The Underserved Third: How Our Educational Structures Populate an Educational Underclass

Abstract

In this article, we present multiple assertions relevant to the plight of students who are underserved and structurally positioned to transition out of school unable to access labor market rewards. First, we juxtapose economic realities against collective ideologies about the role of education in creating opportunities for individuals. Second, we discuss conceptual understandings of “tracking” with a particular focus on the role of subbaccalaureate education in the tracking and transition process. Third, we propose to dismantle dichotomous notions of “career” and “college” preparation to expand opportunities for underserved students and reduce inequities by preparing all students for both college and work options simultaneously.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

A portion of this work was supported by a Spencer Foundation Residential Fellowship for the first author, as well as a Travel Grant from the Spencer Foundation for both authors.

Notes

¹The astounding rate of departure from college that accompanies our high rates of enrollment cannot be ignored. Currently, only two states award more than 20 degrees per 100 students at community colleges, and only eight states award more than 20 degrees per 100 students at public four-year colleges (National Center for Higher Education Management Systems, 2007).

²We acknowledge recent research showing higher levels of degree completion and intergenerational mobility when students are followed for up to 30 years (Attewell & Lavin, 2007), but our framework focuses on more immediate trajectories.

³This echoes the work of Russell Rumberger and others, who found that as early as three decades ago, educational attainment far outpaced skill demands in the labor market (e.g., Rumberger, 1981).

⁴The legislation also emphasized nontraditional gender pathways to work and the targeting of special populations (i.e., disabled students and minorities).

⁵Although not every U.S. high school offers comprehensive CTE programs, most offer some, and the majority of high school students take at least one CTE course (DeLuca, Plank, & Estacion, 2006; Levesque, Lauen, Teitelbaum, Alt, & Librera, 2000; National Center for Education Statistics, 2001).

⁶See Cohen and Besharov (2004) and Castellano et al. (2003) for comprehensive reviews.

⁷However, small sample sizes and nonrepresentative data sources make it hard to reach causal interpretations (see Castellano et al., 2003, for a review).

⁸Twice as many students applied to the program than they were able to serve, which allowed 1,063 students to be assigned to the program group and 889 students to be assigned to the control group who were not able to enroll in the academies. Site selections were not random, but the student selection was random.

⁹See http://www.sreb.org/Programs/HSTW/HSTWIndex.asp.

¹⁰We note, however, that the evaluations of HSTW were not done with randomized experiments or any other methods that might approximate a counterfactual design. Therefore, the results are still to be taken as suggestive associations. The HSTW group has recently convened a series of 15 state-level forums mean to foster collaboration between secondary and postsecondary education systems and to forge successful transitions from high school to college and careers (Bottoms & Young, 2008). The recommendations come from the feedback of educators and policymakers and include suggestions about how to strengthen the connection between high school coursework and labor market transitions and emphasize the importance of preparing students for both college and career readiness.

¹¹Valentine et al. (2009) described the postsecondary transition points at which marginalized students might falter and examined the efficacy of programs meant to facilitate these transitions for at-risk youth. Most of the programs they analyzed tried to assist with the transition into and first two years of a four-year college, rather than programs focused on transitions through community college or occupational education. Owing to weak research designs, the effectiveness of such support programs in helping at-risk youth make connections to postsecondary opportunities in school and work remains unknown.