For urban secondary students, the benefits of attending after-school programs may not be solely academic—rather, their attendance and participation may yield more fundamental development needs. A supportive network of influential and positive mentors can improve urban secondary students learning experience outside of the classroom. Urban secondary students may have access to support and assistance from mentors by attending an after-school program. This qualitative ethnographic study explored the perceptions of tutors working in an after-school program in a large urban school district. This study attempted to understand of the tutors’ motivation for working with students, the support that they provided to the students, and the needs they thought the students have. The data was collected through individual interviews and observations of the tutors during the program. Data was analyzed for common themes to support the research questions. From the interview questions, a total of twelve themes were generated to answer the three research questions. According to the participants interviewed in this study, the interactions with the tutors in the program served as catalysts that promoted student academic success and social development. While the themes originating from the questioned varied, the underlying conclusion of the interview data from this research study is that students take more of an interest in themselves and their academic ability when someone else takes a genuine interest in them and their academic ability.

Thesis advisor: Irwin Blumer / The focus of this dissertation is the student voice in College Bound (CB), a pre-college preparation program at Boston College. College Bound has existed on the Boston College campus for more than twenty years as an academic enrichment and supportive program that benefits urban students from two Boston Public high schools. The two essential questions of the research are "What do students say they learn at CB?" and "What suggestions do students have to improve the CB Program?" Literature about the importance of the student voice in the educational enterprise is reviewed as a means of giving context to the study. Primary data included student surveys (n=29), interviews (n=12), and focus groups (n=3). Other sources utilized included field notes and observations of the researcher as participant-observer, in addition to official College Bound documents. The constant comparative method was used to analyze data from the primary data sources. Data was also analyzed by data type and findings were presented thematically. Major findings included: CB students know a lot of what is going on and do not attend CB as empty vessels, but bring their own knowledge and experience to the CB Program. Students say they learn academic self-discipline, a more focused search for potential colleges to attend, and value their experience attending the CB program on the Boston College campus. Suggestions for improving the CB Program include: creating a regular schedule, re-establishing a community meeting experience, ensuring a consistent connection with their Boston College mentors, and providing more field trips to other colleges and museums. Participating student voices should be encouraged and respected as an important source of information in educational programs that exist to benefit those very students. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2011. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Curriculum and Instruction / Steven Harbstriet / Colleges of agriculture across the country are challenged to produce more graduates in order to meet the increase in employment opportunities in the areas of agriculture, food, and renewable natural resources. To attract students from areas with the most growth, urban communities, this study identified factors such as exposures to agriculture, college factors, and career aspirations that influenced urban students to major in agriculture and enroll in the College of Agriculture at Kansas State University (KSU). The accessible sample consisted of 125 students currently majoring in the College of Agriculture (agriculture students) and 18 students no longer majoring in the College of Agriculture (non-agriculture students) who completed the online questionnaire. Students from both groups were predominately female, non-minority students from the state of Kansas who entered KSU as incoming freshmen. The majors most represented were animal sciences and industry, pre-veterinary medicine, and food science and industry. The mean ACT score for agriculture students was 26.23 and 24.81 for non-agriculture students. For both groups of students, having a relative who worked in a field related to agriculture (grandparents, parent/guardian, aunt and uncle) was influential when they chose their academic major. A higher percentage of agriculture students had a relative who worked in a field related to agriculture or in production agriculture, compared to non-agriculture students. Career opportunities for graduates, hands-on-learning opportunities, friendly atmosphere in the College of Agriculture, visit to campus, quality and reputation of college faculty, availability of academic programs, and affordability of KSU were college factors most influential among the sample of students. Least influential factors were interaction with alumni, agriculture related camps and competitive events on campus, and ability to take online courses. Agriculture students were more influenced by career aspirations specific to career interests, such as working with people and animals, being able to use their creativity, or work with their hands. Non-agriculture students were influenced by broader career aspirations, such as having a job they enjoyed or being able to advance in their career.

Historically, urban high school students encounter socioeconomic, educational, and systematic barriers in pursuit of college acceptance and admissions (VanTassel-Baska and Willis, 1987; Freedle, 2003; Dixon-Roman, Everson, and McArdle, 2013). These same hurdles are ever present for these students in their enrollment in SAT test then the SAT scores. Furthermore, urban students with learning and/or language differences are further disadvantaged by compounding variables of socioeconomics, disability, and access to resources. Given the significance of SAT scores in college admission, it is imperative that disadvantaged students from urban communities are provided proper support, guidance and instruction thought non-profit community organization that serve as college access conduits. This research study examine SAT Verbal prep offered through the Upward Bound program. SAT Verbal was offered through two instructional modes: teacher-led lecture or student-authored multimedia instruction. SAT Verbal instruction type was compared with a small sampling of students enrolled in Dual Enrollment to determine which SAT instruction increased scores beyond exposure to college level coursework. Three different groups were used in this pre-posttest design that utilized a combination of unique randomization and non-randomized group placements (n=101). Pre and posttest were analyzed with ANCOVAs to evaluate mean changes across the groups. Results indicate that students participating in high frequency academic vocabulary CAPs experienced a highly statistically signification casual effect of increasing scores on SAT Composite(p<.00) and SAT Verbal scores (p<.00). These results are even more pronounced in student groups with learning or language differences. Diverse students enrolled in multimedia instruction saw their SAT Composite scores increases (ELL=5.34%, IEP=18.12%) and SAT Verbal scores (ELL-3.67%, IEP 12.88%). These results support use of CAPS to address language, learning, access, and socio-economic issues that hinder urban students from high achievement on SAT, and ultimately college admission. / Special Education

Interpersonal communication practices of teachers have been recognized as having a significant impact on the relational dynamics between teachers and students; however, the specific interpersonal communication practices utilized by teachers of urban students are not well understood. Although teacher-student interactions have been studied for many years, the research has not focused on how confirmation and disconfirmation are perceived in urban classroom environments. Furthermore, minimal research exists regarding how perceived confirmation and disconfirmation impacts urban teacher-student relationships. Using a qualitative approach, this study examines the confirming and disconfirming communication practices of teachers from 4 urban charter high schools. In addition, this study examines how the 22 teacher participants and 26 student participants perceive the communication practices as impacting teacher-student relationships. A finding from the data was respect. Both teachers and students identified respect as being the single most critical factor to building teacher-student relationships. Confirming behaviors like honesty/openness, praise/positive feedback, checking for understanding, and calmly correcting behaviors were identified as having a positive impact on the relationship-building process. Disconfirming behaviors such as disrespect, putting students on the spot, sarcasm, and aggressive tone were identified as hindering the relationship-building process. Descriptions of each theme are provided as well as implications for teacher practice and future research. / Urban Education

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