Out of the Mouths of Babes

Focus Group interviews with 31 disadvantaged students in an Early College High School (ECHS) program present insights to students’ experience in the hybrid school, specifically regarding their perceptions of college readiness. Student “voice” in research can yield significant information when examining aspects of school design that potentially support postsecondary preparation. Three constructs of college readiness were investigated: academic preparedness, social preparedness, and personal preparedness. Themes and subthemes that emerged in data analysis include the following: Readiness with subthemes of Academic Assessment, Autonomy, Discipline, Responsibility, and Management of Time; Learning Community with subthemes of Social Acclimation, Corporate Accountability, and Caring Relationships; Identity with subthemes of Anonymity, Transitional Tensions and Triumphs, Scholarly “Self,” and Mirrored Maturity; and Productivity with subthemes of Future Focus and Delayed Gratification. Findings indicate that the ECHS experience supported students’ acclimation to college-level work and significantly affected their collegiate identity.