body of literature points to co-identity organizations – organizations that are centered around one aspect of a student's identity – as one factor that has potential to ease adjustment to higher education. By integrating existing research focused on the groups of students noted above with the burgeoning literature on student veterans, future researchers can conduct more informed research and policy-makers and administrators can be empowered to create more effective policies and programs.

Prior research has demonstrated unequivocally that first-generation college students do not enroll, persist or graduate from four-year institutions at comparable rates as students from more educated families. With almost half (47%) of all students in American higher education as first-generation college students, and with their college attendance, persistence and graduation rates lower than those of their peers from more educated homes, it behooves institutions to pay close attention to this special population of student.

A great deal of research has focused on explaining the reasons behind first- generation college students' decreased college attendance and graduation rates. Much of the research points towards using academic advising as a strategy to assist first- generation college students, but there is a gap in exactly what academic advisors should do to assist first-generation college students. In this study, intensive qualitative interviews with 10 academic advisors who are also first-generation college students themselves, and who can therefore see both sides of the issue, addressed how academic advising can help first-generation college students. Transcripts from interviews, notes from the interviews and documents collected from the participants were coded using thematic analysis to arrive at three major themes.

Main themes from the research were the characteristics associated with being a first-generation college student, the role of an advisor with first-generation college students and the relationship to the conceptual framework for the study, cultural capital model. These themes and attendant subthemes are explored in depth, and the best practices and implications for advisors, institutions and graduate programs are discussed in relation to prior research on first-generation college students and academic advising. Suggestions for further research are also presented.

A Cultural Humility Approach to Digital Storytelling for First-Generation College Students research paper  will explore the impact of a social justice pedagogical curriculum program design for a Digital Story Telling (DST) curriculum program design which involves developing the cultural tradition of storytelling with digital animation to meet the intersecting needs of traditionally-aged (e.g. 18-29 years), First-Generation College Students (FGCS) at San Francisco State University, during their first-year experience, sixteen-week General Education
segment requirement; the DST will be comprised of four-weeks out of a sixteen week first year  experience class (e.g. Humanities 225).  Finally, in  keeping with  Tinto’s (1997) classrooms as communities, the ultimate goal of the DST program is to assess whether the DST program’s effectiveness in improving students’ (1) sense of belonging, (2) perceived social support, and (3) academic self-efficacy (Tinto, p. 1).  From a personal and artistic point of view; I posit that the efficacy of DST praxis illuminates and reframes a student learner’s academic self-efficacy, can foster an awakened spiritual experience when classrooms as communities (Tinto, 1997) are perceived as effective  social support systems, and encourage one to get-out-of-their-head for a bit and follow their  intuition, thus to become consummate musical conductors of their lives. 

Reframing and painting one’s personal and powerful digital story creates an affirming narrative identity through exploring a sense of belonging and by understanding the colorful uniqueness of self.  We are all artists in some manner unique to each of us as humans, especially culturally competent ones, can  support and encourage FGCS to become the Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s (American poet, social  activist) of their own lives.

  Keywords: Cultural Humility, First-Generation College Students, Digital Storytelling, low-income, curriculum design, and higher education.
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Final Draft  and Graded Thesis -  Do not publish - Final Graded Draft Thesis