University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

The impact of a TRIO upward bound program on the academic achievement of African-American male students

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The impact of a TRIO upward bound program on the academic achievement of African-American male students

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Content THE IMPACT OF A TRIO UPWARD BOUND PROGRAM ON THE ACADEMIC
ACHIEVEMENT OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN MALE STUDENTS

by

Scott William Thayer

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

May 2007

Copyright 2007 Scott William Thayer

ii
Dedication
To my family for all of the support and guidance that you have given me
during this process, you have always believed in me. To my wife Maria and my
daughter Maya, for your patience and love, I couldn’t have done it without you. To
my Mom and Dad for instilling in me the value of education, this is especially for
you. To my brothers and sister for your inspiration and direction, I share this with
you. To my Aunt’s and Uncle’s who stood by my side, I really appreciated it. To
my nephews and nieces for showing me what is really important; and finally to my
niece Breanna for teaching me more than any book could ever teach me, I miss you.

iii
Acknowledgements
I want to acknowledge the people who have left an imprint on my life,
without you all this would not have been possible; to my parents, Matthew and Irene
Thayer for teaching me the value of an education and encouraging me in all my
pursuits; my uncle William Thayer for always finding a way to help me when I
needed it most. My brother Lance Thayer for always keeping me on my toes with
your insight and ideas, thank you; my big sister Michelle Thayer-Wittman, who has
always “dreamed of things that never were and asked why not” and has been my
shoulder to lean on. To Dr. Charles Clay for taking the time to mentor and befriend
me, you saw something in me I didn’t see; Dr. Alexander Jun for helping me find my
direction to finish when I really needed it most, thank you!; Dr. Kim West for your
calm presence. To my classmates, the faculty and staff at USC who shared this
journey with me. My friends, who kept me focused with your support. Maya
Angelou for answering a letter from a stranger, your response had an impact greater
than you can imagine a huge thank you from my mother. Finally, to all of the
students, staff, teachers and administrators who contributed to this research, may
your voices echo loud and clear for your story to be heard.

iv
Table of Contents

Dedication ii

Acknowledgements iii

List of Tables vi

Abstract vii

Chapter 1: Introduction 1
Background of the Problem 1
Statement of the Problem 2
Deficiencies in the Studies 3
Purpose of the Study 9
Research Questions 15
Definition of Terms 16

Chapter 2: Review of the Literature 28
Introduction 28
Foundation for Higher Education: Establishing Federal Policies 28
Access by Historically Underrepresented Groups 29
Impact of Socio-Economic Status on Academic Achievement 31
Higher Education: The Cost of College 36
Parental Involvement 39
Impact of External Variables on Academic Achievement 42
Societal Perception 49
Financial Support for Low-Income Students 55
College Access 55
Impact of Intervention Programs on Academic Achievement 59

Chapter 3: Methodology 67
Introduction 67
Sampling Approach 69
Description of Participants 72
Procedure and Location 73
Data Collection 74
Reliability and Validity of Interviews 75
Timeline 77
Chapter 4: Presentation of the Data 77
Section 1: Navigating, Maneuvering and Adapting 79
Environmental Barriers to Achievement 81

v
Identity as a Scholar 82
Figure 1 86
School Environment 89
Community Environment 91
Adapting to the Environment 96
Academic Environment (Support Networks) 101
Home Environment 103
Section II: Individual Determination 107
Negotiating Identity 110
Section III: Positive Environmental Factors to Learning 119
Conclusion 134

Chapter 5: Summary and Conclusion 137
Overview 137
Reviewing the Literature 140
External Variables/Factors 146
Societal Perception 149
Access and Equity Programs 153
Limitations 155
Themes 156
Discussion 164
Indicators for Best Practices 169
Consideration for Future Research 170
Conclusion 172

Bibliography 179

Appendices 189
Appendix A 189
Appendix B 190
Appendix C 191
Appendix D 196
Appendix E 198
Appendix F 199
Appendix G 200
Appendix H 202
Appendix I 204
Appendix J 206
Appendix K 208
Appendix L 209
Appendix M 211
Appendix N 212

vi
List of Tables
Table 1: Ethnic Breakdown of TRIO Students Nationally 6
Table 2: Profile of African-American Males at Target School Sites 71
Table 3: Educational Attainment (Bachelor’s Degree) in USA 144
Table 4: University of California Admissions
Profile Incoming Freshmen 2006 145

Table 5: Percentage of Students Enrolled in the Federal Free or
Reduced Price Meal Programs at the Target Schools 151

Table 6: Percentage of test takers who passed the
English/Language Arts and Mathematics Tests
at the Target Schools 169

Table 7: 2003-2004 Average SAT scores at the Target Schools 174

Table 8: 2003-2004 Percentage of 12th graders taking
the SAT at the Target Schools 175

Table 9: 2003-2004 percentage of AP test scores with
a score of “3” or higher at the Target Schools 175

Table 10: 2003-2004 percentage of 11th and 12th graders
taking AP exams at the Target Schools 176

Table 11: 2003-2004 Percentage of Graduates Completing
all (UC/CSU) Course Entrance Requirements with a
Grade of “C” or Higher at the Target Schools 176

Table 12: Top 5 State Receiving TRIO Funding 177

vii
Abstract
The TRIO Upward Bound program has been in existence for over 40 years.
The program is a federally funded pre-college program which supports the
persistence and retention of low-income, potential first-generation students as they
prepare for college. The TRIO programs have assisted thousands of students in their
preparation and transition to higher education. An evaluation of the federal TRIO
programs was completed and indicated that the program was “ineffective” in meeting
its stated goals of preparing students for higher education. This conclusion
contradicts previous evaluations of the TRIO Upward Bound programs.
Research has shown that having access to college information and resources
is important for students to gain access to higher education; yet African-American
males continue to have disproportionately high drop-out rates from high school as
compared to other ethnic groups in Los Angeles, CA. This ethnographic case study
researches the impact of a TRIO Upward Bound program on the academic
achievement of African-American male students.
The research questions for this study were: How does the acculturation and
assimilation process affect the academic achievement of African-American male
students in high school and what factors contribute to their academic achievement;
and how does participation in the TRIO Upward Bound program affect academic
achievement and perception for success of African-American male students in
preparing for higher education? Data was collected at the University of Southern

viii
California. Twenty (20) African-American male students participating in the TRIO
Upward Bound program were interviewed for 45-80 minutes. Five focus groups
were conducted with African-American male program participants as well as with
the TRIO Upward Bound staff members. Eight observations took place during the
study of the African-American male students while they participated in TRIO
program activities.

1
CHAPTER 1
Introduction

Background of Problem
Institutions of higher education in the United States of America have
historically been exclusive. Full access to a college or university education has
traditionally been denied to the majority of the citizens except for the elite and
privileged. Postsecondary institutions were established to provide advanced training
and education for the future leaders of communities, cities, states and governments.
In the past fifty years, the landscape of colleges and universities has changed. The
inclusion of historically underrepresented groups; minorities, women, the poor and
disabled, has provided an opportunity for higher learning which was previously not
available. The expanded role of the federal government to provide equal access to
higher education has benefited these students; in particular African-American males.
The impact on the landscape of higher education was positively affected by the
federal government. This positive adjustment to higher education was cultivated
through the passage of federal policies and legislation. These federal changes
attempted to provide a consistent educational opportunity for all students. This is
still an ongoing process.
The federal government’s legislation and policies after the Civil War
provided facilities, access, and the opportunity to pursue a higher education for many
historically excluded groups, specifically minority students. Subsequent federal
policies and programs established a foundation for access and opportunity to

2
historically underrepresented groups; specifically African-American males. A major
component which was birthed out of these federal policies was the TRIO Upward
Bound program. The TRIO Upward Bound program was founded out of the Higher
Education Act of 1965 to assist historically disadvantaged students and has a long
history of serving low-income, potential first-generation students.
Statement of Problem
The Mathematica Policy Research Inc. concluded in their 2004 follow-up
evaluation study that the TRIO Upward Bound program was ineffective or
inconclusive in meeting the program’s stated goals. The program goals consist of
high school graduation, program persistence, and course completion rates for college
preparation classes in high school; and college attendance or college going rates.
The Mathematica Policy Research Inc. evaluation study of the TRIO Upward Bound
programs was a quantitative study. Below are two conclusions from the
Mathematica Policy Research Inc. study titled, The Impacts of Regular Upward
Bound: Results from the Third Follow-up Collection, Myers, 2004):
A. Upward Bound had no effect on overall enrollment or total credits earned at
postsecondary institutions, but it may have increased enrollment in four-year
postsecondary institutions.
B. Upward Bound had limited or no effects on total high school credits or
grades.

3
According to this evaluation study, TRIO Upward Bound programs were not
meeting their stated outcome objectives. The outlined goals and objectives of the
program are to assist program participants to prepare for college and to increase total
credits earned in high school as well as in postsecondary institutions. The overall
“ineffective” conclusions for the TRIO Upward Bound programs are inconsistent
within the study and contradictory with prior conclusions regarding the TRIO
Upward Bound programs’ effectiveness.
Deficiencies in the Studies
In a 1997 study of TRIO Upward Bound, Mathematica Policy Research Inc.
concluded that TRIO Upward Bound had a positive impact on student participants.
According to the evaluation at that time, two impacts emerged early on from Upward
Bound. First, the expectations of the program participants were to complete more
schooling than similar students who did not participate. Second, the program had a
positive impact on the number of academic courses participants took during high
school. These conclusions were consistent with the goals and objectives of TRIO
Upward Bound. In a third follow-up study in 2004, Mathematica Policy Inc.
concluded (Myers et al, 2004) the following results:
1. Upward Bound had a large effect on enrollment at four-year colleges
for students who had lower educational expectations
2. Upward Bound had a large effect on credits earned at four-year
colleges by students who had lower educational expectations

4
3. Staying in Upward Bound for longer periods is associated with better
student outcomes
4. Upward Bound increased high school credits earned by students with
lower educational expectations
The evaluation of the programs had contradictory results within the study and
highlighted only negative conclusions in regards to the positive results consistent
with program objectives. The differing results suggest that additional research on the
TRIO Upward Bound programs is necessary. The academic achievement of African-
American male students in a TRIO Upward Bound program was the focus of this
study due to their high drop-out rates from high school.
The lack of pre-college preparation, limited access to college information,
and the lack of involvement of African-American male students at the high school
level, has a significant impact on their postsecondary participation rates. Fifty-three
percent of the African-American male students in the Los Angeles Unified School
District are dropping out of high school (Harvard Study, 2005). The postsecondary
participation rates for African-American male students continue to lag behind their
White and Asian counterparts (Koretz & Houts, 1986; Ogle & Alsalam, 1990), and
they are not graduating from high school or completing the college entrance
requirements within four years (Ogle & Alsalam, 1990; Snyder & Hoffman, 1990).
This issue is a major concern for public educators and needs to be addressed and

5
studied to identify the factors affecting the engagement (academic, cultural and
social) of African-American males.
Numerous factors have an impact on the academic achievement of African-
American male students. Non-academic external variables need to be studied and
reviewed to gain insight into the challenges which are faced by low-income students
in their academic pursuits. The impact that socio-economic status has on
achievement (Mortonsen, 2005), the role in which external stressors affect
achievement (Crocker, 1999; Graham & Taylor, 2002; Ogbu, 1992; Steele, 1997),
and the contribution college access programs (Perna, Fenske, & Swail, 2002; Tierney
& Hagedorn, 2002) have had on the academic achievement of African-American
males must also be addressed.
This study reviewed the TRIO Upward Bound program at the University of
Southern California. The Educational Opportunity Programs and Center at USC has
been in existence for over 25 years to support low-income, potential first-generation
college students from South Central Los Angeles. The TRIO Upward Bound
program was established to provide equity and supplemental instruction to poor
students. The TRIO Upward Bound program has been providing counseling,
academic and cultural support for over 40 years to low-income, potential first-
generation college students. Historically underrepresented students, such as African-
Americans, have utilized the TRIO Upward Bound programs to meet the college
entrance requirements and for assistance with a successful transition from high

6
school to college. African-Americans represent the second largest demographic of
students (White students are the largest demographic group) being serviced by TRIO
Upward Bound programs nationally (Table 1).
Table 1: National Ethnic Breakdown of TRIO Students
Ethnicity of Students Percentage (%)
White 37
African-American 35
Hispanic/Latino 19
Native American 4
Asian-American 4
Other 1
Total 100
Source: Council for Opportunity in Education COE, 2005
The information on the academic achievement of low-income, low socio-
economic (SES) African-American male students needs to be understood in order to
increase the participation rates of African-American male students in higher
education. Researchers must first understand why African-American males are not
being engaged in high school, and secondly why they are dropping out at such an
extraordinary rate. Finally, we must be able to identify the variables (external and
internal) which have an impact on their academic achievement.
Many African-American male high school students are disengaged, either by
choice or by circumstance and are not benefiting from the urban public education at
their high schools. Habitual tardiness, lack of experienced teachers, and teachers
with less than three years experience who are teaching in minority schools at twice
the rate that they teach in White schools, are all factors that contribute to

7
disengagement (The State of Black Los Angeles, 2005). These unfortunate
circumstances are common and must be addressed in order to better understand this
bitter recipe. The lack of funding that is provided to public education is another
ingredient which affects African-American male students. The expenditures per
pupil in California schools averaged $6,837 in 2000-2001. That is 11 percent less
than the U.S. average of $7,640 (Tale of Two Cities, 2003). California’s
disinvestments have extended beyond class size and inadequate numbers of teachers
and staff. California ranked near the bottom of states in per-pupil-expenditures.
According to the Children’s Advocacy Institute, California ranks 44
th
among the 50
states in education spending per student- ahead of only Tennessee, Idaho, Nevada,
Mississippi, Arizona, and Utah (Children’s Advocacy Institute, 2005). These figures
are adjusted to reflect regional cost differences.
The limited support networks available to African-American male students,
and the under funded target high schools, expose these students to an environment
which is not conducive to learning. In order for student learning to take place,
students need to be involved in their academic environment. Alexander Astin’s
(1984) definition of student involvement is defined by the amount of physical and
psychological energy that students devote to the academic experience. African-
American male students must be engaged academically and exposed to an area of
interest to them. This is the job of public education, to educate.

8
In 2001, the Legislative Analyst released a report analyzing California’s
academic preparation for higher education and concluded that preparedness is
persistent and pervasive. The Legislative Analyst Office (LAO) report found that
unprepared-ness has increased slightly at state colleges (California Statue
Universities; CSU), concluding that “almost half of regularly admitted state college
(CSU) students arrive unprepared in reading, writing and math. (Children’s
Advocacy Institute, 2005).
Public education is funded by tax payers to educate all of the students who
come to the schools. Each student comes to school with a differing set of values and
interests. Lack of interest and minimum involvement in high school plays a factor in
to what extent each student will have a valuable learning experience. Extracurricular
activities on many high school campuses require additional funding to operate
effectively. Schools in affluent areas are more readily able to have access to funds
due to the demographics of the communities in which they reside. Students in low-
income areas, who live in poverty, have difficultly locating revenue resources for
extracurricular activities. Thus, student involvement is effected along with academic
achievement. According to Astin, student involvement refers to the behavior of the
student (1984). The five postulates in Astin’s student involvement theory are:
1. The investment of physical and psychological energy in various objects.
2. Regardless of the object, involvement occurs along a continuum.
3. Involvement has both quantitative and qualitative features.

9
4. The amount of student learning and personal development associated with
any educational program is directly proportional to the quality and quantity of
student involvement in that program.
5. The effectiveness of any educational policy or practice is directly related to
the capacity of the policy of practice to increase student involvement.
The TRIO Upward Bound program offers many of the components from Astin’s
involvement theory for African-American male students as they prepare for college.
The TRIO Upward Bound programs are a descendent of the foundational federal
policies which have created equitable situations for historically underrepresented
students.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this ethnographic case study was to examine the impact of a
TRIO Upward Bound program on the academic achievement of African-American
male students in high school. The academic achievement of African-American male
students will be studied for postsecondary educational aspirations and the impact of
the TRIO Upward Bound program on these students.
The TRIO Upward Bound programs were established to provide low-income,
first-generation high school students with a college preparedness program. The
TRIO programs instilled hope of access and opportunity for college enrollment to
historically underrepresented students. TRIO Upward Bound was initiated out of the
Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 (P.L.88-452) as a pilot program and was

10
previously referred to as Special Programs for Students from Disadvantaged
Backgrounds. Today these programs are known as the federal TRIO programs
(COE, 2002). The Higher Education Act (HEA) of 1965, and subsequent
amendments of the HEA, was initially authorized by Congress under that Act which
provided the funding to administer these equity programs.
President Johnson declared a “War on Poverty”, and his goals were to create
equity and access for all Americans. The resistance of the southern states to de-
segregate the school system after the Supreme Court ruling on Brown vs. Board of
Education Topeka Kansas provided an opportunity for President Johnson to address
the societal issue of equality. The equity programs introduced were geared towards
early intervention and provided academic support so all children could be prepared
to take advantage of the educational system in this country. TRIO programs have
evolved and grown since the pilot Upward Bound program of 1964 to serve nearly
one million students annually.
In 1965 the TRIO budget was funded at $6 million, which only consisted of
the Upward Bound program at that time and serviced 3,261 students. In 1970, after
the implementation of Talent Search and Student Support Services, the TRIO
programs were funded at $28 million and serviced 182,346 pre-college and college
students (COE, 2005). The current level of funding for the TRIO programs is $832.1
million for fiscal year 2005. The TRIO programs are very diverse and reflective of
the poor families in this country.

11
According to the Council for Opportunity in Education (COE), currently
more than 2,600 TRIO programs serve nearly 866,000 low-income Americans at
1,000 agencies. Nearly 20 percent of all Black and Hispanic freshmen who entered
college in 1981 received assistance through the TRIO Talent Search or EOC
programs. Students in the TRIO Student Support Services program are more than
twice as likely to remain in college as those students from similar backgrounds who
did not participate in the program. TRIO programs have grown, but not at a rate to
provide service to all of the students who are eligible.
TRIO programs are not adequately funded to service all eligible participants.
The number of students serviced is extremely low considering that there are
approximately 11 million people who are eligible for TRIO services. There are
various types of TRIO programs which cater specifically to different age groups.
The Upward Bound program, which is one of the original TRIO programs to assist
high school students (grades 9
th
to 12
th
), provides tutoring, counseling, career
advisement, cultural exposure, college visitation, supplemental instruction in core
academic areas (English, mathematics, Science, and Foreign Language) and a
summer residential component. The Educational Talent Search program was
implemented to assist 6
th
to 12
th
grade students, offering college admission
requirement information, financial aid information for college, college advisement
and college visitation to program participants. The Student Support Services
program assists college students and offers tutoring, college counseling, career

12
exposure, and academic support. The McNair Scholars program is for college
students who aspire to attend graduate school. The McNair Scholars program
provides research opportunities with professors, tutoring, mentoring, financial
assistance and academic support. The Educational Opportunity Centers (EOC) are
facilities geared for displaced workers to learn skills to assist them to re-integrate
into the workforce. EOC Participants are provided with training, tutoring and
academic support.
The nation’s TRIO programs were established by the federal government in
1965 to ensure equal educational opportunity for all Americans, regardless of race,
educational background, or economic circumstances. As mandated by Congress,
two-thirds of TRIO participants are low-income and future first-generation college
students- specifically, students from families with incomes under $30,000 (family of
four) and in which neither parent has graduated from a four-year college. Many of
the TRIO participants range from grades 6 through 12, and to adult students trying to
break the cycle of poverty in their families. Thirty-seven percent of TRIO students
are White, 35 percent are African-American, 19 percent are Hispanic-American, 4
percent are Native Americans, and 4 percent are Asian American and 1 percent are
listed as “Other”, including multiracial status (Council for Opportunity in Education
COE, 2005).
Equity and opportunity have been issues that have been reviewed in the
United States of America. Since the post-Civil War era, during the Civil Rights

13
movement of the 1960s, and at the forefront today, has been the issue of educational
opportunities made available to people of low socio-economic status.
Access and opportunity for historically underrepresented students has been
challenged. While progress has definitely occurred for historically underrepresented
students there are still many inequities in regards to economics, education, housing,
health and criminal justice. The plight of African-Americans has not changed much
in the past forty years. According to the Urban Leagues “The State of Black Los
Angeles, 2005”, African-Americans scored last on five of the six indictors utilized to
gauge equitable circumstances; earning less household income and graduating at
lower rates than their White, Asian, and Latino counterparts.
Race has been a sensitive issue for the United States of America, and the use
of race as a factor in opportunity, equity, and justice is an ongoing process. A 1995
United Nations report estimated that White Americans, if ranked as a separate
nation, would lead the world in well-being, a measure that combines life expectancy,
educational achievement, and income. African-Americans, in contrast, would rank a
depressing twenty-seventh. The authors of the UN report observed: "Full equality
still is a distant prospect in the United States, despite affirmative action policies and
market opportunities." (Ginsburg, 2000)
African-American students have participated in desegregated public
education for just over fifty-two years, and their academic access and performance
have been critical issues.

14
Low-income, first-generation African-American male students face numerous
obstacles which affect their retention in higher education; specifically at the high
school level where drop-out rates exceed 50 percent for these students. The purpose
of this study was to examine the effects of a TRIO Upward Bound program on the
academic achievement of African-American male students. Individual interviews,
observations and focus groups, focus on community influence, convenience and
support networks were used to describe the role of each of these factors. The low-
income, first-generation African-American male students in this study were involved
with an academic support program, TRIO Upward Bound. The involvement in this
particular program and the services provided to each participant was studied.
TRIO Upward Bound has provided opportunity and access to historically
underrepresented groups for forty-one years. This intense academic, cultural and
social program provides hope and opportunity to low-income, first-generation
students who may not otherwise receive the academic preparation for college
attendance and college persistence. Specifically, low-income, first-generation
African-American male students are being excluded from higher education because
their numbers in higher education are not representative of their numbers in society.
There is a disconnect occurring between these discrepancies, and the TRIO Upward
Bound program attempts to connect these student to opportunities in higher
education and provide hope and assistance.

15
This study contributed to the knowledge-base by exploring the influence of a
TRIO Upward Bound program on the academic achievement of African-American
male students. This study also examined the impact of the TRIO Upward Bound
program on the academic achievement of African-American male students as well as
the effects of external and internal variables.
Research Questions
My research questions were as follows:
1. How does the acculturation and assimilation process affect the
academic achievement of African-American male students in high
school and what factors contribute to their academic achievement?
2. How does participation in the TRIO Upward Bound program
affect academic achievement and perception for success of
African-American male students in preparing for higher
education?
The three major areas that were addressed in the Literature Review were the
affects of socio-economic status (SES), the external obstacles or non-academic
factors (i.e. stressors, parental involvement, and perception) and how college
intervention programs (federally funded TRIO Upward Bound) affected the
academic achievement of African-American male students in their preparation for
college and their admission to college.

16
Definition of Terms
(A.) TRIO:
The Federal TRIO Programs are educational opportunity outreach programs
designed to motivate and support students from disadvantaged backgrounds. TRIO
includes six outreach and support programs targeted to serve and assist low-income,
first-generation college students, and students with disabilities to progress through
the academic pipeline from middle school to post-baccalaureate programs. TRIO
also includes a training program for directors and staff of TRIO projects and a
dissemination partnership program to encourage the replication or adaptation of
successful practices of TRIO projects at institutions and agencies that do not have
TRIO grants (http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/trio/index.html).
The history of TRIO is progressive. It began with Upward Bound, which emerged
out of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 in response to the administration's War
on Poverty. In 1965, Talent Search, the second outreach program, was created as part
of the Higher Education Act. In 1968, Student Support Services, which was
originally known as Special Services for Disadvantaged Students, was authorized by
the Higher Education Amendments and became the third in a series of educational
opportunity programs. The term "TRIO" was coined to describe these federal
programs (http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/trio/triohistory.html).

