Creating College-Going Culture in Middle School Through Youth Participatory Action Research^1,2: Unity for Change, Believe in Us!

The purpose of this chapter is to describe the student-led middle school youth participatory action research projects that were undertaken to increase college-going climate. The ABC model guided this work with a focus on assets, bicultural/bilingualism and the educational continuum that surrounds middle school. Two middle schools participated in these activities. Youth participatory action research techniques were utilized for student-led campaigns to increase school-level college-going culture. Students engaged in participatory dialogue, student-led survey research, and action-based school-wide campaigns via messaging (videos, posters, and t-shirts). The youth-led survey findings demonstrate that the majority of youth aspire to finish high school and go to college. However, few students believe that their peers will succeed in their educational and professional goals. Findings show that students may not see college as reality due to lack of resource and lack of role models to guide them through attaining a successful academic track. Throughout the project, youth identified the need for schools and teachers to support college-going culture across the entire school, and they felt particularly strong about not quitting on the peers who were not performing well in school because they wanted better education for all students.