ABSTRACT
Important policy conversations are occurring at federal, state, and local levels about how to promote college access, college attendance, and student learning outcomes in postsecondary environments. In a dynamic sociopolitical environment that emphasizes accountability, understanding how students get to college and what they learn in college is a key task for higher education scholars, practitioners, and leaders. Access to resources and college choice is affected by factors such as race, socioeconomic status (SES), and gender (Perez & McDonough, 2008). Other researchers have also found parental involvement in students’ aspirations of attending college and actually enrolling is important (Hossler, Braxton, & Coopersmith, 1989; Hossler, Schmit, & Vesper, 1999; Perna, 2000). This chapter presents a praxis-based collaborative program evaluation model that examines these issues, focusing on the work of the Center for Research on Educational Access and Leadership (C-REAL) and its partners’ and affiliates’ research on a Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) by highlighting the results from two cross-sectional studies. C-REAL and GEAR UP are described later.