17
(B.) Higher Education Act of 1965:
The Higher Education Act of 1965 was a legislative document that was signed into
law on November 8, 1965 “to strengthen the educational resources of our colleges
and universities and to provide financial assistance for students in postsecondary and
higher education” (TRIO Clearinghouse: http://coenet.us).
(C.) Low-income:
The term “low-income individual” means an individual from a family whose taxable
income for the preceding year did not exceed 150 percent of an amount equal to the
poverty level determined by using criteria of poverty established by the Bureau of
the Census (http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/trio/triohea.pdf).
(D.) First-Generation:
The term “first-generation college student” means an individual whose parents both
did not receive a baccalaureate degree, or in the case of any individual who regularly
resided with, and received support from, only one parent; an individual whose only
said parent did not complete a baccalaureate degree
(http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/trio/triohea.pdf).
(E.) Acculturation:
The process of adopting the cultural traits or social patterns of another group;
especially a dominant group. A restructuring or blending of cultures resulting from
this (Random House, Webster’s Dictionary, 1999).

18
(F.) Assimilation:
To bring into conformity with the customs, attitudes, etc. of the dominant cultural
group or national culture (Random House, Dictionary, 1999)
(G.) Academic Performance Indicators (API)
The API is a numeric index or scale ranging from a low score of 200 to a high score
of 1000. In order to meet state requirements and phase-in of new indicators, each
API cycle includes an “API Base” and an “API Growth”. The API Base, released in
March, is calculated from statewide test results of continuing and new assessments
from the prior year. The API Base serves as the baseline for comparisons with the
API Growth. The API Growth, released in August, is calculated in exactly the same
fashion and with the same indicators as the prior year API Base but is based on test
results from the following year. The API Growth establishes whether schools met
their API growth targets. Each school has its own target for growth in the API. The
API Base Report also includes statewide and similar schools ranks.
(H.) Morrill Act of 1862:
Sponsored by Congressman Justin Morrill of Vermont, who had been pressing for it
since 1857, the act gave to every state that had remained in the Union a grant of
30,000 acres of public land for every member of its congressional delegation. Since
under the Constitution every state had at least two senators and one representative,
even the smallest state received 90,000 acres. The states were to sell this land and
use the proceeds to establish colleges in engineering, agriculture and military

19
science. Over seventy "land grant" colleges, as they came to be known, were
established under the original Morrill Act
(www.http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/facts/democrac/27.htm).
(I.) 2
nd
Morrill Act of 1890:
The Second Morrill Act (1890) sought to extend access to higher education by
providing additional endowments for all land-grants, but prohibiting distribution of
money to states that made distinctions of race in admissions. However, states that
provided a separate land-grant institution for blacks were eligible to receive the
funds. The institutions that, as a result of this act, were founded or designated the
land-grant for blacks in each of the then-segregated Southern states, came to be
known as "the 1890 land-grants"
(http://www.wvu.edu/~exten/about/land.htm#what).
(J.) Serviceman’s Readjustment Act:
The U.S. legislation (1944) that provided benefits to World War II veterans through
the Veterans Administration (VA). The bill provided grants for school and college
tuition, low-interest mortgage and small-business loans, job training, hiring
privileges, and unemployment payments. Amendments to the act provided for full
disability coverage and the construction of additional VA hospitals. Later legislation
extended the benefits to all who had served in the armed forces
(http://www.answers.com/topic/gi-bill).

20
(K.) Emancipation Proclamation:
President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1,
1863, as the nation approached its third year of bloody civil war. The proclamation
declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and
henceforward shall be free."
(http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured_documents/emancipationproclamation/)
(L.) The Bill of Rights:
Amendments 1-10 of the Constitution
The Conventions of a number of the States having, at the time of adopting the
Constitution, expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its
powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added, and as
extending the ground of public confidence in the Government will best insure the
beneficent ends of its institution
Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of
America, in Congress assembled, two-thirds of both Houses concurring, that the
following articles be proposed to the Legislatures of the several States, as
amendments to the Constitution of the United States; all or any of which articles,
when ratified by three-fourths of the said Legislatures, to be valid to all intents and
purposes as part of the said Constitution, namely:

21
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting
the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the
right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a
redress of grievances.
Amendment II
A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of
the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.
Amendment III
No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of
the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects,
against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants
shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and
particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be
seized.
Amendment V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless
on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or
naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger;

22
nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of
life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against
himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor
shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
Amendment VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public
trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been
committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be
informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the
witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his
favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.
Amendment VII
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars,
the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be
otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of
the common law.

Amendment VIII
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and
unusual punishments inflicted.

23
Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny
or disparage others retained by the people.
Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by
it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people
(http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/facts/funddocs/billeng.htm).
(M.) University of Southern California (USC)
USC is a comprehensive private four-year research university located in Los Angeles
California. USC was established in 1880 and is the oldest private university in the
west. (http://www.usc.edu/about/ataglance/)
(N.) Upward Bound:
Upward Bound provides fundamental support to participants in their preparation for
college entrance. The program provides opportunities for participants to succeed in
their pre-college performance and ultimately in their higher education pursuits.
Upward Bound serves: high school students from low-income families; high school
students from families in which neither parent holds a bachelor’s degree; and low-
income, first-generation military veterans who are preparing to enter postsecondary
education. The goal of Upward Bound is to increase the rate at which participants
complete secondary education and enroll in and graduate from institutions of
postsecondary education.

24
(O.) Talent Search:
This program identifies and assists individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds who
have the potential to succeed in higher education. The program provides academic,
career, and financial counseling to its participants and encourages them to graduate
from high school and continue on to the postsecondary institution of their choice.
Talent Search also serves high school dropouts by encouraging them to reenter the
education system and complete their education. The goal of Talent Search is to
increase the number of youths from disadvantaged backgrounds who complete high
school and enroll in postsecondary education institutions of their choice.
(P.) Student Support Services:
The program provides opportunities for academic development, assists students with
basic college requirements, and serves to motivate students toward the successful
completion of their postsecondary education. Student Support Services (SSS)
projects may also provide grant aid to current SSS participants who are receiving
Federal Pell Grants (# 84.063). The goal of SSS is to increase the college retention
and graduation rates of its participants and help students make the transition from
one level of higher education to the next.
(Q.) Veterans Upward Bound
Veterans Upward Bound programs provide intensive basic skills development and
short-term remedial courses for military veterans to help them successfully transition
to postsecondary education. Veterans learn how to secure support from available

25
resources such as the Veterans Administration, veterans associations, and various
state and local agencies that serve veterans.
(R.) Educational Opportunity Centers
The Educational Opportunity Centers program provides counseling and information
on college admissions to qualified adults who want to enter or continue a program of
postsecondary education. An important objective of the program is to counsel
participants on financial aid options and to assist in the application process.
(S.) Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program
This program prepares participants for doctoral studies through involvement in
research and other scholarly activities. Participants are from disadvantaged
backgrounds and have demonstrated strong academic potential. Institutions work
closely with participants as they complete their undergraduate requirements.
Institutions encourage participants to enroll in graduate programs and then track their
progress through to the successful completion of advanced degrees. The goal is to
increase the attainment of Ph.D. degrees by students from underrepresented
segments of society.
(T.) Upward Bound Math/Science
The Upward Bound Math/Science program allows the Department of Education to
fund specialized Upward Bound math and science centers. The program is designed
to strengthen the math and science skills of participating students. The goal of the
program is to help students recognize and develop their potential to excel in math

26
and science, and to encourage them to pursue postsecondary degrees in math and
science.
(U.) Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID)
Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) is a middle school and high
school program designed to prepare motivated but underperforming students for
four-year college eligibility. AVID students enroll in rigorous curriculum, including
Advanced Placement courses and the AVID elective class. In this class, students
receive academic support as well as tips on how to get organized and stay motivated
(www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/trio/index.html).
(V.) Individualized Educational Plan (IEP):
A personalized outline of the courses, tests and activities required for students to
complete while in school. The IEP assists students in identifying short-term, mid-
range and long-term goals to achieve their stated educational outcome goals.
(W.) Proposition 209:
California Constitution, Section 31, Article I: The state shall not discriminate
against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of
race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment,
public education, or public contracting.
(X.) California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE):
The primary purpose of the California High School Exit Examination (CAHSEE) is
to significantly improve pupil achievement in public high schools and to ensure that

27
pupils who graduate from public high schools can demonstrate grade level
competency in reading, writing, and mathematics. The CAHSEE helps identify
students who are not developing skills that are essential for life after high school and
encourages districts to give these students the attention and resources needed to help
them achieve these skills during their high school years. Beginning in the 2005-2006
school year, no student will receive a public high school diploma without having
passed the CAHSEE, as well as having met the district's requirements for graduation.
The CAHSEE has two parts: English-language arts (ELA) and mathematics. The
ELA part addresses state content standards through grade ten. In reading, this
includes vocabulary, decoding, comprehension, and analysis of information and
literary texts. In writing, this covers writing strategies, applications, and the
conventions of English (e.g. grammar, spelling, and punctuation). The mathematics
part of the CAHSEE addresses state standards in grades six and seven and Algebra I.
The exam includes statistics, data analysis and probability, number sense,
measurement and geometry, mathematical reasoning, and algebra. Students are also
asked to demonstrate a strong foundation in computation and arithmetic, including
working with decimals, fractions, and percents
(http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/hs/overview.asp).

28
CHAPTER 2
Review of the Literature
Introduction

The literature supports the challenges and numerous obstacles that African-
American male students must overcome to graduate from high school and enter
college. In what follows, I will highlight various federal policies and studies that
have examined the impact of socio-economic status (SES), the non-academic
external variables, internal variables, and the stressors which affect the achievement
and effectiveness of college preparation programs on the academic achievement of
low-income, first-generation, African-American male students.
Foundation for Higher Education: Establishing Federal Policies
The federal government has played a significant role in public education.
The legislative decisions have had an impact on equity for African-American male
students. These federal policies have gradually created a foundation for access and
opportunity.
The infrastructure for access and equity was established through the Morrill
Acts of 1862 and 1890. These Acts provided the foundation and physical locations
for the colleges and universities to be built. The Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of
1945, the GI Bill, made it economically possible for World War II veterans as well
as Korean War veterans to attend college. Prior to the GI Bill, higher education was
restricted to the wealthy and affluent due to the high cost of attending college.

29
The National Defense Education Act of 1958 provided loans to attend college
for financially needy students. The Higher Education Act of 1965 highlighted
President Johnson’s War on Poverty and his commitment to assisting low-income,
historically disadvantaged students. Subsequently, the reauthorization of the Higher
Education Act (HEA) of 1972 provided federal grants or free money for financially
needy students in higher education.
Facilities, access and financial assistance were made available to low-income
students and families for the first time in America. These landmark federal acts
established a foundation for the TRIO Upward Bound programs to provide pre-
college preparation and access to higher education.
The TRIO programs, such as TRIO Upward Bound, TRIO Talent Search,
TRIO Student Support Services, Veterans Upward Bound, Educational Opportunity
Centers, Ronald McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program, and
Math/Science Upward Bound programs were established to battle poverty and create
equity for historically underrepresented students in terms of access to higher
education.
Access by Historically Underrepresented Groups
The federal government realized the need for training beyond high school
after World War II, and implemented a policy for veterans by providing aid to
students. The GI Bill, or the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, and Public
Law 550 of 1952 were legislation which released literally billions of dollars to help

30
underwrite the cost of a college education for millions of returning war veterans
(Lucas, 1994). The GI Bill provided assistance to veterans to be trained when they
returned from the war and provided access to higher education.
Higher education became affordable and financial assistance was provided by
the federal government. The subsidy for higher education changed the demographics
of college campuses in America. Many of the veterans from World War II took
advantage of the GI Bill and attended college in their own communities at the local
community colleges. The financial assistance provided by the federal government
for higher education and the convenience of attending a local community college
created an opportunity for higher education to another new group of students. Access
to higher education was only one aspect of creating equity and the academic support
services needed to provide first-generation students with the necessary skills to
complete college. The Higher Education Act of 1965 addressed these needs for the
new students who would be entering college.
In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court in Brown vs. Board of Education, Topeka,
Kansas ruled that segregation of children by race in the public schools was a
violation of the 14
th
Amendment. The ruling inspired a national debate about the
quality of education being provided to African-American children. This ruling
eventually led to a broader discussion about the needs of children of all races who
came from poor families or who had other disadvantages (Jennings, 2000). The
Supreme Court ruling which desegregated public education was not being fully

31
implemented throughout the country, as many states continued with their long
standing practices of separating students by race. In response to this concern,
President Lyndon B. Johnson urged Congress to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964
which was designed to remove legal barriers to the full participation of Blacks and
others in American society.
Impact of Socio-economic status (SES) on academic achievement
The socio-economic status (SES) of students has been shown to have an
impact on the academic achievement of all students. Students from higher incomes
demonstrate greater rates of postsecondary persistence and attainment. Irregardless
of their first-generation status, these students have higher success rates in college.
Over half of the students, approximately 55.4 percent of whom had reported family
incomes $24,000 or less, had not completed a collegiate program. After five years,
they were still enrolled in a program but had not completed their program of study
(Balz & Esten, 1998). These low socio-economic status (SES) families are often at a
disadvantage in regards to the quality of instruction that is being offered to them.
This lack of exposure to experienced teachers has an affect on their academic
training and performance.
Students attending school in low-income areas are more likely to be taught by
teachers who lack adequate teaching credentials or preparation. The students are less
likely to have access to quality technology, resources and other innovative
pedagogical instruction. The facilities are more likely to be either overcrowded, in

32
poor condition, or just unsafe because of acts of racism and violence (Swail, 2002).
These poor conditions, poor facilities, minimal resources and lack of experienced,
qualified professionals compounds the situation for students who attend schools in
these areas. The ability to change these environments is handcuffed by the
aforementioned issues. In order to change the school sites, support is needed;
financial support, quality facilities, quality teachers, quality technology and a safe
place to learn. This is a multi-faceted situation with major areas which need to be
addressed simultaneously, not in a slow bureaucratic fashion. These disadvantages
continue as students begin to prepare for a postsecondary education.
Students who come from higher income families have a noticeable advantage
in degree completion compared to low-income students. Thomas Mortenson (2005)
has examined the relationship between family income and degree completion from
1970 to 2003. His analysis shows that dependent students from families in lowest
the income quartiles are far less likely (93.3 percent compared to 20.6 percent) than
those in the higher income quartiles to complete a bachelor’s degree by the time they
reach the age of 24. There is a disparity in degree completion by the age of 24
between the lowest income groups and the highest income groups. The highest
income families are almost five times more likely to complete a bachelor’s degree.
According to the Census 2000, approximately 25 percent of all Americans have a
bachelor’s degree (including all age groups). The degree completion for all
Americans continues to be between 25-28 percent. A family’s educational

33
attainment and income can have an affect on the opportunities for students who are
applying to a college or university campus.
The median parental income for the incoming African-American student
class in the fall of 2001 at the University of California (UC) was $45,000 compared
to $94,000 for White families. The educational level for these African-American
families with a bachelor’s degree was 42.1 percent for the fathers and 38 percent for
the mothers. The educational profile of the White families with a bachelor’s degree
was 70.9 percent for the fathers and 60.6 percent for the mothers. First-generation
college students are not afforded the same parental insight into college attendance
because they have not experienced college themselves. The White incoming
freshmen students in the fall of 2001 were accepted to the UC system at a rate more
then thirteen times (41.7 percent) then that of African-Americans (3.1 percent)
(UCOP, 2002). Based upon family income, college admission rates and parental
educational attainment, equity continues to be an issue. The public flagship
institutions in the state of California are admitting African-American students at rates
of less then 4 percent. Equal access and opportunity for historically
underrepresented students in higher education is an issue. The disparity in college
admission in regards to income, equity and access is a concern for higher education
in California and around the United States of America.
Thus far, I have outlined the impact that socio-economic status (SES) has
upon the academic achievement of low-income students. Using data from 2003,

34
those in the top family income quartile were found to complete a baccalaureate
degree at a 51.3 percent rate, as compared to 6 percent for those in the bottom
quartile (Mortenson, 2005, pg. 28). Students in the top quartile are estimated to
complete a four-year bachelor’s degree at almost nine times that of students in the
lowest income quartile. African-American families are overrepresented in the lowest
income quartile and the students’ families earn less then their White counterparts
according to the Urban League (2005) in their Report on Black Los Angeles.
African-American male students face internal and external obstacles in their
pursuit of a higher education. These obstacles can affect the academic performance
of these students. African-American students, despite their diversity, contend with
social phenomena such as language stigmas, racism, discrimination, sexism,
internalized underachievement, and political befuddlement (Crooker, 1999; Graham
& Taylor, 2002; Ogbu, 1992; Steele, 1997). The lack of employment opportunities
for African-American males in urban areas compounds the problem of academic
achievement. African-American male students have to also contend with
employment rejection, which limits these students in earning supplemental income.
Students from low socio-economic (SES) families are at a disadvantage when
it comes to their academic achievement. Caldas and Bankston (1997) demonstrated
how the SES of the student body is almost as strong a predictor of academic
achievement as an individual’s own family SES. The affects of low socio-economic
(SES) schools have an impact on the achievement of the students who attend school

35
in those areas. The academic achievement of the students who attend schools in poor
areas is a concern because of the potential impact on the students who reside in those
communities.
Diversity and inequality in schooling are fundamental facts of life in the
United States. The public school system educates approximately 90 percent of all
American students. These students come from multiple ethnic backgrounds and are
guaranteed a free public education. Given the ever changing make-up of the United
States, diversity within public education is not the exception anymore; it is the rule.
The nation’s 15,000 public school districts are financially and administratively
autonomous from each other as funding per pupil varies. Spending varies from more
than $8,000 per student in Winnetka, Illinois, to less than $3,000 per student in
Soccorro, Texas (Carrol, 1990). The disparities in spending per student and the
funding allocated towards school districts affect the quality of instruction that is
received by the students living in low-income communities. Without adequate
resources, these students’ educational needs are not being fully met.
There continues to be a disparity in the investment in children. The
education system does not afford children from low-income and racial-ethnic
minority backgrounds the same educational opportunities, on average, as middle-
class income, non-minority children (Kozol, 1991, Ogbu, 1978, 1987). The
traditional American ideology dictates that the economic inequalities being
perpetuated are acceptable only to the extent to which equal opportunity is perceived

36
as equitable (Hochchild, 1981; Tocqueville, 1994). The entitled groups in America
are voicing their disapproval for diversity and equity in the backlash against
Affirmative-Action programs and state propositions being approved by voters.
White males, on average, receive a higher income than women and minorities even
when educational attainment, work history and experience are equal (Albelda, Drago
& Shulman, 2004). Given these statistics, inequitable situations continue to exist in
present-day America.
Many high school students are motivated. They want to have a variety of
course offerings made available to them and would like to attend a quality school.
At-risk students, participating in a national longitudinal study of 8,100 high school
students, were used to test a model of school learning. The results indicated that the
predictors for academic achievement were the following: ability, quality of
schooling, student motivation, and academic coursework. Present findings may
indicate that student motivation had a stronger impact on at-risk students’
achievement than on achievement of high school students in general. The overall
school learning influences appear very similar to those found for high school
students in general (Anderson & Keith, 1997). The expectations of low-income
students and students from higher socio-economic status (SES) are relatively similar.
Higher Education: The Cost of College
The ability to pay for college has become more of a burden for families who
send their children to college. Losing Ground, a report by the National Center for

37
Public Policy and Education released in 2002, stated that college has become less
affordable according to the perspective of American families. From 1980 to 2000,
the percentage of family income required to pay for college tuition increased for all
of the families with children attending college, except for those in the top 20 percent
of income earners. The largest tuition percentage increase occurred for the low and
middle-income families. The substantial increase of out-of-pocket expenses for low
to middle-income families affected their ability to afford to pay for college; therefore
restricting their opportunities to a higher education. Losing Ground (2002) also
found that the decline in college affordability is a broad national concern. The group
who has sustained the greatest negative result of the tuition increases was low-
income Americans; those who traditionally attend college in lower numbers. The
poor students, when they do enroll, are unable pay for college without a loan. They
must borrow more in relation to their income.
Increasing dependence upon debt presents special problems for many low-
income groups. They may be inhibited from enrolling due to fear of debt, more
likely to be supporting families while attending college, and have families that
cannot help repay loans.
The cost of higher education has continually increased and the shift from
grant aid to loans has become an unfortunate policy of many states and the federal
government. The financial burden and responsibility has shifted to the students who
have the least access to resources to pay for tuition. State and federal grants, as well

38
as federal subsidized loans, are becoming more accessible to middle to higher
income families and less available to the neediest of students. This policy shift has
made higher education less accessible to the neediest students and creates inequities
in college affordability.
Tuitions at public institutions have increased much more rapidly than
increases in cost. Much of the increase is not the result of an increase in costs at the
institution, but a change in state fiscal policy (Kane, 1999). Many of the low-
income, low socio-economic (SES) students and families do not have the financial
resources to keep pace with the continual rise in tuition, fees, and the room and board
costs associated with attending a college or university.
The increase in college tuition, fees, and room and board costs has been
shifted to the students. Kane (1999) also states that in 1980, state and local
appropriations (gross tuition minus institutional scholarship and fellowship aid)
covered 83 percent and 76 percent respectively, of the educational cost per student at
public two-year and four-year institutions. By 1995, the appropriations covered 74
percent and 62 percent. States are not providing the same funding amounts to higher
education. Higher education is moving in a direction away from earlier landmark
legislation which put into place the physical buildings and financial aid opportunities
which created access. The trend tends to be towards putting the financial burdens on
the students who can least afford it. These trends dilute diversity in higher
education, especially in Los Angeles.

39
Los Angeles County has not fully regained the jobs that were lost at the start
of the recession in 1991. South Los Angeles was hit particularly hard by the loss of
jobs due to plant closures and a shift to low-wage manufacturing. Today, South Los
Angeles has the county’s worst level of job scarcity with 7.2 residents per job,
compared to 2.8 residents per job for the City of Los Angeles (Tale of Two Cities,
2003).
African-Americans have a poverty rate in Los Angeles of 24 percent- three
times as high as the poverty rate of Whites. The poverty rate for African-American
children is 33 percent compared to just 9 percent for White children (The State of
Black Los Angeles, 2005). Job loss is not the only external variable that low-
income, first-generation African-American male students have to deal with on a
daily basis. Standardized testing for college admission and high school graduation is
now the norm.
Parental Involvement
Despite recent gains in achievement test scores, African-American and low-
income students continue to achieve well below White, Asian, and high-income
students (Koretz & Houts, 1986; Ogle & Alsalam, 1990). In addition, African-
American male high school students historically drop-out of school at higher rates
than their White peers, and are less likely to return to complete graduation
requirements within four years (Ogle & Alsalam, 1990; Snyder & Hoffman, 1990).

40
The lack of parental involvement in the life of their children has an adverse
effect on their academic achievement. The parental involvement for school age
children has had an effect on college attendance. A National Center for Educational
Statistics (NCES) study found that a student’s success in enrolling and graduating
from a postsecondary institution in the United States is strongly influenced by his or
her parent’s educational level (Nunez & Cuccarro-Alamin, 1998).
First-generation college attendees are more likely to have lower incomes, be
older and have children compared to non first-generation college students (The
Journal of Negro Education, Fall 1998). First-generation students’ parents may not
know the process for attending higher education; understand the financial aid
process, or the procedure for applying to college. These disadvantages must be
overcome by first-generation families in order to support the college going process.
If the parents are not supportive of the student, then the negative experience will
have a negative affect on the student. Several studies have reported that low-income,
minority parents often have different beliefs about parents’ role in school
involvement and are less involved in school activities than higher income non-
minority parents (Chavkin & Williams, 1993; Coleman, 1987b; Connel, Spencer, &
Aber, 1994; Delgado-Gaitan, 1991; Lareau, 1987, 1989; McLanahan, 1985; Milneet
et al., 1986; D.L. Stevenson & Baker, 1987). The parent-involvement model was a
better predictor for White, Asian, and middle-income students than Hispanic, Black,
and low-income students (Desimone, 1999).

