High School to College Transition: A Mixed Methods Approach to Improve Student Understanding of College Readiness

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a college-themed, inquiry-based curricular intervention on student perceptions of college readiness among high school students in a Freshman English Language Arts class who had been classified by school personnel as at-risk of graduating from high school. A mixed methods approach was selected as a means of capturing student college-going narratives that emerged from qualitative and quantitative pre-and post-intervention data. This study builds on prior research on perceptions of college readiness. Twenty high school freshmen in an at-risk English I class took a pre-intervention survey of their perceptions of college readiness. Following a college-themed curricular intervention, students completed a post-intervention survey on their perceptions of college readiness. Individual student narratives were collected from six students after the intervention. Quantitative data from pre-and post-intervention surveys were analyzed using a paired t-test. Personal interview data were recorded into thought segments, coded, and analyzed for trends. Analyzing both qualitative and quantitative data showed a change in student perceptions of college readiness following curricular intervention. Results from the study could shape future instructional intervention as part of high school-based comprehensive college readiness programs