University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

Social capital, institutional agency, minority or low-status youth empowerment, and AVID implementation

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Social capital, institutional agency, minority or low-status youth empowerment, and AVID implementation

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SOCIAL CAPITAL, INSTITUTIONAL AGENCY, MINORITY OR LOW-
STATUS YOUTH EMPOWERMENT, AND AVID IMPLEMENTATION
by

Bruce Lamar Mims

____________________________________________________________________

A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements of the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION

August 2007

Copyright 2007 Bruce Lamar Mims

ii

DEDICATION
First, I dedicate this project to Jason Cuneo, my loving partner whose
unwavering support has sustained me throughout this academic and emotional
journey. I also dedicate this project to my children, Steven and Stephanie Cuneo-
Mims. My children and their future are what inspired me to embark upon this
scholarly journey to better myself. To my parents, Joseph and Marceline Mims,
whose love, patience, support, and upbringing have made me the person that I am
today. To all of my relatives who are no longer with us, I always carry the spirit of
your memory close to my heart—especially my grandmother, Maudine and my Aunt,
Deloris: their radiant spirits always shine brightly on my life, and shower my family
with many blessings.

iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank my chairperson and my committee whose support and
guidance made this all possible. I especially would like to thank my mentor, Dr.
Stacey Nickson. Her presence in my life has been the guiding force that has
motivated me to expand my professional and personal horizons. Her membership on
my dissertation committee is the culmination of our professional and personal
relationship together; and, I am eternally grateful for her continued friendship and
collegial support.
I would also like to thank personnel from the following entities for their
support throughout this project: Los Angeles County Office of Education AVID
Regional Office; the Rowland Unified School District; the Long Beach Unified
School District; the Escondido Union High School District; the Baldwin Park
Unified School District; and the Pomona Unified School District.

iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS

DEDICATION……………………………………………………………. ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………………………………..iii

LIST OF TABLES…………………………………………………………vi

ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………viii

CHAPTER 1…..……………………………………………………………1
INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………. …1
Problem Statement………………………………………………..... 3
Purpose of the Study……………………………………………….. 5
Research Questions……………………………………………….... 6
Significance of the Study…………………………………………... 7
Terms and Definitions………………………………………………17
Delimitations of the Study………………………………………… 19
Assumptions and Limitations of the Study………………………… 19
Conclusion…………………………………………………………..21
Organization of the Dissertation…………………………………… 21

CHAPTER 2………………………………………………………………...22
CRITICAL SYNTHESIS OF LITERATURE…………………………... 22
Introduction………………………………………………………… 22
Theoretical Frameworks of Social Capital….................................... 23
The Plight of Minority and Urban Youth………………………… 33
Community Based Intervention Programs and
Institutional Agency………………………………………………... 44
Social Capital Theory in the Context of
Intervention and Institutional Agency………………………….... 55
Social Capital, Social Support, and
Educational Outcomes……………………………………………... 62
Theoretical Convergence and
Opportunities for Expanded Articulation…………………………... 65
Conclusion…………………………………………………………..68

CHAPTER 3……………………………………………………………….. 70
METHODOLOGY…………………………………………………….. 70
Introduction………………………………………………………… 70
Sample and Population…………………………………………….. 80
Instrumentation…………………………………………………….106

v
Data Collection…………………………………………… 113
Data Analysis………………………………………………. 115
Summary…………………………………………………… 116

CHAPTER 4…….…………………………………………………. 117
DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF FINDINGS. 117
Introduction……………………………………………….... 117
Program Coordinator Participant Descriptions…………… 119
Analysis of the Findings in the Context of the Research
Questions……………………………………………. 119
Thematic Summary of Key Findings in the Analysis……. 141

CHAPTER 5…………………………………………………....….. 144
DISCUSSION OF KEY FINDINGS, IMPLICATIONS, AND
RECOMMENDATIONS………………………………………...144
Discussion of Key Findings in the Analysis……………… . 144
Implications of the Study……………………………… 156
Limitations of the Study…………………………………….159
Recommendations………………………………………….. 160
Suggestions for Further Study…………………………….. 162

REFERENCES…………………………………………………….. 165

APPENDICES………………………………………………………171
Appendix A: Resources Domains and Essential Recourse and
Relationship Groupings……………………………………………172
Appendix B: Name Generator…………………………………….174
Appendix C: Position Generator…………………………………..182
Appendix D: Resource Generator…………………………………183
Appendix E: Guided Conversation Protocol………………………184
Appendix F: Guided Conversation Excerpts Concerning
AVID Training……………………………………………………..186
Appendix G: Name Generator Survey…………………………….189
Appendix H: SEI Scores and Positional Status Relative to
Occupations Listed in the Position Generator
(Appendix D)……………………………………………………….190

vi
LIST OF TABLES

Table 1 Southland High School Enrollment by Ethnicity…………… 82
Table 2 Southland High School AVID Enrollment by
Ethnicity………………………………………………………84

Table 3 Pierce High School Enrollment by Ethnicity…………………86

Table 4 Pierce High School AVID Enrollment by
Ethnicity………………………………………………………87

Table 5 Pinnacles High School Enrollment by Ethnicity……………...89

Table 6 Pinnacles High School AVID Enrollment by
Ethnicity………………………………………………………90

Table 7 Canyon High School Enrollment by Ethnicity……………….92

Table 8 Canyon High School AVID Enrollment by
Ethnicity………………………………………………………94

Table 9 Valley Vista High School Enrollment by Ethnicity………..…96

Table 10 Valley Vista High School AVID Enrollment by
Ethnicity………………………………………………………98

Table 11 Shoreline Heights High School Enrollment by
Ethnicity………………………………………………………100

Table 12 Shoreline Heights High School AVID Enrollment
by Ethnicity …………………………………………………..101

Table 13 Parkview High School Enrollment by Ethnicity……………...103

Table 14 Parkview High School AVID Enrollment by
Ethnicity………………………………………………………105

Table 15 Program Coordinator Accessed Positions and
Positional Status………………………………………………121

vii
Table 16 Program Coordinator Resource Contacts and
Extensity of Weak Ties……………………………………….124

Table 17 Program Coordinator Network Range………………………..127

viii
ABSTRACT
This study isolated the salience of institutional agency within the context of a
specific intervention program called, Advancement via Individual Determination
(AVID), an untracking program designed to help low achieving students elicit
academic success.
Four primary research questions guided the study. First, to the degree those
efforts to engage in social capital mobilization are made, how might the program
coordinator’s accessible social capital play a prominent role? Second, to what extent
are AVID program coordinators able to mobilize their social capital to convey
information, resources, and opportunities to minority and low-status youth in the
context of program implementation? Third, what factors facilitate or constrain the
accumulation of accessible social capital and agency-oriented mobilization of social
capital (on behalf of program participants and/or program implementation)? Finally,
to what extent does AVID training identify the underpinning theoretical concepts and
processes of social capital theory; thus do AVID program coordinators understand
their role relative to the help-seeking and network-seeking orientations of
institutional agency?
This study incorporated both inductive and deductive methodologies within
the qualitative research design to accomplish in-depth cross-case analysis of the
range, quality, and nature of program coordinators’ individual networks and sources
of support. Furthermore, this methodology also determined their proclivity to excess
their individual networks and sources of support to convey essential resources,

ix
information, and opportunities to minority or low-status youth; thus facilitating their
academic and social mobility, and, hence, fostering their empowerment.
The study revealed insight and answers as it relates to the primary research
questions, and articulated the findings into (3) thematic summaries and discussion.
First, the study revealed that program coordinators have critical deficiencies in their
personal networks relative to the status of their positional contacts. Second, it
revealed that program coordinators are not engaged in active (institutional) agency as
counterstratification mechanism. Finally, the study revealed that AVID training does
not explicitly address agency as an intervention design relative to the resources
model of social capital.

1

CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Urban Public Education: Crisis and Opportunity
Although public education continues to move forward in this era of increased
accountability, relative to “No Child Left Behind” (NCLB), states, districts, and
school-wide learning communities continue to struggle with its implications;
especially those situated in large urban areas, serving predominately low-status and
minority children. This is due in large part to the fact that the predominate policy
initiatives and research studies continue to analyze this dilemma through a deficit
paradigm, rather than considering variegated sociological, and social cultural, and
socioeconomic conditions, which either facilitate or hinder academic success
(Ladson-Billings, 2000; Singleton & Linton, 2005). Nevertheless, minority and low-
status students continue to lag behind their white middle-class counterparts, while
institutions assess and analyze their progress and shortcomings through normative
lenses. Institutions also engage in prescribing instructional interventions without
analyzing the nature of schools, schooling, and foundational pedagogy.
As bureaucratic policy pressures mount, many districts and schools struggle
for the answers and formulas to close the achievement gap between minority and
low-status children and their white middle-class counterparts. Some isolated school
settings, teachers, and classrooms, however, are uniquely poised to affect significant
positive change in student learning outcomes because they tacitly or explicitly equip
students with the skills and knowledge essential to elicit success. These isolated

2
settings are elucidating success within the context of the milieus, communities, social
cultural and socioeconomic situations, and challenges they face on a consistent basis.
Why does this happen in isolation? What have these pockets of powerful teaching,
learning, and student development discovered that public education it its entirety
cannot decipher and implement on a wide scale? Do these isolated pockets of
success reflect traditional or normative paradigms or pedagogies? On the other hand,
do these success stories afford entirely new insight into how institutional pedagogy
and public schooling can and should adapt to meet the needs of the demographics
they serve?
Success as the Exception
Districts and schools if not public education as a whole are gradually moving
toward a point of critical mass, whereas reform efforts imposing normative or
traditional means to improve student learning outcomes relative to minority children
are creating increasing levels of dissonance and discord within the communities they
serve. White middle class students excel, achieve, and advance relative to the people,
information, resources, and opportunities at their disposal and deployment. Their
minority and low-status student counterparts, however, lag behind because of
inadequate resources and facilities, poorly trained educators, curricular and
instructional disconnect, which results in alienation and internalized oppression.
Normative reform efforts such as standards-based and/or high-stakes testing and
standards-based instructional designs tend to perpetuate alienation and
disenfranchisement. As a result, minority student dropout rates increase, and fewer

3
minority students gain access to colleges and universities; thus, creating new cycles
of marginalization, disenfranchisement, and oppression.
The gathering maelstrom concerning accountability, coupled with
increasingly scarce resources, socioeconomic constraints is the backdrop that affords
scholars the opportunity to cultivate new areas of research to analyze the components
of schools and pedagogy that either foster or hinder positive human development
relative to minority or low-status youth. These components either promote success
or perpetuate failure in these milieus. Although the institutional structures that
circumscribe productive educational programs provide the foundations for positive
student learning outcomes, their success by no means ubiquitous (Conchas, 2001;
Mehan, Villanueva, Hubbard, & Lintz, 1996). Success is systematic because
strategically placed individuals (e.g., teachers, program coordinators) have a
penchant to facilitate processes and provide support while embedding minority and
low-status youth into the relationships and networks, which translate into academic
and social support mechanisms. Empowering them with essential resources,
information, and opportunities is essential to their ability to navigate through and
overcome the institutional, social cultural and socioeconomic obstacles that typically
impede their progress or mobility.
Problem Statement
Many different types and/or categories of academic and social intervention
programs that exist pertaining to minority and low-status youth, a substantial body of
scholarly literature exists that implicitly or explicitly articulates the theoretical

4
mechanisms of social capital, while analyzing their efficacy relative to
implementation cycles. A substantial body of literature, however, does not exist that
theoretically articulates and analyzes exactly how teachers, youth workers, and other
institutional agents serving minority or low-status youth are able to empower these
youth along several simultaneous dimensions. These dynamics include complex
role-sets that such agents assume within the context of the school setting or an
intervention.
As it pertains to minority and low-status youth intervention programs, we do
not know enough about the dynamics of how program coordinators and/or staff
members assume the complex role-set of “institutional agents;” and, how they
acquire and mobilize social capital on behalf of program participants and how they
and serve as bridging agents. They connect youth to essential resources,
information, and opportunities controlled by “agents” in other networks and
institutional settings. This process enables minority and low-status to access
institutional mechanisms that facilitate academic and/or social mobility, which
routinely engineer the success and empowerment of white middle and upper-class
youth.
Scholarly literature beckons for an expanded articulation of those institutional
mechanisms that underpin social capital relative to minority and low status youth;
meaning, institutional mechanisms precipitate access to social capital. Whereas
social capital pertains to the institutional resources and support mechanisms
accessible through social ties to “agents,” who are strategically positioned in relation

5
to society’s stratification systems; thereby, facilitating academic or social mobility.
Therefore, examining the impact of “agency” relative to program efficacy and/or
learning outcomes, or other dynamic manifestations that precipitate academic or
social mobility in the lives of minority and low-status youth is essential to
understanding the salience of social capital as it pertains to their empowerment.
Purpose of the Study
Variegated depictions of programmatic success relative to minority student
achievement is largely descriptive in nature, I intend to isolate the salience of
institutional agency at the individual level, within the context of a specific
intervention program called, Advancement via Individual Determination (AVID).
AVID is an untracking program designed to help low achieving students elicit
academic success. Institutional agency refers to persons using their influence,
capacity, and resources in their own embedded networks to assist others, in this case
minority and low-status youth, in gaining access to networks, resources, information,
and opportunities essential for academic and social mobility (Stanton-Salazar, 1997).
In addition, I will examine the manner in which the people, i.e., institutional
agents, involved in the intervention program convey essential skills, which empower
minority youth to overcome both institutional and societal obstacles and attain
academic success. Finally, using the two predominant conceptual frameworks of
social capital theory, coupled with empowerment, I will construct a theoretical
rationale to articulate the complexities of these empowering mechanisms and
behaviors in a scholarly manner that future educational studies related to institutional

6
or pedagogical reform might take into consideration when elucidating
recommendations. The primary focus of the study centers on how institutional
agents, who are members of privileged groups or classes in their complex and
evolving roles and mobilize, within the context of their own social networks, to
resources, information, and opportunities, and their social capital to support minority
and low-status students within the framework of an intervention program.
Research Questions
Primary
The following are the primary questions driving the research of this study:
1. To the degree those efforts to engage in social capital mobilization are
made, how might the program coordinator’s accessible social capital
play a prominent role?
2. To what extent are AVID program coordinators able to mobilize their
social capital to convey information, resources, and opportunities to
minority and low-status youth in the context of program
implementation?
3. What factors facilitate or constrain the accumulation of accessible
social capital and agency-oriented mobilization of social capital (on
behalf of program participants and/or program implementation)?

7
4. To what extent does AVID training identify the underpinning
theoretical concepts and processes of social capital theory; thus do
AVID program coordinators understand their role relative to the help-
seeking and
Significance of the Study
Re-Conceptualizing Youth Resiliency and Network Orientation
One of the most predominant and overarching ideologies, which permeates
our society, is individualism and meritocracy. On one hand, our society exalts and
reveres principles of individualism, independence, and self-reliance. For the most
part, individual success is commonplace for those persons who reflect the value
systems and background typical of the white middle-class ideals (Stanton-Salazar &
Spina, 2000). This ideal, however, does not take into account the inherent social
network structures that individuals (i.e., white and black middle-class) marshal, to
elicit and attain the information, resources, and forms of support that ensure their
success; hence, the paradox (Cochran et al., 1990; Spencer, 2001). Youth from
privileged backgrounds inherently benefit, tacitly and/or explicitly, from the
institutional and social structures embedded within their primary networks and
communities. Their network systems insulate them from failure and ecological
dangers relative to greater society, hence, facilitating their success. Meanwhile,
structural and institutional conditions seemingly transform individual circumstances,
pertaining to minority and low-status youth, into situations that may increase the
potential for failure. Stanton-Salazar (2001) terms such mechanisms as defensive or

8
self-protective help-seeking orientations; whereas, a lack of proximity relative to
adult kin, one-parent households, poverty, coupled with environmental conditions
typical of urban blight translates into embedded ness into social dynamics that fail to
buffer or insulate them from the burdens of racial stratification.
Against this backdrop, Spina (as cited in Stanton-Salazar & Spina, 2000)
suggests that popular notions of resiliency (e.g., success “against the odds”) are
misleading. In fact, popular culture inordinately romanticizes the concept. This
paradigm is plagued with biases, which, consequently, diminish and/or de-legitimate
the belief systems and practices of other cultural communities, i.e., minority or low-
status. These privileged communities perceive resiliency as an ideal related to the
adherence to traditions and natural support systems emanating from the family and
ethnic communities (Stanton-Salazar & Spina, 2000). Re-conceptualizing our notion
of youth resiliency is an essential component relative to shifting the popular
paradigm; it is a systematic developmental process that begins with the individual’s
(e.g., child or parent) ability to formulate optimal responses to adverse situations and
circumstances, as well as his or her perception that options and assistance, indeed,
exist (Spencer, 2001).
The quality and salience of youth and family relationships within the primary
support system, usually the family network, predicates cultivation and promulgation
of help-seeking tendencies outside of the primary relationship support system or
network. This is a critical supposition as it relates to relationship and support
network dynamics within communities comprised of minority, low-income

9
individual and family units (Stanton-Salazar, 1997, 2001). Children and adolescents,
as well as their families and communities are constantly exposed and subject to
influences extending outside of the primary network or support systems. These
outward extensions are essential to healthy development, as well as access to
information and resources to guide and enhance their optimal response patterns
(Stanton-Salazar & Spina, 2000). They find themselves embedded in a myriad of
social dynamics outside of their primary networks. Otherwise, they become isolated
and disengaged from the mainstream; lacking available resources and information
essential to foster upward social mobility (Cochran et al., 1990; Granovetter, 1983;
Spencer, 2001).
From the onset of their school careers, minority children face complex and
evolving social cultural challenges as they endeavor to overcome the institutional
obstacles typically associated with urban public education, as well as those that
characterize or society; plagued by various constructs of oppression, which
seemingly conspire to perpetuate minority disenfranchisement and/or
marginalization (Stanton-Salazar, 1997). They must assume the burden of
socialization through acquiring essential coping skills that will enable them to
navigate the ecological perils of a highly racialized, and discriminatory society.
Conceptually speaking, most minority children are at-risk youth, although at
different degrees (Cochran et al., 1990). Therefore, we must begin to analyze
minority youth and family resilience within the scope of the developmental process
rather than an aberrant phenomenon (Spencer, 2001). As minority and/or low status

10
youth learn to employ their help-seeking skills, they cultivate the ability to venture
beyond their primary networks seeking essential information and assistance relative
to situational decisions and responses; moreover, optimal response skill enhancement
increases the likelihood of upward social mobility (Spencer, 2001; Stanton-Salazar &
Spina, 2001).
Stanton-Salazar and Spina (2000) submit that minority and low-status youth
resiliency depends on the ability of persons to reach across social cultural borders to
foster positive help-seeking orientations, or attitudes and beliefs about the utilities of
individual networks to assist in the coping process concerning a life problem.
Subsequent network-orientations entail the proclivity towards strengthening
relationship dynamics to reach across social cultural borders and overcome
institutional barriers, seeking the assistance and support from relevant adults, agents,
or peers. This transformation is the process of strategic socialization, which
determines; (a) individual choices relative to cultivating various social relationships
in the face of structural circumstances; (b) whether individuals utilize those
relationships as sources of social and institutional support; and, (c) individuals’
facility relative to crossing conflictive social cultural borders to overcome
institutional barriers to facilitate mobility.
Institutional Agency and Complex Role Dynamics
Organizations and communities also entail forms of agency, and their agency
serves as a vehicle to assist members pertaining to some benefits precluded from
persons outside the community or organization. Institutional agency, however, as

11
depicted by Stanton-Salazar (1997) usually consists of a person who has the capacity
to act or operate in the face of opportunities, as well as constraints. In addition, their
degree of effectiveness is dependent upon the amount and diversity of the social
capital they can access; thus, the degree to which the program coordinator assumes
the role-set of institutional agent predicates the effectiveness of an intervention
program, such as AVID.
Although many scholars have tacitly conceptualized the role of institutional
agency in the context of their research and publications, it remains considerably
under-theorized. Yet, the institutional agency is an integral component underpinning
the development and resiliency of minority youth. Stanton Salazar (1997) posits that
institutional agents as those individuals in strategic positions who possess the
commitment and the capacity to facilitate or convey institutional resources, support,
and opportunities. The agents’ own embedded social networks are the nexus of their
ability to facilitate or convey resources and opportunities (Stanton-Salazar, 1997;
Stanton-Salazar & Spina, 2000). Thus, institutional agency pertains to an
individual’s evolving dynamic of complex relationships that, when accessed and/or
mobilized in the context of an intervention, convey essential resources, information,
and opportunities that facilitate growth and development. In this case, we are
referring to the social and academic mobility of minority or low-status youth, which
fosters their empowerment.

12
The institutional agent’s significance and efficacy lie in the fact that, not only
are they purveyors of resources and support, hence, social capital, to minority or
low-status youth, but also due in large part because their transactions represent a
“counter-stratification” mechanism defined in terms of Stanton-Salazar (2001).
When employed, it counterbalances the ill affects of differential privilege and
marginalization due to systemic biases and racial prejudice that plagues our society
(Stanton-Salazar, 2001; Stanton-Salazar & Spina, 2000). Institutional agents
mitigate potential alienated embeddedness depicting the typical experiences of
minority and low-status youth, as they navigate through the situational perils, which
they encounter throughout their adolescent lives. A person’s strategic and positional
relationships, resources, and their ability to access resources and information relative
to high-status or power positions predicate their ability to act as institutional agents.
If this is the case, then they have the ability to align their personal attributes and
traits with the dominant culture of power, i.e., white, middle-class, within the context
of their own social cultural experience (Stanton-Salazar, 1997, 2001; Stanton-Salazar
& Spina, 2000).
Thus, their potential to empower youth relates to their ability to convey codes
or rules of power that dictate dominant institutional contexts; hence, enabling them
how to negotiate and, in some cases, subvert those rules to acquire power, while
attaining academic and social mobility within the dominant construct (Delpit, 1988).
It is important, however, to point out that the role of institutional agents and agency
itself constitutes both the capacity to act, as well as the decision to act. In short,

13
capacity or capability alone does not necessarily equate to agency. Agency is both a
socio psychological and a behavioral concept; and, program leadership does not
necessarily predicate agency, without action.
Understanding the role and responsibilities institutional agency entails is
essential to its effectiveness as a pedagogical construct. There are many academic
intervention programs endeavoring to implement innovative instructional designs to
elicit positive student learning outcomes. As the literature reflects, in many cases, the
programs elucidate positive student learning outcomes. Mehan, Villanueva,
Hubbard, and Lintz (1996), as well as Kahne and Bailey (1999) articulate the fact
that innovative instructional design is not necessary tantamount to program success
as evidenced in positive student learning outcomes. In fact, many of these
innovative intervention programs fail, or elicit variegated levels of success, and
create considerable acrimony relative to their implementation. This is why agency is
such an important concept to understand and manifest in the context of an
intervention design.
Institutional agency as it relates to program effectiveness entails that the
institutional agent consciously acts and successfully transitions between multiple and
evolving dynamic roles, relative to constructs which tend to empower minority and
low-status youth; hence, they are teachers, motivators, counselors, parents, mentors,
mediators, and, if necessary, disciplinarians (McLaughlin, Irby, & Langman, 1994).
Ironically, intervention programs that do not explicitly articulate the essential
dimensions and dynamics that institutional agency entails may affectively do more

14
harm than good, because implementation failure reinforces or perpetuates trenchant
embedded alienation relative to student learning outcomes. In other words, there is
no presupposing framework from which to analyze the overriding philosophical or
ideological constructs precipitating the underlying dissonance (Hernandez, 1995;
Singleton & Linton, 2005).
Social Capital Theory, Strategic Socialization, and Equity Pedagogy
Articulating the theoretical mechanisms that facilitate resiliency, relative to
minority and low status youth, in the context of a social capital framework is
imperative to the study. In fact, they are the lynchpin attribute that enables us to
intellectualize the social cultural and socioeconomic dynamics depicting systemic
biases plaguing our society and schools; and, consequently, marginalize cultures and
children (Delpit, 1988; Stanton-Salazar, 1997). Moreover, social capital is a salient
theoretical lens that when catalyzed could adequately shift educational paradigms
and pedagogy towards equitable designs and practices. This theoretical mechanism
engages and empowers minority students to reach beyond the institutional and social
barriers they perceive as limiting, while using the mechanisms, i.e., social capital,
and moves them far beyond conditional marginalization and disenfranchisement
(Mehan, Villanueva, Hubbard, & Lintz, 1996; Stanton-Salazar & Spina, 2000).
Understanding minority youth empowerment and institutional agency in the
context of a critically oriented social capital framework requires analyzing the
theoretical underpinnings of counter stratification efforts. On a visceral level,
however, individual agents’ perceptions of race and culture, in relation to their own

15
situational position or embedded networks, manifest in the proclivity towards
variegated institutional agency transactions, as well as the efficacy of their efforts
(Ladson-Billings, 1995). Therefore, individual belief systems, in the context of race
and culture, influence positional relationships to the extent that they either empower
or potentially impede social capital transactions, relative to minority and low-status
youth (Delpit, 1988; Stanton-Salazar & Spina, 2000).
Positional relationships, pertaining to institutional agency, are the domain
where latent personal belief systems become factors into the analysis of social capital
transactions in the context of institutional agency; ironically, the discussions
regarding intervention efficacy frequently relegate this topic “non- discussable”
category to avoid controversy or acrimonious debate (Singleton & Linton, 2005).
Nevertheless, this topic is the philosophical lens, which obligates scholarly research.
In the very near future, student-learning outcomes, scholarly research, and
instructional pedagogy will reach a critical mass relative to the achievement gap that,
indeed, will compel them to consider conducting an open debate on this subject,
because successful programs frequently operate in isolation; and with variegated
results (Mehan et al., 1996).
Researchers, scholars, and educators must scrutinize this idea with great care
and concern if paradigms and pedagogies are to attain equity, because the
manifestations of inequity relative to student achievement unfolding in classrooms
on a daily basis are, indeed, a microcosm of the social capital, social cultural, and
institutional mechanisms by which racism and stereotypes operationalize in our

16
society. In his conversation on the subject, Dr. John Hope Franklin (2006) reminded
his audience that President Bill Clinton, in his 2003 commencement address at the
University of California, San Diego suggested that, “the time has come for America
to begin a dialogue about race” (p. 192); yet, in 2006 we still find ourselves marred
in a shroud of non-discussion (Franklin, 2006). Whereas, it is within this particular
dialogue, concerning race, culture, and equity that therein lays the greatest
understanding of how social capital operationalizes in our institutional practices
relative to instruction and student learning outcomes. Therefore, it is an imperative
that scholarly research becomes a conduit to facilitate this dialogue. Moreover, it is
the author’s hope that the study’s findings afford educational research an intellectual
platform from which to catalyze this discussion; hence, a paradigm shift.
Intervention and Explicit Theoretical Articulation
Explicit scientific and theoretical language relative to community-based or
academic intervention program not only affords those involved in the
implementation process the ability to articulate program rationale in a conceptual
framework, it also provides intervention designers and program implementers an
essential foundation from which to commence critical inventory relative to program
efficacy. Succinct theoretical language pertaining to program design brings clarity
and consistency to the sociological, as well as the sociopolitical ideologies that
inevitability underpins all community-based and academic intervention (Ladson-
Billings, 1995).

17
Youth engaged in an intervention design either connect or disconnect in the
context of a program implementation based on the social cultural relevance of
program components, whether the program is culturally competent or compatible.
However, youth also respond to program endeavors based on how they perceive the
ideologies and perceptions of institutional agents involved in the implementation
(Singleton & Linton, 2005); moreover, the ideological underpinnings relative to
agency usually manifest in tacit or implicit terms.
Terms and Definitions
A definitive understanding of the following terms is critical to the study,
because they are articulated and discussed extensively throughout its entirety:
• Complex Role Sets: Institutional agents whose contextual roles
interchange relative to situations and circumstances (Stanton-Salazar &
Spina, 2000).
• Counter Stratification: Social scaffolding efforts, which counterbalance
systemic or institutional biases that typically marginalize social cultural,
socioeconomic groups (Stanton-Salazar, 2001).
• Empowerment: A psychological state involving active participatory
processes by which individuals gain essential resources or competencies
to increase self-efficacy and accomplish set goals (Maton & Salem,
1995).

18
• Institutional Agent (Agency): Persons who use their influence, capacity,
and resources relative to their position to assist others in gaining access to
networks, resources, information, and opportunities essential for social
mobility (Stanton-Salazar, 1997).
• Network Orientation: An array of individual propensities or proclivities
pertaining to one’s beliefs and attitudes that informs or motivates
personal initiatives towards engaging in various social relationships or
group affiliations (Stanton-Salazar, 2001).
• Positional Resources: Influence and salience of tangible or intangible
assets possessed within the context of one’s individual embedded network
relative to their status in a social hierarchical structure (Lin, 1999).
• Reciprocity: Individuals engaged in social exchanges of resources,
information, and opportunities that elicit mutual benefit (Granovetter,
1983; Lin, 1999).
• Resiliency: Psychosocial mechanisms of individuals, representing
traditionally marginalized social cultural groups; used to overcome
institutional or systemic barriers and elicit the assistance necessary to
sustain overall physical, mental, and emotional well-being (Spencer,
2001).
• Social Capital: Acquirable tangible and intangible assets of social
position or status converted into individual or communal benefit or profit
(Bourdieu, 1988; Lin, 1999).