41
Home environment, or parental involvement, has been found to contribute to
ethnic differences in achievement (Steinberg et al., 1992), has been recommended to
enhance educational equity (Walberg, 1990), and has been cited as an important
component in some compensatory education programs (Jensen, 1985; Mullin &
Summers, 1983).
Parental involvement in the education of low-income children is not
consistent in low-income, low socio-economic (SES) areas. Information about
college is not readily available and is an unknown for first-generation students. The
discussion of post-high school plans, considered to be a measure of parents’
aspirations and expectations that their child will graduate from high school, was
significant for White and middle-income students, but not for traditionally at-risk
students (Black and low-income students) (Desimone, 1999). Differences among
school districts seem to be mainly related to the fact that some districts had schools
containing larger percentages of single-parent families; which tend to be low-income
schools. Districts with a disproportionate number of schools with high
concentrations of students from single-parent families fare worse academically than
other districts (Caldas & Bankston, 1999). The benefit of a college education is
difficult for a parent to describe if they are unfamiliar with the process and have not
experienced attending a college or university. Parental social status remains about as
good a predictor of a child’s future status today as it was in the 1920’s- despite

42
enormous educational expansion and great efforts to ensure fairness and universality
in selection procedures (Blau & Duncan, 1967).
Since 1954, the educational system in the United States of America has made
substantial improvements in regards to access and equity, but there still remains a
disparity in academic achievement due to non-academic factors, such as low-income,
low socio-economic (SES) status, lack of resources in public K-12 schools and lack
of college information.
Impact of external variables on academic achievement
The academic achievement of African-American male students is not isolated
to their school sites. Mainly because of unique environmental circumstances,
adolescents in low-income areas experience a higher rate of stressors than their
middle-income, suburban counterparts; with increases in experienced stressors which
corresponded to decreases in socio-economic level (Dubois et al., 1994).
Garcia and Miller (2003) noted that there are several reasons why academic
and other needs of underrepresented minority students cannot be met fully through
programs targeted to them. A common example may be a need to increase the
academic engagement of students at a state university in which a high percentage of
the students are commuters. These students may work many hours each week at jobs
off campus. A substantial percentage of the students that begins their freshmen year
may have significant gaps in academic preparation for college, such as in
mathematics (Garcia & Miller, 2003). The factors that affect the academic

43
performance of African-American male students are more than just academic. Their
home communities, local schools and a lack of opportunity to be engaged, play a
pivotal role in their school experience.
Classroom experiences play a pivotal role in the success or failure of
students. Negative experiences with mathematics in secondary education can have
lifelong impacts on the career choices of students. In academic settings, minority
students have been found to fare worse than majority counterparts. They
experienced a higher level of overall stress and evidenced higher school failure and
dropout rates (Chavez et al., 1994; Harrison et al., 1990; Oakland, 1992). The
academic achievement of African-American male students in high school has been
affected by non-academic factors. The lack of engagement, lack of college
information and overall lack of preparation have negatively effected their academic
completion and persistence.
There are additional non-academic factors which affect academic
achievement. In Los Angeles County, 1,300 gangs are active; with an estimated
membership of 96,000 teens and young adults. In 2001, 587 gang-related deaths
were reported following a sharp upswing in gang violence starting in 2000 (Tale of
Two Cities, 2003). In addition, it costs $43,800 per year to incarcerate a teenager
convicted of a criminal offense. African-Americans have a prison population that is
five times greater than that of Whites (CPEC, 2002). In 2002, 1,575 teenagers were

44
incarcerated in county or state correctional facilities. Youth incarceration is down
from a peak of 3,742 in 1993 (Tale of Two Cities, 2003).
Students termed “at-risk” often share demographic characteristics with
groups that have achieved poorly in the past (i.e. non-Asian minority and low-SES
students; Bereiter, 1985). Ralph (1989) found that such students are more likely to
finish school without basic academic skills and are therefore at risk of becoming
educationally disadvantaged as adults. The academic preparation in areas such as
math and science has become worrisome for African-American male students.
The backgrounds (or inputs) that students bring to school, moreover, may
raise or lower the quality of education by the mere concentration that the student
peer group has on levels of preparation, standards of performance, or attitudes for
learning in general- all of which are associated with family socio-economic status
(Bankston & Caldas, 1998a; Caldas & Bankston, 1997). Students attending schools
in low-income, low socio-economic (SES) areas are negatively impacted in their
academic achievement, and parents often do not question the lack of resources made
available to their children in school.
Educationally disadvantaged adults earn less on average than college
educated adults. Over a lifetime of earnings, a college graduate can earn on average
$1 million more than a high school graduate (US Census Bureau, 2002). Education
pays a critical role in the academic achievement of everyone.

45
Schools work to convince people that selection is meritocratic. It is essential
for the legitimacy of the capitalist order that the population be convinced that people
in high-status positions do deserve these positions; that they are more talented and
harder workers than others (Hurn, 1993). This philosophy of education is consistent
with educational policies and the lack of funding distributed to low-income, low
socio-economic (SES) areas. First-generation college students, by definition, do not
have a parent who can explain the college going process by using prior information
and providing personal insight. They have not personally experienced what to expect
because they have never experienced completing college themselves.
Low-income students living in low socio-economic (SES) areas are
encountering limited opportunities for advancement. The social status of a child’s
parents and the lack of opportunity to become upwardly mobile is becoming an
unfortunate reality for many of these children. This is a contradiction to the
“American Dream” and the capitalistic principles in which this country was founded
upon.
The education system in the United States has historically been utilized to
transmit and maintain the culture of this country; which has been up until recently
White, middle-class values (language, diet, hygiene, dress, basic skills, land use,
community settlement, recreation, and other activities) (Arensberg & Niehoff, 1971).
These values have not been articulated to minority students and low-income, low
socio-economic (SES) students. Due to the lack of communication and

46
dissemination of these middle-class values, many minority students have become
confused about their own cultural identity.
The components of academic motivation believed important for at-risk
students include (a) effort and choice of activities (e.g. homework; Sewell & Price,
1989), (b) academic self-efficacy or belief in one’s ability to succeed at a given task
(Broderick & Sewell, 1985), and (c) locus of control (Graham, 1988).
The opportunity for low-income students to be able to improve their socio-
economic status in this country is a very complicated situation. The available
evidence does not suggest that U.S. society is substantially more meritocratic than in
the past. Nor is there much evidence to indicate that increased resources devoted to
schooling have resulted in more favorable opportunities for the children of
disadvantaged parents to obtain high status positions (Hurn, 1993).
The public school systems in the United States of America do not do enough
to educate their students about the schools’ expectations of the students and the
cultural norms which are utilized in public education in America. America’s schools
are based upon middle-class values and in many instances this is contradictory to the
heterogeneous student populations which attend public schools. The public school
system continues to perpetuate a model of assimilation and neglects the
heterogeneous culture of its students. The conflict paradigm sees schools as serving
the elites, as reinforcing existing inequalities, and as producing attitudes that foster
acceptance of this status quo:

47
Groups who compete for control of schooling use the rhetoric of societal
needs to conceal the fact that it is their interests and their demands they are
trying to advance. These elites may succeed in manufacturing consensus
about the purposes and organization of schooling, but beneath the apparent
consensus, conflict theorists believe, is always a struggle for power and
status: whose values and ideals will be taught to the young, and whose
children will obtain the most desirable jobs. Second, conflict theorists see this
struggle between groups as unequal. Existing elites, though they must make
compromises and bargains with other groups, almost always have the upper
hand because of their superior resources and their control over the means of
communication. Because of this, equality of opportunity has not been and is
unlikely to be a reality within the confines of the present social order. The
rhetoric of equality organized in such a way as to make it inevitable that
children of privileged groups will have great advantages over children of
disadvantaged groups (Hurn, 1993, p.70)

Hurn’s conflict paradigm provides a lens to view why low socio-economic
status students do not achieve academically at the same levels as their higher socio-
economic status counterparts. The implication here is that the school system is
designed to maintain a caste-like system, where an individual is unable to have
upward mobility based upon their caste status. This has been common in other parts
of the world, such as India, but it is contradictory to the capitalistic system here in
the United States of America. Also, the conflict paradigm contradicts the
fundamental ideals of this country in regards to the effects of hard work and the
opportunities which are supposed to occur to be successful financially- regardless of
the situation from which you were born. These factors play a major role in why low-
SES students from minority backgrounds (African-American) do not do as well in
school as their White counterparts. If a system is arranged to maintain the status

48
quo, as Hurn has stated, then there will be no real correlation between academic
achievement and equity.
According to the State of Black Los Angeles (2005), many of the students in
the target area live in low-income areas. The overrepresentation of African-
American’s at the poverty level is reflected in the high school drop-out rates. These
additional factors affect students who reside in these well-defined areas. Additional
stressors are visible to students: community and school violence, poverty, and gangs.
A lower socio-economic level in a community correlates to a higher degree of stress-
which is associated with living in that particular community. Students who are
attending schools in low socio-economic status (SES) areas are negatively impacted
in their academic achievement due to lack of resources. They often do not question
the lack of resources made available to them, or their children in school, because
they are unfamiliar with what potentially is available. The lack of school
information to parents has an impact on the future of the children who attend school
in low-income areas. Students who do not receive the necessary college preparation
information, in an adequate time, are becoming disadvantaged because they are not
meeting the appropriate college requirements and are not being accepted into
college.
In Los Angeles, African-Americans have the lowest median household
income of $31,905. This is compared to the median income for Latinos which is
$33,820; far below the median income for Whites which was at $53,978 in 2005.

49
The economic index for African-Americans is 0.55 compared to the benchmark of
1.0- which is the median income for White households (The State of Black Los
Angeles, 2005).
Lack of funding at the target schools, inexperienced teachers, high student to
counselor ratios, overcrowding at the school sites, overrun facilities, peer harassment
and gang influences are commonplace at the target school sites. These factors play a
role in how students view themselves and, to an extent, their actual aspirations.
Societal Perception
Access to higher education and equitable practices in college preparation has
been an issue for minority students. Anthropologist John Ogbu provides his cultural
perspective on the academic achievement of minorities in the United States of
America; providing categories for different minority groups in relation to their
experience in America. Ogbu distinguishes between voluntary and involuntary
minority groups. Voluntary minorities came to this country by free will, as a choice.
The voluntary minority groups have a point of reference from where they originated.
Voluntary minorities may experience discrimination in the United States of America,
but they have their homeland as a point of reference and the opportunities and
experiences in the USA outweigh the discrimination. Ogbu defines voluntary
minorities as minorities who emigrated or chose to enter this country voluntarily
(1998). He defines involuntary minorities as minority groups who were enslaved or
brought to this country against their will. Ogbu outlines the frame of reference for

50
involuntary minorities as living in inferior economic and social conditions compared
to that of middle-class white America. The historical factors that have been
witnessed by the involuntary minority group have influenced their perception about
participating in this system. They believe that no matter how hard they work, they
will not receive equal pay, equal schooling, or equal treatment in general. Because
of this perception, and their over-representation in the low socio-economic status
(SES) group, a cycle of mistrust and disenfranchisement continues.
Involuntary minorities also have a dual frame of reference. However, their
comparison is both different and negative, in contrast to that of voluntary minorities.
The first frame of reference is their social and economic status in the United States of
America. The second frame of reference is the social and economic status of middle-
class White Americans. For involuntary minorities, the comparison is a negative one
because they see their economic social condition, as well as their schools, as inferior
to those of middle-class White Americans (Ogbu & Simons, 1998).
The historical practice of denying minorities access to desirable jobs and
positions in adult life that require good education and where education pays
off…By denying the minorities opportunity to gain entry into the labor force
and to advance according to their educational qualification and ability, and by
denying them adequate rewards for their education in terms of wages,
American society discouraged the minorities from investing time and effort
into pursuit of education and into maximizing their educational
accomplishments. Since this discouragement went on for many generations,
the effects have probably been cumulative and relatively enduring.
Furthermore, the experience has probably discouraged the minorities from
developing a strong tradition of academic achievement (p.318) –excerpt from
“Success and Failure Among African-American Youth” (Martin, (2000).

51
The educational system is also organized so that the structure of the cultural
system will be maintained. This is done by inculcating the specific values, attitudes,
and beliefs that make this structure credible and the skills and competencies that
make it work. People must believe in their system. If there is a caste or class
structure, they must believe that such a structure is good, or at least inevitable
(Spindler, 1973). The continued perception by involuntary minorities (in this case,
African-American males) of inadequate treatment discourages engagement in an
educational system geared toward middle-class values and away from their cultural
beliefs which tend to be misinterpreted and devalued.
Outside or external issues have an impact on a student’s academic
achievement. Low-income students have external school issues and internal family
issues which can affect academic achievement: problems of chronic unemployment
or underemployment, inadequate material and financial resources, marital disruption,
and single-headed household status often negatively affect family functioning. These
conditions weaken family cohesiveness and parental support (Blechman, 1992; Hill
and Sandfort, 1995; Reyes and Jason, 1993). African-Americans in Los Angeles
County have an unemployment rate of 13.8% compared to 5.8% for Whites and
9.9% for Latinos. These additional stressors have a potential impact on their
decision to attend school and in their preparation for college. Focusing on school
becomes one of many additional factors with which low SES students face on a
regular basis.

52
Low SES students encounter many additional stressors or issues, which are
tied directly into their economic circumstance. Urban, low-income adolescents
making the transition into high school reported increasingly negative perceptions of
school-based social support concomitant with increases in daily school hassles
(Seidman et al., 1994). The unemployment rate for 16-19 year-olds who are not in
school in Los Angeles was 24% in 2000, with an alarming 37% who were not in the
labor force (Tale of Two Cities, 2003).
The additional stressors also include the perception that college is exclusively
for the wealthy. Low-income families don’t believe that they have the available
resources to attend a college or university. These perceptions are somewhat valid
due to increases in higher education costs, which are almost always passed along to
the students and their families. College affordability continues to be a concern for all
students, specifically low SES students and their families who are unfamiliar with
the process.
Diversity and inequality in schooling are fundamental facts of life in the
United States. The neighborhoods surrounding America’s diverse schools can affect
the quality of schools in two ways: those conditions over which schools and districts
have some control- such as availability of funds and teacher expertise, and those
conditions over which schools have no control- such as the cognitive and attitudinal
preparation for learning resulting from parental education and expectations,

53
household resources, and styles of up bringing, that is, the family (Caldas &
Bankston, 1999).
The city of Los Angeles has the second highest “segregation rate” of all
California cities in terms of compact racial clusters. The city’s Black-White
segregation score is .74, which means that 74% of African-Americans would have to
move in order to achieve a full integration with Whites (The State of Black Los
Angeles, 2005). This statistic is accompanied by the fact that 23% of households
earn less than $20,000 annually. There is a large disparity in median income levels
and community cohabitation among the different ethnic groups.
Median income levels in 2000 ranged from $31,905 for African-Americans
and $33,820 for Latinos to $53,978 for Whites. Another factor that has an impact is
that 46% of poor families with children in California have a full-time worker in the
household. In every income group, incomes are lower than the inflation-adjusted
levels in 1990 (Tale of Two Cities, 2003). Economic circumstances are not
improving.
Student motivation historically has been viewed as “perhaps the most
significant area of difference between lower and middle-class school populations”
(Goldberg, 1967, p. 43). Nationally, California has the highest school counselor per
pupil ratio, the highest support staff per pupil ratio, and the highest librarian per
pupil ratio. The school counselor statewide ratio is 954 to 1, compared to the
recommended ratio of 250 to 1. (Children’s Advocacy Institute, 2005).

54
The education process in this country provides for all children the
opportunity to attend school irregardless, of race, color, ethnicity, creed or national
origin. According to the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for
Education Statistics findings, approximately 90% of the children in the United States
attend public schools, eleven million people are eligible for categorically funded
federal programs, but only about 5% can receive services (Digest of Education
Statistics, 2002). Ogbu’s theory on involuntary minorities and the Conflict Paradigm
provide separate theories as to why low socio-economic status (SES) African-
American male students do not do as well academically. These theories provide a
framework as to why low socio-economic status (SES) students don’t do as well on
standardized tests, have lower academic achievement (GPA), and are less motivated
in school.
Motivation, or lack thereof, has been mentioned as to why low socio-
economic (SES) students do poorly in academic environments. The education
system in the United States of America has historically been utilized to transmit and
maintain the culture of this country, which has been up until recently, White middle-
class values. These values are expressed in the language, diet, hygiene, dress, basic
skills, land use, community settlement, recreation, and other activities of the
population (Arensberg & Niehoff, 1971). The motivation to attend college for
historically underrepresented students has been affected by the cost-of-attendance
and financial support available to low-income students.

55
Financial Support for Low-Income Students

The National Defense Education Act of 1958 provided loans for higher
education to financially needy students (Groutt, 2003). The Higher Education Act
(HEA) of 1972 provided federally funded national teaching fellowships, low-interest
loans, and grant-aid to students. As the Higher Education Act (HEA) of 1965
provided programs for the poor and historically disadvantaged students to attend
college, the Higher Education Act (HEA) of 1972 provided the funding. The Pell
Grant, federal grant-aid for financially needy students, was made available to low-
income students to assist with the cost of college attendance. Low-interest loans
provided by the federal government also assisted the neediest of students to attend
college.
The cost of attending a college or university has historically been expensive.
The families of the students were responsible for the tuition and the fees associated
with attending college. The tuition, housing, books, supplies and other costs of
attending college was the main obstacle for many students without financial
resources. The grant-aid to students provided financial support, and the low-interest
loans and fellowships allowed all capable students with the desire to attend college
the financial resources to attend.
College Access
Access to higher education and the federal government have been
interrelated. The federal government’s involvement created a systematic change in

56
higher education. These changes established the United States of America as the
birthplace of the educated masses; providing an opportunity to be educated in a
system of higher education. The type of education which is offered, and to what
extent, remains a debatable issue- but access has improved.
In 1978, the Regents of the University of California were challenged on the
admissions policies of the Medical School at UC Davis (The Regents of the
University of California vs. Bakke case). The court decided that race couldn’t be a
factor in structuring special admissions programs to help the disadvantaged. Another
challenge to the progress made by historically disadvantaged groups was the Gratz v.
Bollinger (2003) case. This case, which questioned if race was a factor in
determining admissions to the University of Michigan’s Law School, was
discriminatory. The court ruled that enrolling a “critical mass” of underrepresented
students was important. The University of Michigan was able to present a case for
enrolling a “critical mass” of students. When questioned about the term “critical
mass”, Jeffrey Lehman-Dean of the Law School at the University of Michigan,
indicated that critical mass is defined by numbers; such that underrepresented
minority students do not feel isolated or like spokesmen for their race (Supreme
Court brief, 2003). These were challenges to the progress of access and opportunity
that have occurred for historically underrepresented students in higher education
since the Brown decision.

57
Proposition 209 is the anti-affirmative action law which was passed in 1996
in the state of California and prohibits public entities from using race as a factor in
admissions and employment (Appendix D). The enrollment rates of low-income and
first-generation college students were adversely affected by the Proposition 209
policy. In fact, according to the Admissions Briefing Paper addressing
underrepresented minority admissions at UC after SP-1 and Prop 209, Trends, Issues
and Options, under representation of groups with historically low UC-eligibility and
college going rates is likely to worsen, rather than improve over time (Geiser, S.,
Ferri, J. & Kowarsky, J., 2000).
Admission to a four-year college or university requires a college preparation
curriculum and proficiency on standardized admissions tests. In a national study
conducted in 1997, first-generation students indicated limited knowledge of
postsecondary admissions and financial aid processes and were less likely to
complete the steps to enroll in a four-year institution than their second generation
peers (McConnell, 2000). Due to the lack of preparation in high school, lack of
course offerings and lack of college going information, low-income, first-generation
African-American male students are not participating in higher education. These
policy changes have had an adverse effect on enrollment of low-income, first-
generation minority students at the public four-year universities in California.
Proposition 209 has positively affected the upper-income groups in their admission
to, and representation at, the flagship University of California system.

58
Low-income families continue to be underrepresented in higher education.
The top 10% of income earners in the United States of America earn more than
$92,794 per year (www.taxfoundation.org). In Los Angeles, 62% of students in the
Class of 2000 graduated with their class; 46% were Latino, 26% were White and
17% where African-Americans. Over one in three high school graduates also
completed college prep courses required for University of California/California State
University (UC/CSU) admission. Among graduates in each ethnic group, 43% of
Whites completed the required prep courses, while 26% of Latinos and 29% of
African-Americans completed the required prep courses for college (Tale of Two
Cities, 2003).
Participation in postsecondary institutions of higher education continues to be
a challenge for many low-income, first-generation African-American male students.
According to the Los Angeles Times (3/24/05), African-American high school
students are dropping out of the Los Angeles Unified School District at an alarming
rate. Fifty-three percent of African-Americans male students are dropping out of
high school; for every one African-American male high school graduate, there is
more then one who drops out.
The Harvard study cited by the Los Angeles Times states that current
education policies- including those that require annual standardized testing of
students- may exacerbate the dropout crisis by creating “unintended incentives for
school officials to push out low-achieving students”(3/24/05). These policies and

59
accountability measures that are being implemented are giving schools an escape
clause from their responsibility to educate students in urban areas, which are usually
low-income areas.
Impact of Intervention programs on academic achievement
The U.S. Department of Education administers federally funded programs to
assist historically underrepresented students in their pursuits of higher education.
The pre-college programs provide specific intervention for students to understand the
college going process. As other research (Perna, Fenske, & Swail, 2002) has
concluded, the most commonly stated goal of early intervention programs is to
increase college enrollment rates. Among the three most common goals of the
responding programs are to promote college attendance, college awareness, and
college exposure- with about 90 percent of programs reporting each of these goals
(Tierney & Hagedorn, 2002). Although programs are available to students who
qualify, there are not enough programs to accommodate the needs of all the students
who require assistance. Many of the participants in federal programs sponsored by
the U.S. Department of Education must meet an income requirement. These students
by law must show a need for services when applying for program assistance. The
information disseminated in college preparation programs provides a comprehensive
understanding of college going requirements, career choices and career opportunities
available in all subject fields. California provides nineteen outreach programs in the
high schools throughout the state. During the 2001-2002 year, California

60
appropriated approximately $127 million to these programs (CPEC High School
Programs Inventory, 2002). The programs are divided into three separate categories:
Informational Outreach Programs- which provide information about college,
admissions guidelines, financial aid and selecting the appropriate courses, Student
Academic Preparation Programs- which focus on working directly with the students
to improve academic skills, and School Improvement Programs- which provide
curriculum support to teachers and other services to improve students’ knowledge,
skills and performance school wide (CPEC High School Programs Inventory, 2002).
The separate categories of these programs provide students with opportunities to
explore potential career options.
Adequate preparation in mathematics has been described as a “critical filter”
through which people gain access to a wide range of desirable career options (Sells,
1976). Students who avoid mathematics and related courses in high school and
college may, therefore, be seriously limiting their range of future career choices
(Belz, 1992). African-Americans and certain other racial/minority group members
remain underrepresented in math and science majors and occupations (Bailey, 1990).
Although African-Americans compromise 12 percent of the total population and 11
percent of the workforce in the United States, they account for only 3 percent of
employed scientists and engineers (National Science Foundation, 1992). African-
American high school and college students currently enroll in fewer math and
science courses than do their White peers (Powell, 1990). This trend in math and

61
science enrollment creates a situation where minority students (African-American)
are not just excluded from career choices, but are limiting their opportunities of
admittance to selective colleges and universities. The lack of college preparation
information leads to unprepared, or under prepared, college bound students.
The perception of math and science courses, and the access to advanced
placement (AP) and honors courses, is pivotal in gaining admission to selective
colleges and universities. Gainer and Lent (1998) state that because African-
Americans remain severely underrepresented in math intensive career fields, there is
a need for continued research on the factors that limit the academic preparation of
students for these fields. The disparity revealed in 1994 between students’
expectations for their future careers and their current actions regarding the study of
mathematics and science continues to exist. Half of all students still plan to take
math only as long as they are required to do so. Only six percent of minority
students, nationwide, graduate from high school with the requisite sequence of
mathematics courses to pursue an engineering related degree- effectively barring
them from participating in a large and growing sector of the economy. For non-
minority students, the proportion is significantly better, but still under 15 percent
(Markow & Moore, 2001).
The dissemination of career information and the impact, or lack thereof, can
have long lasting affects on students. College entrance requirements and the

62
selection of a college major have a long lasting impact on the opportunities afforded
to historically underrepresented students.
Wolfe (1985) examined the differences in educational attainment in white
and minority youth. He determined that “increments in background social status
variables lead to similar increases in educational attainment for whites and blacks”.
Students who in eighth grade aspired to any postsecondary education (ranging from
technical, vocational, two-year, to four-year) were 15.68 percentage points more
likely to have enrolled in any postsecondary training by 1994 than students with no
such aspirations. On ethnicity, African-Americans (3.8 percentage points) were
more likely to attend a four-year college than whites (Somer, Cofer & VanderPutten,
2002). Not aspiring to any postsecondary education puts student behind when it
comes to preparation for college. The discussion of post-high school plans,
considered to be a measure of parents’ aspirations and expectations that their child
will graduate from high school, was significant for white and middle-income
students, but not for traditionally at-risk students (Black, Hispanic, and low-income
students) (Desimone, 1999).
Numerous factors have played a role in the access and academic achievement
of African-American male students in education. Federal legislation has provided
the framework, foundation and physical facilities for promoting access to
postsecondary education. The additional influences, or external variables, on
academic achievement have created challenges that have to be overcome in order to

