College and Career Readiness of Middle and High School Students in Painesville City Local School District

https://kent-islandora.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/ugresearch/2016/2016all/124/thumbnail.jpgThe purpose of this study is to explore the internal and external supports for college and career readiness among students from Painesville City Local School District (PCLSD). PCLSD is the second largest district with English Language Learners (ELLs) with a four-year graduation rate of 60.5%, which is lower than the state of Ohio average of 81.3%. With a predominantly Latino student population, there is a need for culturally sensitive interventions that explore the barriers and challenges in persevering on to higher education for these students. The evidenced-based career development interventions to increase graduation rates and engage students in learning about their futures by completing career development assessments will be implemented with approximately 1,420 middle and high school students from PCLSD during the academic year 2015-2016. Previous research identifies socioeconomic status, cultural and family values, and school environment as significant factors in determining if Latino students graduate from high school and go on to college. We intend to extend previous research by including a geographic location with fewer resources devoted to the development of Latino students in comparison to majority minority states such as Texas or California. To our knowledge, there have not been any targeted interventions to address college and career readiness implemented in PCLSD to aid Latino students who are also at the 98% poverty level.