19
Delimitations of the Study
The author will apply critical case study approach to examine the functions of
a high school site-based AVID program, and draw research findings from a critical
ethnography. This process incorporates both inductive and deductive methodologies
to elucidate generalizations regarding the efficacy of AVID, relative to the role of the
institutional agents. Critical ethnographic case study is essential to draw inferences
relative to a historical background of the site-based AVID program development as it
pertains to the program coordinator and other institutional agents involved in the
implementation cycles. Mixed methods are essential to formulate generalizations
regarding the salience of institutional agency in the context of the AVID program,
and formulate relevant connections to the literature; as well, as to triangulate findings
in a manner that facilitates broader discussion about the efficacy of AVID relative to
the roles of institutional agents as it pertains to implementation.
Assumptions and Limitations of the Study
The author assumes that all persons engaged in the implementation of AVID
program components, i.e., senior leadership, regional and site-based program
coordinators, teachers, have attended and/or participated in at least one Summer
Institute, the primary training component of AVID core-principles and practices;
meaning, all relevant personnel are adequately trained in AVID principles.
Furthermore, the author assumes that all persons engaged in school site-based AVID
program implementation participate in mandated ongoing professional development
relative to AVID program principles, instructional designs, and curricular

20
implementation, which is a stipulation relative to maintaining certification as an
AVID school-site program.
The nature of the study renders the findings subjective, and, therefore open to
variegated interpretation, because the issues at hand are both salient and potentially
volatile. Race and culture are visceral constructs underpinning the mechanisms and
manifestations of our society; yet, those who enjoy privilege or power relative to the
dominant culture are the least likely to acknowledge or validate their dominant
positions (Delpit, 1988; Singleton & Linton, 2005). The results may also be a direct
reflection of the experience, or lack thereof, pertaining to the particular AVID
program coordinator or teacher involved in the implementation process.
Thus, the study’s findings may not portray an entirely accurate depiction of
present paradigms and practices from which to elucidate broader generalizations
pertaining to the mechanisms of institutional agency operationalized in a social
capital framework, given the realities of systemic biases that foster pervasive social
cultural marginalization and social stratification. Nevertheless, the study intends to
lend intellectual and theoretical insight into this complex dynamic in a manner that
may catalyze further, broader, and deeper discussions concerning institutional
agency, equity pedagogy, and other relevant constructs, as well as their salient
affects pertaining to student achievement and/or learning outcomes.

21
Conclusion

In summation, the importance of this study lies in the fact that disparities in
academic and social outcomes between minority or low-status youth and their middle
class counterparts result from the fact that middle class or privileged youth are
embedded in the social networks of their parents or community. In other words,
their access to social capital, by means of institutional resources, are a function of
their parent’s social capital, as well as the school’s; by means of the their networks
or positional resources. In contrast, minority or low-status youth, by definition of
what it means to be “working class” or “working poor,” do not have access to social
capital under normal circumstances. Thus, when program leaders assume role-sets,
typical of middle and upper class backgrounds, they can potentially serve as bridging
agents who link minority and low-status youth access to social capital, and
facilitating the process of counter stratification.
Organization of the Dissertation
The author has organized this study into five interrelated chapters. Chapter 1
introduces the purpose of the study, the rationale relative to its significance, research
questions, terms and definitions, as well as the study’s assumptions and limitations.
Chapter 2 depicts a topic organized critical synthesis of literature relevant to the
study. Chapter 3 outlines the research methodology, rationale, sampling strategy,
instrumentation and related studies, data collection, and, finally, data analysis and
related rationale. Chapter 4 depicts the research findings relative to the collected
data. Chapter 5 is a discussion of research implications.

22
CHAPTER 2
CRITICAL SYNTHESIS OF LITERATURE
Introduction
The goal of this chapter is to capsulate a critical synthesis of literature that
conceptualizes the content in a manner that is relevant to the overall study, while
transforming systemic or normative intellectual frameworks entailing
institutionalized biases into operational consciousness. Furthermore, my alternative
insight through an intellectual articulation of “institutional agency,” as it
counterbalances systemic and ideological biases that perpetuate the alienation and
marginalization of minority youth is an essential component of moving the
theoretical mechanisms of social capital the forefront of the discussion concerning
the salient affects of agency relative to academic or social mobility. Therefore, this
analysis of literature embeds opportunities for new paradigms, while providing a
critique of several dominant or mainstream discourses that historically have
accounted for the pervasive, disproportionate, and chronic underachievement that
plagues minority and low-status student learning outcomes.
In addition, this depiction of an alternative analytical framework draws
primarily from theories of social capital. This framework also draws upon critical
race, and empowerment theories, because it is important to highlight aspects of
inequality and privilege as it pertains to differential access to essential institutional
resources. This reality, coupled with the seminal impact of institutional support, e.g.,
connections to gatekeepers who guide youth and their families through channels and

23
resources relative to college enrollment, are essential to understanding how their
marshaled affects facilitate academic and social mobility. Thus, I intend to
thematically articulate elements of paradigm shift into the intellectual and scholarly
dynamic, as well as the resulting inferences entailed in the literature advanced
throughout the critical synthesis of literature. Critical understanding or insight
pertaining to particular components of paradigm shift underpins the imperative
nature of the study, which examines the effectiveness of institutional agents relative
to programs such as Advancement via Individual Determination (AVID).
Theoretical Frameworks of Social Capital
Theoretical camps of social capital are the integral lens of analysis relative to
each dynamic intervention depicted throughout this synthesis of literature. Although
the predominant theoretical camps of social capital offer distinct and, sometimes,
contrasting rationales, they are the foundation that bind additional theoretical
concepts into a coherent platform to analyze and articulate the salient constructs of
agency, as well as empowerment. Despite many distinct contrasts, each camp has
various strengths and weaknesses; yet, employing elements of both camps towards a
rationale that articulates empowerment, various opposing principles become
congruent and integral constructs through which to analyze the salience of
institutional agency.
Functionalism and Social Closure
The primary supposition driving James Coleman’s (1988) conceptualization
of social capital is defined and, therefore, analyzed as a matter of what it actually

24
does, rather than what it is; hence, its function. Ideologically speaking, the primary
social psychological processes revolve around collective social structure through the
enforcement of norms and sanctions. Whereas, this normative or integrative mindset
presupposes that individuals are bound to the collective via belief systems,
commitment to common values, community engagement, which fosters attachment
(Portes, 1998, 2000; Lin, 2004). Therefore, the perceived value of membership,
hence, social capital, is relative to resources it enables participants to access pursuant
to their personal interest. It consists not of a single entity or construct, but of a
variety of entities bounded by two common denominators: (a) they all exist within
the context of a social structure; and (b) they all facilitate certain actions between
participants within the structure. The underpinning aspect of which is the fact that
membership in the collective is productive and allows attainment of certain ends that,
in its absence, would not be feasible (Coleman, 1988).
Trustworthiness and obligation within the context of a social environment are
the seminal underpinnings of social capital. In fact, without a high degree of
trustworthiness among members of the group, the institution could not sustain itself;
it is within this notion that Coleman (1998) rationalizes the plight of large urban
areas as social capital deficit relative to the high degree of mobility within these
environs. Members frequently exit the social structure, which leaves these
communities blighted, considerably disorganized, and/or void of social capital.
Coleman adds that he could never foresee credit associations flourishing in large
urban areas, due to the lack of trust and social cohesion. Obligation, he states, must

25
permeate the society and bind it together. When members come and go, however,
vacuums exist that undermine their salience.
Coleman (1998) submits that social relations are healthy and productive
when people adhere to the norms and values the social structure prescribes. People
adhere to those norms because they share a common interest, and this is what
sustains the structural collective. These norms and values are the powerful, but
precarious social capital, which binds the structure; deviance from these norms
warrants sanction or alienation from the benefits entailed through participation in the
collective or detrimental impact upon one’s reputation, hence, their trustworthiness.
Therefore, it is sanctions, or the fear of such, that constrain members from engaging
in behaviors or actions detrimental to the collective. Portes (1998) conceptualizes
this aspect of norms and sanctions as, enforceable trust. Enforceable trust, as an
extension of social capital manifests for recipients when it facilitates access to
resources from the collective; for donors, the transaction guarantees against
malfeasance relative to the threat of ostracism and sanctions from the collective
(Portes & Landolt, 1996).
Thus, Coleman suggests that (social) network closure is an essential
component predicating the efficacy of norms and sanctions. Network closure as it
pertains to family and community or intergenerational dynamics, is a necessary
condition to elicit trustworthiness. He uses this rationale to advance his analysis of
the conditions and outcomes of families and communities using a deficit model,
which compares the dropout rates between Catholic school and Public school

26
students. He asserts, that Catholic high school communities comprised of “nuclear,”
i.e., two-parent, families are embedded in networks that also entail intergenerational
closure, based upon the common practices entailed by membership, participation,
and interaction within these complex and closed networks. Portes (2000) expands
this proposition, when he asserts that social capital is an asset exclusively afforded to
intact families and communities, attributable to embedded networks of traders of
resources; and, thus, explains why entire cities are well governed and prosperous,
while others are not.
Stanton-Salazar (2004) cautions that Coleman’s normative framework exists
in a sociopolitical vacuum (p. 24), and does not take into account institutionalized or
hierarchical structures that deny access to opportunities based upon race, class, or
gender (Stanton-Salazar, 1997, 2001). According to Morrow (1999) Coleman does
not adequately contextualized his framework into a socio-economic and social
cultural history, given the dissonance that comprises cross and inter-cultural relations
in the United States. Lopez and Stack (2001) expand the argument as they assert that
studies of urban change, as it relates to social capital, indicate that such works with
and on behalf of states and markets rather than supplanting them. Enforcement
procedures, i.e., social closure, also perpetuates cultural dissonance by positioning
sources of social power in segregated (i.e., white middle-class) suburbs, severing all
paths of positive interaction between whites and minorities.

27
Lin (1999), however, suggests that social closure denies the significance of
weaker network ties, bridges, or structural holes; meaning, that weak ties are the
conduit that facilitates access to positional resources vertically higher in the social
hierarchy. Furthermore, Granovetter (1983) emphasizes that network density or
social closure, as it relates to low-income and/or a minority community alienates
them from access to resources that facilitate mobility. Both authors do not consider
social inequality as a critical component or factor in their assertions. Ironically,
resource exchanges between neighbors in minority or low-status neighborhoods,
indeed, comprise the alienated networks. Their networks primarily facilitate these
reciprocal exchanges as a means for survival, which perpetuates or solidifies their
embedded alienation.
Noguera (1999), however, sees utility in social closure when contextually
implemented as a pedagogical vehicle to mobilize traditionally marginalized
communities into informative action and proactive oversight relative to parent-school
relations and student learning outcomes. Maeroff (1998) alludes to social closure as
inner-city school intervention programs endeavor to build sustainable learning
communities, incorporating his four prescribed tenets as a means of promulgating
social capital to minority youth. Meanwhile, Kahne and Bailey (1999) depict the
manner in which social closure, adherence to norms, and effective sanctions serve as
the underpinning foundation that catalyzes trusting relationships and the
informational, i.e., social capital, interchanges entailed within the collective

28
structure. Social capital relative functional utility is useful when it is effectively re-
conceptualized and, therefore, compatible in the context a social cultural milieu.
Social Reproduction, Social Support, and Network Theory
Social reproduction presupposes that privileged access to resources fosters
differential utility relative to social capital; thus, domination and exploitation
reproduces the power structure in perpetuity. Whereas, Bourdieu (1986)
conceptualizes capital as into three fundamental components; hence, their efficacy is
commensurate to the relative value of convertibility. First, economic capital, is
convertible into money and institutionalized in the form of property rights; secondly,
cultural capital, is convertible into economic capital and institutionalized in the form
of education or credentials; and, finally social capital, which is comprised of
obligations or connections and convertible into economic capital; thus,
institutionalized in the form of nobility.
Cultural capital is the primordial lynchpin that facilitates the relationships
under girding social capital, because it is acquirable and projects the power and
prestige commensurate with its value relative to economic capital. Embodied, it is
an essential component of persona and cannot be transmitted or purchased because it
requires specific competence closely linked to the individual, bound to a cultural or
class community; objectified, it separates the dominant from those who are
marginalized; institutionalized, it predisposes value and qualification for possession,
hence exclusivity.

29
Social capital relative to the exclusivity entailed by group membership is the
actualized or aggregate potential for resources linked to possession or access to a
durable network of institutionalized relationships; whereas, group membership
predicates access to the resources. Membership in the group entitles them to the
collectively owned, “capital” group. Meaning, the degree or amount of social capital
possessed by any particular member of the group depends primarily on the vastness
of the network connections that one can mobilize, as well as the volume of personal
(economic or cultural) capital possessed by those within the network. Group
members predicate their ability to extract benefits, i.e., profits, from ownership on
the cohesion that originally formulates endeavors to sustain the group. Network
connections, however, are not an aberrant occurrence; rather, they are the product of
ongoing institutional efforts to produce and reproduce durable bonds to secure
material or symbolic benefits or profits. Thus, the network of relationships is the
product of strategies contrived to solidify and/or reproduce social relationships that
have short or long-term utility.
Stanton-Salazar (1997) underscores the importance of these networks and
focuses much attention on embedded network alienation relative to marginalized
social cultural groups. Low-status or minority networks organize for the purposes of
conservation and survival based on scarcity, while cosmopolitan or middle-class
groups orient their networks to maximize individual access to institutional resources,
privileges, mobility, social advancement, and political empowerment. Formulating
supportive relationships with institutional agents or gatekeepers is essential

30
concerning minority or low-status youth, particularly those within a school setting,
because, while pathways and conduits to privilege are ubiquitous for (white) middle-
class youth, entrapments and barriers for minority youth are just as ubiquitous.
Stanton-Salazar’s (1997) primary proposition focuses on the role and salience of the
“institutional agent” relative to the resources within their own individual social
networks, which they marshal while transmitting resources, information, and
opportunity to minority and low-status youth.
Although social capital lies within the context of the instrumental or
supportive relationships as it pertains to the institutional agent (Stanton-Salazar,
1997), he cautions, however, that the possession of social capital is not necessary
tantamount to the utilization of such; but, rather, the potential for utilization.
Therefore, he posits that success in public education milieus is not simply a matter of
cognitive learning and performing skill sets, but also the challenge of learning how
to “decode the system.” This entails an explicit or implicit understanding of the rules
governing social or, in this case scholastic advancement within the context of the
dominant, i.e., white middle class, discourse; meaning it is incumbent upon the
institutional agent to convey the codes of power (Delpit, 1988). Unfortunately,
social cultural, economic, and institutionalized barriers inhibit consistency and
opportunity for routine exchanges relative to agency.
Stanton-Salazar (2004) expands upon his argument pertaining to institutional
agents and instrumental relationships. He asserts that academic success, as it relates
to minority or low status youth does not depend on their ability to internalize

31
normative values and identities, but the salience of their connectedness pertaining to
resources. Meaning, relationships are positional within the context of social
structure; furthermore, social structure is the lynchpin that advances relationships,
and their utility or ability to endure. He posits that cultural schemas and procedures
delineate power dynamics, as well as domains of influence that dictate social
structure, guide, and sustain social interaction. He also submits that resources or
influence sustains social relations; thus, groups are either empowered or
disempowered relative to the enduring social practices comprising school milieus,
government, workplaces, as well as economic institutions.
Society, he states, is a complex myriad of hierarchies; thus, social capital
pertains to how agents link, within their own networks, to more extensive forms of
resources and organizations in a society, whose schemas and structures implicitly
delineate access to power, and privilege based on race, class, and gender. Society
also establishes the mechanisms by which minority or low-status members cultivate
connections and formulate relationships to position themselves toward upward
mobility. However, attaining these positional relationships requires the ability to
successfully negotiate the barriers or conditions, preclude equitable access to the
resources essential to success within the institution. This underscores the need for
strategically placed individuals capable poised to marshal systems of support, while
drawing from their own social capital in the context of their own networks.

32
Meanwhile, Lin (1999) posits that investments in social relations that produce
expected returns, i.e., resources, are tantamount to social capital. To identify a
construct as social capital, it must contain three essential components: (a) resources
embedded in a social structure; (b) individual accessibility to those embedded
resources; and, (c) individual mobilization of resources for purposeful action.
Embedded resources and network locations are an integral component of productive
power; furthermore, they are only as salient as they are accessible through the
strength of weak ties, bridges, and structural holes within one’s one embedded
network (Granovetter, 1983). Social closure in Coleman terms, along with the
network density that it entails, is not conducive to mobility because density may
produce or reinforce embedded alienation. Social reproduction, however, as it
pertains to the exclusivity and convertibility of cultural capital, in terms of Bourdieu,
is insufficient rational because the general population may also reap benefits or profit
from such returns on acquisition (Lin, 2001).
Thus, while Stanton-Salazar’s social capital framework primarily focuses on
relationships, in the context of agency, as conduits to resources, information, and
opportunities that facilitate social and academic mobility, Lin (1999, 2001), is
primarily interested in the contextualized productivity of network mobilization
pertaining to benefit and profitability, in the context of the positional resource
proximity relative to power and influence. The closer those embedded networks
have access to power and influence, via weak ties (Granovetter, 1983), the greater
the likelihood they will produce individual benefit.

33
The Plight of Minority and Urban Youth
Predominant paradigms concerning race and culture, as well as cultural
nuances, which characterize minority and low-status youth developmental processes
must be positioned and understood in a socio-historical context; hence, critical
analysis is essential to situating these underpinning themes into an operational
framework relative to social capital and empowerment. Their salience pertaining to
agency is a powerful overriding supposition that predicates the efficacy of the
institutional agency relative to an intervention program.
Critical Race Theory and the Uniqueness of the Minority Cultural Experience
In their article, Ladson-Billings and Tate (1995) suggest that race remains a
salient factor influencing the interactions and determining the outcomes for
participants in U.S. society. Several generations of scholars have developed
historical accounts, and conceptual frameworks of race and racism in the United
States. Yet, its salience relative to education remains underplayed and poorly
articulated. Articulating race as an extensive theoretical concept is imperative to
understanding how it perpetuates systemic inequities in education; meaning, it
depicts the underpinning mechanisms, which result in academic disparities between
minority and low-status youth, and their white middle-class counterparts. Ladson-
Billings and Tate (1995) submit three assumptions pertaining to critical race theory,
social inequities, and schooling as a contextual milieu. First, race continues to be a
significant factor in determining overall (social) inequity in the United States.
Second, property rights are an underpinning philosophy driving U.S. society. Finally,

34
the confluence of race and property creates an analytical lens that enables or
enhances scholarly analysis of social, hence school, inequity.
Predominant or popular notions of race as, an ideological construct, abjectly
dilutes the reality of how living in a racialized society affects the everyday lives of
“raced” people (Ladson-Billings & Tate, 1995, p. 48). However, if one thinks of
race as an entirely objective condition, it impairs the perspective of race as a
problematic construct that describes the variegated manners depicting human
grouping. Race as a theoretical construct struggles for salient legitimacy in scholarly
circles against a backdrop of predominately White, i.e., White Marxist, authors who
oversimplify notions of race by convoluting their arguments into tautologies
interlaced with issues of ethnicity, class, and gender. As Singleton (2005) also
submits, race must be analyzed and discussed as an isolated concept if is to
effectively examine its workings relative to social and economic hegemony; and,
thus contextualizing its potency in the spectrum of social inequity (Noguera, 1999).
The second proposition juxtaposes race with principles of democracy. Upon
its founding, the United States re-contextualized democracy into a customized
concept to include capitalism as an economic and philosophical ideal. In other
words, from its onset, economic hegemony has been the underpinning force
formulating governmental principle; hence, the advancement of the country depicts
the pursuit, protection, and proliferation of property rights (Cochran et al., 1990;
Harris, 1995; Noguera, 1999). Ladson-Billings and Tate (1995) submit that civil
rights accrue largely in part through the evolution and modification of property

35
rights; meaning, individual property rights are the historical nexus of tensions
between ethnic minorities, and their Western European, i.e., white, counterparts upon
whose principles that founded this country, e.g., slavery, Native American removal,
Japanese Internment. As it relates to education, property is a determining factor
pertaining to the quality and quantity of resources of public education. Moreover, its
value begets affluence, power, and entitlement; hence, social benefit and better
resources (Ladson-Billings & Tate, 1995).
The cornerstone of critical race theory lies within the third proposition: the
confluence between race and property rights. This paradigm is the critical lens,
which will enhance scholarly analysis and understanding of social and/or school
inequity. The authors suggest that the benefits, value, and entitlement relative to
property exist in a continuum of, “whiteness” (Ladson-Billings & Tate, 1995).
Property ownership and/or its entailed entitlement beget the rights of disposition
measured (and rewarded) against a backdrop of white norms and sanctions. The
rights of enjoyment are transferable in a context of white privilege, while the
reputation and status entailed by ownership are contrasts with an image of
“blackness,” which is referred to as a source of defamation. Finally, property
ownership entails the absolute right to exclude, measurable relative to an absence of
blackness. As a result, systemic inequities manifest in the quality of programming,
as well as learning outcomes between minority groups and their white counterparts.

36
Although the authors advance a philosophical argument that resonates
through the reader’s consciousness, they wholeheartedly admit that their arguments
contain empirical inconsistencies, which are limited to subjective interpretation;
nevertheless, many aspects of their propositions are, indeed, measurable, as well as
qualitatively plausible. It is important to understand the philosophical complexity
relative to critical race, to understand how institutional agents, working on behalf of
minority and low-status youth counterbalance the salient affects of systemic biases,
which comprise public education milieus, as well as contextualized instructional
pedagogy.
Ladson-Billings (2000) isolates the African American experience as a unique
phenomenon that warrants individual analysis from other experiences, which
comprise typically marginalized social cultural groups in our society. The author
suggests that teacher preparation literature and other scholarly writing inordinately
portrays the African American dilemma within a deficit paradigm; this practice
unfortunately typecasts unique constructs, deserving unique critical analysis, into a
one universal perspective, regardless of the economic or social circumstance. As a
result, its salience is lost in the discussion of issues relative to equity, and convoluted
with discussions pertaining to language and culture; in short, the dominant culture
dilutes and dismisses the African American experience as an aberrant corruption of
the predominant paradigm as it pertains to social justice and school reform.

37
The author posits that the experiences of other cultures who encounter racism
and oppression are by no means any less significant and important to the overall
discussion of equity, social justice, and/or teaching pedagogy. Ladson-Billings
(2000), however, juxtaposes the experiences of other races and cultures against that
of African Americans and suggesting that the experiences of the latter group are
seminal. In other words, they are the only non-indigenous cultural group, relevant to
the discussion, brought to the American continent under the auspices of racial
slavery (Franklin & Moss, 1988). The prevailing issues comprising the African
American experience from the onset of its Western European (i.e., white) history, are
a complex and evolving multidimensional dynamic. African Americans and their
cultural experiences typically find themselves polarized, from other cultures and
ethnic groups who attempt to align themselves in relation to constructs of the
dominant culture (King, 1994; Morrison, 1991).
The inequities surrounding the plight of African American students and their
culture are distinctive, and warrant focused discussion as it relates to rectifying
educational disparities; meaning remedy is uniquely prescriptive (Boykin & Tom,
1985; Hollins & Spencer, 1990). The author submits that future scholarly literature
must re-conceptualize research to address pedagogy, and considers the unique
cultural experiences of individual racialized groups; otherwise, additional
frameworks run risk of becoming generic or generalized tautologies of pedagogical
perspective. Pedagogical research and/or teacher preparation courses must foster the
thought process as it relates to the relationship between the educator and the distinct

38
social cultural groups, which comprise the school community, rather than
unsubstantiated perceptions of generalized, cultural, and cognitive, deficiency
(Ladson-Billings, 2000).
This argument resonates throughout various other dimensions of literature,
which address this notion; its salience underscores the significance of explicit
complex role sets of the institutional agent, as a purveyor of various aspects of social
capital. Ream (2005) reminds us that individual cultural groups, as well as various
sub-cultural groups within an ethnic group, elicit variegated or disparate value
pertaining to the convertibility of social capital (Portes & Landolt, 1996). As
Stanton-Salazar (1997) posits, mainstream institutional agents must possess or
acquire adequate cultural knowledge to facilitate student engagement:
The central problem at the core of analysis of relationships
between minority children and adolescents and institutional
agents is the construction of interpersonal trust, solidarity, and
shared meaning in the context of the institutional relations,
which are defined, on the one hand, by hieratical relations of
power and institutional “barriers,” and, on the other, by
institutionalized dependency. Given that working-class
minority children and youths are structurally more dependent on
non-familial institutional agents for various forms of
institutional support, the problematics of interweaving extended
trust and solidarity become ever so salient, especially because in
the absence of such solidarity, institutional support rarely occurs
(p. 17).

Re-conceptualizing Models of Minority Child Development
Providing an alternative conceptual framework pertaining to minority youth
development patterns is essential to understanding how predominant theoretical
paradigms concerning child development, coupled with societal tendencies can

39
seemingly conspire to perpetuate the embedded alienation of minority and low-status
youth. Thus, underscoring the importance of the institutional agency as a
counterstratification mechanism, whereas individuals endeavor to convey essential
resources, information, and opportunities that facilitate the academic and social
mobility of minority and low-status youth; hence, fostering their empowerment. This
understanding is essential byproduct of the intervention program’s effectiveness
because the developmental process as it pertains to minority or low status youth is
unique or different from their white, middle-class counterparts. Persons involved in
minority or low-status youth intervention designs must, furthermore, mobilize their
social capital with this awareness in mind in order to be effective.
Spencer (1990) submits that trained researchers advance their studies
depicting the interactive stages of child development based on obsolete models,
because they fail to incorporate the affects of socioeconomic status and race into
their analyses of children, relative to developmental milestones. In addition, the
author juxtaposes the notion of “normative” development against her assertion that
researchers measure such standards in a Eurocentric paradigm (Ogbu, 1985); and,
thus, conceptually flawed because they do not account for the cultural nuances
entailed that must be situated in a social historical context. Meaning, if there are
widely-shared cultural practices relative to parenting among working class African
Americans, those practices developed as an historical process, in the context of white
domination and exploitation; hence, the adaptive modes, which comprise minority
parenting. Spencer (1990) also posits the idea that analyzing learning styles without

40
conceptualizing variegated cultural nuances conflicts assumes that all cultural
experiences are neutral rather than unique. “Colorblindness” is not a viable lens with
which to view individual developmental dynamics within a social-historically
contextualized paradigm. To disavow the impact of minority experiences from the
analysis of developmental dynamics is to dismiss the impact of popular images and
negative stereotypes on the individual self-concept and responses of minority
children.
By adolescence, many minority children have acquired a complex array of
coping or defense mechanisms to mitigate the complexities of societal inequities
relative to their individual self-concept. Normative, stage-related developmental
analyses shortchange the ability of the researcher to understand identity formation
relative to minority youth, as well as the establishing accurate causal connections
between identity formation and life outcomes. Child development, as well as
education will suffer egregiously if fails to acknowledge or address constructs
pertaining to racial prejudice and/or societal inequities. The author presupposes this
rationale to advance the idea that society must begin to rethink dominant culture or
majority-oriented teaching methods and cognitive interpretation paradigms, given
that minority family dynamics are constantly evolving relative to ever-changing
societal pressures and realities.
On one hand, Spencer’s (1990) argument pertaining to the adaptive modes of
minority parenting are philosophically plausible, but somewhat underdeveloped.
Nevertheless, they are salient propositions that yield insight into existing

41
deficiencies, which require considerable modification if contemporary research
models are to retain their field relevance. The underdeveloped conceptualization
relative to the adaptive modes of minority parenting, however, creates ambiguous
connections between prevailing child development models and educational practices.
This conceptual weakness lends itself to undermining scrutiny, because the primary
premise demands additional empirical articulation.
Van Ausdale and Feagin (2002) surmise that race and racial dynamics
manifest in the interactions between children, as well as those between children and
adults from the onset of school and schooling; contrary to predominant notions of
early childhood development. As the authors point out, rather than waiting for a
natural stage or cycle to activate that allows them to systematically process
contextualized experiences, children observe, process, and experiment with their
surrounding world based on their own interactions as well those by adults; hence,
their social connections.
Garcia-Coll et al. (1996) also assert that contemporary researchers and
scholars have yet to propose or adopt an understanding that explains the variegated
developmental patterns of minority children as they navigate through their unique
experiences of social inequity (p.1892). In addition, the authors introduce the idea
that minority family and kin networks help minority children mitigate the negative
affects of socioeconomic hardship, and racial oppression. They also suggest that
researchers need to incorporate a contextual understanding of minority family

42
networks to gain greater insight as to how these relationships mitigate the ill affects
of social positioning, relative to the developmental dynamic.
Although the authors admit that there is no theoretical or empirical evidence
to rationalize variations in developmental processes between minority children and
their white counterparts, there are distinct differentiations unique to ecological
circumstances that either promote or inhibit the cognitive development of minority
children. The authors submit, as does Spencer (1990), that if traditional or normative
methodologies are to be reliable, then they need to account for these variations
and/or developmental adaptations, which do occur. The work of Stanton-Salazar and
Spina (2000) is a critical bridge fortifying this argument, because they offer insight,
in contrast to conventional paradigms relative to minority youth resiliency. Youth
resiliency is a systematic process where agents facilitate acquisition of coping skills
to counterbalance the affects of systemic and/or institutional bias. Meaning, they
marshal support, and positional resources that enable minority youth to cope,
overcome, and transcend barriers.
The strength of Garcia-Coll et al.’s (1996) argument lie in the fact that they
introduce a conceptual framework from which traditional models can broaden the
theoretical foundation of knowledge. The authors posit their integrative model based
upon two important suppositions. First, that the constructs salient to children of
color explain unique variations in the developmental processes; secondly, although
many of these constructs are also relevant to the developmental processes of other