63
achieve success. A general understanding of what is expected in the public
education system is another level of awareness that must be achieved. Support
programs have provided this type of education to historically disadvantaged students.
This awareness provided to students increases their comprehension about
college going information and the exposure to different types of skills which they
must develop in order to receive the “cultural capital” necessary for success.
The notion of cultural capital, according to Bourdieu (1977a), is based on the
assumption that cultural knowledge, skills, and abilities are possessed and
often inherited by certain groups in society. Distinctive cultural knowledge is
transmitted through the families of each social class. As a consequence,
children of upper-class families inherit substantially different skills, abilities,
manners, styles of interaction, and facility with language (Bourdieu, 1977b).
Cultural capital then refers to the sets of linguistic and cultural competencies
individuals inherit because of their class, racial and gender identities.
(Tierney & Jun, 2001)

A program with “cultural integrity” has significant implications for students
who are most “at-risk.” The concept of cultural integrity has two parts which
maintains two central components about education. First, education in culture is not
a simple process of teaching neutral facts and figures to a faceless population; it is an
interactive process of individual identity development and the creation of community
(Tierney & Jun, 2001). Cultural integrity is defined as follows:
…Those programs teaching strategies that call upon students racial and
ethnic backgrounds in a positive manner in development of their pedagogies
and learning activities. Cultural integrity removes the problem from the child
and looks on the child’s background neither as neutral nor a negative factor
for learning. Instead, the adolescent’s cultural background is a critical
ingredient for acquiring cultural capital and achieving success.” (Tierney &
Jun, 2001)

64

Support programs, such as TRIO Upward Bound, have assisted students in
learning the educational system and have provided an understanding of what is
required in order to successfully maneuver through the system academically. The
TRIO programs in the United States of America have provided individualized
support to low-income, potential first-generation students who tend to be
predominantly African-American. These programs have proven academic success
with their program participants. By reviewing different theories and models,
educators are able to narrow down and identify the factors which affect the academic
achievement for low-income, African-American male students in the American
public education system. Their frame of reference, as described by John Ogbu, is not
positive because of generational unequal treatment, lack of access to quality jobs and
inadequate educational opportunity.
The low-income culture supports the conflict paradigm presented by Hurn
(1993) of belonging to a caste-like system where underrepresented, minority students
don’t believe that their status will change; that the system is designed to maintain the
status quo. Assimilation will mean the loss of their specific culture (African-
American, 2
nd
or 3
rd
generation Latino), “acting white” is what peers label those in
the culture who try to successfully manipulate the system for advancement.
Negative feelings, disappointments, and inequities have developed based on the

65
history of negative experiences the minority group has had with the dominant group
in society.
The American public school system is slowly changing in accordance with
the heterogeneous population. Steps are being taken to improve pedagogy and to be
culturally sensitive so educators can better understand the students who they are
teaching and who are trying to learn. African-American male students and low-
income students can achieve academically. Because of ethnic and racial diversity,
which is prevalent throughout the United States, the education system must revisit
the process of how education will be offered. There are many different causes to
why low socio-economic status (SES) African-American male students do poorly
when it comes to academic achievement as compared to their white counterparts;
motivation, stressors, parental involvement, higher numbers of single parent
households and low socio-economic status have an impact. The factors which
contribute to achieving success in the United States of America are teaching students
how the American public education system functions, and systematically educating
students on what is expected from them- expectations, behavior, values, etc.
The three major areas that were addressed in the Literature Review were the
affects of socio-economic status (SES), the external obstacles or non-academic
factors (i.e. stressors, parental involvement, and perception) and how college
intervention programs (federally funded TRIO Upward Bound) affect the academic
achievement of African-American male students in their preparation for, and

66
admission to, college. Understanding how these variables (socio-economic status,
eternal obstacles and college intervention programs) affect the academic
achievement of African-American male students will allow for some insight into this
phenomenon and provide for a potential remedy.

67
CHAPTER 3
Methodology
Introduction

The purpose of this ethnographic case study was to examine the impact of a
TRIO Upward Bound program on the academic achievement of African-American
male students. The TRIO Upward Bound programs were evaluated by Mathematica
Policy Inc. (2004) using a national sample and their conclusion about the program
was that it was “ineffective” in meeting the goals and objections of the programs.
The goals and objectives of the program are to assist low-income and potential first-
generation students with preparation for college. Los Angeles has a high
concentration of low-income and potential first-generation students; with an
extraordinarily high rate of high school drop-outs who are African-American males.
This research study will contribute to what is known about the academic
achievement of the African-American male student participants in a pre-college
TRIO Upward Bound program.
This chapter is divided into four sections. First, I discuss the research
perspective. Then I describe the sampling approach, demographics of the research
site, participant selection and the research design. The research design included
interviewing, observation, focus groups and triangulation of the data. I also outline
important research considerations utilizing Kvale’s validation at seven stages:
thematizing, designing, interviewing, transcribing, analyzing, validating and

68
reporting. The chapter concludes with a summary of the chapter content along with
an outline for the remainder of the dissertation.
Numerous factors play a role in the academic achievement of African-
American male students. As discussed in chapter two, the current literature states
how socio-economic status (SES), external and internal variables such as stressors,
the parental educational level, college intervention programs and higher education
are related. These influences can have an impact on academic achievement. Thus,
understanding the different variables which affect academic achievement, and to
what extent these factors play a role in the success of African-American male
students, is critical.
This study utilized an ethnographic case study model. The purpose of
interviews as a part of elaborated case studies was to find out what happened, why it
happened, and what it means in a broader context. Ethnography is a sketch of an
overall cultural setting which attempts to describe the key norms, rules, symbols,
values, traditions and rituals in that setting and how it all fits together (Rubin &
Rubin, 2005). By combining these two elements, this ethnographic case study
described the overall cultural setting and found out what happened, why it happened
and what it means in regards to the academic achievement of African-American male
students.

69
Sampling Approach
This study was based upon low-income, first-generation African-American
male students who participated in a TRIO Upward Bound program sponsored by the
University of Southern California (USC). I chose to study this group of students
because of their low participation rates in higher education. The TRIO Upward
Bound program prepares students for a successful transition from high school into
college. As described in Chapter 1, the TRIO participants are low-income as
determined by eligibility to participate in a federally funded TRIO program: 150
percent of poverty. The students were also first-generation college students; their
parents did not graduate from a four-year college or university.
TRIO programs were established by the federal government in 1965 to ensure
equal educational opportunity for all Americans, regardless of race, educational
background, or economic circumstances. As mandated by Congress, two-thirds of
TRIO participants are low-income and future first-generation college students-
specifically, students from families of four with incomes under $29,025 and in which
neither parent graduated from a four-year college (income levels are determined by
annual income and the number of family members who reside in the household)
(http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/trio/incomelevels.html ) Many of the
TRIO participants range from 6
th
grade students through those in graduate school
who are trying to break the cycle of poverty in their families. TRIO programs are
diverse with 37 percent of TRIO students being Whites, 35 percent are African-

70
American, 19 percent are Hispanic-American, 4 percent are Native Americans, 4
percent are Asian American and 1 percent are listed as “Other”- including multiracial
status (Council for Opportunity in Education COE, 2005).
The TRIO Upward Bound program, which is one of the original TRIO
programs, is geared for high school students (grades 9
th
to 12
th
) and provides
tutoring, counseling, career advisement, cultural exposure, college visitation,
supplemental instruction in core academic areas (English, mathematics, Science, and
Foreign Language) and a summer residential component.
The TRIO Upward Bound program at USC has been at the university for
more than 25 years. The USC South Central Upward Bound program was
established in June of 1977 and serves students attending five high schools. The
USC South Central Upward Bound program services the following high schools:
South, North, Washburn, Edison and Southwest. The USC South Central Upward
Bound program provides eligible participants, students who are between the ages of
13 to 19, with an intensive pre-college preparatory program. The USC TRIO Upward
Bound program has two components: a 30-week academic support program that
meets on Saturdays at the USC University Park campus and a summer commuter and
residential program. Through its summer residential component, TRIO Upward
Bound provides the following:
• Needs assessment
• Academic instruction

71
• Tutoring in English, reading, writing, mathematics and laboratory sciences
• Culturally enhancing and recreational programs
• College guidance
• Career and personal development
The study took place at USC during the Saturday Academic Academies with
students from the target schools of Southwest High School, South High, North High,
Washburn High and Edison High School. These high schools are all a part of the
Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) which is one of the largest urban
public districts in the country. The target high school campuses enroll mostly
African-American and Latino students who make up the majority of the campuses
(99.4 percent, or 15,738, of 15,835 student population). There were 27 male students
from the USC South Central Upward Bound program who were participating in the
program at the time of the study.
The demographic breakdown of African-American male students at the five
target high schools during the 2004-2005 academic year is listed in Table 2.
Table 2: African-American (AA) Male Student Profile
Target School Gender Grade Number
Southwest H.S. Male 12
th
104
South H.S. Male 12
th
126
North H.S. Male 12
th
92
Washburn H.S. Male 12
th
7
Edison H.S. Male 12
th
69
Total:
AA Males
398
Source: California Department of Education (CDE) Dataquest, 2006

72
The data suggest that there will be 398 African-American male students in
the 12
th
grade at the target schools that may be eligible for the USC South Central
Upward Bound program. The TRIO Upward Bound South Central program at USC
currently has six African-American males who will be entering the 12
th
grade and 27
total African-American male students in the program (grades 9
th
-12
th
) in the fall of
2005. The educational attainment from the target high schools in the community is
low.
The total number of college graduates in the target area surrounding the high
school, according the census 2000, was 11 percent less then half of the national rate
of 24.4 percent. The college graduation rate did not distinguish between ethnicity
and gender. The total number of college graduates living in the target area is low.
The majority of the individuals residing in the community have not completed a
bachelor of art’s (B.A.) degree.
Description of participants
The subjects in this study were low-income, potential first-generation
African-American male students who were participating in the USC South Central
Upward Bound program. The campus population at the five target high schools in
Los Angeles, CA was mainly African-American and Latino students (99.4 percent).
I have chosen to study the USC South Central Upward Bound program because I had
previously worked with three federally funded TRIO programs (TRIO Upward
Bound, TRIO Talent Search, and TRIO Student Support Services) in the Los

73
Angeles area and I am interested in learning more about other TRIO Upward Bound
programs. I am an African-American male and I participated in similar pre-college
programs while I was in high school. I had chosen not to study the TRIO Upward
Bound program which I had overseen to minimize subjectivity in my research
findings. I was aware of my need to distance myself from the participants in the
study in order to give a fair assessment of the data being colleted- “You have to be
prepared to stand back from relationships formed early in a study if and when
circumstances demand it” (Taylor & Bogdan, 1984). I discuss the potential impact
and limitations of having these students participate in the study in the analysis and
conclusion section.
I identified twenty (20) African-American male students who were enrolled
in high school and had participated in the USC South Central Upward Bound
program during the 2005-2006 year. After taking into consideration the number of
participants served by the program (150 male and female students) at the five high
schools and the high drop-out rate of African-American male students, the sample
size was appropriate. The program had twenty-seven active African-American male
students at the time of the study.
Procedure and Location
I identified participants for this study by contacting the Executive Director of
the Educational Opportunity Programs Center (EOPC) at USC. The Executive
Director provided full access to the USC South Central Upward Bound program and

74
staff. I solicited all African-American male students at the USC South Central fall
orientation meeting with students and parents.
This study was conducted during the USC South Central Upward Bound after
school activities and Saturday Academies with African-American male students at
the USC University Park campus. I was attached to the study through my interest in
the development and academic achievement of low-income, potential first-generation
African-American male students and my familiarity with the TRIO Upward Bound
program. I had worked with TRIO programs for eight years and I believe in the
mission of assisting historically disadvantaged students in their pursuit of a higher
education. My passion in seeing this group of students succeed, drives my work as
an administrator of programs who assist all students, in particular, helping low-
income, potential first-generation students persist through college. This subject is
very close to me, therefore I focused on the data to minimize the bias that I brought
with me into the study.
Data Collection
Data collection was done through interviews with students, student focus
groups, interviews with the USC South Central Upward Bound faculty and
administrators, discussions, classroom and work observations. As Fetterman stated,
“The first element common to every protocol is the ethnographer’s respect for the
culture of the group under study” (1998). I utilized the same principles during the
study. The participants selected all had similar socio-economic backgrounds, were

75
the first in their families to attend a college, and aspired to attend college. I was
successful in identifying a key actor for the study whom I will call “Nathan”.
Nathan was a 12
th
grade TRIO Upward Bound participant who had been in the
program since his 9
th
grade year in school. Key actors require careful selection.
They are rarely perfect representatives of the group (Fetterman, 1998). Reliability
and validity are important components in any research study.
Reliability and Validity of Interviews
Reliability pertains to the consistency of the research findings (interviewing,
transcribing, analyzing). To ensure reliability of the data I will be utilizing Kvale’s
validation at seven stages; thematizing, designing, interviewing, transcribing,
analyzing, validating and reporting) listed below:
Validation at Seven Stages
Thematizing: The validity of an investigation rests on the soundness of the
theoretical presupposition of a study and on the logic of the derivations from theory
to the research question of the study.
Designing: The validity of knowledge produced depends on the adequacy of the
design and the methods used for the subject matter and purpose of the study. From
an ethical perspective, a valid research design involves beneficence- producing
knowledge beneficial to the human situation while minimizing harmful
consequences.

76
Interviewing: Validity here pertains to the trustworthiness of the subject’s reports
and the quality of the interviewing itself, which should include a careful questioning
as to the meaning of what is said and a continual checking of the information
obtained as a validation in situ.
Transcribing: The question of what constitutes a valid translation from oral to written
language is involved in the choice of linguistic style for the transcript.
Analyzing: This has to do with whether the questions put to an interview text are
valid and whether the logic of the interpretations is sound.
Validating: This entails a reflected judgment as to what forms of validation are
relevant to a specific study, the application of the concrete procedures of validation,
and a decision on what the appropriate community is for a dialogue on validity.
Reporting: This involves the question of whether a given report is a valid account of
the main findings of a study, as well as the role of the readers of the report in
validating the results.
Analysis in the responsive interviewing model proceeds in two phases. In the
first, you prepare transcripts; find, refine, and elaborate concepts, themes and events;
and then code the interviews to be able to retrieve what the interviewees have said
about the identified concepts, themes and events (Rubin & Rubin, 2005, p. 201).
Data analysis is the process of moving from raw interviews to evidence based
interpretations that are the foundation for published reports (Rubin & Rubin, 2005).
Through transcribing, focus groups and follow-up questioning from the participants,

77
I identified common themes among the experiences of the participants. I conducted
eight observations in the study; (six) one-hour USC South Central Upward Bound
class observations and an additional two observations (during breaks from class and
participating in cultural activities; TRIO Day and the AIDS walk) to triangulate the
data. As described by Patton, “Data triangulation pertains to the use of a variety of
data sources in a study, the use of several researchers, the use of multiple
perspectives to interpret the data, and the use of multiple methods, or various
combinations of these four methods.” (1980, p. 109).
Timeline
Once I selected the participants in this study, each interviewee was provided
with an overview of the study and the parameters and expectations (Appendix A).
Parental permission was acquired for all participants in the study. All of the
interviews were scheduled with the participants and were convenient to the
participants in the study; during USC South Central Upward Bound after school
activities and Saturday Academies. The location for all interviews and focus groups
was in a private, confidential classroom on the USC University Park campus. The
lengths of the interviews ranged between 45-80 minutes and were audio taped,
transcribed and coded.
The data was collected throughout the fall semester of 2005 (October through
February) and the spring semester of 2006. The data was then reviewed, transcribed,
coded and analyzed. All of the interviews, focus groups and observations took place

78
over the course of the 2005-2006 academic school year. Once all of the data was
collected, reviewed, transcribed and coded, it was analyzed. Data analysis took
place during the 2006 spring semester during the months of February through April
2006.
The next chapter will present the data regarding the variables that affected the
academic achievement of African-American male students, specifically the TRIO
Upward Bound program’s influence. In Chapter 5, I will make a connection between
the findings from this study to existing theory. I will also make policy
recommendations related to the participation of African-American male students in a
TRIO Upward Bound program and strategies to assist in engaging these male
students in high school as they transition to college. I will also offer suggestions for
future research in this important area of educational policy.

79
CHAPTER 4
Data Presentation

“A life is not important except for the impact it has on other lives.”
—Jackie Robinson (The first African-American to desegregate Major League
Baseball)

My intention for conducting this study was to discuss the impact of the affects of
the TRIO Upward Bound program on the academic achievement of African-
American male students. The program’s impact was articulated by the male students
who had participated in the program as well as the staff members who worked
closely with them. I have outlined three key themes, or conceptual categories. The
themes emerged from the data during my interviews, observations and focus groups.
The three conceptual categories are:
1. Environmental Barriers to Achievement
2. Individual Determination
3. Positive Environmental Factors to Learning

The first section focuses on the providing of positive direction to African-
American male high school students as they navigate the classroom, in the
community and at home. African-American male students must overcome non-
academic “Environmental Barriers to Achievement” (in particular the influence of
gangs) in order to be successful in school. The second section highlights the
“Individual Determination” of the students. The self-efficacy of the African-
American males in this study and the process in which they were able to identify
resources and the decision making that occurred to assist them in achieving the goal

80
of attending college. The final category, “Positive Environmental Factors to
Learning”, illustrates how African-American male students created an environment
conducive to learning by participation in extracurricular activities with students with
similar goals.
Section 1: Navigating, Maneuvering and Adapting in the Environment
In section 1, I will be outlining the extraordinary presence and influence of
gangs in the local communities and at the target high schools in this study. I will
also highlight how the negative identity and attitudes which are profound in the
communities and at the target school sites are rejected by the African-American male
TRIO Upward Bound students.
The high school experience is a defining moment in the life of many students.
The experience shapes their future as they prepare for life after high school. Some
students will go to work, while others will enter a college or university. Then there
are the students who do not make it to high school graduation and decide to drop-out
of school. The decision to leave school early instead of attempting to complete the
school district’s graduation requirements has many potential starting points. For
African-American males this decision, either by choice or by necessity, is made at a
rate that is unacceptable in any setting. Multiple factors play a role in the decision to
leave or stay in school. Many of those factors are never truly seen by the high school
staffs who work with the students once they enter the buildings. These are the
stories of how African-American male students attempt to establish the drive to

81
overcome the inherent obstacles they face in order to graduate from high school and
be prepared to enter a college or university. The choice is clear to these young men
at an early age; that they have a choice. The choice of least resistance would be to
join a gang- to succumb to the pressures of the community, the neighborhood, and
the peers who chose that path. The African-American male high school students in
this study chose a different road, a road less traveled, which will make all the
difference in the world to them as they attempt to realize the dream of a college
education. These are their stories, in their own words, for all of us to listen to and to
better understand why some things happen in their lives.
Environmental Barriers to Achievement
What does the question, “Where you from?” really mean? This question
seems innocent and almost friendly. This question is a potential conversation starter
at a social gathering for most people. The proposed question, “Where you from?” is
requesting the respondent to state their gang affiliation or their gang territory. For a
young African-American male teenager in Los Angeles, the question, “Where you
from” distinguishes you as being a part of a special group of people who will protect
you no matter what. It is a way to stake a claim to a neighborhood or to promote a
group with which you are proud to be a member. This is the equivalent of being
asked if you are in the 4H club in some rural area or a part of a social clique. The
circumstances aren’t really that different; they are just taking place in a different area

82
and using the available opportunities available to them. “Where you from?” is not a
request for directions.
Identity as a Scholar
When I was a high school student I utilized public transportation. It was
quick, affordable and a safe way to get to places around town. Things are different
today; the bus stop is an unknown, a pit stop for young African-American males as
they nervously await the bus in hopes of getting to their desired destination- the
TRIO Upward Bound program or their target high school. Matthew, an 11
th
grade
participant in TRIO Upward Bound program, discusses his experience at the bus
stop.
Usually when you are waiting for the DASH (a form of public transportation
in Los Angeles) or walking home is when you are approached by gang
members asking you, where you from? They hit you up, they approach you
and then they may step in front of you and ask the question, ‘Where you
from?’

I was driving home from work during the summer of 2004. It was a hot and humid
day, a day where the sun is leaning on you so hard that your knees are buckling just a
bit. I worked in South Central Los Angeles at the time and I was on my way to the
freeway entrance ramp. I had to stop at a stoplight and wait for the light. As I turned
to my right, while I was sitting in my car at the stoplight, I noticed two young
African-American males waiting for the bus. They couldn’t have been older then 15
years old each, and both probably weighed about 130 pounds. All of the sudden,
they started to fight. The two boys were trying to hit each other but were mostly

83
missing as they flayed their hands at each other. They finally grabbed each other,
after what seemed to be an eternity, and wrestled each other into the street. This was
a very busy street and there were people waiting at the bus stop with them. Finally,
an older African-American man came running over to break up the fight, and it was
over. I was paralyzed as I watched this event unfold at the stoplight on this hot and
humid evening in the summer of 2004, but I finally had a better understanding of
why those two young African-American males had that encounter. Up until I
concluded this study, I could not understand why that had happened. Now I think I
might have a better idea. One of those young men may have been asked to answer a
tough question, “Where you from?”
Determining how to respond to very difficult questions in a matter of seconds
is not an easy task for a young, African-American teenage male, or for anyone for
that matter. You must answer that question in a matter of seconds and be able to
handle all the possible responses which may occur if you answer this question
wrong. You may be jumped, a term describing being physically beaten by a group of
people. You may be intimidated and humiliated by a group of other young men who
outnumber you waiting for the bus, or you may be a witness to these events.
“Basically the best answer that you can probably give is ‘I don’t bang’. I’m not from
nowhere, that’s the best answer that you could give” (Matthew, an 11th grade
Upward Bound Student).

84
Erick is a 10
th
grade participant in the Upward Bound program at the
University of Southern California and questions like, “Where you from”, are a usual
occurrence in his everyday life. Erick knows the severity of the potential
consequences of how you answer this question.

You might give them the wrong answer and they might kill you or
something. Like my ‘homey’ got killed. He was on the football team. He
got killed because he went to a carnival and they asked him where he’s from
and they didn’t like the answer and they shot him.

The African-American high school males in Los Angeles must address these
issues on a daily basis. They are a part of their daily routine, and these students deal
with these types of situations all the time. They must be educated in the art of street
navigation; displaying the ability to chart a course of least resistance, avoiding the
potential hazards as they make their way to their final destination: their high school
campus. During the week, on the weekends, and during the summer, that destination
is the University of Southern California, University Park Campus- the location of the
TRIO Upward Bound program.
The students at the target high schools are constantly dealing with additional
stressors. They must be aware of the potential for retribution and the issues that
must be dealt with at the school sites. They become frustrated and lack positive
feedback, and this lethal combination weighs heavily upon the psyche of these

85
students. This stressful scenario does not go unnoticed by the students and is
summed up by Reggie, a 10
th
grade student with the TRIO Upward Bound program.
Yeah it gets depressing. It gets kind of depressing because at a lot of our
schools we hear on the intercom that a boy had passed away and he was in a
gang, he got caught in gang violence and everything and it takes away from
high school. You know, because you are so focused now on what gang it
was, what street it was, where we have to stay away from. His friends were
upset and they were making comments, ‘oh we’re going to shoot them up’,
and that is stupid because violence doesn’t solve anything.

Abraham Maslow proposed the Theory of Human Motivation in 1943, and
his theory contends that as humans meet basic needs they seek to satisfy higher
needs that occupy a set hierarchy. Beginning with the most basic needs of safety,
comfort and hunger, people show the ability to continue to move from one stage
within the hierarchy to next level after they have successfully completed the previous
level. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is listed below.

86
Figure 1: Maslow’ Hierarchy of Need

Source: Maslow, A.H. (1943) `A Theory of Human Motivation', Psychological
Review 50: 370-396.

