Out-of-school programs can offer personalized and meaningful learning experiences that deepen students' knowledge and cater to their passions and interests, but it has been a painful reality that many such programs have been available only to students and families with privilege and resources. Karen Hammerness, Anna MacPherson, Preeti Gupta,…

This report reviews national and international research on widening participation and access programmes to find out which methods are most likely to help disadvantaged pupils get into higher education. Analysis of existing research in the United States and United Kingdom suggests that summer schools, tutoring, and mentoring are among five methods…

A passion to ensure the educational and life success of all children, particularly young African American men, has propelled my work for all of my professional life. Although following one's passion can make for a fulfilling life, passion is not enough to create a successful and sustainable nonprofit organization. Like many leaders in the…

Internships are an effective way of connecting high school students in a meaningful manner to the sciences. Disadvantaged minorities have fewer opportunities to participate in internships, and are underrepresented in both science, technology, engineering, and mathematics majors and careers. We have developed a Summer Academic Research Experience…

Described is a 4-year model of a Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Program (GEAR UP) offered to 294 academically and economically disadvantaged students and their parents during in- and out-of-school time activities through partnerships forged with school personnel and community-based agencies. In an urban high school where…

Describes a summer job placement program which recruits, trains, and counsels minority youth with the goal of helping them find and maintain meaningful employment. (PCB)

The Quantum Opportunities Program (QOP) is an innovative 4-year year-round pilot program that provides learning opportunities, development opportunities, service opportunities, and summer jobs to small groups of youth from families receiving public assistance. In 1994, the Ford Foundation commissioned an evaluation of the QOP. Between 1989 and…

This Program Focus discusses the strategies of the Beacon Community Center Program (the Beacons), the history of its crime prevention programs, and general operations. It focuses on the activities of one particular program, Red Hook in Brooklyn (New York City), before analyzing the Beacons' potential for preventing crime. A core concept of the…

In 1963 Catholic leaders in New York (New York) began the Higher Achievement Program (HAP), a high-school based, 6-week college preparatory program for boys from low-income families that takes place in the summer after seventh grade. Academic study in the morning is followed by athletics, field trips, and other social or artistic activities in the…

Energy Express is a summer reading and nutrition program for disadvantaged young children in 80 rural West Virginia communities. College student/AmeriCorps mentors support childrens' literacy by creating a print-rich environment, using a place-based curriculum, and providing activities, including a community service project. Two case studies…

This report describes the role of a mentor of young people and a summer program providing mentors for high school students. For two summers, with the help of the Commonwealth Fund, several hundred young New Yorkers were chosen from among high school juniors with little hope of finding a summer job to enroll in a program sponsored by Hunter College…

This paper proposes a cooperative program between Pennsylvania State University (PSU) and Erie (Pennsylvania) Public Schools to encourage at-risk secondary school students to stay in school and aspire to a college education. The program involves the staged implementaiton of the following components: (1) an after-school "academy" to…