43
populations, i.e., white, variations occur because of differentiation concerning the
affect of these constructs on a particular individual.
Garcia-Coll et al. (1996) categorize their propositions into two distinct
variable discussions: (a) social positioning; and, (b) social stratification mechanisms.
Social positioning refers to the salient effects of race, in terms of skin color, i.e., skin
tones or shades. Van Audsale and Feagin (2002) surmise that in terms of proximal
development this aspect of identity, indeed, may be one of the first distinctions
affecting racial consciousness; social class, in terms of economics and/or value
considerations pertaining to affluence; ethnicity, as it relates to cultural distinctness;
and gender, in terms of role appropriation. It is important to note, that the authors
discuss race, as a separate or isolated entity, from that of class, ethnicity, and gender.
Ladson-Billings and Tate (1995) suggest that such is essential to a fundamental
understanding of its salience as a construct. Social stratification mechanisms include
racism, whereas, the acquisition of wealth or higher social status may buffer its ill
affects.
Noguera (1999), however, cautions that acquisition of wealth, i.e., cultural
capital, may mitigate some of the affects of racial bias and/or discrimination, it does
not necessarily guarantee its alleviation. Prejudice, refers the manner of how
children acquire self and group concepts based upon racial and ethnic constructs;
thus, discrimination in treatment, manifests through prejudice. Oppression is the
relevant in terms of how individual children and groups internalize the
manifestations of prejudice (Garcia-Coll et al., 1996). Van Ausdale and Feagin

44
(2002) also submit that children make these distinctions from the onset of their
interactions with each other, from the colors they choose to associate their affinity
towards, in the context of an activity, to those they impose on one another relative to
their own preliminary perceptions of identity.
Finally, Garcia-Coll et al. (1996) discuss how residential, economic, social,
and psychological segregation are salient factors, which mediate between social
positioning variables and developmental outcomes. On the one hand, they submit
empirical evidence that these constructs indeed have inhibiting factors as they
manifest in schools, neighborhoods, and health care relative to “normative”
environments, ideologically speaking, as well as resource limitations. The authors
highlight, however, that many of these segregated networks also have promoting or
protecting aspects to them, which enable children to adapt internal mechanisms
enabling them to mitigate the dissonance between home and school environments.
Nevertheless, Garcia et al. (1996) conclude that a paradigm shift in research on how
these factors manifest in the developmental patterns, variations, and/or adaptations of
children of color is essential to a broader understanding of the cognitive
developmental complexity, relative to cultural nuance.
Community Based Intervention Programs and Institutional Agency
Empowerment is the product, which fosters academic and social mobility,
while institutional agency in a social capital framework is the vehicle that facilitates
the empowerment process. Many successful community based intervention
programs implicitly infer many theoretical constructs depicting the complex role

45
dynamics pertaining to institutional agents, as purveyors of social capital; hence,
empowering processes, facilitating the academic and social mobility relative of
minority and low-status youth.
Some intervention programs underestimate the critical role of the institutional
agent, as a facilitator of empowerment. Understanding the role of the institutional
agent, in terms of their ability to strategically mobilize resources and elicit assistance
from other agents, on behalf of minority and low-status youth is a critical link that
lends insight into the processes by which agents successfully fulfill the task of
socializing youth in manners that are authentically empowering. For minority or
low-status youth, who grow-up amidst racialized and class-stratified social
structures, it would seem that extraordinary forms of empowerment would be
necessary to foster academic and social mobility. Theoretical frameworks that
articulate this process are only now beginning to emerge in scholarly literature.
Thus, institutional agency as articulated in a critical social capital framework could
be an important analytical vehicle for understanding the empowerment process.
Empowerment Theory
Empowerment applies much of the same rationale articulated by scholars
who portray depictions of social closure in the context of an intervention program or
relative to instructional pedagogy, implemented in a manner that instills a sense
collective efficacy and elicits positive student learning outcomes. One drawback that
undermines the salience of empowerment literature is the fact that much of it fails to
corroborate theoretical conjecture with research-base outcomes. This leaves much of

46
the interventions relative to empowerment without a framework conceptualization;
juxtaposed to circumstances that find us without empirically grounded theoretical
frameworks that articulate social stratification versus counter-stratification (Perkins,
1995).
Zimmerman (1995) posits that empowerment embodies different forms
relative to context, populations, and developmental stages; thus, mechanizing or
measuring empowerment constructs in the scope of a single circumstance, albeit
other situational conditions, is a tenuous exercise. He submits that universal
constructs or measures of empowerment are unfeasible. Nevertheless, he endeavors
to isolate values, processes, and outcomes into separate theoretical discussions in an
effort to formulate measuring criteria. Although they are interdependent, separate
analysis of each construct contextualized in the dynamic of an intervention lends
credibility to supposition concerning generalizations of empowerment constructs.
In their qualitative study of Community-Based intervention designs, Maton
and Salem (1995) surmise that organizations and programs that instilling a sense of
personal and collective efficacy relative to participants predicates group productivity
and/or individual outcome-based success. Their analysis involves the dynamics of a
religious fellowship, a mutual help program for the mentally disabled, and an
educational program for urban African American youth. Similar to Coleman (1998),
belief systems shape the group setting structures, as well as goals and norms that
govern individual behavior, group conformity, and/or social closure. Meanwhile,
opportunity role structure facilitates reciprocal exchanges that foster individual

47
growth and self-esteem. Support systems afford individual members access to
resources within their embedded networks; thus, fortifying their ability to be resilient
when facing adversity. Finally, effective leadership provides the inspiration and the
vision necessary to accomplish organizational goals; meaning, (institutional) agency
is tantamount to efficacious leadership.
Maton and Salem (1995) surmise that empowerment is the process of
enabling individuals through participatory exchanges, while endeavoring to achieve
common goals. These constructs are observable across their case studies, and allow
them to deduce four key organizational characteristics relative to empowerment.
Their argument is somewhat limited because they do not advance their propositions
across other settings, such as an analysis of those constructs, which are conducive to
disempowering results and outcomes; thus, they cannot generalize their findings into
a conceptual framework.
Rich, Edelstein, Hallman, and Wandersman (1995) employ a
multidisciplinary analysis to various constructs of empowerment, by separating and
conceptualizing each construct as an independent component; hence, constructing a
model for analysis. Formal or structural empowerment refers to the political context,
in which the decision-making process facilitates local control. Intrapersonal
empowerment is a measurement of confidence and/or competence, contextualized
according to dynamics of the specific situation in question, while instrumental
empowerment refers to action facilitated through individual participation in the

48
context of the collective or citizen body. Finally, organizational empowerment is a
substantive measurement of effective action by the collective or citizen body.
The authors use these constructs to examine both public and private policy
implementations relative to the efficacy of a collective or community and their
efforts to mobilize for the purposes of influencing policy outcomes. Thus, they
measure the implications of partnership dynamics in the context of community
building for the purposes of decision-making, which in this case involves
environmental politics and policies. The authors’ premise, however, assumes that
these constructs exist in a culturally neutral or static environment, which does not
consider the salient affects of social cultural and socioeconomic marginalization.
Therefore, eliciting generalizations applicable to alternative milieus becomes a
tenuous exercise, because they do not account for the disempowering aspects of race,
culture, and economics.
Speer, Jackson, and Peterson’s (2001) mixed methods study relative to social
cohesion strengthens the tenuous argument endeavoring to link theoretical constructs
of empowerment to corroborated research. The authors expand upon Zimmerman’s
(1995) work, by examining and measuring the psychological constructs of
empowerment (i.e., interpersonal, interaction-related, and behavioral). Their study
of empowerment, in the context of social cohesion, expands upon the hypothesis that
pervasive inequality undermines the social fabric; and, disparity within specific
populations, consequently, leads to negative outcomes relative to health and
wellness. In the first phase of their study, they measure empowerment, in the context

49
of connectedness and participation, while the second phase of their study examines
the relationship between social cohesion and empowerment, in the context of
unconnected non-participation.
Although the first phase of their study replicated previous scholarly
examinations of intrapersonal empowerment, it also enhanced its findings by
extending the line of inquiry into an examination of empowerment in the context of
interaction; hence, confirming the strong correlation between participation and
interpersonal empowerment, as well as a strong correlation between participation,
interaction, and empowerment. The second phase of their study, though,
interestingly revealed that despite a low perception of community some subjects
retained a high sense of empowerment relative to their level of participation;
meaning, that the two empowerment constructs need further examination together,
relative to social cohesion, rather than as separate isolated entities. The findings
suggest that while participation may be more important than a sense of community
for intrapersonal empowerment, a sense of community is more essential to
interaction-related empowerment rather than participation. Again, however, the
findings were not without limitations. The authors cautioned that data collection
methods, as well as cultural overrepresentation relative to sample selection hamper
the ability to generalize about large-scale group dynamics. Nevertheless, this work
affords future researchers tangible design methods by which to measure
empowerment in the context of social cohesion.

50
Intervention and Agency
McLaughlin, Irby, and Langman (1994) offer in-depth narratives of various
individual leaders committed to improving the lives and conditions of inner-city
youth, as they endeavor to implement intervention programs tailored to address the
unique needs of the communities and youth they serve. The author’s surmise that in
each particular depiction, what each individual leader or, “wizard” does, as opposed
to how they do it, is an integral component relative to the overall efficacy of program
implementation efforts. They infer elements functionalism, such as social closure,
collective trust and cohesion, norms and sanctions, as the primary social capital
mechanism, which underpin each intervention cycle; meaning, they, indeed,
exemplify the role of the institutional agent as an essential element of program
success, without necessarily discussing (institutional) agency as an isolated
construct. Ironically, they also submit that these individual efforts do not lend
themselves to program replication or universal treatments. Nevertheless, these
individuals commit themselves, while channeling their knowledge and resources to
tap into and redirect local networks so that program efficacy may extend beyond the
boundaries of their communities; hence, inner city youth can gain access to
resources, institutions, and opportunities in society’s mainstream.
Interestingly, “social closure” in terms of Coleman (1988) is a typical aspect
of each program; indeed, they underscore the importance of cultivating trusting
relationships, establishing and/or advancing group (or community) norms and values,
reciprocity in exchange, while maintaining cohesion through enforcement of

51
sanctions (Coleman, 1988; Portes, 1998). Significantly, within the scope of each
program, the leaders re-contextualize group norms and values in a manner that is
relevant to the situational social cultural dynamics that characterize the specific
communities they serve; hence, there are no underlying dissonance constructs
undermining implementation efficacy (Kahne & Bailey, 1999; Maeroff, 1998;
Noguera, 1999).
Many of the individual programs also seek to bridge relationships and
resources between the communities they serve and mainstream components that
facilitate social mobility, while teaching youth the codes of power and/or “rules of
the game” (Delpit, 1988; Granovetter, 1983; Lin, 1999). Many programs portrayed
in this depiction tacitly infuse healthy balances of social closure, as well as resource
and network orientation in a manner that fosters program efficacy and, thus, youth
empowerment; yet, the depictions of program implementation, unfortunately,
overlook the deeper dimensions of the leaders as it pertains to their roles as
institutional agents. The narratives seemingly yearn for a broader, deeper intellectual
and/or theoretical discussion to draw out the salient affects of these amazing
individuals as they endeavor to improve the lives of inner-city youth.
Williams and Kornblum (1985) portray the experiences of resilient children
who, despite multiple risk factors such as abject poverty, and harsh or dangerous
environmental surroundings seemingly overcome adversity and advance themselves
toward social mobility. The authors use the term, “superkids” to illustrate the
descriptions of these youth relative to the vicissitudes they must surmount. Yet, the

52
authors also submit that the common denominator throughout their depictions of
youth prevailing over tribulation is at least one significant adult in the child’s family
or proximal networks, supporting them in a manner that facilitates their ability to
navigate through social cultural and socioeconomic barriers and achieve academic
success.
Unfortunately, the authors’ characterization of the support mechanisms or
people underpinning the success of these youth, despite overwhelmingly negative
environs and circumstances, remains superficially descriptive and, mainly,
underdeveloped. The actions of those individuals who position themselves to
support these “superkids” exemplify the nomenclature of institutional agency; thus,
their role beckons thorough and comprehensive analysis. The notion that these
exceptional youth are, indeed, superkids is somewhat misleading; rather,
characterizing them as youth possessing efficacious support systems in the context of
positional resources is an accurate description of their relationship dynamics,
considering the outcome of their learning and mobility endeavors.
Meanwhile, Hernandez’s (1995) study cautions that well-intentioned
interventions involving implicit socialization efforts, if implemented without proper
network and/or comprehensive support mechanisms, also generate dissonance and
discord, rather than positive results. His depiction of prospective socialization
efforts relative to grouping Latina female youth in the Hispanic Mother-Daughter
Program (HMDP) and successful Latina businesspersons portrays a single

53
intervention entailing three separate interfaces, coupled with survey analysis of the
participants’ individual locus of control and self-concept.
Results following the intervention revealed that the students had high goals
and aspirations; therefore, participants found the career information they received as
particularly useful. The manner in which role models portrayed success, as an “all or
nothing phenomenon” (p. 261), left youth participants with the perception that
success entailed extraordinary or “superhuman” effort; therefore, highly unlikely.
Meaning, role models seemingly inferred that determination and a hard-work ethic,
coupled with familial re-socialization into an pro-academic value system predicated
success; all while ignoring the fundamental processes of institutional support and
social capital development as means of overcoming socioeconomic and social
cultural constraints, which play an integral role relative to success.
Importantly, the role models did not employ their embedded networks to
avail positional resources and information to the youth participants on a consistent
basis resulted in disconnect, rather than discourse. Additionally, Hernandez (1995)
submits that interventions such as HMDP, undertaken in a social cultural or gender-
based context, must be comprehensive and ongoing to elicit positive outcomes
relative to inspiration, self-efficacy, and self-confidence. Hernandez (1995) implies
that programs, such as HMDP require theories of change, which explicitly articulate
the empowering results relative to instituting mechanisms targeted to enhancing
social capital of youth participants, as well as program leaders, hence, fostering the
empowerment of both. Meaning, that program leaders may effectively assume the

54
complex role set of an institutional agent, bridging institutional funds of knowledge,
thus, facilitating academic and social mobility (Stanton-Salazar, 1997).
Ladson Billings’ (1995) observational analysis of successful teacher
pedagogy relative to African American students offers insight into how re-
contextualized mechanisms of social closure in terms of Coleman (1988),
implemented in a culturally competent manner, result in positive student learning
outcomes. Her primary supposition lies in that socialization can be empowering if
the process seeks to compliment and expand upon the positive contextual aspects of
the cultural community it seeks to treat, and instill it with a collective sense of
ownership and esteem, rather than supplant it with dominant cultural norms; thus,
socialization facilitates efficacious results.
Although, Ladson-Billings (1995) explicitly underscores the role of the
teacher as an integral component in facilitating an environment, through pedagogy
and ethos, conducive to positive student learning outcomes, her work still beckons
for a formal scholarly discussion concerning the operational mechanisms occurring
in the classroom relative to teachers (i.e., institutional agency). Ironically, she
briefly introduces (institutional) agency without formally conceptualizing it in her
recommendations for pedagogical reform; nevertheless, she infers its importance in
terms of Bourdieu, as a salient counter stratification construct relative to the status
quo (Stanton-Salazar, 1997).

55
Social Capital Theory in the Context of Intervention and Institutional Agency
Many interventions explicitly articulate the relevant theoretical mechanisms
of social capital underpinning a specific programmatic processes within the context
of an intervention, lends scholarly insight into the components of empowerment;
when isolated, provide a coherent rationale depicting the congruence of social capital
and empowerment theories operationalized relative to the role of the institutional
agent.
Academically Oriented Programs and Theoretical Utility
Maeroff (1998) explicitly articulates the theoretical mechanisms of social
closure as it pertains to the various intervention programs depicted in this particular
work (pp. 4-18). He submits that a primary cause of dysfunctional communities,
which typically characterizes the situation of many blighted urban communities, is
the lack of social cohesion; consequently, community dysfunction becomes a
common denominator pertaining to the spillover affect relative to school dysfunction
(Coleman, 1988; Ogbu, 1985). Thus, he asserts that functional school communities
are essential to functional schools; meaning, those key ingredients comprising
community must be artificially infused where and when they do not previously exist.
In other words, community and cohesion are paramount to successful reform efforts.
The primary suppositions advanced in suppositions regarding school reform
revolve around four themes or, “senses:” (a) sense of connectedness; (b) a sense of
well-being; (c) a sense of academic initiative; and (d) a sense of knowing. Whereas,
connectedness entails forging relationships linking students and families with school

56
as it pertains to social identity, as well as communication and dialogue (Noguera,
1999). Well-being involves schools linking students and families in need with
critical health and social services to help them combat the affects of abject poverty
(e.g., instability in the home, gangs and violence). Academic initiative entails raising
expectations and improving the quality of classroom instruction in a manner that
facilitates academic achievement; hence, overall improvement in student learning
outcomes. Finally, knowing implies the critical role of the institutional agent who is
poised and prepared to equip students with the knowledge base; empowering them
with the resources and opportunities essential to their mobility. Thus, he invokes the
importance of Stanton-Salazar’s (1997) work pertaining to relational resources and
embedded networks as critical to advancing social competency.
Kahne and Bailey (1999) depict a comparative case study analysis of an
intervention program, “I Have a Dream” (IHAD), which uses explicit components of
social closure to convey social capital to minority youth (Coleman, 1988). Social
trust is the primary element, hence the fulcrum, from which all other social capital
components in the IHAD support strategy originate. Relationships foster access to
information and resources. Norms and sanctions facilitate an atmosphere of high
academic expectations and standards of character. This condition is the result of a
functional community, where reciprocal exchanges occur on a routine basis within
the confines of a safe and healthy social environment.

57
Effective IHAD programs, however, elicited a positive impact on student
learning outcomes because the Program Coordinators (PC), indeed, cultivated the
relationships, while maintaining the essential consistency of the program essential
facilitating a climate and ethos predicated upon social trust, i.e. normative constructs.
Importantly, social trust (or lack thereof), indeed, in normative terms is the critical
lynchpin that determines outcomes entailing productive mobility, or those that foster
dissonance within the context of an intervention. The program coordinator’s
efficacy is clearly the result of successfully navigating the precarious social cultural
nuances relative to the community dynamics. In many cases, the program
coordinators use their resources and information, or, a differential resources model to
bridge relationships between students, i.e., clients, and teacher; hence, fostering the
engagement necessary to forge reciprocal exchanges. The authors infer that their
efficacy is related to the salience of the complex dynamics within their roles as
institutional agents.
Additionally, the authors submit that effective PCs invoke resources and
information within their own embedded networks, to facilitate students’ ability to
draw upon strong ties within their own extensive networks, i.e., PCs and staff, to
gain access to resources and information via weak ties outside their networks
(Granovetter, 1983; Lin, 1999). Students learn to adopt dominant group practices for
instrumental purposes, in essence, to make a “system” not necessarily designed to
operate on their behalf, nonetheless, work for them, i.e., economic survival;
therefore, predicating their strategic socialization into the dominant group’s cultural

58
capital without forsaking their own expressive culture (Mehan, Hubbard, &
Villanueva, 1994; Stanton-Salazar, 2004).
The authors, however, also submit that inconsistencies in the effectiveness of
the program coordinator relate to their ability to cultivate and maintain the
relationships, which are necessary to facilitate social trust and prevent the rise of
skepticism and discord. Programs hampered by skepticism or communal disconnect,
ultimately resulted in failure. In addition, IHAD did not effectively integrate parents
into the program. The authors suggest that effective parental involvement increased
salient bridging between the IHAD program and families, which increased the
program’s overall efficacy as it relates to community and social cohesion.
Meanwhile, Mehan, Villanueva, Hubbard, and Lintz (1996) offer theoretical
insight into the explicit dynamics of academic socialization entailed in AVID.
Through comparative case study analysis, the authors depict the intricacies of social
scaffolding through patterns of language and behavior encumbered in AVID’s
untracking effort designed to assist students from typically marginalized social
cultural groups gain access to higher-level academic courses in secondary education;
thus, increasing the likelihood of participants gaining entry into colleges and
universities. In other words, AVID PCs explicitly teach implicit classroom and
school culture, relative to high standards and expectations of academic performance,
and mediate the relationships between families, (High) schools, and colleges
(Mehan, Hubbard, Lintz, & Villanueva, 1994; Stanton-Salazar, Vasquez, & Mehan,
2000).

59
The AVID PC and teacher facilitators become the primary purveyors of
social capital, through social scaffolding efforts, as they endeavor to infuse middle or
upper class socialization patterns relative to networks and relationships into the
academic cultural and behavioral discourse patterns of low-income and/or minority
student participants. Mehan et al. (1996) surmise that the AVID program is design
to infuse elements of social reproduction relative to social capital into the discourse
patterns of student participants (Bourdieu, 1986; Stanton-Salazar, 2001). On the
other hand, however, Mehan, Hubbard, and Villanueva (1994) assert that PCs do not
undertake such efforts to assimilate students into mainstream cultural dynamics,
because such practices create dissonance and tend to alienate student participants.
AVID seeks to empower students with cultural capital via the language and
resources conducive to mobility into their own cultural experiences (Stanton-Salazar,
Vasquez, & Mehan, 2000). AVID attains efficacious counter stratification results by
re-contextualizing core principles into a critical ideology that enables student
participants to navigate successfully between their primary cultural discourse
patterns and their academic cultures (Mehan, Hubbard, & Villanueva, 1994; Mehan
et al., 1996).
Mehan et al. (1996) also infer the critical role of the institutional agent
relative to AVID, as they analyze variegated saliency in results between the
programs depicted in their study. The effectiveness of the PC, pertaining to their
ability to elicit buy-in from the entire school-wide learning community and advance
program components throughout the instructional curriculum likely determines the

60
overall efficacy of the site-based program. This also has an overall impact on
student learning outcomes. Paradoxically speaking, the authors suggest that
universal proliferations of AVID ideals are a tenuous aim at best, because the
program’s collective socialization efforts conflict with the individualistic mindset
that characterizes prevailing mainstream culture. Stanton-Salazar, Vasquez, and
Mehan (2000) submit that AVID efficacy would increase exponentially if schools
and districts, indeed, devoted more social resources towards its proliferation.
Unfortunately, they also assert that unless schools and districts make
significant changes in their organizational and school structure AVID will not be
able to affect large-scale improvement in student learning outcomes. Nevertheless,
Mehan et al. (1999) posit that the PC’s role is the critical lynchpin that predicates
positive impact relative to program efficacy, as well as eliciting positive student
learning outcomes, despite the fact that the authors briefly broach agency as an
isolated construct. Thus, the role of the PC still yearns for a comprehensive
discussion, in the context of institutional agency, in their analysis of AVID’s overall
program successes and shortcomings.
Stanton-Salazar (2004) also highlights the integral role of the AVID PC or
teacher relative to institutional agency. He posits that AVID’s salience, therefore, its
efficacy lie in the tacit or “hidden curriculum”(p. 32); whereas, the AVID PC and
teachers, as institutional agents, reinforce social and academic norms in a manner
that fosters reciprocal exchanges of support; thus, providing conduits or access to
networks, resources, and opportunities that facilitate their social and academic

61
mobility. He also submits that reciprocal exchanges between peers serve to
promulgate social and academic norms, relative to AVID; thus, cultivating additional
peer-group networks, in which peers, themselves, become mutual support systems
bridging each other towards resources and information to advance their academic
mobility.
Conchas (2001) analyzes the underlying institutional and social cultural
mechanisms relative to variegated Latino student learning outcomes, within the
scope of small thematic academies comprising a medium-sized urban high school.
Conchas’ two-year participatory observational study depicts various interrelated
dissonance constructs portraying the interpersonal relationship dynamics within the
general school population, the Advanced Placement (AP) program, and the Graphics
Academy; in contrast, harmonious support networks facilitating access to resources,
information, and opportunities characterizes the relationship and interpersonal
dynamics of the Medical Academy.
The general school program consisted of disengaged majority Latino students
marred by low achievement and lacks the support networks facilitating access to
resources and opportunities for academic mobility (Stanton-Salazar, 1997, 2001);
leaving students marginalized and alienated within the context of the academic
milieu, and pessimistic concerning their future prospects. On the other hand, the AP
program reflected a social cultural makeup unrepresentative of the demographic
composition of the school; while African Americans and Latino comprised 85% of
the school’s population, they only comprised 18% of the enrollment in the AP

62
program. Interestingly, Latino students in the AP program, as well as the Graphics
program found themselves in a precarious paradox entailing fragmented bonds
between Latino students in other academic communities as the result of ability
grouping, while alienated from each other as the result of the aggressive and intense
competition within the context of a program based on high-achievement.
Consequently, the relationship dynamics and social exchanges between Latino
students were, for the most part, unhealthy and/or dysfunctional, leaving them
depressed, and anxiety ridden.
The Medical Academy was an entirely different dichotomy, whose student
population more accurately reflected the racial/ethnic composition of the school.
Students also forged strong healthy bonds with each other in normative terms,
facilitating beneficial peer exchanges and systems of support (Stanton-Salazar &
Spina, 2004). In addition, teacher-student relationships also fostered an atmosphere
conducive to resource and network models of social capital; where healthy
exchanges of resources, information, and opportunities facilitated positive student
learning outcomes, as well as their mobility. The author explicitly submits that the
mixture of appropriately contextualized pedagogy, coupled with networks of
institutional support was essential to the academy’s success; instilling positive self-
efficacy a sense of empowerment relative to students’ future prospects.
Social Capital, Social Support, and Educational Outcomes
Educational outcomes are, indeed, a critical component in the scope of
analysis within the literature depicted in this synthesis; moreover, educational

63
outcomes are a construct resulting from the confluence of social capital,
empowerment, and agency. Examining its efficacy, as an isolated construct relative
the role of the institutional agency in an empowerment paradigm is essential to
understanding how variegated benefits pertaining to social capital product disparate
outcomes concerning minority and low-status youth.
Ream (2005) argues that mobility is a salient construct, which contributes to
the variegated levels of social capital benefit between Mexican-American youth and
their non-Latino White counterparts, with regards to academic achievement;
meaning, he posits that different forms of peer social capital have differential
exchange value. He introduces a longitudinal study designed to analyze the
following hypothesis: (a) whether Mexican American adolescents learn less in
school because they have less access to peer social capital, because of their mobility
frequency throughout their school careers; and, (b) whether there is distinction
between the availability of social capital and its convertibility. Through surveys and
quantitative methods, he analyzes the frequency of student mobility between 8th and
12th grades, while using aggregate K-8 mobility counts as a control.
Although the study revealed similar mobility rate frequencies between
Mexican American youth and non-Latino Whites, the results revealed that despite
similar mobility patterns there were, indeed, 12th test score performance disparities
between the two groups. In addition, the data highlights the premium of peer
connectedness as relates to Mexican American youth, as reflected in their 12th grade
(reading) test scores, while highlighting the comparative disadvantaged position they

64
find themselves as it relates to barriers or disruptions within those relationships, such
as mobility (Conchas, 2001; Stanton-Salazar & Spina, 2004).
The author submits that timing of disruption (i.e., relocation) affects the
quality, depth, and breadth of peer group and network dynamic, e.g., interactions,
trust, in a manner, and diminishes the value of the relationships, (Stanton-Salazar,
2001). The author’s generalizations pertaining to variegated exchanges of social
capital between ethnic groups, however, need further examination and/or
measurement regarding the specific values and benefit of each construct, a tedious
task at best. The author calls for further investigation pertaining to specific construct
measurement; thus, although his findings are, indeed, an important component
advancing his argument, they are somewhat limited, if not spurious because they
lack in-depth profundity.
Perhaps, an expanded analysis of a discussion topic in previous scholarly
writing would fortify the author’s premises and conclusions relative to social capital
and variegated utility; the subject of this particular work. In his earlier publication,
Ream (2003) introduces the term, “counterfeit social capital” to describe a condition
depicting teacher-student relationships that seemingly sabotage social capital
convertibility. Whereas, rather than maintaining an ethos based upon high academic
expectations, given some lack of intrinsic motivation on the part of the student, the
teacher assumes an accommodator role in the interest of preserving collective
harmony at the expense of advancing academic content; thus, subverting the
possibility of eliciting positive student learning outcomes. Unfortunately, the author

65
only posits this argument in tertiary terms. In contrast, Ladson-Billings (1995) posits
a similar supposition and commences with an in-depth discussion of the social
cultural disparities, which manifest in the classroom, and their implications in the
context of equity pedagogy and subsequent student learning outcomes. In short, she
suggests that such is a merely a dichotomized microcosm of the systemic biases,
which depict and plague our society.
Theoretical Convergence and Opportunities for Expanded Articulation
Theoretical convergence or congruence is the culminating supposition of this
synthesis of literature, as it pertains to social capital in the context of institutional
agency; whereas, the theoretical camps of social capital naturally merge with
empowerment theory in a manner that underscores the critical role of institutional
agents as facilitators of academic and social mobility.
Noguera (2002) seemingly attains theoretical congruence as he chronicles the
plight of an urban Oakland, California community disenfranchised pertaining to the
quality of schools, education, and student learning outcomes. While depicting the
cumbersome task cultivating social capital via bridging entails, as a means of
connecting blighted communities to resources, networks, and structures to elicit
assistance from persons or institutions that have access to money and power; hence,
he posits that bolstering weak ties to outside networks is essential to social or
community cohesion (Granovetter, 1983; Lin, 1999, 2000). He also asserts,
however, that social closure is essential, because community cohesion is conducive
to efficacious bonding to resources and benefits in a manner that can potentially

66
galvanize collective entities into action. Noguera (1999) submits that this process is
what facilitates the process of change or improvement. He concludes that continued
efforts of community-based organizations to cultivate social capital by organizing
and educating parent groups is integral to fostering both individual and collective
efficacy. Therefore, he effectively merges different components of the two
theoretical camps into a conceptual framework, which presupposes that community
engagement begets social capital, which as a result promotes empowerment (Maton
& Salem, 1995; Rich et al., 1995).
Stanton-Salazar and Spina (2004) depict theoretical congruence as they
discuss the importance of peer networks as systems of support for minority youth;
and, that these support networks mitigate or buffer the negative affects of marginality
entailed in normative social dynamics; thus, transforming cycles of embedded
alienation into social capital conduits that facilitate access to middle-class
institutional resources. In other words, relationship networks predicate the
proliferation of weak ties (Granovetter, 1983; Lin, 1999, 2000). Therefore, Stanton-
Salazar and Spina (2004) posit that embedded peer networks fortified by cultural
principles of trust and social support are conducive to individual and collective
efficacy, as well as academic achievement and developmental gains despite stressors
and barriers associated with acculturation, social cultural and socioeconomic
marginalization.

