Book description
Despite extensive research, policies, and practical efforts to
improve college readiness in the United States, a large proportion of
low-income students remain unprepared to enter and succeed in higher education.
This issue draws on the human ecology theory of Urie Bronfenbrenner
(1917-2005) to offer a fresh perspective that accounts for the
complexity of the interacting personal, organizational, and societal
factors in play. Ecological principles shift the focus to individual
differences in the ways that students engage environments and to the
connections across students' immediate settings and relationships.
Viewing college readiness within an ecological system also reveals
how the settings where development occurs are in turn shaped by more
distant environments. The aspirations and behaviors that affect
students' college preparation originate in opportunities, resources,
and hazards beyond their immediate environments. The ecological lens
illuminates the need for coordinated, comprehensive efforts that
affect students across the various levels of their environment and
provides a framework for advancing college readiness research, policy,
and educational practice.
This is the 5th issue of the 38th volume of the Jossey-Bass series
ASHE Higher Education Report. Each monograph is the
definitive analysis of a tough higher education issue, based on
thorough research of pertinent literature and institutional
experiences. Topics are identified by a national survey. Noted
practitioners and scholars are then commissioned to write the reports,
with experts providing critical reviews of each manuscript before publication.
