This study investigates the hopes of a group of Finnish of ninth-graders and how hopeful they are. This study also explores how to teach in a way that promotes hope. The theoretical framework of this study combines two different theories of hope, C. R. Snyder's psychological hope theory and Paulo Freire's philosophy of hope. This study holds that…

In this qualitative study, we examine the experiences of South African multilingual learners and one local teacher after participating in a community-based, digital storytelling project on career dreams. A secondary purpose was to uncover the skills, knowledge, and abilities learners used as they created digital stories that reflected their future…

Every year, nearly 25,000 undocumented students graduate from high school in California; the majority of these students do not go to college, even though most have access to in-state tuition rates and state-based financial aid. This dissertation examines the initial impact of the "Dream Builders Program," a college access program for…

Ineligibility for state financial aid has traditionally limited undocumented students' access to higher education. Since 2013, the California Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act (CA-DREAM) has made state-supported aid available to undocumented college students with demonstrated financial need. We use a difference-in-difference…

This article looks at the American Dream as a merit narrative to understand how it supports barriers to educational success for educators working to improve the lives of students in urban schools. Hard work/perseverance and individualism are interrogated as components of merit narratives used to sustain the American Dream. We analyze data from six…

Despite Latinx students having the second highest rates of dropouts compared with other racial/ethnic groups, few studies qualitatively examine how Latinx youth view the academic and family contexts of leaving school. In this study, 16 Mexican descent youth from low-income backgrounds discussed why they felt pushed out of high school in focus…

This paper will examine the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) executive order by then President Obama in 2012. Special attention will be placed on the impact of this program on higher education as well as the lives of the individuals that it has impacted. Both supporting and opposing views will be presented through relevant court cases…

This study explores the pathways to K-12 Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics instruction among Black/African American males in the Discovery Research Education for African American Men in STEM to Teach (DREAMS to Teach) program at Morehouse College, a Historically Black College and University located in Southwest Atlanta, Georgia.…

Many high school seniors envision walking up the marble steps and entering through the historic arched front door of a stately, column-lined, academic building on the first day of college. Or perhaps the building is a new, state of the art, technology laden, donor-funded building. But, these ideal visions generally do not include waking up early…

Schooling can often function as a structure contributing to the reproduction of an American Dream of material and social success, but it can also reproduce an American nightmare of marginalization. Research studies have noted young men of color populate negative outcomes of academic achievement with trends of low test scores, overrepresentation in…

Researchers at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill teamed up with UnidosUS to explore whether and how our debt-driven higher education system makes it difficult for students to finish a college program or degree. The quantitative research, gathered from more than 1,500 respondents from across the country, offers insight into the primary…

This dissertation aims to illuminate and uncover the experiences of Black students' learning mathematics in rural Appalachia and specifically West Virginia. The focal theory for this study is Critical Race Theory (CRT) which centers the experience of Black students and their voices. The intersection of race, mathematics education, and the context…

Prior research has discussed high school counselors' role in students' experience, but counselors' understandings of their work and of students has received little commentary. We interviewed counselors in a high-poverty, low-performing urban school district in which two structural elements shape how counselors make sense of their work. First,…

An illuminating, in-depth look at competition in suburban high schools with growing numbers of Asian Americans, where white parents are determined to ensure that their children remain at the head of the class. The American suburb conjures an image of picturesque privilege: manicured lawns, quiet streets, and--most important to…

We empirically investigate whether the relationship between the fraction of filled apprenticeships in a particular occupation in the past and the fraction of prospective apprentices having very early intentions to train in this occupation has an impact on the decision to change the intended choice of occupation. We use a unique dataset from…