67
Stanton-Salazar and Spina (2004) surmise that fostering supportive
relationship dynamics entails creating the social and psychological conditions, within
the context of an institution, which are conducive to cultivation; meaning, they
consider, to some extent, that social closure as an integral component of this equation
(Noguera, 1999, 2002). Ultimately, though, the authors presuppose that efforts
relative to relationship dynamics endeavor to empower individuals, in the context of
a collective entity, and maximize their ability to access the resources, information,
and opportunities that will facilitate mobility (Maton & Salem, 1995; Zimmerman,
1995). In addition, empowerment also substantially reconciles the scholarship of
Stanton-Salazar (1997, 2001, 2004) with that of Nan Lin (1999, 2000). In other
words, the relationship networks that facilitate productive power are tantamount to
social capital in the context of individual or collective action, relative to accessing
resources and information that ultimately fosters mobility and/or benefit.
Empowerment literature, as an isolated theoretical construct still beckons for
succinct conceptualization fortified by research-based results, to articulate and
rationalize its mechanisms and outcomes. Conger and Kanungo (1988) submit an
analytical of business management and psychology dimensions from which to
examine the relational dynamics of various constructs of empowerment, while also
examining components that manifest into conditions of disempowerment.
Vagueness and ambiguity relative to research and articulation, however, allow
continued debate concerning how theoretical components of manifest into practice
(Wilkinson, 1997). Meanwhile, empowerment encompasses Stanton-Salazar and

68
Spina’s (2000) discussion, which re-conceptualizes minority youth resiliency into a
developmental framework. This discussion also includes examining the salience of
(institutional) agents as purveyors of positional resources, in an effort to convey the
necessary mechanisms of support that foster coping skills, and facilitate healthy,
functional socialization; hence resiliency.
Nevertheless, Speer et al. (2001) converges empowerment language with
social closure, in a broad attempt to reconcile theoretical language with measurable
constructs and apply them to examine the natures and nuances of a social dynamic;
thus, inferring, through social closure, social capital is the salient vehicle through
which individuals and collective entities become empowered. Hence, the author of
this study posits that the two prevailing theoretical camps of social capital are not
necessarily contrasting conceptual notions; rather, they afford scholars with a
theoretical language to articulate empowerment and the saliency of the institutional
agent as a vehicle to conduce social capital, hence, empowerment.
Conclusion
The literatures discussed in this critical synthesis open the door to a unique
opportunity for further research and articulation. Whereas, social capital theory
offers empowerment literature succinct insight pertaining to how institutional
contexts mechanize or deconstruct empowerment opportunities, i.e., social closure or
positional relationships, while the role of the institutional agent affords social capital
and empowerment literature the opportunity to analyze the salient affects of the
purveyor of social capital and/or empowerment. Whether articulated in implicit or

69
explicit terms, these theoretical frameworks afford concise opportunities to articulate
the institutional mechanisms that either facilitate the mobility of typically
marginalized social cultural groups, or perpetuate their embedded alienation.

70
CHAPTER 3
METHODOLOGY
Introduction
This chapter depicts the research design and rationale, sample selection, as
well as the process of data collection and analysis relative to this study. The purpose
of this study to analyze the salience of institutional agency, as an isolated social
capital and empowerment mechanism, which fosters the academic and social
mobility of minority or low-status youth within the context of AVID, a specific K-12
intervention program. In addition, the study will examine the manner in which the
people involved in the intervention program, in their potential role as institutional
agents, convey essential skills relative to evolving dynamic contexts; thus,
empowering minority youth to overcome both institutional and societal obstacles and
attain academic success.
Thus, the primary purpose of this design is gain insight into the following
research questions:
1. To the degree those efforts to engage in social capital mobilization are
made, how might the program coordinator’s accessible social capital play
a prominent role?
2. To what extent are AVID program coordinators able to mobilize their
social capital to convey information, resources, and opportunities to
minority and low-status youth in the context of program implementation?

71
3. What factors facilitate or constrain the accumulation of accessible social
capital and agency-oriented mobilization of social capital (on behalf of
program participants and/or program implementation)?
4. To what extent does AVID training identify the underpinning theoretical
concepts and processes of social capital theory; thus do AVID program
coordinators understand their role relative to the help-seeking and
network-seeking orientations of institutional agency?
Rationale
An inductive methodological approach, which incorporates an
analysis of ethnographic interview protocols, affords the opportunity to
gain in-depth perspective and insight pertaining to the cultural,
ideological, and theoretical mechanisms relative to how program
coordinators how they make cultural sense of what they are doing, is it
pertains to agency. This, facilitates the process of academic and social
mobility and/or empowerment as it pertains to minority and low-status
youth. Stanton-Salazar & Spina (2003) employ critical ethnographic
methods from a viewpoint that it “aims to understand, analyze, pose
questions, and affect the sociopolitical and economic realities that shape
our lives” (p. 237). According to Spradley (1979):
The essential core of ethnography is this [a] concern with the
meaning of actions and events to the people we seek to
understand. Some of these meanings are directly expressed in
language; [however] many are taken for granted and
communicated only indirectly through word and action. But
in every society people make constant use of these complex-

72
meaning systems to organize their behavior, to understand
themselves and others, and to make sense out of the world in
which they live. These systems of meaning constitute their
culture; ethnography always implies a theory of culture

This study implemented qualitative, inductive approach, while
simultaneously employing deductive analytic case study research methods.
Spradley’s (1979) guidelines pertaining to thematic analysis will also guide this
study and assist in the process of developing overarching classificatory themes.
Preliminary stages of research were devoted to identifying a range of cultural themes
and implicit, or tacit social structures, which emerge resulting from the analysis
pertaining to the intervention program, AVID. According to Spradley’s (1979)
design, a cultural theme refers to any tacit or explicit cognitive principle, which
recurs within a range of domains, in the context of a particular intervention; and,
underpins programmatic principles and practices.
An deductive methodological approach allowed me as a researcher to
interview subjects in the sample population and uncovers underlying social,
institutional, and ideological structures; all, while using critical social capital theories
to analyze the underpinning mechanisms which characterize the programmatic
processes of the intervention (Stanton-Salazar & Spina, 2003). This approach
allowed me to draw upon the strength of my writing and analytical skills to depict
and/or articulate a broad, in-depth portrayal of background knowledge, as well as the
social-interactive, social cultural, and ideological dynamics of programmatic
processes in the context of the site-based AVID program. This process also allowed
me to examine the scope of how dynamic interactions relative to institutional agency

73
have salient impact on the efficacy of the intervention, and, thus, facilitate academic
and social mobility as it pertains to minority and low-status youth; hence, fostering
their empowerment. The richness, depth, and quality that critical ethnographic
approaches entail, coupled with the analytical skills depicted underscored the unique
significance of this study.
Quantz’s (1999) discussion concerning ritual, in the context of social
processes, is also essential to the critical ethnography as it relates to contextualizing
empowerment against a backdrop of what constitutes disempowerment; meaning,
ritual is the structure that maintains the status quo (p.498). Whereas, he argues:
Here [in education], the symbolic function of ritual is to relate
the individual through ritualistic acts to a social order, to
heighten respect for that order, to revivify that order within the
individual and, in particular, to deepen acceptance of the
procedures which are used to maintain continuity, order and
boundary and that control ambivalence towards the social
order. For in the process of creating feelings of bonding
towards those who are “us,” ritual also helps create feelings of
separateness from those who are not “us” (p.498).

Quantz (1999) surmises that while ritual is essential to establishing and
maintaining social solidarity. He also asserts that ritual is an important component
relative to social conflict, which leads to disempowerment. Therefore, observing and
recording ritual in a contextualized experience enables the researcher to understand
how powerful people within a social structure maintain and continuously recreate the
status quo. This also allows the researcher to understand how typically marginalized
or disenfranchised groups constantly challenge the status quo (p.505). Moreover,
Quantz allows the researcher to use critical ethnography to juxtapose constructs of

74
power against a backdrop of what constitutes empowerment versus
disempowerment.
Deductively speaking, the study referred to the work of Cochran, Larner,
Riley, Gunnarsson, & Henderson (1990) and their extensive analyses pertaining to
the salience of social networks and support systems as an essential component of
human development:
It is important to recognize the difference between personal
networks and social support. Both concepts are valuable. The
distinction can be maintained, in part, by acknowledging that
network relations are stressful as well as supportive and that
network members can influence development in ways that
extend well beyond those included in the support concept
(p. 9)

The foundation of their research focuses on the identification, classification,
and documentation of systematic processes, network sources, and subsequent
outcomes in the context of relational and developmental dynamics relative to
manifestations of social and network support. According to Cochran et al. (1990):
Personal social networks are the central phenomenon under
investigation [in this book]…Several purposes were
uppermost in the development of this interview. First, a great
deal of complex information needed to be gathered relatively
simply and quickly. Second it [is] was necessary to construct
easily administered measures of, for example, how many
people in each network provided a particular kind of
support…Third, we want [ed] to be able to distinguish
between social support and other characteristics of the
personal social network (p. 47).

Thus, their effective use of name generated survey and focus group interview data
lend credence to the veracity of their findings, as well as the ability to formulate
valid systemic generalizations.

75
Livermore and Neustrom (2003) offered specific insight pertaining to the
manner by which to conduct the interviews pertaining to determining the social
capital of institutional agents, as well as their proclivity to access their individual
networks to help minority and low-status gain access to essential information,
resources, and opportunities. These necessary conditions facilitate academic and
social mobility, hence, fostering their empowerment. In their study, the authors used
an interview protocol and conducted guided conversations with social workers,
program managers, and state-level administrators to determine whether they were
inclined to access their individual networks and personal resources to help welfare
clients attain job placement; and, if so, the extent and context in which they access
those networks and resources.
Upon completion of the interview process, Livermore & Neustrom (2003)
were able to analyze their data and codify response patterns into thematic
subcategories, and concluded that some workers, indeed, access their personal social
networks to elicit important information to assist welfare clientele with job
placement. On the other hand, however, many do so selectively, which lends
credence to the negative dimensions of social capital pertaining to closed social
systems and restricted access by means of reputation and/or elitism (Portes, 1998).
Livermore and Neustrom (2003) caution that their study is not without some
limitations; meaning, they understand and assume responsibility for the fact that their
small, non-random sampling makes it somewhat difficult to draw inferential
conclusions regarding social workers in general, nationally or even regionally.

76
Nevertheless, their findings offer new insight and discourse relative to the role of
social workers and the job placement process.
Lin and Dumin’s (as cited in Flap, Snijders, Volker, & Van Der Gaag, 2003)
study also offered insight into to network access-related social capital measurement.
Their use of the position generator measures network members’ occupations in
relation to a job prestige-based hierarchical status modeled by society and measured
relative to the range of accessed prestige, as well as the variety of accessed positions.
This methodology aligns with Lin’s (1999) theories of social and positional
resources relative to social capital. The availability of the resources, compared by
measuring the strength of the relationship or tie through which the resources are
accessed, is indicative of the role of the relationship, e.g., friend, family members, or
acquaintances.
The administration of this survey-instrument was relatively easy;
furthermore, the questionnaires were adaptable to meet the needs of the specific
population pertaining to job prestige. Analysts can also arrange data into
theoretically relevant social capital constructs and/or measures. On the other hand,
however, because the underlying motive driving the construction of these measures
is to facilitate large-scale survey research, constructs or measures only contain and
reveal indirect information regarding the content or quality of resource relative to
social capital. Interpretation pertaining to resource access is dependent upon the
perceived theoretical importance of job prestige. Flap et al. (2003) surmise that
social capital measures must be goal and context specific, which requires multiple

77
measured and separate subcollections. Nevertheless, the position generator lends
insight into understanding the depth and extent of individual networks concerning
institutional agents.
Therefore, Flap et al. (2003) introduce a resource generator as an alternative
instrument, which explores the salience of an individual’s networks based upon a
fixed array of resources representing various domains of life adaptable relative to the
population. The nature of the relationships (e.g., family members, friends) or
acquaintances, by which individuals access resources predicates the salience of the
network as it pertains to the quality of the social capital. Although this instrument
also required theoretical guidance, because social interaction and social network
formulation are culturally dependent constructs, the instrument was also easy to
administer. The results were easy to interpret and articulate into relevant and valid
social capital indicators. The position and resource generators, together, adapted to
reflect the relevant population afforded in-depth insight into the salience or quality of
personal resources and networks as it pertains to institutional agents.
Collection and Analysis of Cross-Site Qualitative Data
Miles and Huberman (1994) address the strengths and feasibility of cross-
case analysis as a measure that enables the researcher to generalize findings in the
context of a qualitative study; furthermore, cross or multiple case analyses enhances
both the reliability and validity of qualitative methodology. Whereas, cross-case
analysis is essential to determining the salience as well as the conditions, by which
institutional agents are inclined to access their individual networks to convey

78
resources, information, and opportunities, in the context of an intervention program,
in a manner that facilitates the academic and social mobility of minority and low-
status youth, hence, fostering their empowerment. Traditional researchers would
assert that such is not an appropriate measure in the context of quantitative analysis.
These methods, however, afford the researcher the ability to draw conclusions that
may have relevance to other similar settings. Therefore, the authors surmise that
adequately sampled and carefully analyzed multiple case enable the researcher the
ability to draw coherent conclusions beyond one specific case in question.
In addition, Miles and Huberman (1994) advocate cross-case analysis for its
value pertaining to, “deepening understanding and explanation” (p. 173); especially
as it relates to identifying certain structural conditions are conducive to the
occurrence or non-occurrence of a particular event. Multiple or cross-case analysis
allows the research to strengthen theory when fortified by examination of
similarities, differences, and situational nuances across cases. A researcher who
engages in this method can isolate the specific conditions in which events occur and
allow the researcher to codify conditions into general categories pertaining to how
conditions may be related.
Mehan et al. (1996) employ this method, to some extent, in their multiple
case analyses of AVID program success where they isolate and analyze the school-
wide climate and cultural dynamics, which ultimately produced variegated student
learning outcomes across multiple settings and AVID intervention programs. The
limitations of this approach, however, centers around the fact that it requires lengthy

79
fieldwork and the collection of large amounts of data, which are not easily
translatable in the context of this project. Nevertheless, an appropriately constructed
case study approach enables the researcher to devote time and attention to the
contextual complexities, as well as the many other factors that may influence the
social capital mobilization of particular program leaders.
Merriam (1998) also surmises that the power of cross-case analysis lies in its
ability to formulate general explanations applicable across the individual cases,
despite the fact that each individual case may contain unique nuances. On one hand,
she evokes Miles and Huberman (1994) while submitting that, in the context of the
cross-case analysis, “the researcher attempts to see processes and outcomes that
occur across many cases, to understand how they are qualified by local conditions,
and thus develop more sophisticated descriptions and more powerful explanations (p.
195).”
She also warns, and invokes Miles and Huberman (1994) while doing so,
that this process is somewhat precarious. In other words, misguided or mishandled
cross-case analyses become spurious efforts if they depict tertiary or superficial
summaries, which only examine common themes or components across multiple
settings. Merriam (1998) submits, these examinations entail, “looking carefully at
the complex configuration of process within each case, [and] understand the local
dynamics, before we can begin to see patterning of variable that transcends particular
cases (Miles & Huberman, pp. 205-206).”

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Sample and Population
Cross-Case Population Description
The cross-case analysis population consists of 8 purposefully selected AVID
program coordinators; and, was the result of extensive discussions and collaboration
between the County Regional AVID Coordinator, as well as her support staff and
affiliated colleagues. The primary goal of the cross-case analysis is to identify,
categorize, and codify an individual program coordinator’s individual network of
resources and sources of support. This process also entailed documenting help-
seeking or network-oriented outcomes as it relates to their ability and proclivity, in
their roles as program coordinators, to become institutional agents. This also
entailed examining how program coordinators marshal resources, information, and
opportunities to facilitate the academic and social mobility of minority and low-
status youth, and foster their empowerment. Rich, in-depth analysis as it relates to
the cross-case analysis allowed me to triangulate findings pertaining to the scope,
quality, and range of individual networks, and, thus, validate the information
gathered in the context of this methodology. The following sections depict
background information relative to individual program coordinators, as well as the
milieus that characterized their site-based intervention efforts.
Southland High School: Diane Purcell and Elizabeth Castellan
The situation at Southland High School is unique in its own rite. A single
person typically holds the AVID program coordinator position. However, in the
wake of the previous program coordinator’s retirement the principal embarked upon

81
a bold but decisive course, in an effort to infuse new, intrepid and innovative energy
and enthusiasm into the program. Therefore, two young but capable persons share
the program coordinator responsibilities.
Diane Purcell is Caucasian, 27 years old, recently married, and comes from
what she describes as an upper-middle class family, She has resided in the local area
most of her life, and has a relatively large extended family that lives in the local area
as well. She frequently travels abroad. She and her husband love the outdoors and
physical fitness; they train together and participate in many local marathons and
triathlons. She characterizes herself as an overachiever, indicative of the fact that
she received both a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mathematics and a Bachelor of
Arts degree in History simultaneously from San Diego State University. She is a
mathematics teacher who has taught high school for four years, and assumes her role
having a total of six years experience with AVID, as both a tutor and teacher. She
has considered the possibility of returning to school to pursue her Master’s degree;
however, her recent marriage has her thinking about starting a family in the near
future.
Elizabeth (Liz) Castellan is Diane’s counterpart is Mexican-American; she is
26 years old, married, and has a 4-year-old son. She has also resided in the local
area her entire life; however, she comes from what she describes as a lower-
middle/lower class family. Her family is also close by, and consists of siblings,
aunts and uncles, and a host of nieces, nephews, and cousins. Liz and her husband
are high school sweethearts who also followed one another to college, then married

82
upon their graduation from the University of California San Diego. She, like her
counterpart, earned multiple undergraduate degrees; attaining a Bachelor of Arts
degrees in Spanish and History. Liz is an English Language Development teacher
who has 4 years of high school teaching experience, and has been involved with
AVID for six years; and, like her counterpart, as both tutor and teacher. Although
many might also characterize her as an overachiever, as evidenced by her double
degrees, Liz views herself somewhat reserved, if not pensive; nevertheless, she has
her sights set on pursuing her Master’s degree once her son enters kindergarten.
Overview of the School Site
Southland High School is part of a union high school district, serving grades
9 through 12, with an enrollment of approximately 2,349 students. The school is
located in a unique urban area of the county, and employs 4 full-time administrators
and 103 teachers. The majority of the staff is Caucasian (i.e., over 80%), while the
remaining are of Latino, Asian, and African American descent. Table 1 depicts the
ethnic breakdown of the school’s student population.
Table 1: Southland High School Enrollment by Ethnicity
Ethnicity Enrollment
Numbers
As % of Total
Enrollment
White 1175 50%
Latino 940 40%
African
American
70 3%
Asian 47 2%
Pacific
Islander/Filipino
45 2%
Native
American
25 1%
Multiracial or
other
47 2%
Total 2349 100%

83

Based upon the school’s 2005-2006 Academic Performance Index (API), the
California Department of Education recognizes Southland High School as a
California Distinguished School. Yet, despite the school’s reputation as a high
performing high school, a significant shift in the demographics of the school and the
surrounding area has created a state of uneasiness throughout the greater school-wide
community. There is growing trepidation among staff members concerning the
changing dynamic, because the academic growth rates of minority and low-status
subgroup. In fact, API and California Standards Testing (CST) and accountability
measures between 2003 and 2005 show that these growth have steadily decreased
over the past few years to the point where they have actually hit a plateau. In
addition, the composition of students classified as low socioeconomic status steadily
rises at an increasing rate; and, currently stands at 42 percent of the total school
population, as evidenced by the number of students who participate in the National
Free and Reduced Lunch Program (NFRLP). Indeed, this high school finds itself at
a precarious crossroads, and somewhat, struggling to modify or amend its vision and
mission to meet the needs of the rapidly changing demographics of the student
population.
AVID Program Overview
Southland High School’s AVID program consists of 250 students and 8
individual class sections devoted to the instructional curriculum. In the wake of
recent school-wide and program enrollment decreases over the past few years, the
site team combined many of the individual grade level sections into integrated or

84
inter-grade level sections. Thus, many classes now consist of 9
th
and 10
th
graders, as
well as 11
th
and 12
th
graders. However, despite the changes in class composition,
among other various shifts in the climate and culture of the school, the AVID
program remains an integral component of the overall mission of the school and
continues to fulfill its unique role. Hence, the program serves as a vehicle, which
enables typically marginalized social cultural and socioeconomic groups to gain
access to courses and study skills that are essential to their efforts pertaining to
attaining college admission. Table 2 depicts the ethnic breakdown of the students
who participate in the program.
Table 2: Southland High School AVID Enrollment
by Ethnicity

Pierce High School: Leslie Stephens
The AVID program at Pierce High School is at a momentous crossroads. As,
first senior class of program participants prepares to graduate, Leslie Stephens will
take stock of the occasion and look towards the fortunes of future graduating classes,
since she has been involved with the AVID program since its inception at Pierce
Ethnicity Enrollment
Numbers
As % of Total
Enrollment
Latino 173 69%
White 53 21%
Pacific
Islander/Filipino
10 4%
African American 8 3%
Asian 5 2%
Multiracial 1 1%
Total 250 100%

85
High School. Ms. Stephens is Caucasian, 34 years old, married, and has two teenage
children; replete with a middle-class upbringing, she has lived in the local area her
entire life.
Leslie is in her 10
th
year of teaching, and her seventh year teaching 9
th
grade
English Language Arts, and is currently in her second year as the school site’s AVID
program coordinator. She received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Early Childhood
Development from California State University, Fullerton, and immediately went into
(teaching) primary education for 2 years. However, after being married, she took a
couple of years off after the birth of her first child; then, she returned to school and
pursued a credential in secondary education, and, as a result, acquired the teaching
position she currently holds. She also aspires to pursue her Master’s degree, but
currently admits that she has too many other distractions going on to really give such
an endeavor the attention it would demand right now. Nevertheless, she hopes that
things in her personal and professional life will settle down soon, so she can devote
her time and energy to that aim.
Overview of the School Site
Pierce High School is part of a unified school district, serving grades 9
through 12, and has an enrollment of 4,400 students; of which, 40% are low
socioeconomic status based on NFRLP data. The school is located in a densely
populated urban area in the southwestern part of the county. The school employs 2
full-time co-principals and nearly 150 teachers. The majority of the staff is
Caucasian (over 85%), while the remaining are of Latino, Asian, and African

86
American descent. Table 3 depicts the ethnic breakdown of the school’s student
population.
Table 3: Pierce High School Enrollment by Ethnicity
Ethnicity Enrollment
Numbers
As % of Total
Enrollment
White 1716 39%
Latino 1496 34%
African
American
572 13%
Asian 396 9%
Filipino 176 4%
Pacific
Islander
44 1%
Totals 4400 100%

AVID Program Overview
Pierce High School’s AVID program consists of 115 students and 4
individual class sections devoted to the instructional curriculum. There is
unconditional support for the AVID program, and many view the program as an
important component in the overall school-wide effort to improve student-learning
outcomes. In other words, staff members embrace the program’s mission and efforts
to help unrepresented minority groups gain essential courses and information that
will help them improve their learning outcomes and/or gain university or college
admission. Indeed, AVID students are steadily improving their learning outcomes.
Furthermore, the school’s API reflects the steady growth of target subgroups, such as
minority and/or low status youth. In fact, Pierce High School boasts the highest API
ranking of all high schools throughout the district, and many staff members attribute
at least part of that result to AVID instructional strategies proliferating throughout
the instructional ethos of the school (e.g., writing, inquiry, collaboration, and reading

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WICR methods). Table 4 depicts the ethnic breakdown of the students who
participate in the program.
Table 4: Pierce High School AVID Enrollment
By Ethnicity
Ethnicity Enrollment
Numbers
As % of Total
Enrollment
Latino 40 35%
African
American
29 25%
Asian 25 22%
Caucasian or
“other”
21 18%
Total 115 100%

Although the school-wide low socioeconomic status is below 50%, the rate of
such as it pertains to AVID program participants is 75%. Again, this year marks the
program’s first senior class; and, the program now functions as a stand-alone
learning community. Interestingly, the AVID program has important forward
momentum relative to the campus environment because the entire school via district
is systematically evolving towards developing and sustaining small learning milieus
within the greater school-wide community, pursuant to district-wide mandate.
Pinnacles High School: Jonathan Stewart
Jonathan Stewart is a 34-year-old Caucasian male, who has taught in K-12
education for 10 years. He is originally from the Midwest, and received his Bachelor
of Arts degree in English, from St. Olaf’s College in Minnesota, before moving to
Texas where here began his teaching career. After a short stint in Pharr, Texas, he
moved to Salinas, California and taught K-3 English Language Arts and Drama to
migrant youth. He eventually made his way to Southern California, and settled into

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his current position at Pinnacles High School, where he has spent the last eight years
teaching English Language Arts. After receiving tenure, he pursued and ultimately
completed his Master of Education degree in Secondary Education, from California
State University at Fullerton. He has served as the AVID program coordinator for
the past three years.
Interestingly, and of peculiar noteworthiness, Jonathan is an openly gay male
who is working and thriving in a paradoxically extreme dichotomy, as it relates to
the predominant moral and value systems majority social cultural groups which
comprise the school’s student population (i.e., Latino and Catholic). Furthermore, he
has been in a domestic partner relationship for the past 6 years, and has a “step-son”
with whom he has developed a close, loving and trusting relationship
Overview of the School Site
Pinnacles High School is part of a unified school district and serves grades 9
through 12, with an enrollment of nearly 2,150 students, of which approximately
85% are low socioeconomic status based on NFRLP data. The school is located in a
densely populated urban area in the eastern section of the county. The school
employs 4 full-time administrators and approximately 89 teachers; of which, nearly
68% are Caucasian. In recent years, however, the number of minority teaching staff
members continues to increase rapidly. Table 5 depicts the ethic breakdown of the
school’s population, as is pertains to total student enrollment.

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Table 5: Pinnacles High School Enrollment by Ethnicity
Ethnicity Enrollment
Numbers
As % of Total
Enrollment
Latino 1914 89%
Asian 129 6%
White or Other 85 4%
African American 22 1%
Total 2150 100%

Prior to the 2005-2006 school year, Pinnacles high school was an
underperforming school, as evidenced by results of overall student performance
pertaining to the California Standards Test (CST), as well as the school’s API over
the past two years. Consequently, the school became subject to state oversight,
which required the school to formulate and implement an action plan to address
improvement as it relates to student achievement. However, the school has made
significant progress over the past 2 years, showing gains in CST scores, as well as
steady growth in target subgroups that comprise the school’s API. As a result, the
school is no longer underperforming; thus, the state subsequently released the school
from mandatory oversight at the beginning of the 2006 school year.
Ironically, despite the gains in student learning outcomes in recent years, a
pervasive climate of indifference throughout the faculty, as relates to administrative
leadership at the school site, is tenuous at best. Periodic changes in administrative
leadership, and the ensuing uncertainty that such events entail, have created a
vacuum in where the staff greets new leaders with skepticism. As a result, there a
considerable atmosphere of dissonance and distrust persists between leadership and
the teaching staff. The relationship between teaching staff and leadership has a
“spillover effect” that permeates throughout the greater school-wide community.