According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, many of the teenage African-
American males who attend these target high schools (South, North, Edison,
Washburn and Southwest) would be considered at the physiological level or, as
Maslow referred to them, as the D-needs level or Deficiency needs level. The first
needs addressed in their lives were the ones which are immediate. Physical security
and safety from the everyday violence is an immediate concern which must be
addressed as it arises. It is pervasive in the lives of the African-American male
students in this study; it was a constant. Academic success becomes a secondary
concern when individual needs are not being met. The needs are prioritized
Actualization
Esteem
Love/Belonging
Safe ty
Actualization
Esteem
Love/Belonging
Safety
Physiological

87
according to their sense of urgency or immediacy in their environment. Therefore,
academic achievement becomes a secondary need if the physical environment is not
safe. The African-American male students in the study showed an ability to adapt
and overcome these unmet needs in order to be successful. Richard, an 11
th
grade
TRIO Upward Bound student, explains
There’s a lot of gangs around there [high school], so the challenge is walking
home or waiting for the DASH to come pick you up or people just coming up
to you, asking ‘Where you from?’, and you don’t know what they’re going to
do to you.

The high schools are located in the surrounding communities where the
students live. There are various gang territories depending upon where the students
live and they are required to cross different gang areas to get to school. The students
who attend the target schools in this study had to go through the neighborhoods as
they came to school and went home.
I’m not going to lie. I grew up in the 20’s hood. I know a lot about gang
banging, I got probably two cousins who gang bang. On one block you may
have the 40’s and on another the 60’s [These are names of different gangs in
the area]. Where I live, I live right down the street from a Police station and
there still are a bunch of gang bangers. I’ll come home and people are
banging’ on you [Where you from?]. But I can’t do anything about that
because that is the way that they are living their life and they have to protect
their territories
-Nathan, a 12
th
grade TRIO Upward Bound student.

The presence of law enforcement has limited impact and doesn’t really
change the dynamics on the streets. Life continues on with all of the issues that arise
in the lives of the African-American male students in this study. They had to deal

88
with the issues and understand them and react to the incidents as they occurred. It is
important to know which streets are safe and which ones to avoid.
I know like the territories I don’t walk through at nighttime, which it
wouldn’t be a good idea, let’s say back streets just because anything can
happen on a back street, side streets and everything, people get jumped, they
get hit up [‘Where you from?’]; I know somebody that got pretty hurt that
doesn’t even tag or anything like that, people just messing with him.
-Matthew, an 11
th
grade TRIO Upward Bound student

The daily schedule for African-American male students has to be a well
thought out plan. It is important to take into consideration how they will be able to
get to school and back home. The times of the day that they were walking, taking
the bus or receiving a ride. The African-American teenage males had to stay updated
on the routes they chose to take, to think through the location they were leaving
from, and mentally “map questing” their ending destination.
There’s a certain route I take home, the route I take is a safer route. I
wouldn’t walk on the back streets, you’ll probably meet somebody who
you’ve never met and they’ll probably kill you for no reason. The
neighborhoods are a reflection of the opportunities which are presented to its
occupants.
-William, a 10
th
grade TRIO Upward Bound student

The African-American males had to make a choice at an early age about which
direction they were planning to take in life. The peer pressure at the high schools
and in the community was consistent with all teenagers, but the biggest difference
was the type of peer pressure.

89
School Environment
The high schools were a reflection of the communities. The students who
attend the neighborhood high schools also lived in close proximity to each other.
Those experiences at home and in the community accompanied the students into the
classroom. Nathan, a 12
th
grade TRIO Upward Bound student who had been in the
program for four years, explains his experience in his neighborhood and how that
followed him into the classroom. “Nowadays, they [gang bangers] expect that if
they gang bang, everybody is supposed to be gang banging. So, now it’s going to
cause a conflict, because everywhere you go, people want to know where you from.”
African-American males adapt to the circumstances and culture of their
environment once they enter the classroom. The idea of having to be alert and
prepared was stated as a matter of fact by Pete, a 10
th
grade Upward Bound student,
“[It’s] pretty much going to school in fear, having to watch your back every move,
just imagine like going to school having to watch your back.” All high schools,
whether they are located in low-income, middle-income or high-income areas, have
to deal with a common issue which cuts across socio-economic status (SES) -
materialism. The degree of scrutiny and the extent may differ depending upon the
location of the high school, but materialism affects all students in some way, shape
or form. “At South, if you come to school busted, they are going to talk about until
you graduate.” I asked Nathan, a 12
th
grade TRIO Upward Bound student what he
meant by the term “busted”. Nathan explained it to me this way:

90
What’s busted? Your shoes are messed up, your teeth are dirty, your pants
aren’t creased, it isn’t named brand, Sean John or Rocca Wear. You will be
getting clowned the entire time you are at the school; people don’t forget that
kind of stuff.

The academic role of the high school has been altered. The value of
preparing for college has been diluted by the negative stigma placed upon academic
achievement. This negative stigma becomes an academic crossroads for African-
American male students. They are required to assess their situation and make a
determination about which direction to pursue; a college education or social
acceptance. These students decide to make school their top priority instead of
conforming to the negative peer pressure which permeates their environment. TRIO
Upward Bound students had been able to strategically maneuver through these
situations as they pursued an education and made education their top priority. The
TRIO Upward Bound students valued school success. They were able to have social
interaction with other TRIO Upward Bound students during program-sponsored
activities. This provided them with a structured environment and minimized the
unknown variables (gangs, violence, and security) which they had to accommodate
daily. Stress is the direct result from any change in a person’s life. When 8
th
grade
students graduate from junior high school, they experience the stress, or anticipatory
anxiety, which occurs when someone is continually thinking about an upcoming
event. The transition from junior high to high school can be a rude awakening.
Matthew, an 11
th
grade TRIO Upward Bound student, explained his experience with

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the gangs and ‘taggers’ (a group of students who graffiti on property with large
markers and belong to different crews; similar to gangs in that regard) as a freshman
in high school.
I had gotten my life threatened when I first got there [SW high school], I got
jumped by a few of them. It is important that they don’t ‘punk you down’,
because if you allow someone to ‘punk you down’ then you will no longer be
respected at your school and you will leave yourself open to being harassed
and have it consistently happen to you.
-Matthew, an 11
th
grade TRIO Upward Bound student

During his freshman year, Matthew came to a crossroads of sorts. A group of
students approached him and proceeded to test him. A situation arose and a decision
had to be made. He chose to fight.
I got into a fight freshman year to let them know that I wasn’t a punk. They
now know that I can fight, plus my cousins are gang bangers, so they say
don’t mess with me. They have left me alone ever since.
-Matthew, an 11
th
grade TRIO Upward Bound student

Community Environment
African-American male students have to have an understanding of the
dynamics of their communities. The issue of gangs and the peer pressure that is
placed upon African-American males is extraordinary. Getting into trouble is easier
then it appears, and staying out of trouble becomes difficult when trouble seems to
have a way of finding students. This “trouble” has a lot to do with having groups of
young people who do not have an organized activity or an organization to attend.
The average school day ends at around 3:30 p.m., and many students go
unsupervised after their last class at high school and before they are required to be

92
home. This unstructured, unsupervised time allows young people to get into
“trouble” or is how “trouble” tends to find them.
My friends, they are just like me. They don’t really want to be in trouble. I
try my best to stay out of trouble, but half the time trouble finds us. Gang
banging finds us. We will be walking down the street and they will just mess
with us and we’ll just have to try to do our best to get out of the situation, you
just keep talking, trying to talk your way out of it. ‘What neighborhood are
you from, what gang are you from?’
-Richard, an 11
th
grade TRIO Upward Bound student

“You know what they are talking about”, explains Richard. “In the
neighborhood, gangs are around, I don’t really have any trouble, but I think about
them. If those people [gang bangers] are standing over there, I can’t go that way.”
“If you’re wearing the wrong color or if you are in the wrong neighborhood then you
get pressed [harassed]”, explains Charles, a 10
th
grade TRIO Upward Bound student.
Students have to deal with harassment by other students in school, on their way
home from school and on the weekends. It is an everyday occurrence. Students are
harassed in multiple ways, verbally and physically.
They will just grab at your pockets to see what you may have in them, or ask
you ‘What’s up in your pockets?’, but they never do it by themselves, its
always in a group, you know, like just give me that, they’ll just go in your
pockets they’ll just take it from you. People will just walk up to you at the
bus stop and try to ‘pocket you’. Try to take my money. If I see that they
don’t have a gun or anything, I’m going to take off on you, but if I see you
got a gun, I’m going to let you do what you have to do and go about your
business.
-William, a 10
th
grade TRIO Upward Bound student

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When the situation arises, the student must make a choice about how to react.
To “take off” is a preemptive strike, quickly reacting to the person who may cause
physical harm to them. Physically engaging the individual before they attempt to
burglarize or physically harm you. This response is an option that is well thought
out due to the unknown outcome of the interaction. How do African-American
males in this study answer the question; “What you got in your pockets?”

I just tell them to come and check and then they’ll find out. If it’s one of
them, but if it’s a lot of them, then I’ll take my pocket out, but I’ll be smart
with it. I won’t take everything out, I’ll just take out a couple bucks, but I
don’t really walk around with a whole bunch of money on me anyway
because you never know when that’s going to happen to you.
-Nathan, a 12
th
grade TRIO Upward Bound student

I posed this question to Nathan, “What happens when you take out your pockets, if
there is a group of them?” I was alarmed by Nathan’s response. He explained this
scenario to me and how the encounter usually is completed.

Nathan: “They’ll take your money and sock you [punch you] and go about
their business.”

I responded, “They’ll hit you?”

Nathan: “They’ll just hit you. They’ll hit you in your face, your head, your
stomach, they don’t really care.”

My reply was, “You just have to take it?”

Nathan: “You just have to take it, if you don’t want to fight everybody, like
Bruce Lee, you might as well take it and lie there, until somebody comes and
says, hey stop.”

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That’s not always the case. Living in highly concentrated areas where gang
activity is common, many African-American males have acquaintances, family
members and even friends who are involved in gangs. “I have friends who are in
gangs, gang related or gang affiliated. They do it sometimes, but I just stay on the
side, I’m not really trying to get into that” (Jonny, a 9
th
grade TRIO Upward Bound
student). The ability to be mature and not get involved in negative behavior is not
easy.
They call me punk and stuff like that, but they already know what I’m all
about, so they don’t really push it that far. They know I’m a leader, not a
follower. I just have to deal with the situations as they come because right
outside my high school is the ‘jungle’, and then there’s an alternative school,
there is just daily violence that is occurring.
-10
th
grade TRIO Upward Bound student

The “jungle” is an area in Los Angeles with a high concentration of gang
activity. This area was highlighted in the motion picture Training Day, in which
Denzel Washington earned an Academy Award portraying a corrupt police officer
manipulating gangs in Los Angeles. All of the students in the area don’t succumb to
the negative environment which surrounds them, they rise up.
Nathan is a 12
th
grade student in the Upward Bound program and has
participated in the program since his 9
th
grade year. He transferred schools before
his senior year because his previous high school, South High, had lost its
accreditation and he wanted to make sure he would graduate from an accredited high
school so he would be eligible to attend college. “At South it was cool, but you got

95
to be bangin’ [gang banging] or doing something, busting somebody’s head to get
‘known’, it wasn’t that cool, I would just go to school.” The apathy at the high
schools is described by Nathan:

Most of the kids I used to hang around would say, dang how come you have a
2.0 GPA, that’s a good GPA, I would be like, ‘what!’; that’s like average,
and then they would show me their report card and its all F’s. If you are
going to come to school everyday and get all F’s, something is wrong; you
might as well stay home.

Nathan’s statement supports Astin’s theory of engagement: the amount of
student learning and personal development associated with any educational program
is directly proportional to the quality and quantity of student involvement in that
program. Nathan has been a part of the program for four years- after school, on
Saturdays and during the summer. Astin goes on to state that the effectiveness of
any educational policy, or practice, is directly related to the capacity of the policy of
practice to increase student involvement. Upward Bound was effective in Nathan’s
case. Nathan’s peers were not as fortunate; the academic failure of Nathan’s
classmates has been described first by Ogbu in his socio-cultural theory on the
academic achievement of involuntary minority students. By denying the minorities
the opportunity to enter into the work force and to be upwardly mobile according to
their education, qualifications and ability, American society contradicts itself and
discourages minorities from putting forth the effort to pursue higher education in
order to maximize their accomplishments. Since this contradiction has gone on for

96
multiple generations, the effects have probably been cumulative, relatively enduring,
and have potentially discouraged the minority group from embracing a strong
tradition of academic achievement (Ogbu & Simon, 1998).
Nathan, Reggie, Erick, William, Kenneth, Jonny, Matthew, Rashad, Richard,
Greg, Pete, James, Calvin and Russell all addressed how their classmates were not
interested in going to college and didn’t have a real sense of direction. They had not
thought about what they would be doing after they graduated from high school. No
one had told them about preparing for their future or they had not chosen to listen.
Irregardless, the message had been missed and these students were the ones who
were facing graduation or dropping out without a definite plan.
Adapting to the Environment
The African-American male students in this study interacted differently
according to the type of environment they were entering. There was an unofficial
dress code which was adhered to by the students in their communities and at their
school sites. This code could be seen in the colors of the clothing which students
wore. If the color blue or the color red is worn at school or in the community, it
identifies the individual with a specific gang. The students must memorize the gang
areas and be cognizant of the gang colors to minimize potential conflict. Getting
dressed in the morning can have a huge impact on your day, wearing the wrong color
can cause stress.

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I know for a long time, I would always wear this sweater. The only reason I
would wear it all the time is because I knew it was a safe color, so all last
year that’s what I did. You just have to live your life and just pray that
nobody messes with you. Every now and then I look around, but other than
that, I don’t really try to think about it to much.
-Reggie, a 10
th
grade TRIO Upward Bound student
When these young African-American males walked outside of their homes
they were being perceived in multiple ways by many different people. The type of
clothes that they were wearing identified them. The way that they were wearing
their clothes (baggy, loose fitting or traditional) identified them. Their friends or
acquaintances had an impact on how they were being perceived. For example, if an
African-American male teenager was spending a lot of time with known gang
members, then the assumption by many observers is that they are a gang member as
well. Even if that observation was inaccurate, the perception remains. “They are
being perceived by everyone who is coming into contact with them, some in a
positive light and others negatively. The image doesn’t always fit the stereotype.
The appearance of the students doesn’t always match the perception.” Mr. Cotton,
the Executive Director of the EOPC at USC has seen many students enter into
Upward Bound programs and the difficulties that they face pursuing a better life.
One of my students had been harassed by the police. This is a student with a
shaved head and baggy pants. The first thing that the police officers think is
here is another gang banger walking through campus. The reality is that this
is a student with straight A’s, a 4.0 GPA student at one of our target high
schools.
-Mr.Cotton, Executive Director USC EOPC

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The African-American male students in the TRIO Upward Bound program
had become chameleons by making the necessary adjustments to be successful in
multiple environments (school, community and home). They had shown an ability to
be flexible enough to allow the numerous external obstacles not to hinder their goal
of attending college. They had to show an ability to adapt. At school, they had to
have their learning persona, but once they left class they had to look and act a certain
way just to make it home. Mr. Cotton goes on to say, “Just getting to and from
campus for our program activities is a challenge for them; the students are definitely
being monitored by law enforcement.” Mr. Cotton elaborated on how he has had to
meet with campus safety officials to explain his program’s goals and objectives. He
must also coordinate with the campus safety officials to make sure that his students
were not being mistaken as “outsiders”. The USC campus is located in central Los
Angeles, just a few minutes from downtown. The area surrounding USC has high
rates of low-income families and individuals living in poverty. The majority of these
individuals do not attend USC. USC is representative of the Ivory Tower; the
beautiful tower that all in the community can see, but are unable to attend. TRIO
Upward Bound is different. The TRIO Upward Bound students had the opportunity
to attend. They chose to make the weekly voyage to the campus because they
believed it would be beneficial.

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The young African-American males who show up for TRIO Upward Bound
are exceptional. They are choosing to pursue a better life within the constraints of
the same system which has failed their parents, siblings and peers.
TRIO Upward Bound is a pre-college program for low-income, first-
generation high school students. It is a program that assists historically
underrepresented students as they prepare for college. The goal of TRIO Upward
Bound is to have the participants graduate from college. The impact of the program
was described in this exchange I had with Erick, a 10
th
grade TRIO Upward Bound
student. “If you didn’t join UB in the 9
th
grade, do you think that you’d be in the
same situation that you are in now?” I had asked Erick during one of our exchanges.
Erick’s response was, “No, I’d probably been out there, just like everyone else. I’d
probably be selling weed, or doing something I’m not suppose to do.”
Juggling different personas for different environments is how many African-
American males function in their communities. They do not complain about the
reality of the violence that surrounds them, they speak about it because it is an
everyday occurrence; a part of their life routine.
Mr. Smart is an advisor for the Upward Bound program. He is a young,
African-American male who grew up in nearby Long Beach. His perspective on the
situation is that a lot of males are struggling academically due to the lack of support
and guidance.

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Upward Bound provides guidance; it’s a roadmap to college. The advisor is
a mentor with the student’s best interest at heart. We understand each student
on a case-by-case basis. What do students need now, tutoring, they need
their immediate needs met first. It’s about mentoring and guiding young
males, we are helping them become responsible adults. For example, I have
this one student, he gives off a different aura when he is in different
situations, three different personalities. When he’s with his mom, he has this
loving persona, in Upward Bound he has a scholastic frame of mind, but with
his peers he has to show that he is a part of the group.
-Mr. Smart, a TRIO Upward Bound Staff Member

African-American male students must maintain their image in their
communities. The image is an important tool which can have a major impact on how
they are viewed by their peers and other members of their communities. The image
of being a good student is not always a positive image for African-American males
in their community if they are being perceived as “acting White.” Ogbu described
“acting White” as a form of assimilation or fully integrating into the White culture
and accepting the norms and values of that culture. This assimilation process is
viewed as rejecting the culture of the Black community. A careful balance must
occur for African-American male students as they toe the line between pursuing a
college or university education, and maintaining their status in their communities.
Mr. Barkely tells a story about how a student coped with maintaining his image in
the community.
There’s a student that does not want to be seen with a backpack at the school.
One of our male students, he doesn’t want of be perceived as being smart. So
he’s kind of developed a survival skill by hiding his textbooks, hiding his
backpack and not letting his peers know that he is involved in these
programs. It’s very interesting to see that. To see that relationship that he
has with his friends and that need for him to kind of mask what he does.

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Outside of school, I assume he rarely talks about his ambition to go to college
and like I said it’s almost a survival skill. He doesn’t want to be perceived as
being too smart.
-Mr. Barkely, a TRIO Upward Bound Staff Member

Academic Environment (Support Networks)
Support networks such as parental involvement and participation had an
impact on the educational outcomes of African-American male students. TRIO
Upward Bound programs require parental involvement. Parents were required to
sign a contract which outlined the program’s expectations. The parental agreement
and support for the students provided support from the major areas in the students
lives: family (home environment), school (academic environment) and social
environment (their fellow peers in the Upward Bound program).
Mr. Smart saw a reflection of himself in his students as he worked within the
program. He was in a similar situation when he left high school. He wanted to be
able to get correct college information to his students. “What am I to my students?
A resource, I’m a resource; I’m going to follow up with students if they don’t do
what they are suppose to do.” He saw that they were searching for something, a
better life. “Why do they go through all of this to come to Upward Bound, because
there’s a want for something better, no matter how hard they’re struggling, there’s a
want for something better.”
Students in low-income areas need support and guidance because they aren’t
getting the college information at an early age. There is a disparity between the

102
expectations and college going information within the different socio-economic
areas.

The expectations are completely different, if you go to the affluent areas, the
curriculum, the way the classes are taught, the bar is raised to a different
level. I think that the education system is trying, but it’s hard because there is
so much going on; there are so many students on so many different levels. I
think that it’s the way it is set up, but I don’t think it actually takes place.
Working in the schools you see so much, the environment, how curriculum is
set up, how the classes are being taught. It’s very different then affluent high
schools or even middle class high schools with community support.
-Mr. Smart, a TRIO Upward Bound Staff Member

Ms. Godspeed and Mr. Barkely agree with Mr. Smart; they have had similar
experiences with their visits to the local schools. “The teachers in the high schools
are young, inexperienced teachers who are trying to gain valuable experience but are
not necessarily trying to stay in the LA district- the thought being if you can work in
LA, you can work anywhere” (Mr. Barkely, a TRIO Upward Bound Staff Member).
They are overworked, understaffed, under funded and dealing with many issues in
their classes. Some of these issues include dealing with English Language Learners,
under prepared students, and overcrowded classrooms while trying to maintain
classroom discipline. TRIO Upward Bound serves these schools and often times is
one of the only programs providing college preparation information. Ms. Godspeed
sums it up in this sentence, “Many times we are the only programs on their
campuses, providing college information.”
The influence of gangs spreads across the landscape for all of the students;
even those who had limited interaction with gangs are still affected.

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I don’t know gangs and people laugh when I say this, but I really don’t. If
somebody says, oh you’re wearing the wrong color or something; I’m like oh
really, because I don’t really know. I asked if he had ever been approached
about gang issues, many times, many times they ask, how’s that something
looking and I’m like huh, I really don’t know what they’re talking about and
they laugh and stuff and say never mind. But my friends say they can look at
me and tell I’m not a gang-banger, but they still come up to me and ask
anyway.
-Reggie, a 10
th
grade TRIO Upward Bound student
Starting at home, in communities where gangs were prevalent, making a
wrong turn towards an unfamiliar street created a life changing experience for
African-American male students who responded to the question “Where you from?”
“When you are getting banged on, a gang member approaches you and asks you if
you are from another gang. I know gang members. I went to school with them. But
I’m not really into it like that. I don’t really like all that gang banging stuff” (James,
a 9
th
grade TRIO Upward Bound student). The effects of gang banging played a role
in the lives of many of the African-American male students.
When you join a gang, you have a higher probability of dying. It doesn’t add
up, gang banging is stupid. It’s really stupid. Stupid things happen and that’s
why I just say gang banging is so stupid. People are arguing because they are
from different hoods’. They get beat up and then they come back to beat up
the ones who beat them up and the next thing you know it starts getting really
serious, just because of a hood or a color.
-Russell, a 10
th
grade TRIO Upward Bound student

Home Environment
The home environment can have an effect on a student, sometimes causing
the student to take a stand.

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My mama tells me that I look just like my daddy and I’m going to end up just
like him [he’s serving time in prison] but I’m going to make it. You know
when your family wants you to join a gang its hard, but I’m going to prove
them wrong! It just doesn’t make any sense to me, killing each other over a
street you don’t even own!
-James, a 9
th
grade Upward Bound student

James, who is excitable, enjoyed interacting with his peers and got excited about the
opportunity to discuss the things that had occurred at his school.
The parental support and/or student advocacy for TRIO Upward Bound was a
key component to the success of the students in this program. The TRIO Upward
Bound staff and the students’ families developed a relationship and formed a support
network for the students by maintaining open channels of communication. The
TRIO Upward Bound staff met with parents at least twice a year to update them on
the program activities, explained the program’s requirements and outlined the
responsibility of the parents. The meetings took place before the students were
admitted into the program, prior to the beginning of the fall semester and before they
enrolled in the six week summer program. The informational sessions reviewed the
program guidelines and responsibilities of the students and the parents. The parents
received a schedule for the Saturday Academies or the summer program, depending
upon the time of year. The TRIO Upward Bound program explained to the parents
the requirements for admission to a college or university and provided information to
them about how they could support their children by being aware of program
activities and encouraging them to attend. The parents were provided an opportunity
to ask questions and were welcomed into the program. The relationship between the

105
parents and the TRIO Upward Bound staff encouraged the families to support the
program by following up with their children to ensure that their students were
meeting the program requirements.
The academic advisor, I call them the advocate. The advisor goes to the
school in place of the parent. They talk to counselors because they know
what the students need in order to be eligible to enter college. They are what
hold the kids together. The program takes on the role of the parent when the
parent is unable to communicate with the school sites due to a language
barrier or work responsibilities. The parents trust us. They will call us to
find a way to better help their children.
-Mr. Barkely, a TRIO Upward Bound staff member

The Executive Director of the Educational Opportunity Program Center at
USC, Orlando Cotton believes that parental involvement is a key component to the
success of the Upward Bound program. “One of the big aspects is parent
involvement. Many times in the affluent areas the parents are overly involved in
their children’s education. When they have back-to-school nights, there’s a large
representation of parents who attend those events.” Mr. Cotton has over ten years of
experience working with low-income, first-generation students. He has worked as
the Director for Upward Bound for ten years and is now entering his second year as
the Executive Director for the Educational Opportunity Program Center at USC. He
oversees six federal, per-college programs (Educational Talent Search and Upward
Bound). Mr. Cotton goes on to discuss his perspective on the issues facing low-
income, first-generation high school students.
Some of the schools that I’m working with in the areas around USC have
very limited representation of parents. That has a big bearing on the level of

106
support and expectations for students. It’s that lack of awareness; many
times parents don’t know what the process is and that kind of brings back the
point of these programs. These TRIO programs are so important because
otherwise there’s no one talking to our kids.
-Mr. Cotton, Executive Director, USC EOPC

The African-American male students in this research study have had to
overcome multiple obstacles in order to prepare to receive a quality education. They
had dealt with gangs, the peer pressure to join a gang, and the violence that was
associated with being connected to a gang. There were numerous layers of
obstructions in the neighborhoods which were overcome and successfully
manipulated to get to and from the target high schools. Familiarity with the streets,
avenues and territories were required studying for the African-American male
students at the five target high schools. All of these obstacles were identified in
order to avoid the potential confrontations at the bus stops, on the streets or in
school.
The issues and influence of gangs were commonplace. Many students had
friends or family members who were directly or indirectly associated with gangs.
The African-American male students in the TRIO Upward Bound program had made
a conscious choice to say “No” to gangs and what they had to offer them. These
students had decided to invest in themselves through educational enrichment. The
schools provided the students with a general location and an opportunity to graduate
from high school. TRIO Upward Bound provided the students with possibilities.

