To challenge deficit thinking concerning immigrants and refugees in urban schools, we engaged members of local immigrant and refugee communities from China, Mexico, Liberia, and Sudan in focus group discussions about their prior educational experiences, their hopes and aspirations for education, and the supports and challenges they encountered in…

INFLUENCES WHICH HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS PERCEIVE AS AFFECTING THEIR OCCUPATIONAL AND EDUCATIONAL ASPIRATIONS WERE INVESTIGATED. GROUP-ADMINISTERED INTERVIEW SCHEDULES WERE COMPLETED BY 1,068 SENIORS IN 12 HIGH SCHOOLS BASICALLY ATTENDED BY WHITE STUDENTS AND 11 HIGH SCHOOLS PREDOMINANTLY ATTENDED BY NEGRO STUDENTS. DIFFERENCES IN PERCEPTIONS WERE…

Focuses on the academic decision making of several female African Americans in a rural southern (primarily African-American) town by considering their personal school experiences and their interpretations of the value of education in their community contexts. Preliminary findings show many contradictions between educational beliefs and actual…

Interviews with four African-American recent high school students in a predominantly black rural North Carolina town focus on the individual's perceptions of society with regard to definitions and decisions about education. It is evident that school is regarded differently by those who graduate and those who drop out. (SLD)