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Show Notes

• Nilka offers an overview of the educational “achievement gap” between major ethnic groups in the United States. And according to the 2010 census, Hispanic students have the lowest rate of attaining college degrees among those groups, at just 19 percent nationally and 17 percent in Texas.

• Nilka stresses that all high school staff – from teachers and counselors to administrators and secretaries – must be responsible for communicating college-readiness information to students on their campuses.

• Nilka refutes the oft-used refrain that “college is not for everybody.” She recounts her experience administering at a school where college-going expectations were set for all students and an array of services were provided to help meet that goal.

• Nilka talks about the use of goal setting and inquiry in the classroom – asking deep questions, communicating with expression, trying things out, collaborating – to strengthen critical thinking and college-readiness competencies in students.

• Nilka and Aurelio explain the critical role parents can play by being as persistent and resilient in supporting their children’s intellectual development as they are in providing food and clothing