107
The environmental barriers to achievement for the African-American male
students in this study were as follows: the fear of violence associated with the
saturation of gangs in the communities and at the high school sites. Arranging
transportation from home to school, and back home, was an issue. The bus stop was
a location which caused anxiety for the students in this study due to the unknown
circumstances which surrounded it. The African-American male students negotiated
an identity as a scholar for themselves despite negative peer-pressure at school and in
their community environments. They were able to own their identity and continue to
persevere towards an academic environment which was provided by the TRIO
Upward Bound program.
Section II: Individual Determination
Bandura (1997) describes Self Efficacy beliefs as people’s motivation,
affective states, and actions which are based more on what they believe than on what
is objectively true. Motivation and individual determination was displayed by the
African-American male students in the TRIO Upward Bound program. California
has a state funded program which addresses the individual determination of students
similar to TRIO Upward Bound in preparing motivated, but under performing,
students for college known as AVID. Advancement Via Individual Determination
(AVID) is a middle school and high school program designed to prepare motivated
but under performing students for four-year college eligibility. AVID students enroll
in rigorous curriculum, including Advanced Placement courses and the AVID

108
elective class. In this class, students receive academic support as well as tips on how
to get organized and stay motivated (CPEC, 2006:
http://www.cpec.ca.gov/SecondPages/Glossary.ASP?ListType=3).
African-Americans male students wanted to join the TRIO Upward Bound
program because it was safe. “It’s safe here at Upward Bound. The staff cares for us
and believes that we are able to be successful” (Jeffrey, Upward Bound Student).
TRIO Upward Bound brought students together who wanted to go to college; who
wanted to be successful. The students displayed “Individual Determination” for
success in spite of their situations.
Its calm at Upward Bound, everyday you walk into my high school, you have
to prepare yourself for anything. I learn more in the calm classes, the rest of
my classes my teachers can’t really control the class. The class talks a lot, so
you can’t really learn anything.
-Upward Bound Students

The structure of the classroom, and the communication which occurred
within the classroom and with the teachers, had an effect on the students. Kenneth, a
10
th
grade TRIO Upward Bound student, discussed his experience with one of his
teachers. “I had a teacher who would blame me for everything at my school. I
didn’t like how he always blamed me so I started talking back.” The relationship
with the teacher determined if the students will attempt to become engaged in the
subject matter. As Kenneth states, “I failed Geometry the first semester, but I got B
in Geometry the second semester.” The grade improvement by the student was
substantial. The student no longer had an adversarial relationship with the teacher

109
and the outcome of the class was a considerable success. The long term implications
of these adversarial relationships ultimately impact the student as they apply for
college admission and submit their academic records to the university. The students
were affected by their relationship with their teachers.
In the past, I was failing. I was getting mostly D’s. I didn’t really like him
[the teacher], so I didn’t really care. Upward Bound was different. I started
knowing how to do problems in math and I started paying attention to little
things that I didn’t do before. I started comprehending things better.
-Kenneth, a 10
th
grade TRIO Upward Bound student

The environment had a positive effect on how the students participated and to
the degree of their participation. Reggie, a 10
th
grade TRIO Upward Bound student
discussed what the program was like for him. “There are a lot of smart kids here at
Upward Bound, they can help you and they are usually right next to you in class.”
The program provided students with academic tools to utilize once they would return
to their respective high schools. “We learned to read paragraphs and look for contact
clues. In math we would learn the short text problems and equations” (Richard, an
11
th
grade TRIO Upward Bound student). The program challenged students and
enriched their academic confidence. The structure of the TRIO Upward Bound
program allowed students to feel comfortable and, because of the trust which was
developed between the student and the staff members, they choose to engage in the
subject matter.
Here you can ask questions, people are doing their work, it’s a calm
classroom. This environment helps to build confidence; I really want to go to
college, that’s really it, Georgetown or USC. And at Upward Bound I can
concentrate. It’s a better environment.

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-William, a 10
th
grade TRIO Upward Bound student
Negotiating Identity
When I visited the TRIO Upward Bound program on a sunny Saturday
morning at USC, the TRIO Upward Bound staff had set up registration in front of
Taper Hall across from the Education building with a table for students to sign-in
and pick up agendas for the day and the rest of the semester. The Upward Bound
staff greeted the students as they made their way towards the sign-in table. “Have
you signed in yet?” was the question which permeated this winter morning in Los
Angeles. “Make sure that you get to your classes on time.” The TRIO Upward
Bound staff was made up of a group of young, gifted, diverse people reflective of the
students they service. Mr. Santa-Domingo was the new Director of the South
Central TRIO Upward Bound program. He had been with the program as an advisor
and had recently been promoted. He is a Latino male, in his mid-twenties, with a
way about him that makes students respond to his inquiries. A student walks up late
to for the session, “What time is it?” -the student begins to mumble under their
breadth that they missed the bus this morning. “You need to make sure you get here
on time”, reminds Mr. Santa-Domingo. The student responded with a smile as he
signed-in at the registration table, grabbed a juice and pastry and hurried off to class.
The TRIO Upward Bound program had Saturday Academies throughout the
academic school year (September through June). The program offered enrichment
classes in English, Mathematics, Science, Foreign Languages and Topical workshops

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for the students to attend on Saturdays. During Saturday sessions, students from
different high schools came together to work towards a common goal. “I want to go
to college”, is the answer to my question when I asked the students why they chose
to get up on a Saturday morning to be at USC by 8:30 a.m., stay until 12:30 p.m.,
and participate in Upward Bound when they could be doing other things.
It’s a place where we can focus on preparing ourselves for our future and let
our guard down. I like to learn, I really do. It sounds corny, but I like to
learn. I like to know stuff because it feels good to know what other people
are talking about, it’s a good opportunity and it’s something that doesn’t
come around real often to be at USC, because I tell my folks from Missouri,
yeah, I go to USC on Saturday. I like the college life, the little college
surroundings, and it’s different, it’s different.
-Upward Bound Student

Reggie is a 10
th
grade African-American male student in the TRIO Upward
Bound program. He comes from a single parent household and he appreciates the
opportunity that TRIO Upward Bound had afforded him as he proactively
matriculates through the maze of urban education in Los Angeles. “They could have
asked anyone from my school. They could have asked anybody, and for them to ask
me, I consider that to be an honor.” Reggie is not the only student who sees value in
TRIO Upward Bound.
I chose to apply because it was a great opportunity for me to experience
college. Mr. Smart did a classroom presentation and explained the program
and I got me excited about living in the dorms, staying on a college campus
during the summer.
-9
th
grade TRIO Upward Bound student

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This also ties into Alexander Astin’s theory of engagement; to be a part of
something and to be able to maximize the opportunity by relocating from their
homes and moving into the dormitories at USC. Vincent Tinto would refer to this
arrangement as a Learning Community because this group of students is spending a
summer together in the classroom, in residence and in social situations, and learning
together.
The dorms and the college experience, is why I applied. This was an
opportunity to get out of my house for the summer. At first, I just wanted to
be away from home for six weeks, but then I started to enjoy being exposed
to the college environment.
- 9
th
grade TRIO Upward Bound student

TRIO Upward Bound is specific in its goals and objectives. The program’s
goal is to prepare students for college entrance and success. The program’s
objectives are to retain the students once they have been accepted into the program
until they graduate from high school. In addition, to provide supplemental
instruction and an individualized educational plan to map out their recommended
classes, and to complete tests and activity requirements while in high school and
TRIO Upward Bound. This required a commitment from the students.
Unfortunately, not all students were willing to fully commit.
I was one of only a few people in my class who signed up for the program. I
heard about the program when I was at another high school, my mom told me
about this program called Upward Bound -you should check it out. But I did
badly, so when I got to North I was doing better so I applied.
-Richard, an 11
th
grade TRIO Upward Bound student

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The first year of high school was challenging for many of the students as they
adjusted to an unfamiliar environment. The students were transitioning to a new
environment and entering an unknown. They had to make an adjustment from being
the oldest in their schools to being the youngest. They had to learn a new
environment, a new set of teachers, new classrooms, adjust to a new set of peers and
become familiar with college preparation courses.
Where do I start? The work is a lot harder from junior high. It was a big
difference and it’s a lot of kids; that kind of hurts because you want the little
one-on-one attention. Upward Bound has affected my attitude, I really
concentrate more because sometimes if I try it and try it and try it, and I get it
the second time I’ll say forget it. I don’t care, but they really make sure that
you know that education is what you need to have a good life, so I put that
into my school work now because I know now that if I don’t understand
something, it’s important to ask and it’s important to focus on the task at
hand. It’s great and it’s helped me a lot. I know it could help a lot of people.
It really prepares you for college. The summer program has the day
structured for the students from the time they wake up to the time they go to
sleep. They had our day planned out, we had study hall, it really helped, it
helped me know when it’s time to play and when it’s time for school. It
makes me want to be more serious. It helps you to graduate from high school
and go to college and be able to get a good job.
-Kenneth, a 10
th
grade TRIO Upward Bound student

The students showed an ability to locate resources to assist them as they tried
to make it out of their school environment and prepare for college. Many of the
students come from single parent homes with the mother being the head of
household. They saw the struggles and challenges which were faced by their parent
and that motivated them to achieve success. In the case of TRIO Upward Bound,
students had chosen to strive for academic success.

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My mom struggles a lot and I can see that it’s for me and my brothers and I
don’t really like that. Upward Bound helps because it’s preparing me for
everything that I need to know when I get to college. I did a summer
program here where we stayed on campus at USC. They showed us the
college life and the life of a college student. It’s a hard life, and the way they
showed it to us, it can be crazy. I don’t know how people do college. I really
learned a lot that summer.
-Erick, a 10
th
grade TRIO Upward Bound student

Making the transition from junior high school to high school creates many
challenges. The school environment was different, the peer pressure was different,
the coursework was different, and this can cause some students to lose focus on their
goals. That is not always the case though. Reggie, a 10
th
grade TRIO Upward
Bound student, protected himself from all of the vices at his school by staying
focused. He tries to stay away from situations which can become troublesome. He
created a good situation for himself.
Well, I make myself a good environment, so even though drugs or whatever
goes on, I still try to stay focused. When people think of LA and our school
and any school in LA, they think drugs, sex, violence, but it’s not really like
that, not where I make myself. I just make sure I hang in the right places and
don’t get caught up in the hype. When gang members approach you, you
have to respond in some way. I try not to put myself in that situation to be
asked ‘Where you from?’, because it’s scary, it’s scary.
-Reggie, a 10
th
grade TRIO Upward Bound student

As a former Upward Bound Director and Dean of TRIO programs, I have
become accustomed to talking with parents, teachers, counselors, administrators and
educators about the TRIO Upward Bound program. The majority of the time that I
had mentioned TRIO Upward Bound in my discussions with the African-American

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community, I heard similar responses: “I’ve heard of Upward Bound, it’s a good
program, I used to be a part of Upward Bound, and my brother was in Upward
Bound”. Upward Bound has symbolized the ideal of equal opportunity in higher
education in this country, if not for all people, at a minimum the groups who had
been able to utilize the program for exposure to higher education. College going
information was not readily available to the students in this study. “That’s the one
thing about my high school that they don’t do. They don’t really tell you about the
a-g requirements. I learned about that in Upward Bound” (Rashad, an 11
th
grade
TRIO Upward Bound student).
The high school counselors were overwhelmed with the number of students
that they were required to serve. The students to counselor ratios was 954 to 1
(Children’s Advocacy Institute, 2005), which makes it difficult to reach all the
students with information regarding college. To the credit of the Los Angeles school
district, they have begun to try to add additional counselors and make college
information resources available. The reality was that the SAT test scores, the
CAHSEE passing rates and the completion of college preparation requirements were
still below the state averages- the information was not reaching enough students.
TRIO Upward Bound had a counselor to student ratio of 50 to 1. The
counselors/advisors are advocates for the students.
Mr. Barkely is an advisor with the TRIO Upward Bound program. The TRIO
Upward Bound advisors meet with the program participants on a weekly basis to

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check the progress of the students, disseminate any program information and answer
any questions that the students may have.
The goal of TRIO Upward Bound is to prepare students for college entrance
and to make sure that they are enrolled in the appropriate classes, take the correct
college entrance tests (SAT, SAT II, ACT) and pass the California High School Exit
Exam (CAHSEE). The California State High School Exit Exam is a statewide test
which requires all students to pass a proficiency test in mathematics and English. If
the students do not pass one or both of the sections, they will not receive a high
school diploma. The students who fail to show proficiency will receive a high
school completion certificate, which is very different than a high school diploma.
The completion certificate only states that the student attended high school.
Matthew describes his experience with his advisor, Mr. Barkely (a Latino male),
when he wasn’t placed into college preparation classes.
I had gotten into the class like two or three weeks late because they [the
school] had me in another class and it was taking too long for me to get to my
counselor, so I told Mr. Barkely [UB Advisor] and he changed it when he
came up there for me. Having to make up three weeks of coursework wasn’t
easy, I had the teacher before, but I had to catch up. I’d say the first two
report cards I had an F, but I had caught up to a C at the end, but I think if I
was in the class from the beginning to the end, I’d probably gotten an A.
-Matthew, an 11
th
grade TRIO Upward Bound student

The individualized attention that each TRIO Upward Bound student receives
is shown by the intervention role of the staff with the target high schools and during
the Saturday Academies at USC. The staff took the time to answer the questions of

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the students and provided the students with additional educational resources to
supplement their learning.
Mr. Hogan, the other day he was making copies for me for Algebra II, he had
the college books that explained things a lot better, so I could break it down
and it was easier for me to remember. So now I can focus my attention on
something else, the things that I don’t understand.
-William, a 10
th
grade TRIO Upward Bound student

The TRIO Upward Bound program provided students with the necessary
academic resources (tutoring, counseling, educational advisement, and technology in
the form of a computer lab) and assisted them as they prepared for high school
success and college entrance. The program utilized a holistic approach to learning,
incorporating the culture, values and experiences of the students into their
curriculum. The tutors in the program reviewed the students’ homework,
encouraged them, and conducted workshops including study skills and time
management. These experiences provide the students with a better understanding of
the college experience. This type of support is common practice in affluent areas;
the provision of supplemental instruction, tutors, highly skilled teachers and the most
effective ways to complete assignments. The TRIO Upward Bound staff exuded a
passion for what they were doing which was apparent when they discussed their
experience working with the students. Many of the staff members come from low-
income backgrounds or are TRIO alumni. The interaction between the TRIO
Upward Bound staff and students was genuine and sincere.

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Before, I didn’t care about school; I was just there in high school just to get
out. I wasn’t striving to do my best, but now I try to get the best grades that I
can. Getting in contact with the Upward Bound staff is not difficult; they
give you their cell phone number, so you can always get in contact with
them.
-Nathan, a 12
th
grade TRIO Upward Bound student

A major component of the TRIO Upward Bound program was the six-week
summer residential program. USC is one of the few programs remaining who offer a
full six-week residential program. During the summer, the TRIO Upward Bound
students stayed on campus at USC for six weeks in the dormitories. The students
took classes in English, Mathematics, Science, Foreign Languages and the Social
Sciences. The TRIO Upward Bound students were immersed on a college campus
and paired with a roommate, or roommates, to get exposed to the college life. “It’s a
good program because they [TRIO Upward Bound staff] show them how college is;
how you have to get up in the morning, go to your classes. You have to study for the
tests and everything. So they show you how the college life is, how you’re going to
be living in college” (Erick, a 10
th
grade TRIO Upward Bound Student). Erick was a
student who plays football on his high school team. He was soft spoken, yet
confident which contradicted his physical presence. Before joining the TRIO
Upward Bound program, Erick said that he used to be “bad.” I asked him to
elaborate on that term “bad” and he began to tell me that he used to act up in class
and be a distraction. He wasn’t too concerned with the classes he was taking.
Sometimes I wouldn’t really care about school and I’d just be in class acting
up. I wouldn’t care, just talk out loud, then when I got in Upward Bound I

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was now more mature. I don’t really act up in class, it’s just now school is
more important when I’m growing up now. Because now I see other people
walking around, they don’t really got nothing and I don’t want to be like that.
I want to have something in life.
-Erick, a 10
th
grade TRIO Upward Bound student

Erick’s new perspective was also noticed by his teachers. “‘You changed’
and I was like, ‘I did?’. I’m in the Upward Bound program and she was like, ‘Oh,
that’s why’. Ever since then she now tells me, ‘Ever since you’ve been in the
Upward Bound program, your grades have changed’. Because my last grade in my
English class was a D and now it came up to an A!”
The University of Southern California’s TRIO Upward Bound program has
gathered a group of high school students who are following that edict. Choosing to
attend classes on Saturdays, after school and during the summer, these students are
actively participating in preparing themselves for college. The SAT and CAHSEE
preparation workshops assisted students to pass these mandatory college entrance
and high graduation tests. The supplemental instruction provided students with
additional academic support in a calm environment, with motivated students and a
caring staff. The students had shown the ability to identify a resource that will assist
them in their academic pursuits and an ability to secure college preparation
information.
Section III: Positive Environmental Factors to Learning
The environmental circumstances of the students in this study had an impact
on their academic achievement, as well as their experience at home, in school and

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with the TRIO Upward Bound program. In section one, I discussed the
“Environmental Barriers to Achievement” faced by the African-American male
students in this study. Their fear, anxiety and their ability to persevere and overcome
these challenges, in particular the challenging influence of gangs. Section two
outlined the “Individual Determination” of the African-American male students and
their innate ability to believe in their academic potential and future. Section three
introduced the “Positive Environmental Factors to Learning” and the role of the
TRIO Upward Bound program in the lives of these young African-American male
students.
I attended National TRIO Day at the University of Southern California for
one of my observations. The event began as a TRIO Upward Bound student walked
onto the stage and asked everyone to stand for the “Black National Anthem.”
“Lift every voice and sing
Till earth and heaven ring,
Ring with the harmonies of Liberty;
Let our rejoicing rise
High as the listening skies,
Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.
Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us,
Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us,
Facing the rising sun of our new day begun
Let us march on till victory is won.”

The audience gave a thunderous roar as William, a 10
th
grade TRIO Upward
Bound student, completed his rendition of James Weldon Johnson’s “Lift Every
Voice and Sing.” It was TRIO Day, a national day of celebration for TRIO programs
and students across the country. USC was hosting the event to showcase the student

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successes and accomplishments of the TRIO students in Southern California. The
TRIO students came from all over southern California to celebrate this day; from as
far south as San Diego to all parts of Los Angeles, Riverside, Ventura and Orange
County. There was a sense of concern with the TRIO staff and students because
President George W. Bush had proposed to eliminate the TRIO Upward Bound and
TRIO Talent Search programs labeling them as “ineffective.” This was the second
year in a row that the President of United States of America had targeted these two
programs for elimination. The auditorium at USC was filled with over 500 TRIO
participants, grades 6
th
through graduate school, with alumni from the programs
coming to tell their stories about how TRIO impacted their lives.
Upward Bound cares about you; they support you and keep you out of
trouble. I’d be lost in high school without Upward Bound. It’s like a little
family. They teach you strategies for the CAHSEE [the California High
School Exit Exam; all 12
th
grade students are required to pass the exam and
show proficiency in English and mathematics], we had practice tests and they
even let us keep the book to bring it home to study.
-10
th
grade TRIO Upward Bound student

The TRIO Upward Bound program provided students with actual resources
and information to be successful in preparing for college. Financial aid information,
college admissions requirements and standardized test preparation are all part of
program services. The program also explained career options to students and the
education required for the different professions. The program introduced students to
all of the benefits of a college or university campus. The experience of attending
classes on a college or university campus acknowledges to the students that they are

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special. They were admitted to the program; their first admission letter in the
process of many more to come. The summer program was comprehensive and
immersed the students into a simulated college atmosphere; the dormitory experience
in the summer, having a roommate, eating in the campus cafeteria, and studying
around campus exposed them to a sampling of a day in the life of a college student.
The TRIO Upward Bound program was the vehicle in which African-American male
students transitioned into college. Without the program, the transition process falters.
Eliminating Upward Bound is just keeping the youth out of corporate offices.
Upward Bound shows you what college is like, they prepare you for what
you are about to be getting yourself into. They expose us to the different
careers, the careers that are in demand and answer our questions. Well, they
teach you a lot of things that they don’t teach you in school, like how to get
into a college, like how to apply for financial aid. The SAT, I’m about to
take it in April, they showed me how to register for it and everything and
they’re paying for it. I think my first two times they pay for it. And I think
they teach you how to be responsible, going to the summer program, we lived
in the dorms for a few weeks and it shows you how college life was like.
-William, a 10
th
grade TRIO Upward Bound student

The TRIO Upward Bound participants came to USC on Saturdays and
participated in the scheduled workshops. The students agreed to attend the TRIO
Upward Bound scheduled events, met with their academic advisors, attended
tutoring if necessary and were active participants in the program. The students
completed an application; all UB participants were United States of America citizens
or legal residents, low-income, and potential first-generation college students who
showed an academic need for the program. Academic need is defined by a low
grade point average, low standardized test scores, attending a low performing school

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or any combination of the above. Once the application was completed and verified,
the students were interviewed along with their parents to discuss the program’s
responsibilities and requirements.
The students were exposed to the TRIO Upward Bound program in multiple
ways. Some hear about the program through family members who had participated
in the past, from classroom presentations at their high schools and from community
agencies. The reputation of the program draws interest from many different entities.
“My grandma makes me come”, is the comment from Charles, a 10
th
grader from
North High School. Charles played football on the varsity team. The summer
program interferes with summer football practice, but he still attended the summer
program because he wanted to play football in college. “I wanted it to look good on
my transcripts, to know that I attended Upward Bound. The opportunity to stay on a
college campus and to be away from my parents really made a difference.” I asked
Charles about how he felt about TRIO Upward Bound and why he chose to come on
Saturday and in the summer. He started to explain that the classes that are offered by
the program help with his school work.