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Consequently, many community-based stakeholders (e.g., parents) are somewhat
disenfranchised and are reluctant to interact or dialogue with school staff. Hence,
they are somewhat disempowered and/or marginalized as it relates to the school-
wide community.
AVID Program Overview
Pinnacles High School’s AVID program consists of 150 students, of which
nearly 95% are low socioeconomic status, based on NFRLP data. There are five
individual class sections devoted to the instructional curriculum. Table 6 depicts the
ethic breakdown of students who participate in the program.
Table 6: Pinnacles High School AVID Enrollment
By Ethnicity
Ethnicity Enrollment
Numbers
As % of Total
Enrollment
Latino 135 90 %
Asian 9 6%
White or other 5 4%
African
American
1 1%
Total 150 100%

On one hand, students who participate in the AVID program are achieving at
higher rates in comparison to the rest of the student population, according to CST
achievement data; indeed, the program’s greatest strength is consistency, amidst a
greater school-wide climate and culture marred by uncertainty. On the other hand,
however, the consequence of the program’s success is the fact that other staff
members and programs throughout the school view the AVID program as elitist;
many look upon the AVID program with some degree of distain and resentment.

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Moreover, the relationship between AVID program staff members and the new
principal is somewhat tenuous. However, she views the program with an open mind
and continues to ask questions while adapting to her new environment and advancing
her instructional ethos.
Canyon High School: Enrique Mendoza
Enrique Mendoza is a product of the local area who returned “home” to give
back to his community. He is a 29-year-old Latino male who is married, and has two
young children. Interestingly, after obtaining his Bachelor of Science degree in
Biology from the University of Santa Clara he returned home to teach at his alma
mater, Canyon High School, where he has taught for the last 8 years. He received
his Master of Education degree from Azuza Pacific University. He currently teaches
Advanced Placement (AP) Biology; and, affiliated with the school’s AVID program
since its inception 7 years ago, he has served as the program coordinator for the past
5 years. He considers himself an “activist agitator” when it comes to raising the
critical consciousness of the local community if he feels that bureaucracy and
politics impede the programs and policies that address the needs of his students.
Whereas, he will not hesitate to make a phone call to his contacts in local media to
call attention to perceived inadequacies on the part of administrative and district
leadership.

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Overview of the School Site
Canyon High School is part of a unified school district, serving grades 9
through 12, with an enrollment of approximately 2,565 students, of which nearly
87% are low socioeconomic status according to NFRLP data. The school is located
in a densely populated urban area in easternmost edge of the county; and, employs
125 teachers and 4 full-time administrators. The majority of the staff members
(87%) are Caucasian and predominately female, while the remaining staff members
are Latino and Asian. There are only 13 male teachers on the faculty. Table 7
depicts the ethnic breakdown of the school’s student population.
Table 7: Canyon High School Enrollment by Ethnicity
Ethnicity Enrollment
Numbers
As % of Total
Enrollment
Latino 1898 74%
Filipino 308 12%
African
American
154 6%
White 128 5
Asian or other 77 3
Total 2565 100%

The school’s climate and ethos is a dichotomy where apathy, disengagement,
and disenfranchisement relative to the great school-wide community permeate the
school ethos. Nevertheless, the district endeavors to portray itself as a proactive
organization focused on “cutting-edge” instructional resources and pedagogy; and,
ultimately advance a district-wide ethos where high expectations for academic
performance are the rule rather than the exception. According to Enrique the
disconnection and apathy, which plagues the greater school-wide community, is a
result of the social cultural divide that exists between the community and the school

93
staff. In other words, the ethnic and socioeconomic makeup of the school staff does
not adequately reflect the demographics of the student population or the surrounding
community. Dissonance and discord are the predominant tone as it pertains to
engagement between the school and parents and/or stakeholders in the local
community. Consequently, the school culture is seemingly void of spirit and pride;
there is no collective emphasis on character development as it pertains to the student
body; and, as Enrique puts it, “the school functions on a daily basis without a heart
or soul.”
Some teachers see the need for change as it relates to the climate and culture
of the school; and, are slowly but surely endeavoring to improve dialogue between
the staff and surrounding community and/or stakeholders; and, facilitate re-
engagement throughout the greater school-wide community. Enrique partially
attributes his incessant “activist agitator” efforts as playing an integral role pertaining
to the shift in dynamics relative to school culture.
AVID Program Overview
Canyon High School’s AVID program consists of 173 students, of which
80% are low socioeconomic status; and, 5 individual sections devoted to
instructional curriculum. Table 8 depicts the ethnic breakdown of the students who
participate in the program. This particular school site program is a National
Demonstration Site, and Canyon High School’s AVID program has maintained that
distinction for the past five years. The resulting student learning outcomes, which
typify this particular school site program, epitomizes the dichotomies that pit district-

94
wide aspirations pursuant to high expectations for student academic outcomes
against the contrasting reality that characterizes the Canyon High School ethos.
Consequently, there is considerable tension, if not animosity, between the regular
teaching staff and the AVID teachers, as well as the program coordinator primarily
because the AVID program (i.e., the program coordinator and teachers) places a
premium on academic rigor and cutting-edge pedagogy, pursuant to the district-wide
effort concerning high expectations for student performance and academic
achievement.
Table 8: Canyon High School AVID Enrollment
by Ethnicity
Ethnicity Enrollment
Numbers
As % of Total
Enrollment
Latino 147 85 %
Filipino 12 7 %
African
American
7 4 %
Asian 5 3 %
White 2 1 %
Totals 173 100%

Ironically, the school continues to meet its overall performance goal
pertaining to student academic performance and API; yet, many individual target
subgroup gains, such as those of Latinos and African Americans, have hit a plateau.
Thus, these subgroups, specifically, continue to lag behind other subgroups and
targeted goals. As a result, comparisons and contrasts between the student-learning
outcomes of AVID students and those of the general student population, as it
pertains to the measured growth of targeted subgroups relative to the school’s API,
are the frequent topic of conversation in regular meetings and professional

95
development sessions. Therefore, the attention relative to the school in general
contributes to the dissonance between the general teaching and AVID program staff.
However, strangely enough, despite the precarious nature of the relationship most
teachers see the value and benefit of the AVID program, and, seemingly, support
and/or buy into the mission of the program.
Valley Vista High School: Delores Delgado
Delores Delgado is a 35-year-old Latina, who has been married for 9 years;
and, she is expecting her first child in a couple of months. Interestingly, she has
lived in the local community that surrounds the high school her entire life. In fact,
her family resides only a couple of houses away from the house where she grew up,
and where her parents still reside; indeed, she attests that her life revolves around her
family. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in English, and her credential, from
the University of La Verne. Afterwards, she obtained the job at Valley Vista High
School, where she has remained for the past 10 years. She also earned her Master of
Education degree from the University of La Verne. She has been involved with
AVID for 15 years, both as a college tutor and in her own high school program, since
its inception seven years ago; and, she has served as the program coordinator for the
past two years.
Overview of the School Site
Valley Vista High School is part of a unified school district, serving grades 9
through 12; and, located in a densely populated urban area in the eastern part of the
county. The school has an enrollment of approximately 1,950 students, of which

96
nearly 79% are low socioeconomic status according to NFRLP data. Table 9 depicts
the ethnic breakdown of the school’s student population. The school employs 97
teachers and 4 full-time administrators. The majority of the staff is Caucasian (75%)
and male (65%); 15% are Latino; 10% are Asian; the remaining 5% are African
American or “other.”
Prior to the 2006-2007 school year, Valley Vista High School was in the
second year of program improvement as an underperforming school relative to
student achievement, based on student-learning outcomes as evidenced by scores on
the California Standards Test (CST); and, measured outcomes reflected in the
school’s API. However, improvements in student achievement and measured growth
or API performance over the last two years finds the school no longer designated for
program improvement, hence, also no longer designated as an underperforming
school. Thus, much of the underlying staff tensions that ensue, as the result of the
pressures and scrutiny that a school-wide community under program improvement
encumbers, are no longer present. Hence, the staff currently enjoys an uneasy, which
pervades over the climate and culture of the school.
Table 9: Valley Vista High School Enrollment
by Ethnicity
Ethnicity Enrollment
Numbers
As % of Total
Enrollment
Latino 1502 77 %
African
American
253 13 %
Caucasian 117 6 %
Asian or
“other”
78 4 %
Totals 1950 100 %

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Many issues and circumstances relative to the school-wide learning
community and overall ethos as an institution, however, still plague the school. This
includes a pervasive disconnect between school staff and the home environment,
which, consequently finds parents and other concerned stakeholders somewhat
disenfranchised and/or disengaged as it relates to dialogue and/or interaction with the
school and staff members. If this and other underlying problems and issues continue
to persist or remain unabated without any efforts to attain sustainable engagement as
it relates to the greater school-wide community and/or concerned stakeholders, they
could impede academic progress relative to student-learning outcomes. Delores
already sees the “warning signs” of prior ineptitudes, apathy, and indifference
brewing underneath the surface; she fears that the school may, once again find itself
designated as an underperforming school and/or designated for program
improvement.
AVID Program Overview
Valley Vista High School’ AVID program consists of 185 students, of which
90% are low socioeconomic status; and, six individual sections devoted to
instructional curriculum. Table 10 depicts the ethnic breakdown of program
participants.

98
Table 10: Valley Vista High School AVID Enrollment
by Ethnicity
Ethnicity Enrollment
Numbers
As % of Total
Enrollment
Latino 150 81 %
African
American
19 10 %
Asian 11 6 %
White or
“other”
5 3 %
Total 185 100 %

At the outset of AVID implementation at Valley Vista High School,
counselors targeted and tracked many low performing students into the program;
consequently, many still perceive AVID as a remedial program. The long-term
affect of that practice is the fact that it remains difficult to attract and retain an ideal
student population, which will maximize the program’s efficacy as it pertains to
curricular and extracurricular instructional designs. Consequently, the program
coordinator constantly worries about program cohesion, coherence, as well as the
overall academic improvement of student participants.
Recent gains in learning outcomes as it pertains to student participants have
shed light on AVID instructional practices, throughout the entire school-wide
community, as an attribute leading to academic achievement. Delores is hopeful that
the program’s upward momentum may ultimately “sell” the AVID program, thus,
attract, and retain ideal students. On the other hand, though, she is somewhat
worried that the overall complacency that may be returning to the school culture will
negate the attention of those who are seemingly “buying-in” to the AVID pedagogy,
as of late. Nevertheless, the school community as a whole is starting to understand

99
that AVID is tantamount to more than remediation. Therefore, Delores remains
optimistic about the future prospects of her site-based program.
Shoreline Heights High School: Natalie Hyde
Natalie Hyde is a single, 33-year-old Caucasian, who comes from a middle-
class family based in the local area. She is a product of local public schools, and
started her college education at Long Beach City College. From there, she went off
to attend Saint Mary’s College of California, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts
degree in English. Later, she pursued and obtained her Master of Education degree
from California State University, Dominguez Hills. Natalie started her teaching
career in private education, where she taught English for 5 years. She then moved-
on to public education, and has taught at Shoreline Heights for the past 5 years;
starting out as an English teacher, and presently serves as a Teacher on Special
Assignment (TOSA) in her current role as coordinator for the school’s AP and AVID
programs. She has been involved with AVID since its inception at the school 4 years
ago, and has served as the program coordinator for the past 2 years.
Overview of the School Site
Shoreline Heights High School is part of a unified school district, serving
grades 9 through 12, with an enrollment of approximately 3,800 students of which
nearly 95% are low socioeconomic status according to NFRLP data; Table 11
depicts the ethnic breakdown of the student population. The school is located in a
densely populated and predominately poor urban area in the southwestern part of the
county, and employs 150 teachers and 4 full-time administrators. The teaching staff

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is predominately Caucasian (70%) and female (65%); 15% of the staff is Latino and
15% is African American.
Table 11: Shoreline Heights High School Enrollment
by Ethnicity
Ethnicity Enrollment
Numbers
As % of Total
Enrollment
Latino 2470 65 %
African
American
836 22 %
Asian 380 10 %
Caucasian or
“other”
114 3 %
Total 3800 100 %

The extensive poverty and increasing racial and/or gang violence, which
characterizes the surrounding community negatively influences the climate and
culture of the school. Consequently, high teacher turnover and an overall lack of
engagement between the school staff and stakeholders typify the dynamic of the
greater school-wide learning community. Recent and highly publicized incidents of
racial violence on the campus over the last 2 years have catalyzed a vigorous effort
to promote racial or ethnic dialogue throughout the school-wide community and
concerned stakeholders, in an effort to improve the overall climate and culture of the
school.
In addition, the school is also in the process of an extensive paradigm shift as
it pertains to its composition as a learning community. Shoreline Heights High
School touts the lowest API of all high schools in the district. Thus, in an effort to
improve overall student-learning outcomes, the school has adopted the small learning
communities model. Unfortunately, though, because this model is the result of

101
district mandate, tacit resistance, indifference, and general lack of “buy-in” impede
progress. Nevertheless, there are staff members and stakeholders who see value and
promise as it pertains to the model, and endeavor to promote and sustain the model;
hence, generate some momentum by incorporating the model as a component of
ongoing dialogue between stakeholders, that is already occurring throughout the
greater school-wide learning community.
AVID Program Overview
Shoreline Heights High School’s AVID program consists of 263 students, of
which nearly 97% are low socioeconomic status according to NFRLP data; Table 12
depicts the ethnic breakdown of students who participate in the program. The
program has 8 individual class sections devoted to instructional curriculum.
Table 12: Shoreline Heights High School AVID Enrollment
By Ethnicity
Ethnicity Enrollment
Numbers
As % of Total
Enrollment
Latino 197 75 %
African
American
58 22 %
Asian or “other” 8 3 %
Total 263 100 %

The AVID program at Shoreline Heights High School has undergone a
transformation of sorts, facilitated in large part by the fact that, in her role as a
TOSA, Natalie is coordinator for both AVID and the AP programs. Thus, she has
been an instrumental force in recruiting students into AVID and AP enrollment
simultaneously, hence, dramatically increasing AVID student retention and overall
enrollment; and shifting the paradigm, as it pertains to perceptions of teachers and

102
staff members as it relates to the program, from one of academic remediation to
academic acceleration. Natalie admits that her efforts relative to changing the
paradigm and focus, as it relates to AVID, are dramatically affecting student-learning
outcomes as evidenced by their overall academic improvement; as well, as the fact
that an increasing number of program participants are entering college—at an
increasing rate. Her efforts at maintaining program cohesion and consistency are
hampered, somewhat, by the high teacher turnover rate endemic to the entire school
site. Nevertheless, she remains undaunted; her optimism due, in large part, to the
fact that she, indeed, sees overall student improvement as it relates to enrollment,
engagement, and learning outcomes. Moreover, she sees hopes that AVID gains can
serve as a model for the rest of the school, as it embarks upon full implementation of
the small learning community model.
Parkview High School: Lynnette Davies
Lynnette Davies is a 36-year-old Caucasian, who is married with two
children. She is, also, a product of the local area, and attended school in the district
in which she now teaches; interestingly, her parents and siblings live within a 15-
minute drive away from her. She is a devoted wife and parent; and, embraces her
role as a “soccer mom.” She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Liberal Studies
from California State University at Long Beach; and, she will be embarking upon the
pursuit of a Master’s degree in Counseling, at the University of La Verne.

103
She has taught for 12 years, starting her career in elementary education,
teaching at a feeder school that cycles students into the high school where she
presently works. She has spent the last 6 years in her current position, teaching
Spanish in conjunction with her AVID duties. Her affiliation with the AVID
program at Parkview High School dates back to its inception 5 years ago; and, she
has served as the program coordinator for the last 2 years.
Overview of the School Site
Parkview High School is part of a unified school district, serving grades 9
through 12, with an enrollment of approximately 4,000 students, of which 77% are
low socioeconomic status according to NFRLP data; Table 13 depicts the ethnic
breakdown of the school’s student population. The school is located in a densely
populated urban area in the southwestern part of the county, and employs
approximately 165 teachers and 4 full-time administrators. The teaching staff is
gender-balanced; 60% of the teaching staff is Caucasian, 30% are African American,
and 10% are Latino or “other.” Interestingly, though, new hires are increasingly
people of color.
Table 13: Parkview High School Enrollment by Ethnicity
Ethnicity Enrollment
Numbers
As % of Total
Enrollment
Latino 2400 60 %
African
American
1200 30 %
Asian/Pacific
Islander
280 7 %
White or “other” 120 3 %
Total 4,000 100 %

104
The climate and culture, which currently typifies the greater school-wide
learning community, is one of tempered optimism as it pertains to school-community
engagement, as well as student-learning outcomes. Several tumultuous years rife
with highly publicized racial tension and sporadic violence, which permeated the
student body and the surrounding community, forced the greater school-wide to take
a long, hard introspective self-examination. With the help of community leaders, the
school community and stakeholders were able to forge an ongoing commitment to
constructive dialogue to address to social cultural and socioeconomic issues that
seemingly plagued the community and affected the culture and climate of the school.
Interestingly, but not surprising, the tension and strife that detrimentally
affected the community also spilled-over into the classroom and affected or hindered
the relationship between students and teachers, and, consequently, created an
atmosphere of disengagement and marginalization, the result of which manifested in
negative student-learning outcomes. Thus, the school found itself designated as a
low-performing school and targeted for program improvement three years ago,
because of the acrimony that depicted the greater school-wide learning community.
Again, interestingly but not surprising, the climate and atmosphere of community-
based dialogue facilitated dialogue amongst the school staff as it pertains to
improving student-learning outcomes. Frank or earnest, and sometimes brutally
honest discussions and action planning relative to improving student-learning
outcomes progressed with greater ease. This climate also affected the speed at which
the school-wide learning community implemented reform measures.

105
Remarkably, the school emerged from program improvement in two years, as
the result of comprehensive dialogue happening throughout the school-wide
community, coupled with intensive implementation cycles relative to instructional
reform; specifically relative to employing the small learning community model,
which the efforts of other high schools in the area were meeting with considerable
resistance. The apparent turnaround was a collective effort attributable to school
staff members and stakeholders who were genuinely committed to improving the
culture and outcomes of the school.
AVID Program Overview
Parkview High School’s AVID program consists of 205 students, of which
nearly 90% are low socioeconomic status according to NFRLP data; there are 6
individual class sections devoted to instructional curriculum. Table 14 depicts the
ethnic breakdown of students who participate in the program.
Table 14: Parkview High School AVID Enrollment
by Ethnicity
Ethnicity Enrollment
Numbers
As % of Total
Enrollment
Latino 144 70 %
African
American
41 20 %
Asian/Pacific
Islander
14 7 %
White or
“other”
6 3 %
Total 205 100 %

The AVID program at Parkland High School is at a crossroads. Upon its
inception, many of the students who comprised the AVID program were
underperforming students in need of remediation, which is, typically, the case at

106
other school sites. Consequently, the program lagged behind other site-based
intervention efforts as it pertained to student-learning outcomes; and, coupled with
high program teacher turnover rate the entire AVID program seemingly languished
in a vacuum of sorts, prior to the climate of dialogue that swept through the school in
the wake of racial tensions and program improvement.
The atmosphere of dialogue, improvement, and reform afforded AVID
program leaders the opportunity to reconstitute the student-participant composition,
and strategically target students for placement and participation. As a result, the
AVID program seemingly emerged from program improvement galvanized; and,
coupled with efficacious staff-wide professional development relative to the
program’s mission and principles, attained improved student-learning outcomes, and,
furthermore, student-participant enrollment in AP courses continues to increase at an
increasing rate. Hence, the program’s negative stereotype, regarding remediation,
has steadily dissipated throughout the school; whereas, AVID students now find
themselves among some of the school’s top-performing students as it pertains to
academic achievement.
Instrumentation
Collection, Organization, and Analysis of Network Data
Stanton-Salazar’s (2001) methodological approach to the organization and
analysis of network data will drive the first stage of data analysis. Thus, the
following processes comprise the primary sources of social capital data collection:
(a) a name generator will serve as the principal source of network data; (b) position

107
and resource generators will serve as secondary sources of social capital data. Three
sources of prior research serve to guide construction of the adapted name generator
for this study: (a) McCallister and Fisher’s original approach; (b) Stanton-Salazar’s
(2001) study of minority adolescents; and (c) Cochran et al.’s (1990) network study
pertaining to the child-rearing networks of parents.
Collection, Organization, and Analysis of Ethnographic Interview Data
Spradley’s (1979) methodological approach pertaining to the ethnographic
interview is the second methodological approach; used to analyze data derived from
the ethnographic interviews that subsequently follow network data collection.
Moreover, the rich, in-depth nature of the critical ethnography relative to descriptive
indicators depicted in the instruments, contextual observations, and interviews or
guided discussions predicates its validity and reliability of this methodology as
authentic research. An adapted name generator based on McCallister and Fisher’s
(1978) original approach, coupled with adapted versions of Lin and Dumin’s (1986)
position generator and Flap et al.’s (2003) resource generator, depicted in
Appendices B, C, D, and G will analyze the range, as well as the quality or salience
of an institutional agent’s individual network. These instruments represent the
deductive component of the research process.
In addition, an adapted version of Livermore and Neustrom’s (2003) guided
discussion protocol, depicted in Appendix E, serves as a exploratory framework from
which to elicit more in-depth information concerning the extent and quality of an
institutional agent’s individual network, in the context of an interview. This protocol

108
also serves an as exploratory framework from which to determine the institutional
agent’s proclivity to access their individual network for the purposes of conveying
essential resources, information, and opportunities to minority and low-status youth
in the context of an intervention.
Blau and Duncan’s original (1967) study concerning occupational prestige
coding, coupled with adaptations submitted by Dirk de Graaf and Flap (1988), as
well as Nakao and Treas (1992), provided the rationale pertaining to occupational
status rankings. These guidelines helped determine the individual SEI scores and
occupational status assigned to each occupation listed in the position generator and
depicted in Appendix H. Indeed, many of the SEI scores related to the occupations
in this study come directly from these various studies and designs related to
occupational status. Spradley’s (1979) domain analysis, coupled with Stanton-
Salazar’s (1997) discussion concerning domains of knowledge, explains the need for
separating and categorizing resources and forms of support into specific contextual
domains. Hence, they provide the rationales guiding the formulation of domains by
which occupations were categorized and listed in the instruments. Stanton Salazar’s
(1997) discussion also factored into the domains constructed for the instruments in
this study, because his domain rationale related to constructs specifically associated
with education, as well as intervention behaviors pertaining to institutional agency
within educational settings. Stanton Salazar’s (1997) discussion is critical to the
adaptation of the instruments, because Blau and Duncan (1967), Dirk de Graaf and

109
Flap (1988), and Nakao and Treas (1992) designed their original instruments for use
in business settings.
Stanton Salazar’s (1997) argument is the critical rationale driving the
conversion of these instruments from business use to utility for the purposes of
intervention in the context of education. The instruments parallel Stanton-Salazar’s
(1997) work pertaining to linking essential components for social integration and
success within the scope of education, as well as other mainstream institutional
milieus. In his argument, Stanton-Salazar (1997) introduces six key forms of
institutional support as conceptual framework pertaining to his discussion of agency
1. Funds of knowledge associated with ascension within the educational
system.
2. Bridging or providing access to social networks and opportunities
pertaining to mainstream institutions.
3. Advocacy and other related forms of personalized intervention.
4. Role Models.
5. Providers of emotional and/or moral support.
6. Providers of evaluative feedback and guidance that incorporates
institutional funds of knowledge.
This approach also prevented overrepresentation of any particular job field or
occupational domain as it pertains to the instruments. The occupations listed in the
position generator, as well as the resources that comprise the resource generator
represent one of the following specific resource domains listed below

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1. Medical or Mental Health and Wellness
2. Social Service
3. Educational/College Gateway
4. Governmental Agency
5. Business, Financial, or Economic
Thus, the name generator attributes individuals with specific resource or
sources of support, the resource generator further synthesizes the occupations listed
in the position generator into categories or domains of cultural capital. Each
instrument subsequently offers a greater in-depth analysis of the quality and salience
of an institutional agent’s individual network relative to their ability to access
essential resources that, if conveyed, will facilitate the academic and social mobility
of minority and low-status youth; and thus, foster their empowerment. The resource
generator serves as the catalyst, and will eventually facilitate the exploratory
interview process entailed in the context of the guided conversation protocol that will
follow.
Related Studies
Cochran et al. (1990) used name-generated information to analyze the depth
and quality, hence the salience, of individuals’ networks. Using a domain-specific
array of resources and support, their longitudinal study revealed detailed information
regarding the identification, classification, and documentation of the systematic
processes, network sources, and subsequent outcomes pertaining to relational and
developmental dynamics, as well as manifestations of social and network support.

111
Meanwhile, Stanton-Salazar’s (2001) study used name-generated results to
determine, analyze, and depict outcomes-based tendencies of Mexican American
youth, as it relates to the depth and quality of their individual support network
orientations. Ultimately, Stanton-Salazar (2001) aggregated a wide array of
information and revealed a significant insight pertaining to how the salience of
individual relationship dynamics, relative to systems of support and individual
networks, affects student outcomes.
In their original 1975 Albany study, Lin & Dumin (1986 as cited in Lin,
2001) used the position generator to measure and analyze the social capital of
individuals via their positional relationships or ties to certain occupations (i.e.,
relatives, friends, or acquaintances) versus the perceived prestige or status the job
entailed. Blau and Duncan’s (1967) research concerning occupational prestige
coding provided them the rationale as it pertains to the status positions they assigned
to each occupation relative to their findings. The resulting analysis of access
variables concluded that friends and acquaintances provided the most-salient access
to both the highest status positions, as well as the widest range of accessed prestige
or status. In her 1991-1992 study of the private security industry in Toronto,
Erickson (as cited in Lin, 2001) used a position generator-related analysis to examine
the relationship between social capital and class dimensions, pertaining to control,
and job autonomy or authority; as well, as the convertibility of these dynamics into
better jobs. Her findings revealed that access to social capital, indeed, helped people
to rise to higher positions; furthermore, social capital influenced the job acquisition

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process regardless of whether an individual used a contact to obtain the particular job
in question.
Flap et al. (2003) originally developed and used the resource generator in
their 1999 study of society in the Netherlands, to examine and analyze the salience of
how the range of individual resources, as well as that of an individual’s network
affects the quality of one’s social capital; thus, the reproduction of social equality or
inequality. In addition, Wellman, Kayahara, Boase, Hogan, and Kennedy (2005)
used their modified version of the resource generator, as a component in their 2003
Toronto study, to analyze the affect of computers and the internet, as it pertains to
the quality and depth of relationships, as well as the range of individual networks and
access to resources. On the other hand, their findings revealed that the internet and
computers increased the quantity and/or range of individual resources and network
contacts; however, decreased the quality and depth of relationships relative
individual contacts.
Livermore and Neustrom (2003), again, used their guided conversation
protocol to determine whether caseworkers, program managers, and state-level
administrators used their individual networks, hence, their social capital, to help
clients (i.e., welfare recipients) find jobs. Furthermore, they examined the conditions
or factors influencing the caseworker’s proclivity to do so. On one hand, their
findings revealed that some workers, managers, and administrators, indeed, exert
influence through their personal networks and/or use them to assist clients with job
placement. However, their findings were somewhat limited due to the small and

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purposeful sample size; thus, they may not be representative of workers or agencies
locally or regionally. Nevertheless, the findings open the door to further discourse
relative to how the salience of social capital, relative to individual networks and
resources, influences the dynamic processes of job placement.
Data Collection
The data collection conducted between September 2006 and December 2006
consisted of four subsequent data collection phases; in the manner depicted in the
previous section. Over the course of several weeks and months, I as the researcher
interfaced with program coordinators on a consistent and regular basis to engage in
interview dialogue, as well as to collect data essential to this study. I as the
researcher, with the assistance of the Regional AVID Program Coordinator
coordinated the logistics relative to the individual program coordinators participating
in the cross-case analysis.
Data Collection Process as it Relates to the Instrumentation
In the course of preparing the methodology for this investigation, I
conceptualized the rationales for, developed, and designed the aforementioned
instruments specifically for this project.
Phase I involved a broad, but in-depth analysis of the range and quality of
resources which comprise program coordinators’ individual networks and sources of
support (N=8). This process consisted of administering adapted versions of the
position and resource generators, illustrated in Appendices C and D respectively in
survey form. This activity was feasible to complete in one interface with relative

114
ease. The surveys elicited and codified the range and quality of individual networks;
hence, deducing the extent of their social (i.e., cultural) capital.
Phase II of the research process consisted of name-generating interviews, to
ascertain the quality and depth of relationships as it pertains to the essential resources
listed in the instrument. This component involved a smaller portion of the original
sample, and entailed interfacing with a selected number of AVID program
coordinators (N=4), where I will conduct name generating interviews.
Phase III involved collecting qualitative interview data, derived from the
results of name-generated interview phase, illustrated in Appendices B and F, on the
nature of the relationships characterized their individual network of resources and
forms of support; these interfaces were digitally recorded as well (N=4).
Phase IV, the final phase of data collection consisted of semi-structured
interviews, in the form of guided conversations. Interviews followed a protocol,
depicted in Appendix E, which is an exploratory framework from which to conduct
in-depth discussions with program coordinators as a follow-up to the network
information elicited from the position and resource generators (N=4). The purpose
of this process was to determine the program coordinator’s proclivity towards
accessing their personal networks, hence their social capital, to convey essential
resources, information, and opportunities to minority and low-status youth, in the
context of the intervention. The exploratory framework design, also, determined the
extent to which AVID program coordinators clearly understand social capital, as
well as the how their individual networks of resources and forms of support factor

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into their ability to be institutional agents, who convey essential resources,
information, and opportunities to minority and low-status youth in the context of
intervention. The resulting outcome, thus, facilitates their academic and social
mobility; and, fosters their empowerment. Again, these interfaces will be video and
digitally recorded.
The ultimate goal of these data collection instruments, as well as all of the
activities entailed in this research methodology was to triangulate and, thus, validate
information elicited from the cross-case analysis by identifying trends, similarities,
and variations across subsequent data collection phases, relative to the program
coordinators, which comprise this cross-case analysis.
Data Analysis
The purpose of this study was to isolate the salience of institutional agency
within the context of an academic intervention program, in this case AVID.
Institutional Agency refers to persons using their influence capacity, and resources
within their own embedded networks to assist others, in this case minority and low-
status youth, in gaining access to resources, information, and opportunities essential
for academic and social mobility; hence, fostering their empowerment. Thus, the
study examined the manner in which the people involved in the intervention program
can potentially convey essential skills, which empower minority and low-status
youth to overcome both institutional and societal obstacles and attain academic
success. This also affirms or disproves their transformation from simple program
leaders, to institutional agents.

