This qualitative study explores how second-generation immigrant (SGI) college seniors experience and navigate their final year of college. Drawing on Schlossberg's theory of transitions, we analyze in-depth interviews with 34 SGI seniors. Emergent themes include: (a) perceptions of the senior-year transition, (b) challenges finding and using…

Aspirations predict students' trajectories, and knowledge of how youth develop and achieve goals is crucial to supporting success. However, rural students may encounter constraining conditions that can curtail their aspirations, and students of color often face institutional barriers that impact their postsecondary pathways. Guided by theories…

This study examines how first-generation, low-income college students make meaning of their career development process during their first year of college. Photovoice was employed to collect visual data and accompanying narrative texts providing a rich data set created by students during their transition to college. Four findings emerged from this…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions Latino eighth grade students have of school and schooling factors as they transition to high school and the factors that may influence their self-perceived likelihood of graduating from high school. Middle schools are poised to help Latino students prepare themselves for a smoother…

This article examines the emancipation program of a residential/day school for students with emotional/behavioral disorders. Although interviews with seven students (ages 17-18) indicate their perceptions of the process of emancipation were fairly positive, they expressed a detached sense of reality when asked about their futures. Comprehensive…

This document contains 24 papers. Keynote addresses were given on the topics of autonomy for deaf adolescents and parent-adolescent dialogue. A section titled "Demographic Profiles of Deaf Adolescents in America" compares students in special schools with mainstreamed students. A section on "Family Intervention and Parent…

"Minding the Gap" argues that in today's highly competitive, global economy, all young people need a postsecondary education. Yet only one in ten students from the lowest economic quintile in the United States currently earns a postsecondary credential. This timely and instructive book from Jobs for the Future explores policies and…

This book presents a collection of papers by educators and researchers who discuss various methods of improving minority student achievement. The 19 chapters highlight the achievement of students from kindergarten through college as follows: (1) "Discrepancies between Aspirations and Preparation of Low SES Elementary Students" (Dianne L.…