The program shows you how to get to college, it provides you with
information that will help you be successful, career options and they help you
complete the college applications and financial aid forms. If I didn’t
participate in the program I would be hanging out with my friends getting
into trouble. I want to be a computer engineer, working on software- that
would be a good job for me
-10
th
grade TRIO Upward Bound student

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The University of Southern California is a beautiful, quiet campus. This is a
distinct contrast to the community in which the campus is housed. Inner city Los
Angeles, and all of the issues which accompany a large urban area, were visible
outside the fences which protect the university. Crowded streets, rundown houses
and apartments, graffiti and poverty are all visible in this community. Although the
community has begun to change. The areas within a few blocks of the university
have been revitalized and new homeowners are replacing the renters who have been
historically low-income. The program provided a safe place for students to focus on
preparing for college without having to worry about the violence which was constant
in their daily lives.
We would get into trouble without Upward Bound. When I saw the Upward
Bound presentation, I thought that I should start thinking about college now,
instead of in the future. This is a safe environment. They show us how to
act, I don’t really have to fight anymore, because the people I’m hanging
around, we got to set an example for the school. People are out there trying
to do you bodily harm.
-10
th
grade TRIO Upward Bound student

TRIO Upward Bound had a positive effect on student behavior in school.
The program required that students follow the rules of the program when they were
attending all TRIO Upward Bound sponsored events. These rules were presented to
the students when they entered the program and signed a contact. The parents were
aware of the rules as well as were the students. The students came from many
different high schools in the Los Angeles area. The high schools are located in areas
with different gang affiliations, but the students understand that they are attending

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the TRIO Upward Bound program to prepare to go to college. Preparing for college
was the only affiliation that they were concerned with when they reached campus.
The students had also developed friendships with each other during their tenure with
TRIO Upward Bound: the six-week summer session, the Saturday Academies, the
college visits and at a USC sponsored activity. They had become a unified group.
There’s not that many Black people on the basketball team, there’s three of
us on Varsity. So we hang together and we focus, set examples. We don’t go
around slapping each other, hitting each other, just great students trying to
focus on going to college or applying. I strongly believe that it takes one
person to make a difference in the life of others.
-Nathan, a 12
th
grade TRIO Upward Bound student

The TRIO Upward Bound staff members had various roles that they managed
in regards to their interaction with the students. They were academic advisors, role
models, advocates, disciplinarians and confidantes. They shared similar life
experiences which they disclosed to the students that they served.
Looking at the Upward Bound staff and seeing that they have overcome
similar barriers, its makes me believe that I can do it too. My advisors have
been helpful, they have stayed on top of my classes, helped me with college
applications and financial aid.
-Matthew, an 11
th
grade TRIO Upward Bound student

The TRIO Upward Bound program also advocated for the students in the
program and was surrogate parent to the students. They worked cooperatively with
the target school staff and ensured that the Upward Bound students were receiving
college information. The TRIO Upward Bound staff members contacted the target
high school counselors if the TRIO Upward Bound student needed to have a

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schedule changed, had an issue with a teacher or was having a difficult time at
school. They attended meetings with parents if they were requested to assist the
parents, and the TRIO Upward Bound student, in understanding what was happening
at the high school in regards to the student. They shared information with the school
staff about issues that affected their students.
The USC TRIO Upward Bound program is funded to service 150 students at
five target high schools (South, North, Edison, Washburn and Southwest). The one-
on-one interaction, the classroom presentations, and sharing of college preparation
information with the target high school staff benefited the high school counselors
and the TRIO Upward Bound program participants. This collaboration between the
program and the school was an effective way to ensure that students were receiving
correct information about the college process.
These programs are sometimes the only programs who give college going
information to these schools. If you take Upward Bound away then the
services will go away with them; the outreach services will be gone, what
will happen then? This program is equivalent to a parent for some of these
students. If you take that away, it is removing an important piece in their
development. It puts them at a further disadvantage.
-Ms. Godspeed, a TRIO Upward Bound Staff Member

The program provided students with individualized educational plans as an
academic map for their high school careers. TRIO Upward Bound became a compass
for the students as they navigated through the educational process. The expectations
and directions were clear, which allowed the students to have a better understanding
of what they needed to accomplish in order to attend college.

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It’s a program that puts you on the right track. The teachers [advisors] sit you
down and help you apply to college. They provide you with accurate
information to help you in the decision making process. They keeping it real,
if you have a 2.0 GPA don’t go applying to Harvard and stuff like that. I’m
on the right track right now.
-11
th
grade TRIO Upward Bound student

On another visit to campus during the fall semester, I observed a TRIO
Upward Bound Saturday Academy session. It was a warm, fall morning, and the
Upward Bound seniors were checking in with Mr. Smart, Mr. Barkely and Mr.
Santa-Domingo for their first senior seminar. The students were returning from an
absence from Upward Bound. They had been off since August, when the Upward
Bound summer program ended, and they were returning to their routine of coming to
campus on Saturdays. Mr. Santa-Domingo was in charge of the senior seminar; he
had been doing this workshop for a few years. He was double-checking the assigned
computer lab for the workshop, was on and off his cell phone getting the correct
information. “Okay guys, we’re going to be in Salvador Hall today”. A moan came
over the group because Salvador Hall is on the other side of campus. The seniors
had their backpacks over their shoulders and there was a sense of excitement in the
air. Many of the students hadn’t seen each other since the summer program ended,
so it was a reunion of sorts. The computer lab filled-up quickly. “Grab a packet, a
binder, and find a seat”, instructed Mr. Santa-Domingo. The students got situated in
their seats. “Don’t start working on the computers, until I give you the directions.
All eyes on me, ladies and gentlemen.” There were 35 chairs in the computer

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laboratory and a few students came into the room late. They had to get a chair from
an adjacent room. “Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen. I need your eyes up front.”
The power-point presentation was titled “Senior Seminar”. The a-g college
entrance requirements were being reviewed. All of the seniors were inputting their
academic history into the University of California and the California State University
websites. Each year they must match the classes on their high school transcripts with
the subject area on the application. The University of California (UC) and California
State University (CSU) college entrance requirements comprised the required classes
that all potential students had to meet.
The students must meet the fifteen-year long requirements: two (2) years of
history/social science, four (4) years of English, three (3) years of mathematics
(Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, etc.), two (2) years of a language other than
English, two (2) years of a laboratory science, one (1) year of visual/performing arts,
and one (1) year of electives. The November 30
th
deadline was stated over and over
as the voice of encouragement came from the front of the room. “People, we need to
have all our information done”, reminded Mr. Santa-Domingo. The goal was to have
the students’ information inputted before Thanksgiving so that they would avoid any
last minute procrastination.
The process was as follows: each student created an account on the UC and
CSU (the public university systems in California) websites which stores their
information. They entered their completed classes on to the website. The website

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generated an account with a username and password so the students were able to
access their account from home or any other computer.
The Senior Seminar was a series of workshops, on the USC campus, where
the TRIO Upward Bound staff worked with the high school seniors to complete
required applications for college, financial aid and scholarships. All of the seniors in
the program were required to apply for scholarships. The program staff verified the
completed applications. The TRIO Upward Bound students participated in the
summer program together, and this was the first time they had all been together since
the school year began. The students were familiar with each other. Many have been
in the program since their 9
th
grade year. It was time for the seniors to get the
college applications completed and begin the last year of their high school career.
This group of seniors was supportive of each other as they became reacquainted.
It’s a good program because they [Upward Bound] show you how college life
is, how you have to get up in the morning and go to your classes. You have
to study for the tests and everything. They show you how you’re going to be
living in college.
-Nathan, a 12
th
grade TRIO Upward Bound student

The TRIO Upward Bound program embraced students of all ethnic
backgrounds and helped them reach their academic potential. The encouragement
was always a constant and sometimes the results were not seen immediately.
However, when a change of behavior occurred it was noticed by others.
Sometimes I wouldn’t really care about school and I’d just be in class acting
up, misbehaving. I wouldn’t care. I would just talk out loud and then I
started going to Upward Bound. I became more mature, and now I don’t act

130
up in my classes anymore. Now, I see school as more important then when I
was growing up. I see other people walking around and they don’t have
anything and I don’t want to be like that. I want to have something in my
life. The exposure to college is important to many of the participants. If this
wouldn’t have happened to me, I don’t know how I would get on a college
campus and see what happens. I really want to go to college, so it kind of
gets me ready, I can see what goes on and kind of adapt and get used to
college life. Upward Bound teaches you a lot of things that they don’t teach
you in school, like how to apply for financial aid. The SAT test, I’m about to
take it in April. They showed me how to register for the test and provided me
with a fee waiver so I could take it for free. I think that they will pay for it
my first two times.
-11
th
grade TRIO Upward Bound student

The program supported the students in various ways. Once the student was
accepted into the Upward Bound program, there was no cost to the students or their
families. The staff assisted the students who were eligible to apply for fee waivers
and provided the deadlines for the college entrance exams (SAT, ACT, SAT II).
I think they teach you how to be responsible. We lived in the dorms during
the summer at USC for a few weeks and it shows you how college life was
like. I appreciate Upward Bound because I can get away from all the chaos
at my high school campus. It’s calm here at Upward Bound, its calm.
Everyday you walk into my high school you have to prepare yourself for
anything. Upward Bound has students with similar goals. I come to Upward
Bound with people who care about their future.
-William, a 10
th
grade TRIO Upward Bound student

The type of environment which was created had an enormous impact on the
expectations and behavior of the students. The smaller class sizes, individual
attention, the consistent meeting time and places created a program which was
conducive to learning. This structured environment (schedules of classes, tutoring,
workshops, activities and events) on a college campus offsets the challenges that

131
these students faced at their target high schools (loud classrooms, lack of discipline
from students and an unmotivated student body). The ability to care was reflected by
the staff in their interactions with the students and, in turn, the students dared to let
down their defenses to be vulnerable.
At my high school all the classes are loud; mostly gang bangers who are not
focused. Upward Bound is food for our brains. It’s a program that puts you
on the right track, its safe here at Upward Bound. The advisors, they sit you
down and help you apply to college. They let us know the grades that are
required to enter into the elite colleges and universities. They show us how
different colleges and universities can be a good fit for us as students. They
believe in us and in the fact that we can get to college. That was the reason
that I wanted to attend college. They instilled in me a belief that I could do it.
I liked Upward Bound a lot, it was helpful for me. I think everybody who
made it through Upward Bound it was helpful, they just didn’t use it.
-11
th
grade TRIO Upward Bound student

The benefits of the program were realized by the students when they went
back to their target high schools and were academically prepared. The students also
realized the importance of meeting deadlines and applying on time for admission and
scholarships.
The information is here, you got to come and get it. But if you come into
Upward Bound and you’re not really taking in the information, then why are
you here? For the past three years I came and I took all my information in,
getting ready for college, trying to pass all my classes, and I even came to the
summer program to get an extra five credits and pass all my classes. It seems
like I’m never out of school, maybe for two or three weeks. UB makes me
feel like school is my first priority. School is the only thing that you should
be thinking about. You can get to college and go beyond college. To go to a
four year college or university and come out and go to another school, it’s a
possibility. It changed my attitude.
-Nathan, a 12
th
grade TRIO Upward Bound student

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The students were exposed to the realities of life in their communities and the
possibility to make quick money selling drugs. These realities were not lost on the
students. The program encouraged students to ask questions, to have confidence and
prepared them with the necessary tools to cope and thrive in their home
communities.
First, my attitude was that there are people out there making $1000 per week.
They had never been to college. They don’t have any type of formal
education; they don’t even have a GED. Now you realize that it’s the real
world, the people making all the money on the street are going to get caught
up in that lifestyle one day. But if you go to school, nobody can take away
the knowledge that you have learned. Nobody can take that degree away
from you. You worked for that, you have earned your degree. You are
guaranteed a spot at some job as long as you have a degree. You have to pick
the right field; the field that you want to work in. Most of the students that
are in Upward Bound, they could be doing something else, but they want to
learn how to get to college.
-11
th
grade TRIO Upward Bound student

The life on the streets was a part of the students’ daily routine. They saw the
same people doing the same things as they went to and from school and TRIO
Upward Bound. They made a conscious choice to get on the bus and get to TRIO
Upward Bound because the choices that they were making would have an impact on
the rest of their lives.
On the streets, you don’t really have anybody going to college. No dude or
somebody on the street is going to look down to you and tell you to go to
college. They are going to look down to you and say go do something with
your life. Go sell this drug or that drug and make some money. It’s
important to have programs like these programs. It keeps kids away from
negativity and teaches them to focus more on school. Sometimes they may
come and not really pay attention, but one day they will realize how Upward
Bound has really helped them out.

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-William, a 10
th
grade TRIO Upward Bound student

After school sports, activities or events were limited for students at their
schools and in their communities. The sports practices, school sponsored activities
or events had to take place during daylight hours or at safe locations in order to
minimize the potential for a disturbance. Calvin, a 9
th
grade TRIO Upward Bound
student, discussed his experience at a varsity football game- “A girl and her mother
got into a fight; it was the craziest thing to see.” Many of the students had to ride the
bus, walk or get a ride home. If they didn’t have a ride, then they had to be
concerned with their safety. I asked this question to Erick, a 10
th
grade Upward
Bound student, “Are there a lot of activities to be involved in?” This is the response
I received:
No, there’s not that many. There’s sports, only sports. Its not like you are
going to make the team half of the time, because you live in an environment
where everybody wants to play sports, everybody wants to be Kobe,
everybody wants to be Warren Sapp, everybody wants to be some superstar,
so its like you fighting to play sports. But in Upward Bound you not fighting,
all you got to do is apply and write an essay to get in, even if it’s
overcrowded they’ll still going to let you in and try to help you out.

The students participated in the program activities during the Saturday
Academics and many students discussed the six-week summer program and how it
had positively impacted their growth (academic, cultural, and social).
It’s a pretty good experience. The summer program gave me a boost. It
taught me how to excel in the courses that I was about to take in the fall
semester. Living in the dorms was a great experience. I met different

134
students from different programs at USC. It helped me with a lot of things
that I don’t know, like Spanish.
-10
th
grade TRIO Upward Bound student

The students in the program had a good experience with the TRIO Upward
Bound program. Each student was administered a Satisfaction Survey. According to
the Satisfaction Survey administered to the students, the program was effectively
meeting its stated goals. Using a Likert Scale (1-5) with one being the lowest
(Strongly Disagree), and five being the highest (Strongly Agree), the students were
asked to rate the questions on the survey (see Appendix C) in regards to their
experience with the Upward Bound program. The students responded that they were
satisfied with the program services.
Conclusion
The TRIO Upward Bound program provided academic confidence to
African-American male students. This was the overriding theme articulated by the
students in this study. The opportunities for African-American male students in the
high schools, neighborhoods and communities were few and far between. There
were limited viable, positive options available to assist them in preparing for a
college or university education. The TRIO Upward Bound program provided an
outlet to these students. The comprehensive exposure to the college environment
during the summer program, the Saturday academies, the tutorial sessions, the
activities and events had created a community of learners with a focus and direction
for success.

135
The students in this study consciously chose to attend school six days a week
and during the summer because they believed it would be an opportunity for them to
prepare for a better future. They signed a contract to commit to a rigorous academic
program which provided information about preparing for college. The parents of the
students were supportive of the program by agreeing to participate in the mandatory
orientation meetings, signing a contact to encourage their children to attend TRIO
Upward Bound events and supporting the program’s goals and mission. The parents
supported the program’s mission for all students to be prepared to enter a college or
university after high school graduation. The TRIO Upward Bound program and the
students’ parents developed a trusting bond because the program was preparing the
participants for success in college and in life. The TRIO Upward Bound staff
members were advocates and resources for all of the students during the students
participation in the program. The students believed in the mission of the program,
and they viewed TRIO Upward Bound as a way for a better life through a college
education.
African-American male students in this study shared their life experiences
about how the TRIO Upward Bound program had effected them. They explained in
detail the struggles and challenges which they faced on a daily basis. The program
provided them with an opportunity to dream about having a better life. The thought
of not having the opportunity to be a part of the TRIO Upward Bound program
solicited this response from William, a 10
th
grade TRIO Upward Bound student, as

136
he leaned back into chair. He paused for a brief moment to gather his thoughts.
William had been in the program since his freshmen year in high school and had
been a dedicated student ever since he joined TRIO Upward Bound. “Upward
Bound is food for our brains, eliminating Upward Bound is just keeping the youth
out of corporate offices, shutting us down.” His perspective is profound. This
sentiment echoes throughout the program.

“Why would you eliminate Upward Bound, there’s a whole bunch of other
stuff you could eliminate, instead of programs dealing with minority kids, or
kids who are trying to get to college. To pick this program, it’s not a smart
thing to do. You’ll find more people ending up dead of violence, kids would
probably do something else if they didn’t have this program.”
-William, a 10
th
grade TRIO Upward Bound student

The TRIO Upward Bound program immerses students in an atmosphere that
is dedicated to learning; learning about the process of preparing for college. The
value of the program to African-American male students in this study was hope,
opportunity and trust. TRIO Upward Bound was their safety net. It caught them
when they fell, helped them back up, dusted them off and taught them to try again.

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CHAPTER 5
Summary and Conclusion
Overview
Frederick Douglass, the great African-American abolitionist once stated that
without struggle, there is no progress. These words still ring true today in regards to
the academic experience of African-American males in California’s public high
schools.
The struggle today is multifaceted; preparing for college and receiving a high
school diploma is a major challenge according to the percentage of high school
dropouts (53 percent) being reported in Los Angeles California.
The TRIO Upward Bound program had been labeled “ineffective” by
Mathematica Policy Inc. in its latest follow-up evaluation of the programs dated
2004. The TRIO Upward Bound programs have assisted thousands of low-income
and potential first-generation college students throughout their 41 year history. The
federally funded TRIO Upward Bound programs have been scrutinized due to this
evaluation, and a national debate has begun to determine the value and benefit of
these programs.
During the 2005-2006 academic school year, I interviewed twenty (20)
African-American male high school students individually, and as a group, who were
participating in the TRIO Upward Bound program at the University of Southern
California (USC). I observed them as they participated in the TRIO Upward Bound
Saturday Academies; in the classroom, in the computer laboratory, during workshops

138
(senior seminar, college application workshops, scholarship workshops, cultural
exposure-AIDS Walk), in tutoring sessions, and during breaks from class or relaxing
between classes.
The African-American male students in this study shared similar experiences
in regards to their exposure to gangs and the impact of gangs on their high school
experience. These experiences included the minimal positive peer pressure, and the
negative peer pressure, which saturated the school sites and their ability to persevere
as they set their goals for college and overcame these challenging environments at
their respective high schools. TRIO Upward Bound was their oasis in their
educational journey- their refuge, their haven. In this chapter, I review previous
educational theories, review the data, analyze the data against the current literature
and present suggestions for future research.
The purpose of this dissertation was to examine the impact of a TRIO
Upward Bound program on the academic achievement of African-American male
students. The study sample was twenty participants (N= 20) who participated in the
Saturday Academies with the USC TRIO Upward Bound program during the fall and
spring semesters. I obtained the data for the study through individual interviews
with twenty participants, and five focus groups of two to six participants of TRIO
Upward Bound students and staff members. I also observed eight (8) Saturday
Academies on the USC University Park campus which involved senior workshops,
general class sessions, group meetings, activities and events.

139
This study outlined the life experiences of a select group of students of color.
These students joined the program voluntarily. The TRIO Upward Bound staff
conducted classroom presentations at the target high schools to solicit eligible
students to participate in the program. The participants completed a general
application which included contact information, a questionnaire regarding their
interest in attending college, verified their household income (there is an eligibility
requirement; see Appendix E) and were interviewed by the TRIO Upward Bound
staff before they were accepted into the program. In Chapter 4, I presented data in
the words of the students explaining the challenges and obstacles which they must
overcome in order to pursue a college education. Chapter 4 also provided a deeper
understanding of the sequence of events which must align for African-American
male students to achieve their goal of preparing for a higher education.
This study accomplished three goals. First, it provided insight into the life
experiences and struggles of African-American male high school students attending
specific high schools located in South Central Los Angeles; as well as the non-
academic external variables which played a major role in the success or failure of
these students. Second, it highlighted the self-efficacy of these students: their belief
that they will be successful and their self determination to locate the limited
environmental resources available to them in order to pursue their academic goals.
Third, the study revealed how the students in TRIO Upward Bound actively sought

140
and desired a structured environment and learning community which enhanced and
supported their participation and engagement in school.
Reviewing the Literature
In Chapter 2, I reviewed the literature on factors which affected the academic
achievement of historically underrepresented students, specifically African-
American male students. I first discussed the impact of socio-economic status (SES)
on the academic achievement of low-income students. This discussion was followed
by an examination of the non-academic external variables which affect the
educational experience of African-American male students, and concluded with the
role of academic intervention programs and to what extent these programs were
effective. The study included two research questions:
a. How does the acculturation and assimilation process affect the
academic achievement of African-American male students in high
school; what factors contribute to their academic achievement?
b. How does participation in the TRIO Upward Bound program affect
academic achievement and perception for success of African-
American male students in preparing for higher education?
Chapter 2 also outlined the disproportionate drop-out rates for historically
underrepresented students. Today, we still struggle with the same issues which were
prevalent 15 years ago. “African-American and Hispanic high school students
historically drop-out of school at higher rates than their Caucasian peers do and are

141
less likely to return to complete graduation requirements within four years” (Ogle &
Alsalam, 1990; Snyder & Hoffman, 1990). The enrollment of African-American
males at the college and university level has been effected by high drop-out rates in
high school and by Proposition 209 (see Definition of Terms in Chapter 1)- the anti-
affirmative action legislation passed in the State of California in 1996.
The requirements to attend a college or university have become increasing
stringent. Meeting the minimum University of California/California State University
(UC/CSU) a-g college entrance requirements does not guarantee admission to
potential applicants (Appendix H). The minimal college information being
disseminated at the target high schools has an ongoing impact on students who have
aspirations to attend a college or university. These students’ chances of being
eligible for admission decline if they do not begin to take the college preparation
courses required for admission before entering the 10
th
grade. The students’ ability
to be competitive in the admissions process is severely effected due to the deficient
dissemination of college information in a timely manner.
The college entrance requirements are very specific in regards to the expected
academic rigor from potential students. These requirements include, but are not
limited to, grade point average, meeting the academic course requirements, enrolling
in Honors and Advanced Placement courses, taking the appropriate college entrance
tests (SAT, SAT II, ACT) and being involved in extracurricular activities on and off
campus (Appendix H). Students who aspire to attend a college or university should

142
be familiar with the University of California/California State University (UC/CSU)
a-g requirements prior to entering high school. This information should be made
available as soon as possible and at the latest during the 9
th
and 10
th
grades.
Public colleges and universities are increasing their admissions requirements
due to the amount of students who are applying each year. Colleges are also
expecting students to exceed the recommended minimum requirements. The
University of California system specifically states the minimum requirements and
emphasizes the recommended requirements for admissions. The recommended
requirements include additional years in laboratory science, languages other than
English, and mathematics. Historically underrepresented students are at a
disadvantage in the college going process without mass distribution of the college
and university entrance requirements. Potential first-generation college students are
not familiar with the college admissions process as compared to students who have
had parents who attended college. By not providing adequate information to all
students, the high schools are continuing a status quo environment to potential first-
generation students and perpetuating the problem. Anthropologist John Ogbu would
contend that this situation reinforces a caste-like system for many “involuntary
minorities” in America. Ogbu defines “involuntary minorities” as minority groups in
a country, in this case the United States of America, who were brought to that
specific country by force and not by choice. The experience of these “involuntary
minority” groups has been inconsistent with the experience of other minority groups

143
who came to this county voluntarily. They have not received equal treatment and
they do not believe that their hard work will be rewarded. African-American’s fit
this description according to Ogbu’s definition.
Low-income, first-generation African-Americans live in communities which
lack educational and economic resources; often referred to as ghettos. They must
contend with inadequate housing and limited available resources in their
communities. These non-academic factors affect the life experiences of African-
American male students. They must attempt to prepare themselves for college and
resist these temptations and distractions. The accumulation of these factors impacts
the extent to which African-American males are actually receiving the necessary
college information to be accepted to a four-year college or university.
Many African-American male students begin their college experience at the
community college level due to the lack of information about the academic
requirements to attend a four-year college or university. California community
colleges require that students meet the following requirements: Students must be 18
years of age or show an ability to benefit. The limited access to college information
has placed these students at a disadvantage.
California has three public systems of higher education; see table below.

144
Table 3: Profile of Higher Education Systems in California
Higher Education Systems
in the State of CA
Number of Colleges Funding

California Community
Colleges System (CCC)
109 colleges; 72 districts $4,559
California State University
System (CSU)
23 colleges $10,623
University of California
System (UC)
10 colleges $19,883
Source: Community College League of California, FAST FACTS, 2006
The California Community Colleges are geared towards all high school
graduates, or anyone 18 years or older who can show an ability to benefit. The
ability to benefit is defined by a test which is administered at the local Community
Colleges which the students must pass. The CSU (California State University)
system caters to the top third of the high school graduating classes each year. There
are currently 23 CSU campuses throughout the state of California. The UC
(University of California) system is the most selective of the higher education
institutions in California; with an average grade point average for fall 2006 incoming
freshman ranging from 3.5 GPA to 4.17 GPA (see Table 4 below). There are 10 UC
campuses in California
(http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/undergraduate.html).