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Phase I of the analysis organized network, hence, social capital data into
tables that depict the range, quality, and diversity of network resources in numerical
form. This data highlighted variations in the size of individual program leaders’
networks. Although, this data although may not be “representative” of the general
population of program leaders, the information revealed in this phase of analysis was
essential to depict the complexities that underlie the individual portraits
characterized in this study.
Phase II consisted of analyzing ethnographic interview data to examine and
interpret individual dynamics and nuances surrounding the nature of the complex
relationships or network ties reported by individual program coordinators selected
for this component of the research process. Moreover, the transcribed qualitative
data revealed the extent by which individual program leaders mobilize their networks
and sources of support, and thematically characterize the obstacles or constraints that
preclude their ability to mobilize their individual networks and sources of support in
the context of the intervention.
Summary
This chapter depicts the research methodology and rationale utilized in the
context of this study; including the design, sample population and relevant
description of the specific participants, data instrumentation, data collection and,
finally, the data analysis process. Chapter 4will depict the research findings, as well
as detailed analysis of their significance.

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CHAPTER 4
DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF FINDINGS
Introduction
This chapter is an analysis of the data collected in the current study. The
purpose of this study was to analyze the salience of institutional agency as an
isolated social capital and empowerment mechanism that, when employed, fosters
the academic and social mobility of minority or low-status youth within the context
of AVID, a specific K-12 intervention program. In addition, the study examines the
manner in which the people involved in the intervention program, in their potential
roles as institutional agents, convey essential skills, information, and opportunities to
minority and low-status youth relative to evolving dynamic contexts; thus,
empowering them to overcome both institutional and societal obstacles to attain
academic success. Hence, the data collection process focuses primarily on the AVID
program coordinators to determine the range, quality, depth, and breadth of their
individual networks of resources, and sources of support and information; as well as
the how contextual factors facilitate or hinder their proclivity to mobilize individual
networks in the context of the intervention.
The study employed the following instruments in the context of the data
collection cycles:
• An adapted Position Generator;

• An adapted Resource Generator;

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• An adapted survey to examine personal and professional affiliations;

• An adapted Name Generator; with accompanying follow-up

questioning in the form of qualitative interview;

• Semi-structured interviews in the form of guided conversations.

Data obtained and analyzed from the AVID program coordinators who
participated in the study provided answers to the following research questions
relative to the study:
1. To the degree those efforts to engage in social capital mobilization are
made, how might the program coordinator’s accessible social capital play
a prominent role?
2. Furthermore, what are some of the principle ways that AVID program
coordinators mobilize their social capital in the context of program
implementation?
3. What factors facilitate or constrain the accumulation of accessible social
capital and agency-oriented mobilization of social capital (on behalf of
program participants and/or program implementation)?
4. To what extent does AVID training identify the underpinning theoretical
concepts and processes of social capital theory; thus do AVID program
coordinators understand their role relative to the help-seeking and
network-seeking orientations of institutional agency?

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Program Coordinator Participant Descriptions
Eight individual AVID program coordinators comprised the original sample
population of this cross-case analysis: 6 female and 2 male. Five of the program
coordinators were Caucasian, and three were persons of color. I sorted or
categorized the research participants into smaller subgroups to gain deeper insight
into the, seemingly, hidden underpinning theoretical concepts that manifest
themselves in the context of practical application:
• Male (M)
• Female (FM)
• Caucasian (C)
• Persons of Color (POC)
• Caucasian Male (CM)
• Male, Person of Color (MPOC)
• Caucasian Female (CFM)
• Female, Persons of Color (FPOC)

Analysis of the Findings in the Context of the Research Questions
Research Question One: To the degree those efforts to engage in social capital
mobilization are made, how might the program coordinator’s accessible social
capital play a prominent role?

Corresponding Data used in the Analysis
The position and resource generator survey instruments relative to Phase I of
the research process were the primary instruments and activities used to collect data

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relative to this question. Here, I administered the position and resource generators,
which were broad but in-depth surveys to the entire research sample population. The
purpose was to gain insight into the range and quality of the resources, which
comprise program coordinators’ individual networks, and sources of support.
Analysis
The theoretical and, consequently, the practical concern surrounding program
coordinators’ accessible social capital relates to their ability and/or accessibility
relative to high status positions. Table 15 depicts the strength or effectiveness of
program coordinators’ accessible social capital relative to the status of positional
contacts, pursuant to Blau and Duncan’s (1970) socioeconomic index of occupations
(SEI). Accordingly, SEI scores rank in one of following ranges:
• High Status (75 or higher)
• Middle Class Status (60-74)
• Lower Middle Class Status (40-59)
• Lower Class Status (39 and below)

The results of the survey administered to program coordinators indicated that
83 percent of their networks consist of middle-class or lower middle-class status
positional contacts. While the range of SEI scores indicates substantial variation or
variety in their networks, there are significant weaknesses in their ability to facilitate
academic and social mobility as reflected by the mean scores of the program
coordinators accessed positions. The remaining 17% of program coordinators’
contacts are high status positional contacts, which is relatively small.

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Table 15: Program Coordinator Accessed Positions and Positional Status
Program
Coordinator (N=8)
1
(FPOC)
2
(FPOC)
3
(WM)
4
(MPOC)
5
(WF)
6
(WF)
7
(WF)
8
(WF)
Highest SEI Score
Relative\ to Accessed
Positions

97 85 97 97 97 97 97 97
Range of SEI Scores
for
Positional Contacts

73 36 73 73 58 73 50 73
Mean SEI Score
of Accessed Positions

45.5 42.1 32.0 37.7 42.1 43.5 38.1 52.5
Percentage of High
Status Accessed
Positions

.23 .19 .16 .13 .17 .16 .18 .17
Percentage of
Accessed Positions
Listed As “Friend” or
“Acquaintance”

.63 .70 .59 .34 .57 .65 .54 .55
Total Number of
Positional
Contacts
40 37 37 32 35 43 39 42
*WM=White Male
*WF=White Female
*MPOC=Male Person of Color
*FPOC=Female Person of Color

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Results concerning “friends” and “acquaintances” (i.e., “weak” versus
“strong” ties) and/or network size are somewhat inconclusive, because these survey
results only reflect the actual existence of an accessible position, rather than the
actual size of the network. Gender and ethnicity subgroups revealed results that
were somewhat surprising, relative to the status of positional contacts. Resource
model and reproductive social capital theory surmise that the status of positional
contacts in the networks of Caucasians should be higher in contrast to their minority
counterparts, suggesting that race in a dominant culture paradigm is a commensurate
with positional contact opportunity. The female person of color subgroup, however,
possessed the greatest percentage of high-status positional contacts, i.e., 21%.
Results from the resource generator, as depicted in Table 16, offer practical
insight into a possible theoretical counterbalance, in terms of the extensity of
program coordinators’ cultural or human capital, as well as its potential
convertibility into social capital. For the purposes of consistency, Table 16 depicts
results, pertaining to program coordinators, in the same respective order as that of
Table 15. This survey focuses more on what Granovetter (1983) terms, “network”
extensity. Extensity refers to the actual size of the individual network, and, this
survey measures the size or extensity, again, within the context domains of essential
resources, attributes, or sources of support typically associated with an intervention
design. Extensity also implies that the individual network extends outward from
oneself, or from “ego” (Lin, 1999, 2000). Granovetter (1983) surmises that the
strength of “weak ties” or “friend or acquaintance” contacts predicates the saliency

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of one’s individual network; thus, in terms of results of the resource generator
survey, as the number of friends or acquaintances increase so too does the potential
efficacy of the individual network.
Despite the fact that the range of contacts relative to each resource or support
category, as well as the total number of resource contacts varied between the
program coordinators, all reported at least one resource contact for all (30) categories
or domains listed on the resource generator survey. To some extent all program
coordinators possessed ample amounts of human and cultural capital in terms of Lin
(1999), Bourdieu (1986), and Coleman (1988). In essence, measuring human and
cultural capital, indeed, was the primary purpose of the resource generator. More
importantly, the results as indicated in Table 16 imply that program coordinators
have adequate extensity in their networks, because “friends or acquaintances,” i.e.,”
weak ties,” comprise the majority percentage of their networks. Yet, there were
significant variations in the total number of friend or acquaintance contacts, as well
as the mean scores of such between program coordinators, implying that some
program coordinators’ networks, indeed, possessed more potential saliency than
others did. Nevertheless, all are adequately suited to facilitate the acquisition of
social capital for minority or low-status youth in the context of an intervention. As
Lin (1999, 2000) and Granovetter (1983) surmise, extensive networks via weak ties
afford individuals greater opportunities to access and mobilize social resources and
forms of support.

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Table 16: Program Coordinator Resource Contacts and Extensity of Weak Ties
Program
Coordinator (N=8)
1
(FPOC)
2
(FPOC)
3
(WM)
4
(MPOC)
5
(WF)
6
(WF)
7
(WF)
8
(WF)
Total Number of Resource
Contacts

62 60 57 83 72 54 60 70
Total Number of
“Friends” or “Acquaintances”
listed
on survey (“N=?”)—i.e., weak
ties

263 352 102 189 497 104 172 563
Mean Score of “Friends” or
“Acquaintances”

10.5 14.0 4.8 7.05 19.8 4.16 6.8 22.5
Highest Number of
Acquaintances
listed per Resource Contact

100 30 10 25 50 20 25 100
Range of Contacts Listed
as “Friends” or
“Acquaintances”

99 29 6 25 48 18 25 99
Percentage of Total Contacts
Listed as “Friends” or
“Acquaintances”—i.e., “weak
ties”

.60 .57 .60 .52 .54 .52 .58 .67
Percentage of Total Contacts
Listed as “Family”—i.e., “strong
ties”
.25 .25 .28 .28 .28 .31 .25 .21
*WM=White Male
*WF=White Female
*MPOC=Male Person of Color
*FPOC=Female Person of Color

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Interestingly, as Table 16 illustrates, resource generator data from the
analytical subgroups somewhat refuted theoretical nuances relative to the extensity
of weak ties (i.e., acquaintances) in program coordinator’s individual networks of
resources and sources of support, as it pertains to race and gender. The white female
subgroup possessed the smallest extensity of weak ties, and female persons of color
subgroup possessed the greatest extensity of weak ties; yet, female persons of color
typically are the most-marginalized social cultural group (Bourdieu, 1986;
Granovetter, 1983; Lin, 199, 2000; Maume, 1999). Overall, the fact that program
coordinators’ networks possessed considerable extensity gives plausibility to the
notion that human and cultural capital may facilitate the acquisition of social capital.
Research Question Two: To what extent are AVID program coordinators able to
mobilize their social capital to convey information, resources, and opportunities to
minority and low-status youth in the context of program implementation?

Corresponding Data used in the Analysis
The primary instruments and activities used to collect data relative to this
question were the name generating interviews and follow-up discussions related to
the nature, quality, and depth of the relationships pertaining to the persons listed on
the instrument who serve as providers of essential resources and/or sources of
support. This particular set of activities involved the participation of a smaller
portion of the original research sample (n=4), the implications of these results, in
some respects, are a microcosm of the entire research sample.

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Analysis
Table 17 illustrates the network scope and salience of each individual
program coordinator involved in this portion of the research (n=4). Stanton-Salazar
(2001) refers to multiplex relations, as incidents where a single contact person is
responsible for 3 or more resources or sources of support, which implies that one’s
network is complex or dense if it is extensive, or extremely simple and compact if
the overall network size is small. The ethnicity ratios as shown here are less
significant, because they mirror the demographic compositions of school sites where
the program coordinators serve. The gender ratios are significant because .71% (27
of 38) of all persons named in the survey, as support contacts were female. Ratios of
support and support contacts relative to the domains of essential resources are a more
important factor as it relates to program coordinators’ ability to access and mobilize
high status positional contacts. They lend insight into network salience regarding the
potential mobilization of resources and social capital typically associated with high
status positions, which predicate academic and social mobility as it pertains to
minority or low-status youth.
Table 17 revealed deficiencies in program coordinators’ individual networks.
The overall scope and salience of the program coordinators’ networks relative to the
essential resource domains are considerably small, because many, if not all, of the
program coordinators’ resource and support contacts relative to the essential resource
domains are located at the school site or within immediate or close proximity to it,
e.g., Educational Gateway or Social Services support. In fact, nearly 82% (23 of 28

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Table 17: Program Coordinator Network Range
Program Coordinator (N=4)

Enrique
Mendoza
(MPOC)
Natalie Hyde
(WF)
Lynette
Davies
(WF)
Jonathan
Stewart
(WM)
Network Size (number of persons
listed as sources of support)
12 12 7 7
Multiplex Relations (number of
persons listed as 3 or more sources
of support)
3 4 1 3
Male/Female Gender Ratio of
support contacts
5:7 3:9 2:5 1:6
Ethnicity Ratios of support contacts

.51 Caucasian
.25 Latino
.08African
American
.08Vietnamese
.08 Arabic
.42 Caucasian
.25 African American
.25 Latino
.08 Caribbean
.72
Caucasian
.14 Latino
.14 African
American

.72 Caucasian
.28 Latino
Ratio of resource or support
contacts relative to the domains of
essential resources (14)

(EG) 4:4
(SS) 3:3
(MW) 1:2
(GA) 1:2
(BF) 2:3
(EG) 3:4
(SS) 3:3
(MW) 2:2
(GA) 0:2
(BF) 3:3
(EG) 3:4
(SS) 2:3
(MW) 1:2
(GA) 0:2
(BF) 0:3
(EG) 2:4
(SS) 3:3
(MW) 1:2
(GA) 0:2
(BF) 1:3
Highest SEI score of support
contacts
90 70 70 65
Mean SEI Score of support
contacts
61.6 58.6 61.4 62.4
Percentage of SEI Scores listed as
High Status positional contacts
8% (1) 0% 0% 0%
Range of SEI Scores of support
contacts
56 11 31 11
EG= Educational Gateway
SS= Social Services
MW= Medical and Wellness
GA=Governmental Agency
BF=Business, Financial, and Economic

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possible contacts) of all the program coordinators’ support contacts were within
these two domains. This, along with the fact that their multiplex relations ranged
from 14% to 42% suggests that their networks were relatively small and program
coordinators may lack the structural holes necessary to cultivate new or additional
sources of support (Granovetter, 1983; Linn, 1999; 2000).
The program coordinators’ deficiencies relative to high-status positional
contacts, however, only seemingly have implications that reach beyond the
immediate confines of the school site setting, because they do not posses the means,
or as Lin (1999) puts it, the “structural holes” to mobilize support or access
information necessary to facilitate mobility. Two program coordinators in the
sample directly address this issue as it pertains to their network shortcomings.
Enrique Mendoza speaks of this dilemma as it relates to his own ability to access key
sources of support pertaining to prestigious colleges and universities:
…Oh, I wish I did know a member of congress or two; I
assure you I’ve had more than I few students I would have
loved to get on track towards an appointment at one of the
Military academies…Yeah, sometimes the more prestigious
schools become difficult to get them to, because at that level
[with those schools] it’s usually more about who you know
rather than what you know…I do try to track my students
towards the UC [University of California] while others are
simply thinking about community college or the local state
university. I figure, why sell them short on information or
something to shoot for, so I give them what I have available if
I have it… (Interview 12/13/06)

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Natalie Hyde also reflected on her abilities to marshal critical resources and sources
of support on behalf of her AVID students who have college aspirations; and, like
Enrique, she frequently finds herself lacking key contacts relative to colleges and
universities outside of her immediate proximity:
…Well, yes I do find it a bit frustrating when I try to get one of
my students positioned to go to somewhere other than the local
state university or the local UC [laughing]. You definitely are
on to something there; but, it’s not as if I don’t try though…I
don’t really know a whole lot of people who we would say are
“powerful”…It’s like the ole’ saying “sometimes it’s not a
matter of what you know, but who you know.” I’d like to make
some connections, but I find myself not always knowing where
to start… (Interview 12/11/06)

Yet, despite her resignation to the fact she lacks some degree of efficacy, she seems
satisfied that she, indeed, can marshal what is necessary to help her students when
duty calls.
Question Three: What are the individual and contextual factors that facilitate or
constrain the accumulation of accessible social capital and agency-oriented
mobilization of social capital, on behalf of program participants and/or program
implementation?

Corresponding Data used in the Analysis
Information from data collection activities throughout all four phases of the
data collection process contributed to the analysis and interpretation relative to this
particular question. The position and resource generators administered to the entire
research sample in Phase I provided key insight into the depth, range, quality, and
salience of the program coordinators’ individual networks of resources and sources
of support. The information extracted from this process allowed me to focus on
particular elements, components, and proclivities relative to the networks of the

130
individuals who comprised the smaller research sample, and thus were involved in
Phases II through IV of the research activities.
Analysis
One of the most significant individual factors relative to facilitating or
constraining the accumulation of accessible social capital and/or agency-oriented
social capital mobilization, is their limited access as it pertains to (high) positional
status; indicative of the analysis of SEI scores depicted in Table 15. The average
SEI scores of all the program coordinators’ positional contacts is 41.9. In relative
terms, program coordinators can only convey limited salient social capital is it
pertains to their individual network of resources and potential sources of support,
because the majority of their positional contacts lie within the range of lower middle-
class status. The plethora of program coordinators’ cultural and human capital,
however, as well as the array of extensity relative to the “weak ties” in their
individual networks potentially serves as a counterbalance to the negative impact of
their deficient access to high-status occupational positions.
Cultural and human capital affects, as well as their convertibility into social
capital are greatest where social capital and/or income is previously low
(Granovetter, 1983; Lin, 1999, 2000). Yet, the lack of access to high status positions
seemingly creates a glass ceiling that, on some level, creates an artificial barrier to
social and/or academic advancement, which occurs as the result of the limitations of
the program coordinator’s efficacy within the scope of their individual network
(Maume, 1999; Mehan et al., 1996). Program coordinators in the sample recorded

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only 43% (12) active resource mobilization out of the total possible potential
resource contacts (totaling 28 for the entire research sample) within the essential
resources domains typically with high status positions, i.e., medical wellness,
governmental agency, business and financial. These deficiencies seemingly create a
microcosm of sorts. Theoretically speaking, the deficient access to high status
perpetuates embedded alienation (Coleman, 1986; Granovetter, 1983; Stanton-
Salazar, 1997, 2000).
Then there is the issue of critical consciousness and active (institutional)
agency or help-seeking orientation, and, sub sequentially, agency-oriented resource
mobilization. As this excerpt from his interface revealed, Enrique Mendoza is
keenly aware of his role as it pertains to counterstratification. Thus, agency is
unquestionably at the forefront of his critical consciousness and predicates his help-
seeking orientation. Hence, he also actively engages in agency-oriented mobilization:
Yeah, [as it pertains to social justice and equity] I mean I’m
hoping that our kids are out there and going to realize what’s
going on, and want to change the way things are by getting the
skills they need to be successful and make a difference; yeah, I
definitely want them to learn “the rules of the game” those
rules that I learned—yeah, I guess you could say that’s why
I’m here and why I’m doing this… (Interview 12/13/06).

He goes on to specifically identify his critical consciousness and refer to his
actions, in the context of his intervention program, as a byproduct of such:
…Yeah, I use my personal contacts [resources] and people all
the time, without even thinking about it…Hey, if my student
needs a specific class to fulfill a graduation requirement, then
I’m going to do whatever it takes to get them [students] taken
care of, because if I don’t I’m afraid nobody else will…If it’s
not that, then it’s helping them with applications, or financial

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aid, and this or that, it all depends on the situation that comes-
up…The problem with how I go about it something, though, is
the fact that I sometimes come across as demanding, yeah I
demand that my people help me help my students
[laughing]…You know, I do this without reservation, right?
Well, you might say that’s kind of what I expect out of
everyone else as too [laughing]… (Interview 12/13/06)

Meanwhile, Natalie Hyde’s critical consciousness coupled with her actions,
relative to agency are somewhat unclear, despite the fact that, as indicated in this
brief excerpt, she is committed to help her students advance themselves academically
and socially. However, as she freely admits, she does not actively ponder equity
issues, hence counterstratification, unless she has no other choice but to consider
them. Therefore, she may not be engaging in active agency and agency-oriented
mobilization in the context of her intervention program:
Well, with that [social justice and equity] I’m not sure…well,
I think the most important thing I want my students to have is
choices or options in life. I know that I’m trying to influence
the socioeconomic dynamic because if students have choices
they can advance themselves beyond the lives and situations
their parents can provide for them… Social culturally
speaking, I don’t now if I think about that as much as I should;
I know I think about that when I’m forced to think about it.
I’m always a big fan of the process and I try not to spend
much time thinking about the outcome as much. But, I do
think if we take care of those little things that we’ve talked
about the outcomes basically take care of themselves...
(Interview 12/11/06)

She seemingly does understand that she has arrived at a crossroads in her
conscious or active thinking as it pertains to how she goes about accessing her
personal resources to help students with a specific situation. She goes on to

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articulate this in explicit terms, as she describes her efforts relative to the resistance
she encounters when eliciting assistance for her students:
…Well, I know you’re not supposed to do this, but I do hold a
lot of favor cards and I pull them out on people when I have to
[laughing] because my students sometimes have to deal with
some serious stuff—oh my god! What pisses me off is when
some people start to get judgmental about our students and
they start talking about students in terms of the fact that they
[students] come from such low socioeconomic upbringings,
and that we shouldn’t really expect more, or why am I so
shocked and upset about the situation …Sometimes I get a
little frustrated with people and their B.S., you know, that’s
when I start pulling cards, and I’m constantly working to
replenish my supply of them, because I find myself having to
use them a lot [laughing]… but heck, I do, and I will…
(Interview 12/11/06)

Additionally, Jonathon also struggles with his active stream of consciousness
as it pertains to agency. He seems to acknowledge that (white) privilege or a
dominant cultural paradigm exists, but fails to establish a connection between
personally benefiting from privilege and the need for his efforts, within the context
of his intervention program, to serve as counterstratification mechanism. His active
agency or his ability to engage in agency-oriented mobilization is, similarly, unclear.
One could also argue that his reasoning is tantamount to conveying counterfeit social
capital. Meaning, his “caring spirit” does not necessarily equate to an active
counterstratification effort. His response in the following excerpt leaves one to
questions whether he places a high premium on achievement, high standards, and
success as it pertains to his minority and low-status students (Ream, 2005):
Well, I think that on some level my [mission] definitely deals
with it [social justice and equity]. I know I came from a very
middle class home, but I think helping [minority and low

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status] kids realize that they may be poor but they’re not really
poor is a big thing to me…Money is a constant focal point in
our society, but can money really bring happiness? Can a
person be poor, but rich in spirit and still be happy…I don’t
know, hey, my take might be pretty arrogant thing to think
being that I am a white male coming from privilege…I never
really have given it much thought; I don’t know, I think it
really depends on where you come from. You know, I didn’t
consider being a white male a privilege, considering the fact
that I’m also gay, until I started teaching in a predominately
poor, Latino community…I want my students to believe that
they can still be poor, but they can still go to
college…(Interview 12/23/06)

Finally, it is clear that Lynette Davies’ rational, also, is not replete with the
critical consciousness essential facilitate active agency or agency-oriented
mobilization of resources on behalf of her students. In fact, her response hints of an
aversion towards being engaged in active agency:
Oh, [social justice and equity]. You know I like working with
these kids; growing up where I did it was always middle class,
everybody was sort of the same. Whereas, what I’m doing
here, I now know so much more about the world by working
with these kids because they’re different from me, ethnically,
socioeconomics…I feel that I know so much more about their
cultures now, and I can see through the stereotypes better; so
when I go home and see those images on TV, I don’t buy into
it all…So I guess you could say that I strive to understand
these cultures more so, by working with them… (Interview
12/14/06)

Her aversion is explicitly apparent as she goes on to address this as a matter
whether or how she is inclined to access her personal resources and sources of
support to assist her students with a specific situation or circumstance. In fact, her
aversion also seems to signal that, on some levels, she may be engaged in counterfeit
social capital as well (Ream, 2005):

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…[Sighing] you know, sometimes I feel like I’m caught in the
middle of people’s feelings and perceptions of these kids, and
I find myself not really wanting to rock the boat that much,
because a lot of times the things that come up for my students
are complicated problems that may involve stepping on a few
toes…I know many of my colleagues care, but I know
sometimes I have to be mindful of how much I can really push
people…You know, I don’t want to make any excuses, but
sometimes I can only do so much, and I have to go on what I
can do, as opposed to what I cannot… (Interview 12/14/06)

Question Four: To what extent does AVID training identify the underpinning
theoretical concepts and processes addressed by the resource model of social capital
theory; thus, do AVID program coordinators understand their role relative to the
help-seeking and network-seeking orientations of institutional agency?

Corresponding Data used in the Analysis
The guided conversation protocol relative to Phase IV of the data collection
process was the primary method of eliciting information from the smaller portion of
the original participant sample (n=4). The purpose of the exploratory interview
framework, administered in the form of guided conversations, was to determine the
extent to which AVID program coordinators clearly understand social capital and
how their individual networks of resources and forms of support factor into their
ability to be institutional agents. It was also important to ascertain the individual
program coordinator’s proclivity towards conveying essential resources, information,
and opportunities to minority or low-status youth in the context of an intervention
design; and, thus, facilitating the academic and social mobility that fosters their
empowerment.

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The nature of this particular research question affords the greatest
opportunity for speculation and inconclusive findings pursuant to the data collection.
The findings revealed insight into specific training and/or program deficiencies that
ultimately lead to variegated outcomes relative to site-based AVID programs. Other
scholars such as Mehan et al. (1994, 1996) and to some extent Stanton-Salazar,
Vasquez, and Mehan (2000) have previously documented these inconsistencies, as
well as root causes in their scholarly works. The findings revealed in the context of
this study validate and/or revisit realms of discovery and notion previously explored
by credible and accomplished scholars.
Analysis
These results and their implications are entirely subjective, and open to
further scrutiny depending upon the prevailing paradigm that proponents of AVID
choose to espouse, relative to the mission of AVID, its goals, ideals, and/or purpose.
The evidence in the form of responses provided by the program coordinators leads
me, as an objective researcher, to deduce that there may be some critical deficiencies
in the AVID training regiment. There is cause for speculation and concern as to
whether or not AVID-core training components convey the essential explicit
language and training. Both are required to ensure that program coordinators and
other persons involved in the intervention design clearly understand what being an
“institutional agent” and/or “institutional agency” entails.

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The following brief excerpt portions from guided conversations with 2
program coordinators of the smaller research sample suggest that AVID training may
not use explicit terms, language, and pedagogical design (Appendix F depicts these
excerpts in their entirety). Such are essential components to ensuring program
coordinators and other persons engaged in the intervention designs understand the
underlying philosophical principles and/or the implications of institutional agency.
The evidence provided below lends credence and veracity to the prevailing
supposition at hand, as it relates to training design; as well as to why many site-based
AVID implementation designs yield variegated results—between school sites,
districts, and regions. While these two program coordinators hail from entirely
different districts and school-wide learning communities, their thoughts on the
subject are very similar.
The first question asks them to contrast their site-based program mission
relative to the overall mission of AVID. Although they were reluctant, both program
coordinators point out that their site-based philosophies do differ somewhat from that
of AVID in general:
• Question: So, how do you site-based mission and AVID’s
mission differ?

Enrique: I think they are a lot alike, just looking at the acronym,
“AVID” it’s about advancement… [However] I don’t think that
AVID, being what it is, because it’s now a nationally recognized
program—with all its certifications and all—is focused primarily
on helping kids. I mean, these are definitely important, but it’s
getting to the point that all the paperwork involved becomes
distracting; and, I think that AVID teachers should be focused on
being able to do their job, which is working with kids to
empower them and their families... (12/13/06)

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Natalie: I think the word, “modification” might be a better way
of putting it because we’ve made several modifications here at
our site—there needs to be some modifications… There’s also a
point about the AVID model being too idealist…I’m not going to
sacrifice the well-being and overall success of my students to
become a demonstration school site—for people to walk through
[from AVID] to see... (Interview 12/11/06)

The second question is important to the context, because although they hail
from different districts and demographics, they have similar priorities in the scope of
what constitutes program effectiveness:
• Question: How do you ensure that your site-based
program actually helps students advance themselves
academically and socially?

