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The Urban Review

, Volume 50, Issue 1, pp 45–68 | Cite as

College Readiness Versus College Worthiness: Examining the Role of Principal Beliefs on College Readiness Initiatives in an Urban U.S. High School

  • Christina Convertino
  • Ashley Graboski-Bauer
Article
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Abstract

In light of increasing emphasis on the importance of post-secondary education to personal economic security, there is growing interest to promote college readiness initiatives in high schools, particularly for low-income and minority students for whom the harmful effects of institutional inequities on college readiness is well-documented. Relatively unexplored is whether and how deficit beliefs about these students influence college readiness initiatives. Extant literature establishes that principals play an important role in mediating organizational change and culture. However, there is scant research evaluating how principals’ beliefs may influence their leadership towards reforming college readiness, particularly in regard to creating a college-going culture. This case study provides a critical examination of one principal who engaged in school-wide organizational change to create a college-going culture at an urban U.S. high school serving a high number of low-income and minority students. Discourse analysis revealed that although this principal’s reform efforts were exemplary in many ways, he expressed deficit views of underrepresented students. Findings suggest that reductionist views of minority and low-income students conflict with initiatives to promote equitable college readiness. This case study uncovers a discursive dichotomy significant to examining the intersectionality of principals’ beliefs and college readiness initiatives.

Keywords

College readiness Deficit model Educator beliefs Discourse analysis Principals 
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Notes

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge and thank Drs. Kris Bosworth and Jason Hurwitz for conceptualization and data collection of the initial study. The Smith Endowment funded this study. The authors would also like to thank Dr. David DeMatthews for his thoughtful feedback.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.University of Texas at El PasoEl PasoUSA

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