A Chican@ Pathways Model of Acción: Affirming the Racial, Cultural and Academic Assets of Students, Families, and Communities

Abstract

This article presents our conceptualization, initial creation and implementation of a university-school-community partnership, the Westside Pathways Project. We introduce our work in developing and sustaining this K-16 educational pathways partnership as one way of broadening the affirmative action discussion. By describing a model of acción that addresses college access starting at the earliest educational stage in which students and families interact with public institutions of education, we pivot from traditional notions of affirmative action research. In delineating our partnership, we argue for affirming Chicana/o students culturally and academically while simultaneously taking action to create awareness of and access to higher education across educational settings, with students of varying ages, together with families and community members.