Posts

Youth in foster care need more support in transition to college

By Eshonteé Rowe, Youth Today Going through the foster care system isn’t easy, but what happens to youth as they begin to transition into life outside foster care? Many conversations come up about turning 18 and plans for after graduation, but they are typically just conversations if the youth doesn’t have the appropriate adult supporters […]

How disadvantaged students manage to get to and through college

Meloy, M., Curtis, K., Tucker, S., Previ, B., Storrod, M. L., Gordon, G., … Delacruz, M. (2018). Surviving All the Way to College: Pathways Out of One of America’s Most Crime Ridden Cities. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260518789899 Summarized by Jeremy Astesano Notes of Interest: What helps someone be resilient to the many difficulties they […]

These tools help coach college youth aged out of foster care to develop relationships

By Yvonne Unrau, Youth Today What does it take to engage students who age out of foster care into supportive relationships on the college campus? It helps to understand that relationships formed with supportive adults, such as caseworkers, foster parents, guardians ad litem and other professionals, while in foster care can change frequently for youth, […]

Complicated lives, complicated excuses

by Jean Rhodes I maintain an email file of the student excuses I’ve received in my 20 years as a professor at UMass Boston. Some are predictable for college students, “I spilled coke on my computer and it turned off and won’t come back on,” or “This is embarrassing but I was several pages into […]

PBS NewsHour: Why first-generation students need mentors who get them

PBS’ September 20, 2016, podcast of their NewsHour series tackled the importance of mentors to first-generation college students. To access the podcast, click here. You can find the transcript of the essay from novelist Jennine Capo Crucet below, as well.   GWEN IFILL: We close with an essay. Novelist Jennine Capo Crucet grew up in […]

It’s not what you know….: The case for a networked approach to mentoring

by Jean Rhodes According to a recent Gallup poll  successful college students have one important thing in common–they all had one or more teachers who were mentors who took an interest in their hopes and dreams.  “We think it’s a big deal” where we go to college,” Gallup’s Brandon Busteed told the New York Times. But […]

Shine a light on it: Talking about class differences with first-gen students helps them succeed

By Clifton B. Parker, Stanford Talking about class differences can help close the collegiate achievement gap between first- and continuing-generation students, according to Stanford research. Research has shown that first-generation college students – those who do not have a parent with a college degree – often lag behind other students in grades and graduation rates. […]

What first-gen college students want and how mentors can help provide it

Written by Emily Deruy, The Atlantic As policymakers and educators debate how to help high-schoolers from all backgrounds get to and through college, young people’s ideas about the support they need to succeed are sometimes left out of the discussion. Yet conversations with students who are the first in their families to pursue higher education […]

Guiding a first generation to college: Where do mentors fit in?

By Tina Rosenberg, New York Times   In the first of two articles addressing the transition of first-generation college students from high school graduation to higher education, New York Times writer Tina Rosenberg highlights some of the issues facing low-income and low-resource students in New York City.   “[Students’] assumptions that [their] only options were […]

Quality Mentoring Connections Are Linked to Improved Student Transition to College

Lenz, S. (2014). Mediating effects of relationships with mentors on college adjustment. Journal of College Counseling. Summarized by Jessica Cunningham, B.A., Research Associate, Center for Evidence-Based Mentoring Background: It is a known, albeit unfortunate, fact that a percentage of students enrolling in college will not complete their degrees. Indeed, the U.S. Department of Education has […]