Federick Ngo (Educational Psychology, Leadership, and Higher Education) on the effectiveness of an embedded counseling and advising intervention for community college students enrolled in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) programs. These students, most of whom were adult newcomer immigrant and refugees, were significantly more likely to return and re-enroll in subsequent ESOL courses if they were enrolled in a course that had embedded counseling and advising services compared to those who did not have this exposure. Since embedded counseling may have helped these students feel more connected to and supported by the college, the results suggest specialized, frequent, and intrusive counselor contact may be critical for the retention and persistence of students in ESOL programs. The study was supported by a grant from the William T. Grant Foundation.
