Five Bridges along Students’ Pathways to College: A Developmental Blueprint of Families, Teachers, Counselors, Mentors, and Peers in the Puente Project

Abstract

What program components might enhance our effectiveness in promoting college access for all students? This article considers five bridges along students’ pathways to college: family involvement, culturally enriched teaching, counseling, mentoring, and peers. Longitudinal case studies of Puente students highlight how these bridges function along Latino students’pathways to their college and career aspirations. Bridges often extended beyond high school to support students’college enrollment, transfer, and retention. A developmental model and prototype database are proposed for both qualitative case studies and variable-based analyses of bridges across students’worlds, family demographics, college and career aspirations, math and English pathways, and college admission and enrollment. Developmental models and longitudinal research can help outreach programs such as Puente strengthen bridges along multiple pathways to college and careers. As these tools advance science, policy, and practices, they can also transformacademic pipelines.