Narratives of Early College High School Students
Author | : LaQuesha Foster |
Publisher | : |
Total Pages | : 458 |
Release | : 2018 |
ISBN-10 | : OCLC:1086266920 |
ISBN-13 | : |
Rating | : 4/5 (20 Downloads) |
Book excerpt: Seldom are the experiences of Early College High School (ECHS) students studied while they are simultaneously working towards high school and college completion. Designed to assist with school reform, ECHS programs provide students with equity and educational opportunities that might not be available in a traditional high school setting. ECHS students are studied primarily to learn about ECHS policy or as first-time-in-college students, after they have transferred to a four year-institution or in comparison to other first-time-in-college students (Schlossberg, 2011). The purpose of this narrative study, utilizing Schlossberg's Transition theory, was to address the exploratory question: How do high school students navigate their transition to the community college while participating in an Early College High School program? Unstructured interviews, narrative inquiry, and thematic analysis were used develop stories and find emerging themes to understand the lived experiences of the participants as high school students participating in the ECHS program and to understand their ECHS experience at the community college. Three themes emerged from the data that aligned with Schlossberg's Transition Theory. These themes revealed more about Early College High School students who completed two years at the high school, or the ninth and tenth grade, and have transitioned to the community college to complete their junior and senior years in high school while simultaneously completing up to 60 hours or an associate degree