In this book, authors Mandy Savitz-Romer and Suzanne Bouffard focus on the developmental tasks and competencies young people need to develop to plan for and succeed in higher education. These include identity development, articulating aspirations and expectations, forming and maintaining strong peer and adult relationships, motivation and goal-setting, and self-regulatory skills, such as planning.
The authors challenge the predominant approach of giving young people information and leaving it to them to figure out how to apply it. They show how well-intended college-access efforts can miss the mark, for instance, by focusing on students who already see themselves as college material, rather than working to help all students develop a college-going identity. "Ready, Willing, and Able" calls for a new approach: one that emphasizes the key developmental tasks and processes of adolescence and integrates them into existing college-access practices in meaningful ways. Rather than treating young people as passive recipients of services, adults can engage them as active agents in the construction of their own futures.
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ASCA U College Admissions Specialist.