Enrique: I think the most important part of that, in AVID, is
communication with the students, checking-in with and knowing
them. Because, a lot of kids will really lie to your face, they’ll lie
to their parents, and anyone else around and say that “they’re
doing just fine”… So, we have to always be looking for and
understanding patterns [with students]…personal things that go
on with the family and all can definitely affect their education, so
we can let them sweat that stuff too long by themselves,
otherwise we may lose them… (Interview 12/13/06)

Natalie: I think the most important part of that is the
communication…We really keep after our students about the
things they need to do to get themselves ready for college and the
future. We spend a lot of time trying to “widen the scope” [of
future vision] for our students. Finally, we really rely on our data
to keep us and our students aligned with what they need, in light
of the situation in their personal lives and sometimes despite their
situation… (Interview 12/11/06)

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The third question relates specifically to AVID training, and its ability to
prepare program coordinators for the realities of implementing an effective site-
based intervention. Here, the Enrique and Natalie both submit that there are some
deficiencies in the training model. Importantly, they also attribute their success more
to their innate ability or the supportive people around them, rather than the training
model:
• Question: So, how does AVID training help prepare you
to do this, as it pertains to ensuring that your students are
successful in terms of communicating with your students
and understanding them, and intervening to help them
when you feel that you have to?

Enrique: I think it’s more, “me” than the AVID training that
facilitates this; the training is very limited in terms of really
teaching someone how to help kids…We meet 3 times a year?
That’s not going to help a coordinator who doesn’t “know the
ropes”… They really don’t prepare you for the hard work this
kind of stuff takes…I would say they do a better job of “opening
people’s eyes” to the A-G requirements, or to the “structure”, but
that’s about it; I think it’s more up to the individual to run with it
or not run with it… (Interview 12/13/06)

Natalie: Well, I think the training really helps prepare you to
implement the AVID model—really well; but, I really think I
wouldn’t be as far along as I am if it weren’t for my close
relationship with Edna [a school counselor mentioned in the
name generating interview as a primary source of multiple forms
of support]. She has showed me more of the ropes and helped me
farther…I don’t think the training even comes close to preparing
us for the reality of actually having to deal with the everyday
challenges and problems our students face, and how we might
help them deal with problems or overcome them. … (Interview
12/11/06)

Despite the fact that critical deficiencies may exist in terms of training, as it
relates to what “agency” entails in the context of the resources model of social

140
capital, social closure and other normative components of social capital seemingly
thrived in each of the four individual programs. Each individual program had unique
conditions, replete with pervasive norms and sanctions seemingly draw the program
participants, i.e., students, into a collective “oneness.” These norms and a sense of
community serve to ensure that all students abide by the rules or covenants which
govern their continued participation in AVID. Interestingly, all of the program
coordinators give much of the credit, pertaining to the salience or effectiveness of
their norms and sanctions, to upper-division students. These students advance the
norms and sanctions in a manner that ensures that they and their lower division as
counterparts remain accountable to the standards and expectations that predicate
their membership or participation in the site-based AVID intervention program
community.
Lynette Davies’ account best surmises how social closure resonates
throughout the intervention design, as well as the premium of its affect in
maintaining cohesion and conformity throughout the community:
…Students really understand the value of AVID and they are
consciously aware that they have to maintain their grades and
the right thing…They know that it is a privilege to be in
AVID,
and it’s something that they all take very seriously by the time
they are juniors or seniors…Yeah, the seniors really get after
the underclassmen and get them back in line when they screw-
up…It’s kind of nice, because I don’t have to say anything,
they handle it themselves…The time I spend touching on this,
I remind them about AVID as a privilege…Now, they have
somewhat of an elitist attitude about it…It’s a good
thing…(Interview 12/14/06)

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Thus, community in terms of what Lynette alludes to here is an explicit exercise,
which manifests in implicit or “unspoken” behaviors that are clearly understood and
pervasive throughout the intervention design; and, are important to preserving and
sustaining the ethos of the community that comprises the AVID design.
Thematic Summary of Key Findings in the Analysis
Theme Number One: Program Coordinators have Critical Deficiencies in their
Personal Networks Relative to the Status of Their Positional Contacts

One of the most important findings of the analysis process is the fact that all
of the program coordinators who participated in the study lack access to high status
positional contacts within their individual networks of resources and/or sources of
support. In short, their networks consist of middle to lower-middle class positional
contacts, with minimal access to high status positional contacts. This finding alone
surmises that their ability to convey essential resources and sources of support that
could potentially facilitate academic and social mobility is extremely limited,
because their own access to essential positional contacts is limited.
Program coordinators, however, do possess a plethora of cultural and human
capital within their individual networks of resources and sources of support. This,
along with the fact that their networks reflect considerable extensity suggests that
they are capable of conveying essential resources and sources of support in an
efficacious manner. These factors are salient when social capital and/or income is
already low. Such is the case as it pertains to the minority or low-status youth they
serve in the context of their intervention programs. Nevertheless, the program
coordinators are marred in a microcosm of middle and/or lower-middle class

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resources and sources of support that will impede their efforts to facilitate academic
and social mobility as their students endeavor to advanced themselves and/or
transcend the bounds of their immediate or proximal environments.
Theme Number Two: Program Coordinators are Not Engaged in Active Agency as it
Relates to Counterstratification

Only a single program coordinator out of four who participated in this
component of the research are consciously aware and/or actively engaged in
institutional agency as a means to convey resources, information, and opportunities
to minority or low-status youth in a manner that seeks to actively facilitate academic
and social mobility or empowerment. Either they are not consciously aware of how
their efforts (or lack thereof) in terms of counterstratification conduces academic and
social mobility, or they do not subscribe to the notion that they should actively
engage in agency as a means of counterstratification.
One program coordinator seemingly acknowledges that she is coming to a
critical crossroads in her paradigm concerning the subject. She reluctantly
understands that her active actions, intentions, or streams of consciousness, relative
to agency, are a critical lynchpin that predicates mobility as it pertains specifically to
minority and low-status youth. The other two program coordinators are either
reluctant to acknowledge that their efforts constitute agency, or they are simply
unaware that agency is an integral component of their efforts in the context of their
intervention program.

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Theme Number Three: AVID Training does not Explicitly Address Agency as an
Intervention Design Relative to the Resources Model of Social Capital

As evidenced by the responses of two of the four program coordinators
interviewed, there may be some deficiencies in the AVID training model concerning
what agency entails in terms of actively engaging to convey essential resources and
sources of support to the youth they serve in the context of the intervention program.
These deficiencies, consequently, leave the program coordinators’ effectiveness to
chance, as it pertains to their efficacious ability to help students with their needs.
This also affects their ability to facilitate academic and social mobility.
Despite the fact that these deficiencies exist relative to the resources model of
social capital, important components of the normative model or social closure thrive
within these intervention designs. Program coordinators actively and consciously
engage in cultivating, and maintaining these “communities” through norms and
sanctions. They do so to an extent by which the communities are self-sustaining,
because the program participants now actively engage in enforcing and/or ensuring
that all participants abide by the norms and or expectations of the community. These
conditions afford participants the opportunity or privilege of membership in the
community, from which they receive benefit.
This chapter depicts the data and ensuing analyses and discussions, which
corresponds to each research question in this study. Chapter 5 will summarize the
study and bring its implications to the forefront, while also submitting
recommendations relative to intervention design and/or suggestions for future study
or investigation.

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CHAPTER 5
DISCUSSION OF KEY FINDINGS, IMPLICATIONS, AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
Discussion of Key Findings in the Analysis
Theme Number One: Program Coordinators have Critical Deficiencies in their
Personal Networks Relative to the Status of Their Positional Contacts

Discussion

To reiterate, all of the program coordinators who participated in the study
lack access to high status positional contacts within their individual networks of
resources and/or sources of support. Their networks consist of middle to lower-
middle class positional contacts, with minimal access to high status positional
contacts. This finding indicates that their ability to convey essential resources and
sources of support that could potentially facilitate academic and social mobility is
limited, because their own access to essential positional contacts is limited.
Program coordinators, however, do possess a plethora of cultural and human
capital within their individual networks of resources and sources of support. Their
networks, however, also reflect a considerable extensity, which suggests that they are
capable of conveying essential resources and sources of support in an effective
manner. These factors are salient and relevant to the minority or low-status youth
they serve in their intervention programs, because social capital and/or income are
already low. The program coordinators, nevertheless, are active in a microcosm of
middle and/or lower-middle class resources and sources of support. This microcosm
is what impedes their ability to facilitate academic and social mobility, as their

145
students endeavor to advanced themselves and/or transcend the bounds of their
immediate or proximal environments.
The primary concern as it relates to the effectiveness of program
coordinators’ individual networks is their lack of accessible social capital relative to
high-status positions, which negates the range and depth of their individual networks.
Consequently, this limits their ability(s) to help minority and low-status youth
advance themselves beyond the barriers, obstacles, and socioeconomic constraints
that perpetuate their marginalization (Lin, 2001; Stanton-Salazar & Spina, 2000;
Stanton-Salazar, 2001).
An interesting and noteworthy discovery within the findings related to
program coordinators and the degree of high-status positional contacts that comprise
their individual networks, however, was that of the women of color subgroup.
Surprisingly, they possessed the highest percentage of high-status positional contacts
of all the analytical subgroups in the study (i.e., 21%). This finding suggests that
other factors related to their individual backgrounds, e.g., age, upbringing, colleges
or universities attended, socioeconomic status of their extended families, etc., might
have contributed to this result (Cochran et al., 1990). Perhaps, this result suggests
that human and cultural capital are more salient counterbalances affecting the quality
and range of social capital, as it pertains to typically marginalized social cultural
groups and/or genders. Although the factors related to these results are uncertain and
somewhat inconclusive, the implications of this discovery warrant further
investigation and/or examination in the future.

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Lin (1999), Bourdieu (1986), and Coleman (1988) all submit that human
and/or cultural capital has more salient affect as it relates to the acquisition of social
capital when income and/or accumulated social capital is low, and less of an affect
when income and/or accumulated social capital is high. Data obtained from the
resource generator surveys indicate that program coordinators’ individual networks
and accessible resources afford them a rich and extensive array of accessible
resources that typify cultural or human capital. These resources are convertible into
social capital for minority or low-status youth in the context of an intervention when
employed. Interestingly, this rationale, however, warrants a deeper question relative
to the discovery concerning the women of color subgroup: could the accumulation
of cultural and human capital and/or the quality of quantity of such ultimately have a
greater impact on the resulting acquisition of social capital of marginalized social
cultural and/or gender groups?
The name generator interviews and surveys afford us a snapshot examination
of the program coordinator’s individual network of resources and sources of support
across specific domains relative to an intervention design. The most glaring
deficiency, however, concerning the scope and salience of the program coordinators
individual networks is their lack of high status positional contacts within the
individual domains of essential resources and relationships. This was also the case
concerning the primary discussion regarding question number one, and was relevant
to the entire research sample. In essence, with the exception of one individual
positional contact, the remaining positional contacts are middle to lower middle class

147
status. These findings in this narrower context corroborate the results of the position
generator, which surveyed a broader array of positions relative to the essential
resource domains.
The student demographic backgrounds relative to the site-based programs,
i.e., predominately minority and/or low-status youth, suggest that program
coordinators’ rich arsenal of cultural and human capital may indeed be a salient
factor as it pertains to their convertibility into social capital. It is only when student
needs or aspirations seemingly require program coordinators to move beyond the
immediate confines of available, local, or immediate resources that these ill affects
become a significant factor, because, in many cases significant academic or social
mobility needs require access to high status positions (Lin, 1999, 2000).
Mehan et al. (1996) also address this deficiency in terms of the limitations on
program efficacy from site to site, and the inconsistencies that ensue as well. He
cites access to college opportunities as a primary example. In many cases, program
coordinators had adequate access to local area community college and state
university information. The problem centered around access or conduits towards
prestigious institutions outside of the immediate range and scope of the program
coordinators’ networks (i.e., top-tier universities and military academies). Thus, the
middle to lower-middle class microcosms depicting program coordinators’
individual networks ultimately created a “glass ceiling” of sorts (Baker, 2000;
Coleman, 1988; Granovetter, 1983; Linn, 2000, 2001; Maume, 1999).

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Structural holes are an essential component of cultivating strong or salient
“weak tie” networks. Although many of the program coordinators’ networks reflect
substantial extensity as indicated in Table 16, there are considerable gaps in their
networks across domains that may be critical to the success of their intervention
designs. Importantly, structural holes are the connections or conduits through which
a person connects their networks to that of others, and creates strength or saliency in
the network via a “weak tie” (Granovetter, 1983; Linn, 1999, 2000). Table 17
indicates the greatest deficiencies in the program coordinators individual networks
center around domains typically associated with high status positional contacts, e.g.,
medical, business, and financial, legal, political. Without these structural holes,
program coordinators do not possess the ability to cultivate access to high status
positional contacts; hence, the glass ceiling (Baker, 2000; Blau & Duncan, 1970;
Maume, 1999).
Theme Number Two: Program Coordinators are Not Engaged in Active Agency as it
Relates to Counterstratification

Discussion

Only program coordinator out of four who participated in this component of
the research was consciously aware and/or actively engaged in institutional agency.
Thus, his efforts were specifically devoted to conveying resources, information, and
opportunities to minority or low-status youth to facilitate their academic and social
mobility, or empowerment. The remaining program coordinators were either not
aware of how their efforts (or lack thereof) in terms of counterstratification conduces

149
academic and social mobility, or they did not subscribe to the notion that they should
actively engage in agency as a means of counterstratification.
One program coordinator, however, acknowledged that she was coming to a
critical crossroads in her paradigm concerning the subject. She reluctantly
understands that her actions, intentions, or streams of consciousness relative to
agency are a critical lynchpin that predicates mobility as it pertains specifically to
minority and low-status youth. The other two program coordinators are either
reluctant to acknowledge that their efforts constitute agency, or they are simply
unaware that agency is an integral component of their efforts in the context of their
intervention program.
Agency and/or institutional agency are active conditions; involving active
and contrived measures people engage in on the part of others in the context of
facilitating resiliency or (academic or social) mobility. A person or persons make a
conscious decision to engage in help-seeking or resource mobilization, on behalf of
youth or others, who are traditionally marginalized by mainstream society relative to
the dominant cultural (i.e., white, middle-class) paradigms woven into our prevailing
social fabric (Singleton & Linton, 2005; Stanton-Salazar, 1997, 2000; Stanton-
Salazar & Spina, 2000).
If agency is an active condition, then the person or persons engaged in
agency must have a critical consciousness of their engagement in such, as it pertains
to counterstratification—its effects, as well as what it entails. Program coordinators
must be engaged in agency actively and consciously to be effective in these milieus,

150
and understand the importance of their role as it in the context of the student
populations they serve, i.e., minority and low-status youth. The guided conversations
shed some light on the subject concerning the program coordinators’ critical
consciousness on the subject.
Gauging program coordinator’s proclivity towards accessing their personal
networks, resources, and sources of support in an effort to convey essential
resources, information, and opportunities to minority and low-status youth in a
manner that facilitates academic and social mobility, is subjective at best. Proclivity
determines whether the program coordinators actively engage in agency-oriented
mobilization. This behavioral inclination is somewhat connected to the program
coordinators’ critical consciousness as it relates to institutional agency, agency-
oriented mobilization, and/or counterstratification primarily because proclivity
involves discretion, or, a conscious behavioral action (Livermore & Neustrom, 2003;
Singleton & Linton, 2005). Unfortunately, for those whose critical consciousness as
it relates to agency is uncertain we cannot conclude that they are actively engaged in
agency-oriented mobilization of resources on behalf of minority and low status
youth—or something else.
Theme Number Three: AVID Training does not Explicitly Address Agency as an
Intervention Design Relative to the Resources Model of Social Capital

Discussion
As evidenced by the responses of two of the four program coordinators
interviewed, there are some deficiencies in the AVID training model. Specifically, it
does not address the implications or requirements of agency. Stanton-Salazar (1997)

151
and Stanton-Salazar and Spina (2000) define agency in terms of a person who
actively engages in the process of conveying essential resources and sources of
support to the youth they serve in the context of the intervention program.
Therefore, the program coordinators’ effectiveness is left to chance, because they are
not properly equipped with the skills necessary to facilitate academic and social
mobility of the students they serve.
Despite the fact that these deficiencies exist relative to the resources model of
social capital, important components of the normative model or social closure thrive
within these intervention designs. Program coordinators actively and consciously
engage in cultivating, and maintaining these “communities” through norms and
sanctions. They do so to an extent by which the communities are self-sustaining,
because the program participants now actively engage in enforcing and/or ensuring
that all participants abide by the norms and or expectations of the community. These
conditions afford participants the opportunity or privilege of membership in the
community, from which they receive benefit.
It is important to point out that Enrique, as evidenced by his responses
relative to AVID’s overall mission and the site-based mission, is a proponent of the
ideal, i.e., “Advancement via Individual Determination.” This reality negates the
skeptic, who might view Enrique’s philosophy pertaining to AVID as somewhat
petulant. Enrique continues to maintain the school site’s status as a National
Demonstration site, which requires a certain measure of conformity and/or
compliance with the norms that govern AVID program and instructional

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implementation designs. Enrique’s pedagogy as a program coordinator epitomizes
the ideal activities, advocacy, and outcomes AVID endeavors to attain and sustain in
the context of its site-based programs (Stanton-Salazar, Vasquez, & Mehan, 2000).
Enrique’s help seeking and network-orientation are consciously activated
efforts to convey resources and assistance, in a manner that might translate into
empowerment and advancement opportunities for youth (Stanton-Salazar, 2001;
Stanton-Salazar & Spina, 2000). Based on his responses, his efforts to teach his
students the “rules of the game” are indicative of the fact that he understands the
boundaries and codes of power; as well as his responsibilities to convey this
information to youth in explicit terms (Delpit, 1988; Stanton-Salazar, 2004). Social
culturally speaking, his odyssey is a carefully contrived active stream of
consciousness that actively seeks to attain equity; and, thus, counter stratification
(Singleton & Linton, 2005; Stanton-Salazar, 2001).
Enrique, however, is quick to call attention to the fact that much of his
success as it pertains to being an institutional agent in the context of AVID is
somewhat innate, per se; and, attributable to his close personal connection to the
community, hence, his “sociological intuitions” (Stanton-Salazar, 2004, p. 32). His
interview responses indicate that he is intrinsically motivated to be an institutional
agent because it is the community where he grew-up; as evidenced by his willingness
to return to that community—to teach. Hence, he is engaged in an active effort to
advance the lives and outcomes of the youth he serves in the context of the
intervention program (Ladson-Billings, 1995; Stanton-Salazar & Spina, 2003). As

153
indicated in his response, he is quick to point out that AVID training designs do not
address these issues, concerning what being an institutional agent entails, in explicit
terms. Therein lays the dilemma: the program coordinator’s ability to understand
and convey the “hidden curriculum” or implicit socialization skills, in explicit terms,
predicates the success or failure of the intervention (Mehan et al., 1994, 1996;
Stanton-Salazar, 2004, p. 32).
Natalie possesses a critical consciousness, in which she is inclined towards a
help-seeking orientation, or active agency (Stanton-Salazar, 1997; Stanton-Salazar &
Spina, 2000). Natalie’s sociological intuitions relative to the community make her
intrinsically motivated to convey implicit socialization skills, or the “hidden
curriculum,” in explicit terms (Mehan et al., 1994, 1996; Stanton-Salazar, 2004).
Structurally speaking, similar to Enrique, Natalie is committed to the mission and
ideals of AVID. She indicates that there is the distinct possibility that the school site
might become a National Demonstration site in the near future, which refutes cursory
speculation that Natalie’s mindset or endeavors might be capricious (Stanton-
Salazar, Vasquez, & Mehan, 2000).
Similar to Enrique, Natalie alludes to the fact that there are specific
deficiencies in AVID training, as it pertains to the “hidden curriculum” as it relates
to implicit socialization skills. In fact, she attributes much of her success as a
program coordinator to consciousness awareness of her personal limitations
concerning the hidden curriculum; and, her ability to rely on a person in her network
of support and resources, to supplant her own critical deficiencies in this area.

154
The only unresolved question as it pertains to Natalie’s personal philosophy
and motivation, relative to her agency-oriented resource mobilization is whether she
is consciously engaged in counter stratification, hence equity (Stanton-Salazar &
Spina, 2000). On one hand, she underscores how vitally important communication
and engagement with stakeholders (i.e., parents and families) is to the success of the
intervention program (Stanton-Salazar & Spina, 2003). Hence, she is actively
engaged in agency. The question lies in whether her agency translates into a critical
social cultural consciousness. When translated, one might deduce that she endeavors
to attain social justice or equity, indicative of her apprehension to directly address
the issue in her response on the subject (Singleton & Linton, 2005; Stanton-Salazar,
2001, 2004). One might speculate whether her idea of “options” is synonymous
with empowering minority and low-status youth with the ability to extricate
themselves from their communities of origin, and the social cultural nuances entailed
in those communities. Ironically, if this is indeed the case her efforts and her critical
consciousness might be counterproductive because she may be engaged in deficit
pedagogy. Deficit pedagogy implies that if she empowers minority or low-status
youth with options, they will conclude that their communities are undesirable.
Consequently, the youth will choose to leave their communities or origin, which, in
turn, further depletes the communities in general (Hollins & Spencer, 1990; Ladson-
Billings, 1995, 2001).

155
Finally, the each of the program coordinators indicated that program
participants engage in some degree of peer “self-check” or self-regulation. This
reality indicates that program coordinators maintain a cohesive community that, to
some extent, sustains itself by the sheer measure of the standards and expectations all
participants and/or members must abide by, as a condition of reaping the privileges
that membership in AVID entails (Coleman, 1988; Noguera, 1999; Portes & Landolt,
1996). Whether AVID advances a specific training ethos pursuant to or in
accordance with its reputation, or that program coordinators have an innate ability to
cultivate and maintain community relative to their familial and/or cultural identity or
experience, is unclear. What is certain, though, is that none of the program
coordinators attributed this condition of social closure to any explicit language in the
AVID training design. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that social closure and its
theoretical implications are pervasive throughout the intervention designs, and they
do play and integral role in creating the cohesion within these communities (Kahne
& Bailey, 1999; Maeroff, 1998).
These notions related to the training design are a critical lynchpin that explain
Mehan et al.’s (1996) discussion, which highlights the fact that although AVID
program coordinators receive uniform training, student outcomes vary from site-to-
site. These results suggest that training may not take into account that personal
philosophy may also be a contributing factor to program outcomes. Perhaps AVID
has not considered the fact that individuals (i.e., potential program coordinators)
come into their program design with variegated or conflicting paradigms.

156
Furthermore, these paradigms may either enable or inhibit the program coordinator’s
ability to be effective within the context of the intervention.
Implications of the Study
This study brings the effectiveness of intervention designs to the forefront of
examination. The primary focus centers on their ability to convey social capital, and
to facilitate academic and social mobility as it pertains to minority or low status
youth. The results revealed in this study illustrate that, perhaps, we might consider
the potential effectiveness of persons involved in implementing the intervention
programs as a factor contributing to program success or failure. This study
capsulated a small and select group of program coordinators; yet, it sought to
examine components of an individual’s networks of resources and sources of support
affect the overall empowering (or efficacy) potential of the intervention program, in
theoretical and analytical terms (Stanton-Salazar, 2004). As other scholars have
suggested, we must also consider how we go about the business of intervention
design (Hernandez, 1995; McLaughlin et al., 1994). Specifically, in terms of explicit
training, and how it affects one’s ability to cultivate resources that, when accessed or
employed, can facilitate academic and social mobility or foster empowerment as it
pertains to minority and low-status youth. This is particularly important as it relates
to AVID, because, in some respects, it seeks effectiveness through universal
treatments through strategic socialization (Mehan et al., 1994, 1996; Stanton-Salazar,
2001; Stanton Salazar et al., 2000).

157
Kahne and Bailey (1999) point out that innovative intervention designs do
not necessarily guarantee program success, in terms of the people involved in the
intervention and their ability to convey social capital, when their own individual
social capital base is either low or deficient (Lin, 1999, 2000). Specifically, social
capital that is convertible to economic capital is the critical lynchpin in terms of
productive power (Lin, 2000, 2001). The fact is that we live in a society where
economic productivity predicates power structures, dominance, and the dynamics of
how social cultural and socioeconomic groups behave and interact—with each other
and amongst themselves (Coleman, 1998; Lin, 2000; 2001; Portes & Landolt, 1996).
In theoretical terms, social capital is an integral component of social mobility
and/or social reproduction, as it pertains to social dominance versus social
oppression (Bourdieu, 1986; Stanton-Salazar, 2004). The people involved in
implementing intervention designs, such as site-based AVID programs must be
consciously aware of the social capital they can potentially convey to the program
participants they serve, which in most cases are minority or low-status youth.
Program coordinators must also receive adequate training as to how they might
cultivate new resource contacts when their individual networks of resources and
sources of support, relative to (high) positional status is deficient.
The study also revealed the potential power and salience of both camps of
social capital theory in the context of an intervention design. Noguera (2002) offers
a potential framework in his work with an urban community in Oakland, California.
He highlights the importance of bridging blighted communities to resources, as well

158
bonding citizens together through information, training, and engagement as essential
components to change or improvement, i.e., mobility and empowerment.
Theoretically speaking, Noguera (2002) infers that explicit articulation and/or
understanding of both camps can bolster the efficacy of a contemporary intervention
design for a targeted population, such as minority or low-status youth. He also
submits that culture and cultural understanding are just as important to facilitating
and sustaining mobility and empowerment, as the resources and information.
Critical consciousness as it pertains to agency, and/or what being an institutional
agent of change entails is the lynchpin that predicates efficacy (Singleton & Linton,
2005; Stanton-Salazar, 1997; Stanton-Salazar & Spina, 2000).
Looking at the various AVID programs and the program coordinators
interviewed in the study, deeper questions emerged. First, are the intervention
programs, such as AVID and the people involved implementing and sustaining an
effective intervention design that is compatible with the needs of the youth they
intend to serve? On the other hand, are these entities advancing an intervention
framework for the sake of the framework rather than its resulting impact? These
questions resonate, because the various AVID programs observed in the study
illustrated the variegated results that Mehan et al. (1996) chronicle in their writings.
The research and discoveries also validated Stanton-Salazar’s (2004) suggestion that
the effectiveness of a site-based intervention program is more dependent on the
efficacy of the individual who runs the program (i.e., the program coordinator),
rather that the intervention design or template.

159
Additional questions relative for future research also surfaced during
interfaces with program coordinators. The answers of which further bring race and
culture to the forefront of the discussion. Critical race was a primary component of
the literature review; however, logistical and time constraints precluded extensive
examination of how it manifests in the context of an intervention dynamic.
Nevertheless, this exploration is essential to future discussions, now that we have
established a scholarly platform from which to measure and analyze social capital in
terms of what an individual brings into the implementation of the intervention
design. Critical race theory has implications relative to the additional questions that
emerged from the study; the answers of which are relevant to future intervention
designs and instructional pedagogy.
Limitations of the Study
This study depicts how an individuals’ accumulation and mobilization of
social capital may affect their ability to convey resources, information, and
opportunities to minority or low-status youth in the context of an intervention in an
effective. Although the findings and ensuing discussions may have significant
implications that reach beyond one specific intervention design, it is also important
to note that this there are limitations to this study. First, the study and analysis were
limited to a small group of program coordinators selected from a list source provided
by AVID officials. The program coordinators were selected based on the
certification rating of their program, to ensure that no level of program quality rating
was overrepresented in the sample. The coordinators were also selected in a manner

160
that ensured they had adequate time and experience in their positions, which
according to AVID equated to 2-3 years.
In addition, the instruments related to the study were specifically modified
from the Business industry, replete with a scholarly rationale that allows for utility in
the context of educational intervention designs. The data analysis revealed that these
instruments created some redundancy in the information obtained in the data
collection process. In short, there were drawbacks, hence flaws, in the instrument
design. Another factor related to the unique design of the instruments used in the
study is the fact that the SEI scores depicted in Appendix H are the subjective result
of comparative analysis of the occupational status rationales of at least 3 different
studies.
Recommendations
It is imperative that intervention programs, such as AVID, that engage in
assisting minority, or low-status youth consider commencing a critical inventory of
their training designs. Explicit awareness of social capital, as well as the ability to
cultivate networks of resources and sources of support is critical elements of
program effectiveness. This also predicates the program’s ability to empower
minority or low status youth, which is also a key component of its effectiveness.
Many, implement their interventions without explicit training concerning the fact
that individuals involved in the implementation convey some form of social capital
either whether they are aware of it or not. There lies a difficult challenge for
programs such as AVID, as it pertains to re-examining its training design relative to

161
program coordinators: is AVID ready (or willing) to commence a critical analysis of
its practices in a manner that may shed light on the fact that its current program
design may not be effective in some cases?
Interestingly, AVID officials played an integral role in helping secure
opportunities to observe site-based programs, and officially, interface with program
coordinators. These officials, however, expressed some concern that results that
portray AVID in a “negative” light would produce a “snowball” effect, and
jeopardize its reputation and/or its ability to expand and help more youth
nationwide—and internationally. Maintaining the integrity of the research questions
and this project after obtaining AVID’s consent was an ironic and precarious
challenge. There was a considerable amount of intrepid energy spent protecting the
project from any undue interference or influence from AVID that might somehow
skew the findings.
Perhaps, a nationally renowned program such as AVID would embrace
research findings that reveal critical deficiencies, relative to its potential
effectiveness, as an opportunity to learn, discover, grow, and improve, as would any
other professional learning community. The findings of this research suggest that
there are some deficiencies within the AVID implementation design that can be
improved the overall efficacy site-level implementations, if they choose to examine
and address these issues. Based on its reputation, one can conclude that AVID
engages in helping students who would not have any other opportunities for
advancement without its existence. One could also surmise that AVID most likely

162
seeks opportunities to learn, grow, evolve, and improve. The evidence provided in
this study offers AVID insight into a previously overlooked dimension of its
implementation; the salience of which they may not be fully aware. AVID has a
unique opportunity to examine its training methods and practices, and improve its
overall implementation relative to its mission. Importantly, if AVID embarks upon
this critical analysis of its practices and training, they will be better capable of
meeting the needs of the minority or low-status youth who seek benefit from it.
Suggestions for Further Study
With a proper platform now in place from which to measure and analyze the
social capital of individuals involved in the implementation of an intervention
design, the secondary research questions come to the forefront of the discussion and
analysis. The answers to the primary research questions are the crossroads from
which to examine the behavioral dynamics relative to racial and cultural interaction
in the context of intervention design. Race, cultural perceptions, and behavioral
dynamics are all important components in intervention design because intervention
programs such as AVID primarily interface with traditionally marginalized social
cultural groups, i.e., minority and low-status youth. The volatile realities of these
questions may lend further insight into why many interventions and other endeavors
related to student-learning (or social) outcomes produce variegated results.

