1. Latino/a English Language Learners: Closing Achievement/Opportunity Gaps to Increase College-Going Rates Presented by Amy Cook, PhD & Rachelle Pérusse, PhD ACA 2011, New Orleans

2. Overview Introduction and Need for Study Purpose Methodology Results Findings and Implications Limitations Next Steps

3. Introduction and Need for Study Disparities in academic persistence (e.g., Alliance for Excellent Education, 2009) Growing number of Latino/a students (U.S. Census Bureau, 2008) Limited research addressing best practices for counselors and psychologists to close achievement and opportunity gaps for ELLs (Albers, Hoffman & Lundahl, 2009)

4. Introduction and Need for Study Barriers to academic achievement ▫Limited academic resources (Flores, 2007; Holcomb- McCoy, 2007) ▫Acculturation issues (e.g., Villalba, Akos, Keeter, & Ames, 2007; MacDonald, 2004) ▫Assessment standards (Lazarin, 2006; Olivos & Quintana de Valladolid, 2005)

5. Purpose of Study: Research Questions Identify school counselor interventions associated with academic achievement and college access among Latino/a ELLs 1.What types of interventions do school counselors implement with and on behalf of Latino/a ELLs? 2.Which types of school counselor interventions are associated with promoting academic achievement and college access among Latino/a ELLs? 3.How do resources within schools play a role in closing the achievement and opportunity gaps among Latino/a ELLs?

6. Methodology Step One: Case Study Analysis (see Cook, under review) Three urban middle school/high school counselors interviewed BPS (both Spanish-speaking; one Latina); Brookline Public Schools (Caucasian, non Spanish-speaking) School Data Analysis: BPS schools under restructure: Brookline high achieving school

7. Methodology-Case Study Analysis Counselors discussed ways to address barriers to academic achievement: ▫Need to use creativity in response to limited resources ▫Address college financing and undocumented immigrants ▫Assist students/families during transition to new school/culture ▫Increase knowledge of Latino/a culture and language Counselor recommendations drawn from interviews, school counselor and teacher educator literature used to develop survey

8. Methodology Step two: Survey study (post-pilot) Randomly* selected list of 1000 school counselors provided by Data Market Retrieval Population Public high school level school counselors in Northeast Worked in urban high schools located in school districts with Latino/a students comprising at least 10% of total school population Procedure Two mailings with post card reminder Four $50 American Express gift cards Response Rate 26.6% (243 returned; 12 not completed; 87 undeliverable) Returned surveys proportionate

9. Methodology-Survey Study Survey Instrument: 5-point Likert-scale questions measured frequency of self- reported interventions with and on behalf of Latino/a ELLs (27 items) Demographic questions Content validation conducted Survey piloted to ascertain factor structure and relability of scales

10. Survey Piloted survey and final survey resulted in 2 factor- structure, using MAP (minimum average partial) and parallel analysis procedures Final survey reliability analysis: ▫College and Career Planning with Students (CCPS scale) Cronbach’s alpha =.892 (7 items) 95% CI = [.869,.912] ▫Consultation with School and Community Stakeholders (CSCS scale) Cronbach’s alpha =.853 (7 items) 95% CI = [.822,.880]

11. Results: Student Demographic Data VariableNMean % Number of Latino/a50 or less4138.0% English language learners51 to 1501917.6% Greater than 1515954.6% Change in Latino/a ELLDecreased76.7% student enrollmentNo change4038.1% Increased 100 or less4432.4% Increased >1002422.9%

12. Results: School Counselor Demographics

14. Results: Achievement Data

15. Research Question One Results What types of interventions do school counselors implement with and on behalf of Latino/a ELLs? Mean Scores of Scales Scale NNo. of ItemsMeanSD_____ CCPS2217*4.08.866 CSCS 2217*2.70.964 ___________________________________________ *Mean difference of 1.34 significant at p <.001 (t = 23.632; df = 220).

16. Research Question One Results What types of interventions do school counselors implement with and on behalf of Latino/a ELLs? ▫Significant mean difference found on CSCS for Spanish fluency Independent Samples t-tests for Fluency in Spanish Scale Mean differencet-scoredfSig. level (2-tailed) CCPS.2201.281152>.05 CSCS.4612.675155.008 ___________________________________________

17. Research Question One Results What types of interventions do school counselors implement with and on behalf of Latino/a ELLs? ▫Significant difference between Latino/a and Caucasian school counselors on CSCS scale Bonferroni Post-hoc Comparisons of CSCS Scale by Race/Ethnicity Race/EthnicityMean scoredf95% CI____ Hispanic/Latino/a2.96*3, 120[2.65, 3.28] Caucasian/white2.33*3, 120[2.13, 2.52] _____________________________________________________ *Mean score difference on CSCS scale of.630 is significant (p =.003). Note: Mean differences for CCPS scale across racial/ethnic groups not significant

18. Research Question One Results What types of interventions do school counselors implement with and on behalf of Latino/a ELLs? ▫Significant mean differences on both scales for professional membership Bonferroni Post-hoc Comparisons for Professional Membership on CCPS Paired ComparisonsMean differenceSig. level (2-tailed) No membership with 4 or more.950.002 memberships _____________________________________________________________________ Bonferroni Post-hoc Comparisons for Professional Membership on CSCS Paired ComparisonsMean differenceSig. level (2-tailed) No membership with 4 or more1.07.001 memberships 1 membership with 4 or more.990.004 memberships _____________________________________________________________________

