The academic progress and success of males of color have begun to capture the attention locally and nationally. Over the past several years research examining males of color and their k-12 to college, pathways have been the subject of conversation and focus of scholars and practitioners alike. This study examines the transition of successful…

What do we mean when we say that a text is relevant to a young person or to a group of young people? And how might a reimagining of relevance, shaped through the voices of young men of color, enhance literacy teaching and learning? Based on case studies of six young Black, Latino, and South Asian men and their reading experiences, this book…

Black and Latino men pay a heavy price for the structural inequities they face, such as higher rates of poverty, incarceration, and unemployment. New York City's Young Men's Initiative, a combination of new programs and policy reforms, seeks to mitigate some of the effects of these inequitable conditions on young men of color. The educational…

Community colleges have an important role in supporting economic opportunity in urban areas. While urban areas generally experience high levels of economic prosperity, especially compared to rural areas, individuals who have not participated in postsecondary education and training face barriers to taking full advantage of the opportunities…

This article revisits questions on the utility of identity in literacy studies. Following a review of the range of conceptions of identity and framings of its uses, we argue that "identity-as-position" is needed as a pragmatic tool in the field of literacy studies, and grounds responsive critical literacy practices. Drawing on a…

Purpose: This article presents a case study of a successful Black male public urban school principal, offering a counterstory to discourses of failure in urban schools. I build on scholars' work in critical caring, the Black principalship, and radical hope to call for an expansion of narrow frameworks of effective school leadership to include an…

Since 2012, the Research Alliance for New York City Schools has been conducting an evaluation of the Expanded Success Initiative, a New York City Department of Education initiative designed to increase college and career readiness among Black and Latino male students. The Expanded Success Initiative provides funding and professional development to…

This study is based on an initiative for increasing college and career readiness for Black and Latino male high school students in New York City. From data that include 58 total hours of participant observations from 24 educators of color, written documentation from culturally relevant education--professional development (CRE-PD) activities, and…

Supplemental Instruction (SI) is a peer-led academic support program in which SI Leaders help students develop study habits and note-taking strategies as well as facilitate test preparation. While the effects of SI on students receiving the instruction have been thoroughly investigated, there have been far fewer studies that have assessed the…

This study provides insights to the school experiences of Latino male students through an exploration of how they describe their beliefs about education and how they engage in school for academic success. Data is drawn from interviews and surveys conducted with Latino males that participated in New York University's Black and Latino Male School…

This article examines how 18 teachers, counselors, administrators, and support staff from seven New York City public high schools collaborated during the Black and Latino Male Professional Development Initiative (a pseudonym) to develop a "culturally relevant, schoolwide, college-going culture" supportive of Black and Latino males'…

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to investigate the factors that contribute to the retention of urban, Hispanic high school male graduates in East Harlem, New York. Originated through the works by W. E. B. Du Bois (1968), Gloria Ladson-Billings (1998) and Derrick Bell (1992) pioneered Critical Race Theory (CRT), which…

The Expanded Success Initiative (ESI) evaluation was designed with two overlapping and interacting components: (1) a study of the initiative's implementation in the participating high schools; and (2) a study of its impact on student experiences and other outcomes. As the document of record evaluating an important, large-scale initiative, this…

The New York City Young Men's Initiative (YMI) is a cross-agency initiative that aims to address the disparities in socioeconomic outcomes between young Black and Latino men and their peers. In support of this vision, the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD) launched a mentoring program in its Cornerstone Community…

"The Expanded Success Initiative: Challenges and Progress in the Pursuit of College and Career Readiness for Black and Latino Young Men" synthesizes findings from the Research Alliance's four-year evaluation of Expanded Success Initiative (ESI). This report, draws on hundreds of interviews and focus groups with ESI school leaders,…