Overview

How can an understanding of adolescent development inform strategies and practices for supporting first-generation college goers? In Ready, Willing, and Able, Mandy Savitz-Romer and Suzanne Bouffard focus on the developmental tasks and competencies that young people need to develop in order to plan for and succeed in higher education. These include identity development, articulating aspirations and expectations, forming and maintaining strong peer and adult relationships, motivation and goal-setting, and self-regulatory skills, such as planning. The authors challenge the predominant approach of giving young people information and leaving it to them to figure out how to apply it. They show how well-intended college-access efforts can miss the mark—for instance, by focusing on students who already see themselves as college material, rather than working to help all students develop a “college-going identity.” In addition, most college-access programs and practices focus almost exclusively on providing academic preparation and financial support. In Ready, Willing, and Able, Savitz-Romer and Bouffard call for a new approach: one that emphasizes the key developmental tasks and processes of adolescence and integrates them into existing college-access practices in meaningful ways. Rather than treating young people as passive recipients of services, they argue, adults can engage them as active agents in the construction of their own futures.

Full Product Details

9781612501338

Table of Contents

Reviews

This is a persuasive book that should be required reading for those interested in new ways of improving college access. <b>Mark Rohland</b>, <i>Teachers College Record</i>

This is a persuasive book that should be required reading for those interested in new ways of improving college access. Mark Rohland, Teachers College Record

How do we get our kids to and through college? For starters, read this book! For too long we have tried to help our students without understanding the profound developmental changes they are going through. This important work illustrates the complex challenges that adolescents face and offers important strategies and insights to help them flourish. Jeffrey C. Riley, superintendent-receiver, Lawrence (Mass.) Public Schools, and former chief innovation officer, Boston Public Schools

Author Information

Mandy Savitz-Romer is a faculty member and director of the Prevention Science and Practice Program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Suzanne Bouffard is a researcher and writer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Tab Content 6

Countries Available