Referrals, Collaborative Actions, and Norm-Setting Practices: How College Access Programs Partner with High Schools

Purpose: Schoolwide college access programs are becoming increasingly ubiquitous in high schools across the country. Research on their effectiveness in improving college-going rates is inconclusive, prompting scholars to question how programs affect practices in schools. To better understand how schools and college access programs work in partnership to expand college advising resources, we study the practices of high schools partnered with a national college access program. Research Methods/Approach: We conducted case studies of two schools, interviewing 118 teachers, staff, parents, students, and program partners over 2 years of data collection. Using the concept of school social capital—the cognitive, material, and social resources that schools derive from their partnership with other organizations—we examined the different ways that school staff interact and collaborate with college access partner staff. Findings: We find that partnerships can help schools become more extensive brokers of college knowledge and advice by engaging in three practices: referrals, collaborative actions, and norm-setting practices. When engaged in collaboration and norm-setting, staff roles expand to include the provision of college advising services and contribute to increasing student access to advising schoolwide. We further find that school leadership plays a significant role in facilitating the types of practices that emerge from college access partnerships. Implications: Although college access partnerships can give rise to multiple advising agents in a school, such effects must be fostered. The alignment of values and goals between partners appears necessary to facilitate brokering practices between staff, as well as leadership to sanction those practices.