Many low-income young people of color living in cities today face great adversity and the resiliency of the cities they live in is being challenged on many fronts: violence, poverty, gentrification, and homelessness as well as the threat of global climate change. The predicament is that, despite their enthusiasm and innate intelligence on the…

As the population of Latinx students grows in U.S. public schools and our nation seeks to address systemic inequities, racism, and xenophobia, this counternarrative provides inspiration to those wishing to reinvigorate schools and build a more caring and just world. "Authentic Cariño" documents the innovative practices, successes, and…

Using data from a multi-year study of eleven low-performing high schools, Cooper and Davis examine the academic aspirations and motivations of urban African American high school students in California. Situating their discussion within the context of neoliberalism and its manifestation in urban school reform and community cohesion, the authors…

In their own words, 50 students in two Los Angeles area schools reveal their feelings about litter, graffiti, and the appearance of their schools. The analysis includes a discussion of the research in environmental psychology as it pertains to overcrowding, noise and pollution, design and appearance, and their effects on productivity. Excerpts of…

Urban African American teens are unprepared to compete for jobs in the global marketplace, but higher education professionals could partner with parents to reverse this trend. After reviewing parent involvement literature, this paper shares findings from a study of urban African American parents involved in their children's outreach programs. It…

This module provides a set of quantitative snapshots of the Community Science Workshops (CSWs) to complement the other reports that comprise the CSW Evaluation Portfolio--the Description of CSWs, the Benefits to Youth, and the Evaluation Brief modules--and to build a solid representation of the scope and scale of the CSW's work and…

In this paper we articulate an alternative approach to look at video games and learning to become a creator and contributor in the digital culture. Previous discussions have focused mostly on playing games and learning. Here, we discuss game making approaches and their benefits for illuminating game preferences and learning both software design…

In this important resource, Dr. Fleming (a noted expert in the field of minority retention) draws on educational evaluations she has developed in the course of her distinguished career. This book analyzes the common factors and the role institutional characteristics play in minority student retention to show what really works in increasing…

The people at Inverness Research Associates spent 12 years studying Community Science Workshops (CSW) in California and in six other states. They gathered statistics on the scale, scope, and cost-efficiency of CSW services to youth. They observed youth at work in the shops--taking apart computers, repairing bikes, growing plants, and so on--and…

Critiques the ways problems confronting black males are framed and acted on, focusing on the role of race and gender in the development of interventions. Drawing on research at an urban California high school, the article presents recommendations for programs aimed at the needs of black males that avoid marginalizing those targeted. (SLD)

Explores policy development in the area of youth violence prevention, using the experience of the California Violence Prevention Initiative, a five-year effort of community action programs, policy, and research, and leadership development. The interests that were served, and the interests that should be served, are discussed. (SLD)

Break the Cycle is a private, nonprofit organization that seeks to end domestic violence by working proactively with youth. Founded in 1996, it includes a preventive education and outreach program, a legal services program, and a peer leadership program. All three programs focus exclusively on youth aged 12-22 years. In 2000, Centers for Disease…

This paper examines the mentoring of African American youth, critiques the accepted theoretical basis for most programs, and offers an alternative framework. Following an introduction in section 1, section 2 describes conventional mentoring and contains two case studies of programs in the San Francisco Bay Area (California). A key finding of the…

The experiences of the first middle school to pilot the ideas and concepts of the Accelerated Schools Project are described. The school is an inner-city public school with a population of at-risk students presently scoring below district and state achievement averages. The 689 students are 53 percent Hispanic, 23 percent Portuguese, 17 percent…