Blazing New Trails - Connexions

176 CRITICAL ISSUES IN PROMOTING ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT
organizational skills through programs, such as, A++ and Guaranteed 4.0 were also helpful in
addressing the challenge.
Parent involvement. In a rural area where many parents had not attended college,
helping to ensure that all parents received information on ways to navigate the path to college
posed difficulties. Teachers described this challenge by stating:
It’s a challenge to get some of the parents involved in college preparation because they
don’t understand the process and are afraid of it.
Getting parents involved is difficult. Some parents seem to come for sporting events,
but they don’t show the same level of interest for academic concerns.
Some parents are working multiple jobs and have difficulty attending meetings at the
school.
GEAR UP newsletters with college information were mailed to parents’ homes. Personal calls
and outreach to parents were provided. Information meetings were set for various times and
included Spanish translators, when needed.
Meeting students’ needs. In a school with over five hundred students in a class,
providing the necessary follow-up for all students presented a challenge. GEAR UP
coordinators explained, “I think one of our challenges is that we are the largest school in the
area and are addressing a large group of students.”
In order to meet individual student’s needs, the campus focused on the students with
specific needs. The other partner schools also have identified students for targeted services in
order to provide outreach and support. Advisory groups were formed to personalize the large
high school. Personal outreach to the students and personal conversations and meetings that
were conducted in Spanish for parents were ways that students were encouraged to pursue
rigorous courses. All students also took ACCUPLACER or THEA to qualify for community
college courses. If students can attain college credit while in high school, they can be
encouraged to persist. Native Spanish speakers were also given the opportunity to take AP
Spanish to earn college credits.
CONCLUSION
A clear focus on the goals, student support and outreach through locally designed
interventions, professional development, high expectations, interventions to demystify
college, and parent outreach were the primary factors in these schools' success in increasing
students’ participation in advanced level courses. Lessons learned of ways to overcome the
challenges of student motivation, student preparation, parent involvement and meeting
students’ needs were shared. The study has implications for the preparation of future
administrators in identifying practices and processes that can increase student participation
and success in advanced level courses.
For students to be prepared for postsecondary education and careers in the 21st
century within our global economy, promoting greater participation and success in rigorous
courses by increased numbers of students, particularly those often underrepresented in
advanced level courses, is an important leadership role for school principals. This study
provided examples of ways that school leaders can foster conditions that promote high
academic achievement for all students and increase students’ participation and success in
rigorous courses, important goals for leaders in today’s schools.