Where the Boys Are: College Readiness Skills MASL 2015 Spring Conference QUIETLY MAKING NOISE Kim Heyl and Laurie Seibel, Librarians Kirkwood High School Kirkwood School District

African American males least likely group to graduate compared to other ethnic/student groups. Two thirds drop out by the end of freshman year (Harper, 2004). Educators need to bridge this gap.

High school predictor of college success – the ability to think critically through the research process (Craney et al., 2011).

To determine research strategies that successful African American male college students possess To compare research strategies to those that high school students currently use

Research Questions What research skills do African American male high school students possess? What research skills do successful African American male college students possess? What are the research skills that African American male students need to learn at the high school level in order to be successful college students?

30 African American males Attended local high school Sophomores, juniors, and seniors

30 successful African American male college sophomores, juniors, and seniors Attended medium-sized, Midwestern suburban private university Earned 2.5 GPA+ based on 4.0 GPA scale after freshman year

High School Students 57% = Associate 31% = Bachelor 19% = Master 8% = Doctorate/equivalent College Students 14% = Associate 21% = Bachelor 18% = Master

High School Students 43% = Associate 19% = Bachelor 19% = Master College Students 52% = Associate 24% = Bachelor 16% = Master

Q

 Mother  Favorite teacher*  Grandmothers  Grandfathers*  Coach*  Father  Minister*  Uncles*  Siblings  Aunts*  Mother  Father  Grandmothers  Siblings  Favorite teacher*  Uncles*  Grandfathers*  Coach*  Aunts*  Minister*

Q

Q

Writing Using Google Citing sources Searching databases Organizing information Researching confidently Instinctive use of Internet (Messineo & DeOllos, 2005) Lack database confidence (Du and Evans, 2001)

Comfortable writing academic papers Comfortable working on research projects Accepted that research is long process Understood plagiarism Knew where to find citation tools

High School Students  Locating articles  Reliable sources  Citing sources Purcell et al. (2012) College Students  Locating articles  Primary documents  Citing sources Salisbury & Karasmanis (2011)

Retrieving information Organizing data Analyzing information Understanding plagiarism Learning appropriate research tools Think critically via research process (Craney et al. 2011) Freshmen lack information literacy skills (Henderson et al.2011)

Influence teaching methodologies & strategies Understand importance of student/teacher relationships and family connections Promote open communication secondary-college Pave way for successful transition to college

 Relationships  ERDD  Parent Book Club

 After school library - minority students  Recognized a need (focus on academics)  Mainly freshmen and sophomores  Tracked # missing assignments on chart  Develop positive habits; provide support  Community project barbershop-books-alvin-irby.html barbershop-books-alvin-irby.html

Connect with great literature Connect with our teens Connect with each other

 Connections  Cost = time  Parents “in the know ”

Teacher Option Readings Freshmen

Required Readings Sophomores

Teacher Option Readings Sophomores

References Craney, C., McKay, T., Mazzeo, A., Morris, J., Prigodich, C., & de Groot, R. (2011). Cross-discipline perceptions of the undergraduate research experience. The Journal of Higher Education, 82(1), Du, J., & Evans, N. (2001). Academic library services support for research information seeking. Australian Academic & Research Libraries, 42(2), Harper, S. (2004). The measure of a man: Conceptualizations of masculinity among high-achieving African American male college students. Berkeley Journal of Sociology, 48, Henderson, F., Nunez-Rodriguez, N., & Casari, W. (2011). Enhancing research skills and information literacy in community college science students. The American Biology Teacher, 73(5), Messineo, M., & DeOllos, L. (2005). Are we assuming too much? Exploring students’ perceptions of their computer competence. College Teaching, 53(2), Purcell, K., Rainie, L., Heaps, A., Bachanan, J., Friedrich, L., Jacklin, A., Chen, C., & Zickuhr, K. (2012, November 1). How teens do research in the digital world? Pew Research Center’s Inernet & American Life Project. Retrieved November 12, 2012 from Salisbury, F., & Karasmanis, S. (2011). Are they ready? Exploring student information literacy skills in the transition from secondary to tertiary education. Australian Academic & Research Libraries, 42(1),

MASL 2015 Spring Conference QUIETLY MAKING NOISE Kim Heyl and Laurie Seibel, Librarians Kirkwood High School Where the Boys Are: College Readiness Skills