19. Research Question One Results What types of interventions do school counselors implement with and on behalf of Latino/a ELLs? ▫No significant mean differences on scales taking into account years of experience One-way ANOVAs of CCPS and CSCS Scales on School Counselor Years of Experience ScaleF-scoredfSig. level (2-tailed) CCPS2.6604, 192.050* CSCS1.7434, 192>.05 _____________________________________________ *Bonferroni post-hoc comparisons of mean differences across the 4 groups on the CCPS scale were not significant at p <.0125. Note: Neither scale correlated with reported achievement data

20. Research Question Two Results Which types of school counselor interventions are associated with promoting academic achievement and college access among Latino/a ELLs? ▫CCPS scale low positive correlation with reported plans to attend 4-year college (r =.204; p =.038; n = 104) ▫Neither scale correlated with dropout and graduation rates (p >.05) ▫CCPS and CSCS together did not predict dropout and graduation rates (F(2, 57) = 2.195; p >.05 and (F(2, 115) = 1.158; p >.05, respectively)

21. Research Question Two Results Which types of school counselor interventions are associated with promoting academic achievement and college access among Latino/a ELLs? ▫Correlation matrix of individual items from CCPS and CSCS scale vis-à-vis achievement data Item 5 (Provide Latino/a ELL students the opportunity to participate in SAT preparation programs) low positive correlation with going on to receive a high school diploma (r =.187; p =.035) Item 9 (Collaborate with teachers to highlight Latino/a ELL student achievements through school-wide newsletters, bulletin boards, announcements, etc.) moderate positive correlation with receiving a high school diploma (r =.472; p =.009)

22. Research Question Two Results Which types of school counselor interventions are associated with promoting academic achievement and college access among Latino/a ELLs? ▫Correlation matrix of individual items from CCPS and CSCS scale vis-à-vis achievement data Item 12 (Encourage Latino/a ELL students interested in going to college to take a college course while attending high school) moderate positive correlation with receiving a high school diploma (r =.403; p =.027) Item 14 (Collaborate with teachers to run classroom guidance lessons for Latino/a ELL students that focus on academic achievement) low positive correlation with plans to attend a 4- year college (r =.234; p =.015)

23. Research Question Two Results Which types of school counselor interventions are associated with promoting academic achievement and college access among Latino/a ELLs? ▫Correlation matrix of individual items from CCPS and CSCS scale vis-à-vis achievement data Item 18 (Organize workshops for Latino/a ELL parents/guardians to discuss future career and educational opportunities for students) moderate positive correlation with receiving a high school diploma and plans to attend a 4-year college (r =.384; p =.036 and r =.482; p =.007, respectively) Item 20 (Encourage Latino/a parents/guardians representative of various professions to come speak to Latino/a students) moderate positive correlation with plans to attend a 2-year college (r =.425; p =.021)

24. Research Question Three Results How do resources within schools play a role in closing the achievement and opportunity gaps among Latino/a ELLs? ▫Significant percent mean differences found for resources variable Independent Samples T-tests for Resources and Achievement Data Achievement data%Mean diffNt-scoreSig. level HS Diploma14.9%782.584.012 Dropout rate8.5%612.721.008 College acceptance1.8%67.347>.05 _______________________________________________

25. Research Question Three Results How do resources within schools play a role in closing the achievement and opportunity gaps among Latino/a ELLs? ▫School counselor to student ratio not correlated to achievement data ▫No significant mean differences found for bilingual education variable and achievement data

26. Research Question Three Results How do resources within schools play a role in closing the achievement and opportunity gaps among Latino/a ELLs? ▫Common resources school counselors reported:  ESL classes; Sheltered English Immersion (SEI) classes; bilingual counselors and teachers; materials printed and distributed in Spanish; financial aid workshops in Spanish; ELL department; tutoring and after school programs; mentoring programs; orientation programs; Latino club and activities; and community partnerships

27. Findings and Implications Findings support literature and making unique contribution ▫Need for school counselors to take a leadership role (ASCA, 2005; Education Trust, n.d.) ▫Collaborate with multiple school and community stakeholders to promote academic success  Including students, teachers, parents, and community members (e.g., Militello, Carey, Dimmitt, & Schweid, 2008)

28. Findings and Implications Findings support literature ▫Importance of adequate resources (Flores, 2007) ▫Need for Latino/a educators and counselors (Lopez, 2011; MacDonald, 2004) ▫Staying abreast with changes in field (College Board, 2007) ▫Ongoing multicultural competency with Latinos/as (Eckenrod-Green & Culbreth, 2008)

29. Findings and Implications Adds to literature: ▫Incorporates outcomes-based data to promote academic achievement ▫Identifies interventions school counselors engage in on behalf of Latino/a ELLs ▫Identifies specific activities moderately correlated with closing achievement gap

30. Limitations Low response rate Inability to generalize findings Item interpretation Potential for variability across participants Confounding variables not accounted for, such as SES High-achieving schools Length of stay in U.S. Parent education Self-reported data Propensity for socially-desirable responses

31. Recommendations for Future Research Conduct research with all school and community stakeholders to promote academic achievement Interview Latino/a school counselors to learn more about their work with Latino/a ELLs Implement outcomes-based interventions in schools Examine and integrate equity-focused school counselor interventions across all grade levels