Principios Contables Aplicables a los Estados Financieros

The support provided by Gateway to College instructors and staff members is guided by Gate- way to College’s principles of “holistic student support.” These principles include: (1) caring relationships, (2) safe environments, (3) a mindset centered on students’ strengths, (4) an approach focused on finding solutions to students’ problems, and (5) community connections. Like the “Principles of Teaching and Learning,” “holistic student support” may not be known by name to Gateway to College staff members. Thus, the research team took a similar approach here as was taken with the Principles of Teaching and Learning: the semistructured interview proto- cols were designed to explore program staff members’ understanding and implementation of the holistic support principles without mentioning them by name. Like the Principles of Teaching and Learning, the principles of holistic support are generally embodied in interactions among students, instructors, and Resource Specialists.

Sources of Support During the Foundation Term

Particularly during the Foundation term, students in Gateway to College receive support primarily from three sources: Resource Specialists, instructors, and peers. Of these, students mentioned Resource Specialists most often as a source of support. Resource Specialists act as counselors and provide services that include academic guidance and emotional support. When necessary, Resource Specialists also connect students to resources in the community (for example, to address drug and alcohol issues or homelessness). As one Resource Specialist said, “This role has many hats. It’s part counseling, part case management, and part teaching.” The support provided typically takes the form of one-on-one meetings, follow-up calls (particularly if a student has been absent), or informal interactions on campus or during class in cases where the Resource Specialist also teaches a Gateway to College course.6

Instructors also provide support, usually academic support. Students varied in their views of this support. In some cases, students indicated that they did not “feel a bond” with

6_{Resource Specialists may teach Gateway to College courses such as the Student Success course or Career} Development course.

instructors and felt more comfortable talking with Resource Specialists. Other students noted strong connections with instructors. One student noted that he appreciated the support and being treated like an adult: “They communicate with you. If they know you’re behind, they’ll come and talk to you and they’ll let you know and say, ‘Hey, you missed this due date and that’s a zero. But I’ll help you and if you need extra time, let me know beforehand and we can work it out.’” The follow-up survey also suggests Gateway to College students had strong relationships with their teachers and counselors: 79 percent of Gateway students reported talking with an adult at their program site about academic issues at least once in the past year, and doing so in an average of nine meetings over the course of the year; 56 percent of students reported talking to an adult about personal issues at least once in the past year, in an average of four meetings that year.

Finally, all three Gateway to College programs had mechanisms to foster peer-to-peer support. For example, instructors typically asked students to choose an accountability partner. During one classroom observation, an instructor noted that a student was not in class; several students volunteered to call or text the student right away. In focus groups several Gateway to College students mentioned turning to their peers for academic support. However, interviews with instructors indicated that the cohesiveness of cohorts naturally varied — some were simply more “tight-knit” than others. In one interview, an instructor mentioned that “the morning cohort certainly has a sense of family” and that “they’re pretty tight-knit; they look out for each other.” In contrast, this instructor described the afternoon cohort as “a little more separated.” The student follow-up survey found that roughly half of Gateway to College students looked to their peers for academic or personal support at least once per week, but more than one in four said that they had not done so even once in the past year.

Sources of Support During the Transition Term

Once students transition into mainstream community college, by design, Gateway to College staff members provide much less support. The idea is that students should have devel- oped the skills they need to navigate community college and succeed there. However, many Gateway to College staff members have observed that students need additional support after the Foundation term, and expressed concern that it might not be available to them. For example, one instructor worried about how well students would do once they transitioned out of the Foundation term because “they [won’t] have that sense of family anymore.” In response, and as noted earlier in this chapter, all three program sites implemented a Gateway to College course in the transition term in order to maintain a connection to the students. Doing so allows the program sites to “keep tabs” on their students and intervene if, for example, a student has stopped attending classes. It may be helpful to explore the possibility of officially incorporating such support into the model.

Gateway to College study students also often mentioned going back to Resource Spe- cialists for support during the transition term, especially if their community college instructors did not seem approachable. In the transition term students no longer take all of their classes with the same group of peers, which means their peer support is not as strong. However, in focus groups several students reported still being in touch with a handful of other Gateway to College students, and having made new connections with community college students.

As was the case with the Principles of Teaching and Learning, at a broad level all three program sites appeared to be consistently implementing the type of student support prescribed by the model. However, this appearance of consistency may mask certain variations, given the model’s lack of specificity regarding which strategies are acceptable or unacceptable. It may be helpful for the program to work with program sites to develop a range of examples of how “holistic student support” should be implemented. Doing so could help the National Network identify which aspects of the model should be bolstered, and where it should provide targeted technical assistance.