Unchartered: How One Public High School Transformed First Generation College Success

Exploring innovative partnerships at an under-resourced urban school, this narrative reveals how educators, researchers, and students reimagine public education through creative shifts in curriculum and community engagement. Their approach opens college pathways and builds resilience for first-generation youth. A powerful exploration of what is possible when educators, researchers, and students collaborate to reimagine public education. In Unchartered, Erika M. Kitzmiller draws from an innovative partnership at an under-resourced urban public school to reveal how it defied the odds to dramatically increase the success of first-generation college-bound youth. Through compelling storytelling and rigorous research, this book offers hope—and actionable strategies—for educators and leaders determined to expand opportunity and equity. Rooted in a five-year, research-driven collaboration, this work takes readers inside the process that made real change possible. Rather than prescribing one-size-fits-all solutions, the book showcases how small but significant shifts in schoolwide structures and classroom instruction created lasting impact. Readers will discover how youth-driven inquiry, expanded course offerings, purposeful college seminars, and robust partnerships with community organizations dismantled barriers to college access and promoted resiliency in college. Kitzmiller highlights the crucial role of student agency, teacher leadership, and community engagement in building multiple pathways to postsecondary success—especially for students who have traditionally been underserved. Unchartered is an invitation for K–12 leaders and policymakers to rethink reform and recognize the strengths already present in their schools. At a time when public education faces mounting challenges, especially competition from charter schools, this work offers practical insights, inspiration, and a call to action. This book is essential reading for anyone seeking to foster meaningful, student-centered change in American high schools.