163
Thus, although these questions for future research specifically relate to
AVID, they are applicable to any intervention design; and, the answers of which may
have wide-reaching implications for intervention programs and educational
pedagogy in general:
1. How do individual perceptions and ideologies of race, ethnicity, and
status attainment manifest in the AVID Program coordinator’s
network orientation and/or their help-seeking orientation, as it
pertains to working on behalf of program participants and program
implementation?
2. How do individual teachers’ perception of race and color manifest in
their implementation relative to institutional agency?
3. Which camp of social capital theory explains the intervention
emphasis?
4. What dissonance may result from the predominant theoretical
foundation driving the training?
5. Are there variations between cultural groups pertaining to how (well)
they respond to AVID programs?
6. Which components of institutional agency are missing from the
hidden curriculum?
These questions and/or their implications emerged as the endeavor to elicit
answers to the primary research questions unfolded. Adequate time and resources in
the future will allow me to observe program coordinators and interface with them for

164
an extended period, i.e., 6-12 months. This future research will also include
observations, interactions, and interviews with students and parents. The answers
and implications of this future research would have theoretical relevance and
practical application towards future intervention designs and educational pedagogy.
My hope is that such might serve to improve the cause of facilitating the academic
and social mobility of not only minority and low-status youth, but of all children—
for the betterment of all of our lives, our futures, the cultures that comprise our
unique and diverse society, if not sustainability of our society and public education
itself.

165
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APPENDICES

172
Appendix A: Resource Domains and Essential Resource and Relationship
Groupings

Medical or Mental Health and Wellness
Physician
Dentist
Clinical psychologist
Psychiatrist

Social Service
Licensed Clinical Social Worker/Social Worker
Crisis counselor
Youth shelter coordinator
Mentorship coordinator

Educational/College Gateway
College Admissions director
College entrance testing preparatory tutor
Content-area tutor
College counselor
College Professor
College recruiter
College Dean, Provost, or President
School counselor
Scholarship coordinator or chairperson
Financial aid advisor
Assistant or Deputy Superintendent
Superintendent of Schools
Grant writer or coordinator
Grant provider
Department Chairperson/School Faculty
Assistant Principal
Principal
Community College Counselor
Vocational or Technical School recruiter
College Athletic Director/coach

Governmental Agency
Military recruiter
School Board Member
Juvenile Court Judge
Executive Law Enforcement personnel, e.g., Captain, Lieutenant, or Sergeant.
Juvenile Probation Officer
Job Corps recruiter

173
Business, Financial, or Economic
Banking or Investment advisor
Credit counselor
Trade Union representative

174
Appendix B: Name Generator

Preface interview session with the following introduction:

Over the course of our conversation, I would like to get an idea of the people
who are important to you in your efforts to help students, in various ways. I will
preface each topic with a description of the ways that people assist you in helping
you figure out how to get your students the help they need. After reading each
description, I will be asking you to provide me with only the first names of these
people who you would go to with confidence, if you needed this type of assistance
on behalf of your students. These people could be your friends, family, colleagues,
supervisors, mentors, or other people you might know.

If you feel that there isn’t anyone you would go to with confidence, for a
specific type of assistance described on behalf of your students then let’s talk about
that as well. If there are any descriptions or questions that may be unclear, please
don’t hesitate to ask me to clarify anything. Are you ready?

1. 1. Social Developmental Mentoring and Support:
• When you have a student who has ongoing developmental issue and is in
need of long-term guidance and/or close mentoring, who are the people you
would most likely call to assist you in figuring-out how to get the students
the support they needed, before you would ask anyone else to help you?
• In the past year, which of these people have actually helped you this way?
• Is there anyone who you would not normally rely upon for this type of
assistance, but who actually did help you in this way during the past year?
• Have you ever been in a position where you either directly provided this
resource to one of your students or (possibly) your program colleagues?

2. Medical Health and Wellness Support:
• If one of your students has, a medical or dental need that you feel is not
being adequately attended to by the school or his/her family, who can you
call with confidence to assist you in getting the proper attention the student
needs.
• In the past year, which of these people have you actually called upon to
assist you?
• Is there anyone who you would not normally rely upon for this type of
assistance, but who actually did help you in this way during the past year?
• Have you ever been in a position where you either directly provided this
resource to one of your students or (possibly) your program colleagues?

3. Crisis Support:
• If one of your students, is experiencing psychological or emotional crises,
who are the people you would most likely call upon for assistance in dealing
with the crisis.

175
• In the past year, which of these people have you actually called upon or
referred someone to for assistance?
• Is there anyone who you would not normally rely upon for this type of
assistance, but who actually did help you in this way during the past year?
• Have you ever been in a position where you either directly provided this
resource to one of your students or (possibly) your program colleagues?

4. Educational and/or Gateway Support:
• When you need specific information or assistance, with an educational
concern one of your students or program participants, who are the people
you would most likely call upon to assist you in figuring out how to get the
help your student needs, before you would ask anyone else for help?
• In the past three months, which of these people have you actually called
upon or referred to for assistance?
• Is there anyone who you would not normally rely upon for this type of
assistance, but who actually did help you in this way during the year?
• Have you ever been in a position where you either directly provided this
resource to one of your students or (possibly) your program colleagues?

5. Legal Assistance:
• If one of your students has legal issues or questions, who are the people, you
would most likely call upon to assist you in figuring-out how to get the help
your student needs, before you would ask anyone else for help?
• In the past year, which of these people have you actually called upon or
referred to for assistance?
• Is there anyone who you would not normally rely upon for this type of
assistance, but who actually did help you in this way during the past year?
• Have you ever been in a position where you either directly provided this
resource to one of your students or (possibly) your program colleagues?

6. College Information and Support:
• If one of your students needs to obtain college information essential to one
of your students or program participants, who are the people you would
most likely call upon for assistance in figuring out how to help your student,
before you ask anyone else?
• In the past year, which of these persons have you actually contacted and/or
referred to receive assistance?
• Is there anyone who you would not normally rely upon for this type of
assistance, but who actually did help you in this way during the past year?
• Have you ever been in a position where you either directly provided this
resource to one of your students or (possibly) your program colleagues?

176
7. Financial Information and Support:
• When one of your students needs information or assistance regarding
financial matters, who are the people you would most likely call upon for
assistance in figuring out how to help your student, before you ask anyone
else?
• In the past years, which of these persons have you actually contacted and/or
referred to receive assistance?
• Is there anyone who you would not normally rely upon for this type of
assistance, but who actually did help you in this way during the past year?
• Have you ever been in a position where you either directly provided this
resource to one of your students or (possibly) your program colleagues?

8. Executive or Administrative Educational Support:
• If one of your students needs assistance and/or information from a person in
Administrative leadership and/or Executive leadership (e.g., Principal,
Superintendent, Dean or Provost, etc.), who are the people you would most
likely call upon for assistance in figuring out how to help your student,
before you ask anyone else?
• In the past year, which of these persons have you actually contacted and/or
received assistance?
• Is there anyone who you would not normally rely upon for this type of
assistance, but who actually did help you in this way during the past year?
• Have you ever been in a position where you either directly provided this
resource to one of your students or (possibly) your program colleagues?

9. Job or Career Placement Support
• If one of your students needs assistance and/or information regarding
employment options and/or prospects, who are the people you would most
likely call upon for assistance in figuring out how to help your student,
before you ask anyone else?
• In the past years, which of these persons have you actually contacted and/or
referred to receive assistance?
• Is there anyone who you would not normally rely upon for this type of
assistance, but who actually did help you in this way during the past years?
• Have you ever been in a position where you either directly provided this
resource to one of your students or (possibly) your program colleagues?

10. Political Support:
• If one of students needs some assistance with a political issue, who are the
people you would most likely call upon for assistance, e.g., Board Member,
state, local, or federal government, in figuring out how to help your student,
before you ask anyone else?
• In the past year, which of these persons have you actually contacted and/or
referred to receive assistance?

177
• Is there anyone who you would not normally rely upon for this type of
assistance, but who actually did help you in this way during the past year?
• Have you ever been in a position where you either directly provided this
resource to one of your students or (possibly) your program colleagues?

11. Mentoring Assistance and Support:
• When one of students needs specific mentoring assistance, who are the
people you would most likely call upon for assistance in figuring out how to
help your student, before you would ask anyone else for help?
• In the past year, which of these people have you actually called upon or
referred to for assistance?
• Is there anyone who you would not normally rely upon for this type of
assistance, but who actually did help you in this way during the past year?
• Have you ever been in a position where you either directly provided this
resource to one of your students or (possibly) your program colleagues?

12. Mental Health and Wellness Support:
• If when one of your students is in need of ongoing emotional and/or moral
support, who are the people you would most likely call upon for assistance
in figuring out how to help your student, before you ask anyone else.
• In the past year, which of these people have you actually called upon or
referred someone to for assistance?
• Is there anyone who you would not normally rely upon for this type of
assistance, but who actually did help you in this way during the past year?
• Have you ever been in a position where you either directly provided this
resource to one of your students or (possibly) your program colleagues?

13. Law Enforcement Support:
• If one of your students needs assistance with specific law enforcement
concerns, who are the people you would most likely call upon for assistance
in figuring out how to help your student, before you ask anyone else?
• In the past year, which of these people have you actually called upon or
referred someone to for assistance?
• Is there anyone who you would not normally rely upon for this type of
assistance, but who actually did help you in this way during the past year?
• Have you ever been in a position where you either directly provided this
resource to one of your students or (possibly) your program colleagues?

14. Scholarship or Grant Funding Support:
• If one of your students needs assistance with grant or scholarship funding,
who are the people you would call upon to assist you in figuring out how to
help your student, before you would ask anyone else for assistance?
• In the past year, which of these people have you actually called upon or
referred someone to for assistance?

178
• Is there anyone who you would not normally rely upon for this type of
assistance, but who actually did help you in this way during the past year?
• Have you ever been in a position where you either directly provided this
resource to one of your students or (possibly) your program colleagues?

Classifications for Codifying Name-Generated Contacts

• Nature of relationship (e.g., friend, family, colleague, etc.)
o 1—Mother
o 2—Father
o 3—Son
o 4—Daughter
o 5—Niece
o 6—Nephew
o 7—Aunt
o 8—Uncle
o 9—Cousin
o 10—Grandmother
o 11—Grandfather
o 12—Friend
o 13—Acquaintance
o 14—Organizational/Specific Affiliation
o 15—Program Staff Member
o 16—Parallel Colleague
o 17—Subordinate Staff Member
o 18—Supervisor
o 19—Mentor
o 20—Program Supporter
o 21—Program Volunteer

• Sex/Gender of contact
1—Male
2—Female

• Contact’s Primary and Secondary Ethnicities
1. African (continental)
2. Black/African-American/non-Latino
3. Caribbean
4. Mexican-American
5. Puerto Rican
6. Caucasian/non-Latino
7. Filipino
8. Samoan
9. Guamanian

179
10. Hawaiian
11. Other Pacific Islander
12. Asian/Sub-Continental and India/Eurasia
13. Cambodian
14. Vietnamese
15. Korean
16. Japanese
17. Chinese
18. Laotian
19. Thai
20. Arabic

• Duration of the Relationship
o Years and Months—rounded off to nearest .5

• Relative Settings of the Relationship
o Category A: Intervention Program
1—Program staff meetings
2—Meetings pertaining to outside evaluation

o Category B: Collaboration with Outside Entities
1—Cross-program participation/planning and organizing activities
2—Stakeholder collaboration meetings

o Category C: Community/Personal Network
1—Residential neighborhood
2—Church or other religious setting
3—Volunteer organization
4—Civic organization/Political Lobby
5—Social circle
6—Health or Fitness club
7—Child-oriented organizations or activities
8—Child’s school-oriented activities

o Category D: Professional/External to intervention but related to role as
institutional agent or youth mentor
1—Professional associations or committees
2—Departmental staff meetings
3—Staff-wide training or professional development
4—Union activities

180
o Category F: Professional/External to intervention but NOT related to role
as institutional agent
1—Professional associations or committees
2—Departmental staff meetings
3—Staff-wide training or professional development
4—Union activities

o Category G: Family/Kinship
1—Special occasions or gatherings
2—Child-oriented activities or organizations
3—Child’s school-oriented activities
4—Adult kin-oriented activities

• Frequency of Contact
A—daily
B—(at least) once weekly
C—(at least) once bi-weekly
D—(at least) once monthly
E—once every 3 months
F—once every six months
G—once a year
H—sporadically/on occasion

• Contact’s occupation/SES
o Per Duncan (1970) scale of occupational status

Inquiries about People/Names Reported as Likely Providers of Support

1. Let’s talk about your relationship with________. When did you first meet,
and how were you acquainted?
a. Is this person an immigrant to the United States?_____
b. If so, how old where they when they immigrated to the United
States?____
c. (If applicable) Do you know if one or both of their parents
immigrated to the United States?_____; if so, from what country or
countries?______
d. (If not an immigrant) Do you know what part of the country this
person is originally from?_______

2. How often do you get together or have personal conversations with_______?

181
3. (Remind respondent that they indicated this person as source of multiple
supports—name the supports) Do you ever feel uncomfortable about
asking_______ for help for any of the sources of support you indicated them
as a resource with? (explain the circumstances)

4. Has any event occurred in the context of relationship that has either improved
the relationship, or made it more conflictive? (If yes, explain the
circumstances).

5. (Applicable for providers of three or more types of support) It appears
that_____ is an important source of support for you
a. How would you describe your relationship with________

b. Tell me about the last time______ helped you. Describe the situation
that you needed help with?

c. How did you feel about the support he/she gave you?

d. Did the support or assistance actually fulfill your needs? Why or why
not?

e. Would you turn to them again for the same type of help in a similar
situation? Why or why not?

f. Has ______ ever asked you for assistance with an issue or problem?

i. If so, what kind of help?
ii. If not, why do you suppose?

g. Have you ever been upset at, or had disagreements with _______?

i. If yes, explain.
ii. How did you resolve your differences?
iii. If no argument, why do suppose that has not happened?

182

Appendix C: Position Generator

Preface survey with the following introduction: I would like to know what occupations you
meet and have contact with; I have here a list of different occupations. I would like you to
go through the list and indicate if any of your friends, family members, or acquaintances
holds any of these positions. What I mean by acquaintance, though, is someone whom if
you see in passing, you know his or her name. Are you ready?

Job/function Family Friend Acquaintance no
1 Physician (1) (2) (3) (0)
2 College Recruiter (1) (2) (3) (0)
3 School Board Member (1) (2) (3) (0)
4 College Admissions Director (1) (2) (3) (0)
5 Social Worker/LCSW (1) (2) (3) (0)
6 College Dean or Provost (1) (2) (3) (0)
7 School Counselor (1) (2) (3) (0)
8 Juvenile Court Judge (1) (2) (3) (0)
9 School Superintendent (1) (2) (3) (0)
10 Financial Aid Counselor (1) (2) (3) (0)
11 Military Recruiter (1) (2) (3) (0)
12 Community College Counselor (1) (2) (3) (0)
13 Musician/artist/writer (1) (2) (3) (0)
14 Computer Programmer (1) (2) (3) (0)
15 Police Officer (1) (2) (3) (0)
16 Secretary/Clerical person (1) (2) (3) (0)
17 College Athletic Director or Coach (1) (2) (3) (0)
18 Psychologist or Psychiatrist (1) (2) (3) (0)
19 Nurse/LVN (1) (2) (3) (0)
20 Attorney (1) (2) (3) (0)
21 School/Faculty Department Chairperson (1) (2) (3) (0)
22 Postal Worker (1) (2) (3) (0)
23 College Professor (1) (2) (3) (0)
24 Banker/Investment/Financial Advisor (1) (2) (3) (0)
25 Journalist/TV Reporter (1) (2) (3) (0)
26 Custodian/Maintenance person (1) (2) (3) (0)
27 Dentist (1) (2) (3) (0)
28 Juvenile Probation Officer (1) (2) (3) (0)
29 College Scholarship Coordinator (1) (2) (3) (0)
30 Principal (1) (2) (3) (0)

183
Appendix D: Resource Generator

Preface survey with the following introduction: I would like to know what key occupations, essential
resources, and experiences you meet and have contact with, or retain; I have here a list of key
occupations. I would like you to go through the list and indicate if you or any of your friends, family
members, or acquaintances holds any of these positions or resources. What I mean by acquaintance,
though, is someone whom if you see in passing, you know his or her name. Are you ready?

I. Do you know anyone
who…*************
no Family
member
Friend Acquaintance
II. …and are you someone
who (is)…
** ****** ***** ********** Yourself? N=
(?)
1 …is fluent in more than one
language…
(0) (1) (2) (3) (4)
2 …has an income greater than
$50,000…
(0) (1) (2) (3) (4)
3 …owns their own home… (0) (1) (2) (3) (4)
4 …knows someone in a foreign
country…
(0) (1) (2) (3) (4)
5 …has a vacation home… (0) (1) (2) (3) (4)
6 …has traveled to a foreign
country…
(0) (1) (2) (3) (4)
7 …has published article(s) in a
scholarly or professional
journal(s)…
(0) (1) (2) (3) (4)
8 …has an investment or retirement
portfolio…
(0) (1) (2) (3) (4)
9 …has a guest or spare bedroom in
their house…
(0) (1) (2) (3) (4)
10 …is an entrepreneur... (0) (1) (2) (3) (4)
11 …is active in a major political
party…
(0) (1) (2) (3) (4)
12 …plays a musical instrument… (0) (1) (2) (3) (4)
13 …has a contact in local media… (0) (1) (2) (3) (4)
14 …is computer literate or has
practical understanding of
computers…
(0) (1) (2) (3) (4)
15 …played a sport in college… (0) (1) (2) (3) (4)
16 …is credentialed in multiple
secondary subjects…
(0) (1) (2) (3) (4)
17 …has a master’s degree… (0) (1) (2) (3) (4)
18 …has a doctoral degree … (0) (1) (2) (3) (4)
19 …has a law degree … (0) (1) (2) (3) (4)
20 …is a real estate investor … (0) (1) (2) (3) (4)
21 …teaches K-12 and college level… (0) (1) (2) (3) (4)
22 …went to medical school … (0) (1) (2) (3) (4)
23 …works as a youth mentor… (0) (1) (2) (3) (4)
24 …is handy making household
repairs …
(0) (1) (2) (3) (4)
25 …is multi-sport fan … (0) (1) (2) (3) (4)

184
Appendix E: Guided Conversation Protocol

AVID Program Coordinator Exploratory Interview Framework

a. Describe the differences between the visions of the AVID Program in
general and that of your site-based program (e.g., mission, processes,
structure).
i. Do you agree or disagree with either vision? Why?
ii. Do the students you serve influence your mission? Why?
iii. How do you convey your site-based mission to your site team
in the context of planning meetings or other faculty members?
b. How are funds allocated to and distributed in the context of the AVID
program?
i. How do other faculty members respond?
ii. What is your relationship with the person in charge of budget
allocations?
c. Describe the types of activities your AVID program entails for
students.
d. How do you define success in the context of the AVID program?
e. Does the program have norms and sanctions?
i. With students?
ii. With AVID teachers?
iii. If so, how are they enforced?
f. Describe the duties and responsibilities of:
i. The program coordinator
ii. The AVID Teacher
1. What would be ideal?
2. How does the reality compare with ideal?
g. Take us through a typical day in the life of an AVID program
coordinator…
Rank the order of importance of your duties relative to the
typical day.
h. What conditions warrant rewards or recognition for:
i. Program coordinators
ii. AVID teachers.
i. What do program coordinators do to:
i. Recruit students and get them to remain committed to the
program
ii. Help students overcome barriers or obstacles to success
iii. Help students develop essential skills that will assist them in
their efforts to advance themselves academically and socially

185
iv. Assure that students acquire the essential skills that will
facilitate their academic and social mobility.
v. Encourage partnerships and collaboration between faculty
members and/or community-based organizations.
j. Does the site-based AVID program have any unique focus that
separates it from other sites?
k. How do you ensure that AVID program design matches the
requirements students need to advance themselves academically and
socially?
l. How do you assess what works and what does not?
m. Do you seek opportunities for students to advance themselves
academically or socially? Describe how…
n. Do you use anyone in your personal network of contacts to achieve
this? Describe a condition or situation in which you do so…
i. What type of information, resource, or opportunity where you
attempting to convey?
ii. Characterize your relationship with this contact?
1. How long have you known each other?
2. How often do you interact with him or her?
3. How many times has this person helped you in your
efforts to convey essential information, resources, and
opportunities to students?
iii. Have you ever used anyone in your personal network to exert
influence in an effort to provide resources, information, or
opportunities for students, e.g., college admission or
scholarships?
1. Characterize your relationship with this person.
a. How long have you know each other?
b. How often do you interact with this person?
c. How many times has this person helped you?
2. Level of discretion in doing so

186

Appendix F: Guided Conversation Excerpts Concerning AVID Training

• Question: So, how do you site-based mission and AVID’s
mission differ?

Enrique: I think they are a lot alike, just looking at the
acronym, “AVID” it’s about advancement; for these kids it’s
about advancing them beyond their families that brought them
into the world and raised them as best they could. Also, Part
of AVID is to also make sure that they are responsible citizens
and given back to their community as well...Frankly speaking,
and this has gotten me into trouble—I don’t care—I don’t
think that AVID, being what it is, because it’s now a
nationally recognized program—with all its certifications and
all—is focused primarily on helping kids. I mean, these are
definitely important, but it’s getting to the point that all the
paperwork involved becomes distracting; and, I think that
AVID teachers should be focused on being able to do their
job, which is working with kids to empower them and their
families... (12/13/06)

Natalie: I think the word, “modification” might be a better
way of putting it because we’ve made several modifications
here at our site—there needs to be some
modifications…Sometimes I don’t think I do a great job as far
as getting kids thinking realistically about college early on [in
9
th
grade]... There’s also a point about the AVID model being
too idealist. I mean with the AVID tutorials…I think they’re
wonderful, I really do; however, one thing that we’re finding,
especially with our [site-based student] population is that the
tutorial model works more during their senior year because
that’s when everything comes together and they [students]
“get it”…But, then as I say all this, we might be up for
becoming a demonstration school next year, so we might have
to pull back and become more conforming with the ideal
model—I don’t know how that will fly with our students. But
hey, if it becomes too much of a conflict, I will forgo the
demonstration school bit—I really don’t care. I’m not going
to sacrifice the well-being and overall success of my students
to become a demonstration school site—for people to walk
through [from AVID] to see... (Interview 12/11/06)

187
• Question: How do you ensure that your site-based program
actually helps students advance themselves academically and
socially?

Enrique: I think the most important part of that, in AVID, is
communication with the students, checking-in with and
knowing them. Because, a lot of kids will really lie to your
face, they’ll lie to their parents, and anyone else around and
say that “they’re doing just fine.” But, you’ve got to know
who they are—just like any good teacher who knows their
students, will know as soon as their students walk through the
door whether they’re having a good day or a bad day. So, we
have to always be looking for and understanding patterns
[with students]…personal things that go on with the family
and all can definitely affect their education, so we can let them
sweat that stuff too long by themselves, otherwise we may
lose them… (Interview 12/13/06)

Natalie: I think the most important part of that is the
communication—between teachers, from teacher to student,
home; sometimes our setting is the most stable thing in their
[students’] lives, and that where our sense of community as an
AVID group comes into play. We really keep after our
students about the things they need to do to get themselves
ready for college and the future. We spend a lot of time trying
to “widen the scope” [of future vision] for our students.
Finally, we really rely on our data to keep us and our students
aligned with what they need, in light of the situation in their
personal lives and sometimes despite their situation…
(Interview 12/11/06)

• Question: So, how does AVID training help prepare you to
do this, as it pertains to ensuring that your students are
successful in terms of communicating with your students and
understanding them, and intervening to help them when you
feel that you have to?

Enrique: I think it’s more, “me” than the AVID training that
facilitates this; the training is very limited in terms of really
teaching someone how to help kids—I think they talk a good
game about what were supposed to do for kids, but they don’t
“help” coordinators [to become advocates for kids]…What?
We meet 3 times a year? That’s not going to help a
coordinator who doesn’t “know the ropes”…Sure, they tell

188
you what the A-G [course] requirements, but they show you
what you need to do, how to counsel kids, how to talk to
parents and explain to them what their kids need to get into
college, and how to ensure that kids are enrolled in the most
rigorous courses. They really don’t prepare you for the hard
work this kind of stuff takes…I would say they do a better job
of “opening people’s eyes” to the A-G requirements, or to the
“structure,” but that’s about it; I think it’s more up to the
individual to run with it or not run with it… (Interview
12/13/06)

Natalie: Well, I think the training really helps prepare you to
implement the AVID model—really well; but, I really think I
wouldn’t be as far along as I am if it weren’t for my close
relationship with Edna [a school counselor mentioned in the
name generating interview as a primary source of multiple
forms of support]. She has showed me more of the ropes and
helped me farther along with what I need to do on behalf of
my students than any training has—heck, I don’t think the
training even comes close to preparing us for the reality of
actually having to deal with the everyday challenges and
problems our students face, and how we might help them deal
with problems or overcome them. Edna has definitely been the
key to my success in that respect…For that, I am grateful for
our working relationship… (Interview 12/11/06)

189
Appendix G: Name Generator Survey
SOCIAL NETWORK SURVEY (“NAME GENERATOR”)
Respondent: _______________ Date: ____________ Start Time: _________ End Time: __________
Interviewer:______________

N
w
k
M
bs
1

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1
0
1
1
1
2
1
3
1
4
R
e
l
S
e
x
A
g
e
M
a
r
E
t
h
1
E
t
h
2
D
u
r
S
e
t
1
S
e
t
2
S
e
t
3
F
r
e
q
S
E
I
0.
R
sp

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
1
0

1
1

1
2

1
3

1
4

1
5

1
6

1
7

1
8

1
9

2
0

190
Appendix H: SEI Scores and Positional Status Relative to Occupations listed in the
Position Generator (Appendix D)

Job/function SEI Score Positional Status
1 Physician 97 H
2 College Recruiter 70 M
3 School Board Member 75 H
4 College Admissions Director 68 M
5 Social Worker/LCSW 65 M
6 College Dean or Provost 85 H
7 School Counselor 65 M
8 Juvenile Court Judge 97 H
9 School Superintendent 85 H
10 Financial Aid Counselor 55 LM
11 Military Recruiter 48 LM
12 Community College Counselor 55 LM
13 Musician/artist/writer 40 LM
14 Computer Programmer 65 M
15 Police Officer 40 L
16 Secretary/Clerical person 50 LM
17 College Athletic Director or Coach 55 LM
18 Psychologist or Psychiatrist 81 H
19 Nurse/LVN 50 LM
20 Attorney 97 H
21 School/Faculty Department Chairperson 72 M
22 Postal Worker 50 LM
23 College Professor 85 H
24 Banker/Investment/Financial Advisor 65 M
25 Journalist/TV Reporter 60 M
26 Custodian/Maintenance person 25 L
27 Dentist 96 H
28 Juvenile Probation Officer 55 LM
29 College Scholarship Coordinator 65 LM
30 Principal 72 M

• High Status (75 or higher)—H
• Middle Class Status (60-74)—M
• Lower Middle Class Status (40-59)—LM
• Lower Class Status (39 and below)—L

Abstract (if available)

Abstract This study isolated the salience of institutional agency within the context of a specific intervention program called, Advancement via Individual Determination (AVID), an untracking program designed to help low achieving students elicit academic success.

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University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

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Asset Metadata

Creator Mims, Bruce Lamar (author)

Core Title Social capital, institutional agency, minority or low-status youth empowerment, and AVID implementation

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Education (Leadership)

Publication Date 06/13/2007

Defense Date 04/23/2007

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag institutional agency,OAI-PMH Harvest,social capital

Language English

Advisor Hirabayashi, Kimberly (committee chair), Goodyear, Rodney K. (committee member), Nickson, Stacey (committee member)

Creator Email bmims@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-m528

Unique identifier UC1268371

Identifier etd-Mims-20070613 (filename),usctheses-m40 (legacy collection record id),usctheses-c127-503981 (legacy record id),usctheses-m528 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-Mims-20070613.pdf

Dmrecord 503981

Document Type Dissertation

Rights Mims, Bruce Lamar

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Repository Name Libraries, University of Southern California

Repository Location Los Angeles, California

Repository Email cisadmin@lib.usc.edu