Breakthrough Strategies: Classroom-Based Practices to Support New Majority College Students

by Kathleen A. Ross, Michelle Asha Cooper (Foreword)

Breakthrough Strategies identifies effective strategies that faculty have used to help New Majority students—those from minority, immigrant, or disadvantaged backgrounds—build the necessary skills to succeed in college. As the proportion of New Majority students rises, there is increased attention to helping them gain access to college. Once enrolled, however, these students often face significant challenges of adjustment, with few resources for support. Specifically, there is little attention to students’ experiences within their college classrooms and their relationships with professors. At the same time, faculty who work with these students have little guidance on how to help them adjust to new expectations and identities as they engage with college-level work.
 
Sister Kathleen A. Ross, a MacArthur fellow and president emerita of Heritage University, has devoted three decades to helping New Majority students get college degrees. Based on an action-research project undertaken at Heritage University and Yakima Valley Community College in Washington State, the book highlights eleven strategies to encourage student success, asking questions in class; navigating the syllabus; and developing an academic identity. Written in a warm, down-to-earth voice , Breakthrough Strategies is infused with the belief that faculty can become a powerful resource for students, and that classroom instruction can be an important vehicle for supporting these students’ development and success.
 

240 pages, Paperback

Published December 6, 2016

Reviews

[Tracey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some good stuff on communications and assumptions that professors and students may get wrong about each other. Was vague in spots and felt that sometimes all 1st-gen and non-white students were painted with too broad a brush, but still a good quick read for college faculty.

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Our administration gave us this book to read for faculty development. There were some great tips in here, especially the tips focusing on differences in communication and preparation.

It's a pretty easy read, and it is also easy to pick up and just read the chapters relevant to you.