UCLA

Latino newcomers at the secondary and postsecondary levels have received little attention from researchers. This problem extends to notions of college readiness, which assume English fluency and continuous U.S. education. The present study addressed these research gaps through a longitudinal case study of Latino adolescents who arrived in high school. The research questions were:

1. What were the experiences of Latino newcomer immigrant students as they transitioned into U.S. high schools?

2. How did Latino newcomer immigrant students experience postsecondary transitions?

3. How well do existing constructions of college readiness align with the needs of Latino newcomer immigrant students?

Participants attended Southern California high schools in urban and border regions that were part of a pilot demonstration project providing bilingual math and science courses. Primary data sources included postsecondary surveys (n=56), in-depth student interviews (n=21), and district documents. Secondary data included site visit records, student and teacher interviews, student records, and high school student surveys.

A systematic failure to consistently translate and transfer credits for prior schooling resulted in much course repetition when students entered U.S. high schools. Access to mainstream and college preparatory courses varied depending on district- level policies regarding the provision of bilingual college preparatory courses and English learners tracking. Districts requiring a-g course completion to graduate only allowed one year of ELD/ESL coursework to count toward the four-years English graduation requirement, making it difficult for newcomers to graduate.

Two-thirds of students surveyed graduated high school, 83% of whom went on to college. Most (80%) attended community colleges, and were unprepared to take placement exams, and/or challenge test results. Eighty percent of students took remedial courses, and 28% took college ESL. As in high school, many were repeating courses they had taken in high school, or even middle school.

Moving beyond student-centered definitions college readiness to take into account the school and district-level structural conditions that determine access to college readiness for newcomers is essential. Learning skills and techniques, such as help seeking, were of critical importance, but students received little systematic instruction in these areas. College knowledge needs to account for issues specific to community colleges.