Fostering College Access along the Education Pipeline for Students of Color

Previous studies have established a gap in the level of academic research resources available to schools with high populations of Students of Color (Oakes, 2004; Rogers, et al., 2010). Schools with high percentage of African American and Latina/o students are overcrowded, lack qualified teachers, and "are more likely to have shortages of college preparation teachers and advanced placement classes" (Rogers, et al., 2010, p. 7). A lack of resources contributes to Students of Color having limited access to college preparation curricula and college information (Oakes, et al., 2006; Zarate & Gallimore, 2005). Therefore, our team engaged in three projects, all focused on college access for Students of Color in the Inland Empire. The first was a community-based autoethnographic study, the second was writing a manuscript that examined college choices nationwide, and the third was developing a manuscript that researched the access to college guidance for community college students. Our SRP began with engaging in a community-based autoethnograpic project that aimed to support students in their critical transitions from elementary school to middle school and as incoming high school seniors. The project culminated in developing a college-going curriculum tailored for fifth grade and twelfth grade students aim to equip student participants with the knowledge to navigate a college-going pathway. The second project entailed developing a journal manuscript from descriptive quantitative data to examine college choices nationwide, disaggregated by race, gender, and state. The third project used semi-structured interviews to examine the access to college guidance for Latina/o/x community college students.