Racial-ethnic and low-income youth have differential access to key educational resources that promote learning and college readiness. College readiness programs provide activities, resources, and experiences that support learning. Yet little is known about the influence of adults and peers in shaping students' beliefs and expectations as learners.…

Due to its complexity, size, diversity (internal or external) and meanings, it is possible to analyse the city from various points of view, which are, ultimately, references for the construction of knowledge about the urban space, and the logic of apprehension and appropriation used by individuals and organizations in relation to the place they…

The objective of this study was to explore dimensions of oral language and reading and their influence on reading comprehension in a relatively understudied population--adolescent readers in 4th through 10th grades. The current study employed latent variable modeling of decoding fluency, vocabulary, syntax, and reading comprehension so as to…

The purpose of this sequential explanatory mixed methods study was to investigate teacher and peer support for young adolescents' academic motivation, classroom engagement, and school belonging within one large, urban, ethnically diverse middle school. In the initial quantitative phase, associations among aspects of teacher support (autonomy,…

This narrative study is based on stories told by African American adolescents experiencing homelessness. It offers insights into their lived experiences and describes the challenges faced in negotiating the urban education system. African American youth are disproportionately represented in the adolescent homeless demographic. "Unheard and…

This study is a qualitative enquiry into cultural background variables--social support, values, race/ethnicity and economic means--in the process of dance talent development. Seven urban dance students in pre-vocational training, aged 15-19, participated in semi-structured interviews. Interviews were inductively analysed using QSR International…

In an attempt to address perceived shortcomings in traditional content-area literacy preparation, an interdisciplinary group of teacher education faculty developed an approach called "content-driven literacy" (CDL), which was applied to the design of courses to prepare preservice secondary science and social studies teachers. This article…

This article conceptualizes the crucial social and developmental features impacting Mexican-descent youth and adolescents in low-income communities in southern California. All youth in these neighborhoods must confront and come to grips with the many environmental, socioeconomic, racial, and cultural forces they confront. However, it is the…

This qualitative research study identifies protective factors that foster resilience in disconnected youths (ages 16-18) who are participants in Project ReConnect, an alternative education program in New York City. Observations, participant observations, interviews, and focus groups were utilized to collect data from ten participants. Findings…

Explores the implications of literacy instruction aimed at "nourishing conversations" about life experiences in literacy classrooms. Emphasizes the sense that students made of their lives when they were allowed to raise their voices through literacy. Argues that curriculum in which adolescents are encouraged to investigate their life…

Investigating variables associated with the school success and educational resilience of urban youth of color should be a high priority because of the persistent achievement gap in the United States. The current study examined individual and peer factors' relation to the school engagement of 132 seventh- and eighth-grade students from a diverse…

Psychosocial differences between 56 adolescent urban school-based clinic users and 108 nonusers were examined, considering the influence of gender. While a number of gender differences were noted, differences between clinic users and nonusers were limited. Nonusers were rated as more socially withdrawn by their peers. (SLD)

Academic stress was measured in Black and White, middle- and lower-class adolescents in an inner city school. Race differences were observed on four of ten factors with Blacks indicating significantly more pressure. A race by class interaction was revealed for the consequences of academic failure factor. (Author/RD)

This paper examines the problems and needs of inner-city youth and suggests a model educational institution for adolescents residing in urban centers during future decades. Specific problems and needs referred to include biological, psychological, environmental, and socioeconomic, particulary those problems faced by the black adolescent. It is…

Results of analyzing variables impacting the behavior of four ninth-grade poor-achieving tutors and 20 seventh-grade tutees with reading difficulties found that giving tutor points for reinforcing tutee responses was the most important component of the tutoring package for both tutors and tutees. (Author/JDD)