This ethnographic study explores the complex influence of family members on the educational aspirations of a group of diverse immigrants and refugees in New York State. Although families fostered high educational aspirations in participants, experiences of economic precarity, high-stakes exams, and downward mobility constrained youths' capacity to…

Upon transition to higher education, Latinas face obstacles including cultural stereotypes, limited financial resources, racist campus climates, family responsibilities, being first generation college students, and cultural incongruities. Despite obstacles, Latinas exhibit college aspirations and goals. This article centers Latinas' messages…

A growing body of research shows that school-based mentoring programs can be a flexible and cost-effective way to improve student outcomes. Effective mentoring programs create close bonds between students and caring adults, providing students with an important source of emotional support. This study tests the effects of a new model--whole…

The authors explore how individual and familial factors predict educational and career aspirations, plans, and vocational outcome expectations of urban, Chinese immigrant youths. Participants were 265 Chinese immigrant high school students in New York City. The results indicated that higher self-reported English language fluency and career-related…

Building on recent research, ICF sought to explore how socioeconomic status and attachment to place influence rural youths' educational and residential preferences across a wider geographic region. Our research questions included: What are rural high school students' educational and residential plans? And what factors influence rural youths' plans…

The Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) is a rapidly expanding network of public charter schools whose mission is to improve the education of low-income children. As of the 2012-2013 school year, 125 KIPP schools are in operation in 20 different states and the District of Columbia (DC). Ultimately, KIPP's goal is to prepare students to enroll and…

In 2007, New York City's Center for Economic Opportunity launched Opportunity NYC-Family Rewards, an experimental, privately funded, conditional cash transfer (CCT) program to help families break the cycle of poverty. Family Rewards provided payments to low-income families in six of the city's poorest communities for achieving specific goals…

In 2007, New York City's Center for Economic Opportunity launched Opportunity NYC-Family Rewards, an experimental, privately funded, conditional cash transfer (CCT) program to help families break the cycle of poverty. Family Rewards provided payments to low-income families in six of the city's poorest communities for achieving specific goals…

This report provides information about the performance of 2010 graduating seniors who took the ACT as sophomores, juniors, or seniors; and self-reported at the time of testing that they were scheduled to graduate in 2010 and tested under standard time conditions. This report focuses on: (1) Performance: student test performance in the context of…

Background/Context: Although progress has been made since members of the Conference on College Composition and Communication passed the Students' Right to Their Own Language resolution (1974), there still remains a demand to examine youth perceptions of language. Such examinations can help teachers and researchers improve curricular choices, honor…

We examine the prediction of individuals' educational and occupational success at age 48 from contextual and personal variables assessed during their middle childhood and late adolescence. We focus particularly on the predictive role of the parents' educational level during middle childhood, controlling for other indices of socioeconomic status…

Child-only cases, minors who receive welfare benefits as individuals, lose their eligibility at age 18 but face the same challenges to self-sufficiency as other "emerging adults." This study examines how 59 youth in 4 New York State communities thought about and prepared for the termination of their benefits. In 8 focus groups and 12…

This report provides information about the performance of 2009 graduating seniors who took the ACT as sophomores, juniors, or seniors; and self-reported at the time of testing that they were scheduled to graduate in 2009 and tested under standard time conditions. This report focuses on: (1) Performance: student test performance in the context of…

The Rural Education Advisory Committee, established in 1990 by the New York State Legislative Commission on Rural Resources, was asked to identify and disseminate information on raising the aspirations and increasing educational opportunities for rural students. An examination of effective rural New York school districts led to identification of…

A total of 1,341 male and female students enrolled at a private women's college, a moderately-sized comprehensive college, an agricultural-technical college, and a small comprehensive college were surveyed to determine demographic and descriptive data, career choices, plans for labor force participation, and perceptions of counseling services.…