English Learners Access to Postsecondary Education

Neither College nor Career Ready

By (author) Yasuko Kanno

Publication date:

09 September 2021

Publisher

Multilingual Matters

Dimensions:

210x148mm
6x8"

ISBN-13: 9781800413740

Why does a public high school, despite having resources and educators with good intentions, end up graduating English learners (ELs) without preparing them for college and career? This book answers this question through a longitudinal ethnographic case study of a diverse high school in Pennsylvania. The author takes the reader on a journey with seven EL students through their last two years of high school, exploring how and why none of them reached the postsecondary destinations they originally aspired to. This book provides a sobering look into the systemic undereducation of high school ELs and the role of high schools in limiting their postsecondary options.

Kanno provides a complex and nuanced analysis of individual and institutional forces that restrict post-secondary access for multilingual students. Guided by a comprehensive understanding of relevant research and theory, her meticulous fieldwork helps to expose systemic inequities that make clear the need for immediate and sustained change in US secondary schools.