Pathways from Middle School to College: Examining the Impact of an Urban, Precollege Preparation Program

This study is based on a 2-year evaluation of the Pathways Partnership, a precollege preparation program involving one school district, multiple colleges and universities, and several major businesses in a Midwestern metropolitan area. The week-long summer program cultivates youth leadership and the exploration of higher education through various student activities. The program also involves parents in an orientation at the beginning of the week and a graduation ceremony at its culmination, and it sponsors workshops on college choice and access for teachers in the district throughout the academic year. Through quantitative and qualitative methods we conclude that a program like Pathways has a positive effect on the academic self-efficacy and college aspirations of urban youth. Factors useful in predicting the likelihood with which urban middle school students hold postsecondary aspirations include peer norms, parental involvement, and academic self-efficacy. Our study contributes to the need for systematically derived research on precollege preparation programs and their effectiveness, and it also provides data and insights to promote the development of such partnerships in other interested communities.