Accountability and (In)Congruence in a No-Excuses School College-Going Culture

Abstract

This study explores how the college-going culture at a no-excuses charter school with high college enrollment rates shaped students’ worldviews and trajectories. Drawing on 7 months of ethnographic fieldwork, I found that the school boosted college enrollment through student compliance to the college accountability policies rather than through the transmission of dominant cultural resources. Alignment between a student’s worldview and the school’s approach mediated their ability to draw on their full range of resources to participate in the college choice process and forge postsecondary trajectories they believed in. These findings foreshadow the potential impacts of “College for All” accountability structures and underscore the importance of cultural congruence in college-going cultures.

The Postsecondary Future Selves of Black and Latinx Boys: A Case for Cultivating More Expansive Supports in College-Going Schools

“…Metro’s college-going culture mirrored schools with similar foci (e.g., college imagery, messaging, etc. ; Achinstein et al, 2015; Gast, 2022; Noll, 2022). It prided itself on a 100% college acceptance rate, fulfilled through a college-over-everything-else belief system that withheld support from those who pondered vocational paths, the military, or precollege breaks.…”

“…Moreover, since students were steered away from vocational programs, those like Malik and Perdido were rudderless in determining paths to work with their hands. Research has shown the lengths “college-for-all” schools will go to pursue ambitious organizational goals for college acceptances (Noll, 2022). Findings here similarly reveal how Metro prioritized amassing bragging rights at the cost of risking students’ future educational and financial well-being.…”

“…Complicating the Impact of College-Going School Cultures Underscored by a policy push to ensure students are college and careerready (Conley, 2017;Desimone et al, 2019), educators in low-income urban communities often incorporate ''college knowledge'' (e.g., application procedures, academic criteria, and financial aid requirements) into academic courses and school processes (Hooker & Brand, 2010). Educators reinforce such knowledge with ''college-going cultures'' by encouraging college for all students through frequent messaging, signage, decorum, and experiences (e.g., on-campus college visits, field trips; Achinstein et al, 2015;Noll, 2022;Welton & Martinez, 2014).…”

“…Yet within these “college-for-all” schools, scholars also find negative unintended consequences of such intense efforts. In these schools, racially and ethnically marginalized students report clashes between their worldviews and those of their school (Noll, 2022) and describe feeling stressed and fearful of retribution from educators for not meeting college-going expectations (Martinez et al, 2020). In addition, attending college is but one domain of a broader interconnected adult life that drives adolescents to make future choices (Cooper, 2011; Nurmi, 1991; Oyserman, 2015).…”

“…This reality poses risks for jeopardizing the economic and social futures of racially and economically Postsecondary Future Selves marginalized adolescents. Students may uncritically adopt their school's college focus without fully assessing college in light of their other goals (Noll, 2022), risking their time and resources. Supporting Black and Latinx youth in envisioning and planning pathways toward ideal futures-on their own terms-is a paramount social justice issue that this study addresses.…”