145
Table 4: U of California Admissions Profile for Incoming Freshmen 2006

Campus Mean Grade Point Average (GPA)
Berkeley 4.17
Davis 3.84
Irvine 3.89
Merced 3.58
Los Angeles 4.12
Riverside 3.59
San Diego 4.04
Santa Barbara 3.90
Santa Cruz 3.67

Obtaining a higher education has become increasingly difficult. All students
who aspire to attend a college or university in the state of California must first meet
the high school graduation requirements of their school district. They must also pass
the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE), and finally meet the University of
California/California State University (UC/CSU) a-g college entrance requirements
(see Appendix H) with a grade of “C” or better in each of the courses. They must
meet all these requirements to be eligible to apply to college. This is only the
process which they must follow in order to have their college applications reviewed.
They are not guaranteed to be accepted. Once admitted, they must also deal with
enormous peer pressure to conform to their school environments. The college
environment is very different from their high school environments. The influence of
gangs is an everyday occurrence in their lives; it is prevalent. Gangs are in their
communities, in their neighborhoods and in their high schools. In Los Angeles
County, 1,300 gangs are active in the county with an estimated membership of

146
96,000 teens and young adults; 587 gang-related deaths were reported in 2001,
following a sharp upswing in gang violence starting in 2000 (Tale of Two Cities,
2003).
The TRIO Upward Bound program services a limited area with well-defined
target schools. The university applied for a federal TRIO Upward Bound grant and
was awarded funding to service high school students in South Central Los Angeles.
The program can only serve a limited number of students, but the gangs seem ever
ready to accept as many applicants as possible.
External Variables/Factors
The USC TRIO Upward Bound program services target high schools
(Southwest, South, North, Edison, and Washburn High School) located in South
Central Los Angeles which are included in the Los Angeles Unified School District.
South High School lost their accreditation during the 2004-2005 year (they have
since regained their accreditation) and the other high schools are being monitored by
the state because of low academic performance scores on state standardized tests (see
Definition of Terms in Chapter 1).
The environment for the students at the school sites is effected by many
outside factors. The Los Angeles Times covered a story about racial conflict in Los
Angeles High Schools. “Race was one factor, but roots of tension run deeper than
skin and wider than school”, stated an article from the Los Angeles Times, dated
July 6, 2006. What was reported by the newspaper was different then what was

147
experience by the students. The student responses support Swail 2002, in Chapter 2
of my literature review. Swail states the following:
Students attending school in low-income areas are more likely to be taught
by teachers who lack adequate teaching credentials or preparation; are less
likely to have access to quality technology and other innovative pedagogical
resources; and are more likely to attend facilities that are either overcrowded,
in disrepair, or simply unsafe because of acts of racism and violence (2002).

The African-American male students in this study shared these experiences. Pete, a
10
th
grade African-American male TRIO Upward Bound participant, elaborated on
the perceived riots at their schools.
There weren’t really any race riots at our school. It was just a few
knuckleheads who got into a fight. The newspaper made it seem a lot worse
then it really was. It was weird because people started fighting because they
thought they had to choose sides [between African-Americans and Latinos].

The existing external variables affect the students. “African-American
students contend with social phenomena such as language stigmas, racism,
discrimination, sexism, internalized underachievement, and political befuddlement”
(Crooker, 1999; Graham & Taylor, 2002; Ogbu, 1992; Steele, 1997). The resources
available to African-American male students are scarce. Opportunities are non-
existent to many of the students at the school sites. This was best summed up by
Nathan, a 12
th
grade African-American male student in the TRIO Upward Bound
program:
Most of the kids I used to hang around would say, ‘Dang how come you have
a 2.0 GPA, that’s a good GPA’. I would be like, ‘what!’; that’s like average,
and then they would show me their report card and its all F’s. If you are

148
going to come to school everyday and get all F’s, something is wrong; you
might as well stay home.

The value of education is not being effectively articulated at the target school
sites. The test scores at the target schools are below the state average for passing the
CAHSEE. The SAT scores are below the state averages, and the percentage of
students passing the Advanced Placement (AP) exams with a score of 3 or above is
less than other schools in the county and state;
Table 8: Percentage of Advanced Placement Tests with a Score of “3” or Above
Name of Target School 2003-2004 % AP scores w/ score of 3 or
higher
South High School 15.1
North High School 19.7
Washburn High School 37.3
Edison High School 28.0
Southwest High School 21.1
State of California 57.5
Los Angeles Unified School
District
46.7
Source: California Department of Education (CDE) Dataquest, 2006

The bold reality of a life without an education is a life without many options.
The consequences are not realized until later in life when an individual attempts to
gain employment. The school environments are very different depending upon the
socio-economic levels of the communities. There are different expectations for the
type of learning which will occur and is expected in low-income areas, and the
resources which are made available depend upon the median household income in
the community. “Our education system does not afford children from low-income

149
and racial-ethnic minority backgrounds the same educational opportunities, on
average, as middle-class income, non-minority children.” (Kozol, 1991; Ogbu, 1978,
1987). TRIO Upward Bound staff member Marilyn Godspeed explains, “I think that
certain schools, certain districts, are expected to do well. I feel that the schools that
we work in don’t have the resources; the training. There’s no way that they can do as
well.” TRIO Upward Bound Staff member Lance Barkley elaborates, “I work at
three schools that are going through a tough time right now. Some potentially could
lose their accreditation and are having difficulty meeting the California standards.”
The school sites are evaluated each year by the state based upon a standardized test
administered to the students. The standardized test results are utilized to gauge
school improvement. Each school has a target score which they attempt to meet.
These scores are based upon the previous year’s score and a target score is set (see
Definition of Terms in Chapter 1).
Societal Perception
Public schools have been legally integrated (since 1954 as a result of the
1954 Brown v. Board of Education Topeka, Kansas ruling by the U.S. Supreme
Court), but segregation in Los Angeles is becoming more common place. The city
of Los Angeles has the second highest “segregation rate” of all California cities in
terms of compact racial clusters. The city’s Black-White segregation score is .74,
meaning that 74 percent of African-Americans would have to move in order to
achieve a full integration with their White counterparts (The State of Black Los

150
Angeles, 2005). This disturbing trend is coupled with the fact that 23 percent of
households in Los Angeles earn less than $20,000 annually. These factors affect the
academic achievement of all the students who live in these areas. “The poverty that
they are facing comes with them into the school. They have a lot more negative
issues that they are facing outside of the school” (TRIO UB Staff Member Lance
Barkley).
Poverty restricts students in their exposure to other communities and areas in
which they are not familiar with or comfortable. “When you live in a community
like this [South Central Los Angeles], you live in a bubble….I didn’t go to the beach
until I was in my twenties” (TRIO UB Staff Member Marilyn Godspeed).
Students tend not to leave their comfort areas, and they have limited exposure
to other areas which have different characteristics from their own community. The
community plays a major role in the academic achievement of the students who
attend the target schools sites. Caldas and Bankston (1997) demonstrated how the
socio-economic status (SES) of the student body is almost as strong a predictor of
academic achievement as an individual’s own family’s socio-economic status (SES).
The environment has a profound affect on student success with the layers of
obstacles and difficult choices students are required to make. “In academic settings,
minority students have been found to fare worse than majority counterparts,
experiencing a higher level of overall stress and evidencing higher school failure and
drop-out rates.” (Chavez et al., 1994; Harrison et al., 1990; Oakland, 1992). The

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impact of poverty in Los Angeles for minority students is substantial. It affects their
home environment and where their families are able to afford to live. It affects the
resources available at the schools that they attend. It affects the quality of education
which they receive due to inexperienced teachers and high staff turnover. It affects
self-esteem and how they are viewed by their peers. The target schools in this study
were overrepresented in the percentage of students who participated in the Federal
Free or Reduced Lunch Meal Program as compared to the state of California; with
all but one of the schools exceeding the average (Table 5).
Table 5: Percentage of Students Participating in the Free or Reduced Meal
Program

Name of Target School % of Students in Free/Reduced Meal
Programs
South High School 66.8
North High School 62.8
Washburn High School 76.3
Edison High School 78.8
Southwest High School 35.6
State of California 49.0
Los Angeles Unified School District 62.2
Source: California Department of Education (CDE) Dataquest, 2006

All of the students I interviewed were aware of the program. Some of the
African-American male students in the study were eligible for free or reduced lunch
but chose not to participate. They received a lunch ticket or a lunch card but
consciously decided not to use it. This is a stigma for students. They do not want to
be perceived as being poor.

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The TRIO Upward Bound program offsets these experiences by exposing
students to a university campus, supplemental instruction, tutoring, cultural
awareness, college visits, and learning communities composed of students with the
common interest of attending a college or university. It assists these students as they
breakdown stereotypes in order to gain the academic confidence witnessed when
they are placed in a supportive environment. “The education system in the United
States has historically been utilized to transmit and maintain the culture of this
country, White middle-class values (language, diet, hygiene, dress, basic skills, land
use, community settlement, recreation, and other activities)” (Arensberg & Niehoff,
1971).
The literature repeatedly addresses the impact of poverty on the academic
achievement of students. Households with more than one income will have more
disposable income available to them and are therefore less likely to be in poverty.
The make-up of the family unit is also a factor. A single family home tends to have
an income which is less then a home with two parents who are working.
Differences among school districts seem to have been related mainly to the
fact that some districts had schools containing larger percentages of single-
parent families, which tend to be low-income schools. Districts with a
disproportionate number of schools with a high concentration of students
from single-parent families fare worse academically than other districts
(Caldas & Bankston, 1999).

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Access and Equity Programs
The TRIO Upward Bound program at USC has students with similar
backgrounds both socio-economically and culturally. The demographic composition
of the target schools is mainly African-American and Latino. The students have
been attending schools together in Los Angeles and share the communities in which
they live. Once they attend a college or university, the demographics of the campus
are different then their high schools. The comfort levels and adjustment periods are
affected as students’ transition from high school to college. The exposure to
different students from various backgrounds, other then their own, is a part of that
transition process. The students are not familiar with the environment and have to
find a way to become connected to the college or university. TRIO Upward Bound
provides a comfort level for students through the program’s weekly contacts and the
proactive staff who are available to support the students.
The six-week summer residential program is a comprehensive program which
familiarizes the students with each other, provides an intensive curriculum and
structure for the students, and exposes students to a college or university campus
(Appendix I). This is not always the case when students transition to college and
become freshmen. Garcia and Miller state that there are several reasons why
academic and other needs of Latino and of other underrepresented minority students
cannot be met fully through programs targeted to them.
A common example may be a need to increase academic engagement at a
state university in which a high percentage of students are commuters who

154
work many hours each week at jobs off campus. It may also be the case that
this institution has a substantial percentage of students that begins its
freshmen year with significant gaps in academic preparation for college, such
as in mathematics (2003).

Academic support programs such as TRIO Upward Bound have historically
been developed to provide intensive additional support- academic, cultural and social
exposure to the students in the program.
The individualized attention which each student received provided answers to
many of the questions of historically underrepresented students. The information
which was disseminated by the program assisted students as they prepared their
educational goals. College entrance requirements, standardized test preparation and
fee waivers, numerous topical workshops such as time management, study skills,
note taking, critical thinking and financial aid information were provided to students.
This information helped to offset the workload of the high school counselors.
“Nationally, California has the highest school counselor per pupil ratio, the highest
support staff per pupil ratio, and the highest librarian per pupil ratio; the school
counselor statewide ratio is 954 to 1 compared to the recommended ratio of 250 to
1.” (Children’s Advocacy Institute, 2005).
During the spring semester of the 8
th
grade, high school counselors visit the
junior high schools to program the classes for the incoming 9
th
grade students. Every
student who enters high school should have a post-high school goal defined before

155
they register for their classes. This post-high school goal assists the counselors as
they begin to program the courses for the incoming students.
Parents play a pivotal role in the future of their children. The parents are role
models for their children and have an impact on their decisions. “The discussion of
post-high school plans, considered to be a measure of parents aspirations and
expectations that their child will graduate from high school, was significant for
White and middle-income students, but not for traditionally at-risk students (Black,
Hispanic, and low-income students)” (Desimone, 1999).
Limitations
The number of interviews for this study was appropriate (N = 20) in regards
to the number of African-American male students participating in the TRIO Upward
Bound program (N = 27). However, the other non-TRIO Upward Bound African-
American males at the target schools should be studied as to why they chose not to
participate in TRIO Upward Bound, or any other pre-college preparation program.
The disproportionate number of African-American males who are leaving high
school early, and not participating in school, should also be examined. The students
who chose to participate in the TRIO Upward Bound program had to seek out the
outside assistance in order to become aware of these opportunities.
The dissemination of college preparation information should be reviewed to
identify effective and meaningful ways to distribute this information- which can aid
in the prevention of disengagement in school and the drop-out crisis. The TRIO

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Upward Bound program creates a learning community for the students. The study of
different types of learning communities will be beneficial when comparing programs
with residential components to those with non-residential components. All of the
participants in the study discussed the impact of the residential component and their
experience of staying on a college campus during the summer. The participants
developed meaningful relationships with other students, and the faculty and staff of
the TRIO Upward Bound program during the residential component.
The study took place on the USC UPC campus during the Saturday
Academies. The environment was very different at USC then at the target high
schools in the study, according to the students. The target schools were very chaotic
at times, compared to the welcoming environment at USC. In my opinion, the
limitation of not being physically on the high school campus played a minimal role.
The students were in a safe environment at USC and articulated to me the situations
that they face on an everyday basis. They were able to provide me with an accurate
depiction of the types of situations that they must face at their high schools.
Themes
My intention for writing this text was to discuss the effects of the TRIO
Upward Bound program on the academic achievement of African-American male
students. The impact of the program was presented in the words of the male students
who participated in the program and the staff members who worked closely with
them.

157
My first research question asked how the acculturation and assimilation
process affects the academic achievement of African-American male high school
students. Assimilation is defined as the ability to take in, and incorporate as one’s
own, the traits from distinct cultural groups without necessarily maintaining your
own culture. Acculturation is the process of adopting the cultural traits of another
group, especially the dominant group, but maintaining your own culture.
The academic achievement of the African-American males in this study was
positively effected by the students’ ability to acculturate into believing in the value
of a higher education. The students have a distinct culture which is different from
mainstream society. They view situations differently because of their constant
exposure to it external threats; such as gang violence, poverty, and a distinct school
culture which merges those two entities as they trudge forward towards college. My
second research question was, how does participation in the TRIO Upward Bound
program affect the academic achievement and perception for success of African-
American male students in preparing for higher education? The program affects
students in three ways:
A. The program provides students with college information and assists
the participants with an Individualized Educational Plan (IEP). The
Individualized Educational Plan consists of the University of
California/California State University (UC/CSU) a-g college entrance
requirements. These requirements are the minimum course completion

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pattern which students must complete in order to become eligible as a
first-time freshman when they apply for admission.
The program provides the students with the college application
deadlines and requires that all seniors attend the Senior Seminars. These
Senior Seminars consist of a weekly workshop series, during the fall
semester, for the TRIO Upward Bound students to prepare their college
applications. The students set up an electronic online account with the
University of California, the California State University and any other
college they are interested in sending a college admissions application.
The students then input their high school courses into the online account
and the classes are verified electronically to match the verified course list.
All college preparation courses must be approved and verified that
they are on the UC/CSU a-g course requirements listing (this list is
updated each year by each respective high school). All TRIO Upward
Bound seniors in the program are also required to apply for financial aid
and scholarships. These financial aid and scholarship deadlines are
provided to the students along with the website addresses to research
scholarship opportunities. During the Senior Seminar workshop series,
the seniors participate in a college essay writing workshop; preparing to
submit their college essays along with their college applications.

159
B. The program advocates for the students and is a support network by
thoroughly explaining the college process to students and parents during
two mandatory orientations (fall and summer). The program staff meets
with target school counselors on behalf of students and reviews students’
educational plans to verify that the students are taking the correct college
preparation courses. The program staff meet with the students on a
weekly basis to monitor their academic progress.
C. The Upward Bound program creates an environment which is
conducive to learning by having a structured learning environment
(Saturday Academies, Summer Program, Tutoring, and Advisement), by
identifying potential program participants through the application and
interview process and selecting the students who are interested in
preparing themselves for success in high school and getting to college.
The program provides structured, specific classes and workshops
which are practical for students (standardized test preparation workshops;
SAT, CAHSEE, college application workshops, financial aid workshops,
essay writing workshops). The program supports the students learning by
providing supplemental instruction and classes taught by teachers from
the local high schools, as well as college professors and university
students. The program develops extracurricular activities which are
integrated into the program’s mission (preparing students for college),

160
i.e., college tours, cultural exposure and visits, developing and building
learning communities during the fall Saturday Academies and Summer
Program.
I outlined three key themes that emerged from the data during my interviews,
observations and focus groups. The three conceptual categories were: Environmental
Barriers to Achievement, Individual Determination and Positive Environmental
Factors to Learning.
Environmental Barriers to Achievement
The notion of peer pressure affects most students once they begin high
school. The severity of what types of peer pressure presents one of the main
differences between African-American male high school students in South Central
Los Angeles who participated in this study with other high school students across
this country. The influence and visible presence of gangs in the community, and at
the high schools, has a major impact on the experience of African-American male
high school students. Students in this study were all consistently approached and
asked if they belonged to a gang. All of the students in the study experienced this
question, and how the answer to this question can have never ending consequences.
Intimidation, physical harm or even deaths were the results from answering this
question according to the participants in the study. Academic achievement is
effected if you are constantly worried about meeting your basic needs. According to
Maslow, your basic needs (food, security, warmth, etc) are the elements which are

161
most important for humans. If the basic needs are not met, then it creates a challenge
for anyone to meet higher needs, like academic achievement in school and preparing
for a college education. The presence of gangs was commonplace according to the
students. Many students know gang members because they grew up together in the
same community and attended the same schools. They have constant interaction
with their classmates in and outside of school, and other students have relatives who
are associated with gangs. The students in the study were actively involved in
preparing for college. Many of the friends or acquaintances, who they knew from
their community, understood that they were trying to make a better life for
themselves and would leave them alone. This wasn’t always the case, but one
student had a profound statement. He stated that if you are active in church, and a
true believer, then the gang bangers would leave you alone. He would ask them,
“Why don’t you come to church with me?” There response would always be no, but
they would always ask him to do something for them. “Will you pray for me,
though?” “Yes, I’ll pray for you”, and he would pray for them.
Individual Determination
High schools with huge drop-out rates, gang influence and underperforming
schools are where these students receive their education. They have numerous
opportunities to become involved in activities which would negatively effect their
lives (gangs, drugs, violence and peer pressure) but they choose to participate in a
program which will help them prepare for college. These students display a great

162
deal of self-efficacy; their beliefs about their capabilities to produce effects. They
want something better for themselves and are attempting to overcome the negative
influences which they come into contact with on a daily basis.
The pursuit of any goal takes effort and sacrifice on the part of the individual
who attempting to do something different. A goal is a well-defined outcome of an
activity. In the case of African-American male high school students in the TRIO
Upward Bound program, that goal is college. To reach that stated goal, these
students must first identify how they plan on reaching that goal. College and
universities require students to meet admissions standards which are set by each
individual institution. To be considered for admission, a student must be a good
student, maintain a high grade point average, take college preparation classes in high
school, and apply to the college or university on time. The cost of attending college
is becoming more expensive each year. The tuition, fees, books, and room and board
are some of the costs involved in attending college. The decision of which college to
attend, once the student is accepted, is based upon the exposure to the college
campus. Where do students find the answers to many of these questions? The
students in the study found those answers from the TRIO Upward Bound program.
They did not find them from the counselors or teachers at their schools. The schools
in the study are in low-income areas, the teachers are inexperienced, the resources
are limited, and the daily stressors are significant. All of these variables are
supported by the literature. The words of the African-American male students in this

163
study confirm that in order to be prepared and competitive in the college application
process, you must find an outside resource to assist you with the college preparation
process (college applications, financial aid applications, application deadlines, etc.).
These students could not afford to pay for these services. These services were
provided to all participants at no cost. The students were required to meet the
eligibility requirements (see Appendix H) and apply.
Positive Environmental Factors to Learning
Each theme that emerged from the data was integrated together to create the
story of how African-American male students navigate the educational system. The
implications of gangs and peer pressure, the ability to believe in a better way of life
and the fortitude to seek and locate the necessary resources to accomplish that goal is
the formula for these students’ success.
The TRIO Upward Bound program provides students with multiple activities and
experiences for the students to become engaged. The USC TRIO Upward Bound
program has two components: A 30-week academic support program that meets on
Saturdays at the USC University Park campus and a summer commuter and
residential program. Through its summer residential component, TRIO Upward
Bound provides the following:
• Needs assessment
• Academic instruction
• Tutoring in English, reading, writing, mathematics and laboratory sciences

164
• Culturally enhancing and recreational programs
• College guidance
• Career and personal development
The six-week summer residential component provides a structured learning
environment for the duration of the program. The participants have a consistent
daily schedule which includes meals, academic classes, recreational activities, study
hall/tutoring and free time. The program participants are required to attend an
orientation session which outlines the protocol and procedures for the summer
program. A parent must attend with each participant and sign a contract agreeing to
the conditions. The Upward Bound staff assigns students to their dormitory rooms
(separating the boys and girls) and takes on the en loco parenteis while the students
are with the program. The structure of the program aligns with Astin’s theory on
engagement and Tinto’s learning community model.
Discussion
What is the impact of a TRIO Upward Bound program on the academic
achievement of African-American male high school students? The impact is infinite.
The participants in the study were asked to answer questions about their experience
in the TRIO Upward Bound program at USC. Their responses were astounding.
The TRIO Upward Bound program provided these African-American males with a
safe haven to pursue their goal of attending college. They all stated, “I want to go to
college”, as the reason that they applied and were accepted into the program. “It’s

165
calm here”, was their response to what it is like to participate in the TRIO Upward
Bound program. They discussed how they dealt with the question, “Where you
from?” They made it a priority to locate resources such as TRIO Upward Bound to
assist them in their preparation for college.
In Chapter 2 of my literature review, the external variables which affected
academic achievement were addressed. These external variables were prevalent in
this study. The environments were challenging for the students. They had to
resolve the issues of peer pressure; specifically the issue of gangs and how they
impact their lives. They wanted to create an opportunity for themselves by attending
college. They needed a vehicle to assist them in that pursuit and they found the pre-
college program, TRIO Upward Bound. It exposed them to many things that they
had never experienced before, a college campus, a calm environment, a group of
like-minded students who also wanted to attend college and looked like them. TRIO
Upward Bound provided resources (tutoring, supplemental instruction, college
advisement, test preparation and exposure to career information). Marilyn Godspeed
states, “We’re looking at the a-g. We get attached to the kids; they get attached to
us. I think that the most important thing that we do is create an educational circle,
with the parents, the students, and the TRIO Upward Bound staff to do our part to
support the students. We are that link that kind of closes the circle.” Marilyn, an
Upward Bound advisor, goes on to add that, “We provide them with supplemental

166
academic instruction. More affluent areas would pay for their kids to attend a
program like this.”
Large urban high schools face numerous issues. The following eight
interconnected complexities are:
1. Gangs- the presence of gangs in the communities, at the school sites,
within the peer and family units.
2. Violence- the fear of potential violence at the school locations, in
transit from home to school and within the community.
3. Drugs- the availability of drugs for students in their community, at
school and the lack of knowledge regarding the affects of drug use.
4. Apathetic students- disengaged students at the school sites.
5. Lack of dissemination of college preparation information- minimal
college information consistently disseminated at the school sites to all
students at all grade levels; specifically the 9
th
and 10
th
grade levels.
6. Lack of funding- inadequate facilities coupled with a lack of
resources (textbooks, study skills, time-management skills, note-
taking skills, and usable technology)
7. Inexperienced teachers- teachers with minimal teaching experience,
interns and teachers-in-training working at the target schools.

167
8. Lack of parental support- lack of participation and awareness from the
parents regarding their students’ school experience due to numerous
factors.
The situation at the schools seems insurmountable at times due to the
negative exposure that is disseminated to the general public on the television news.
Many low-income, first-generation students do not know the necessary steps to begin
to prepare for a college education. Their parents never attended college, and the idea
of attending college is often discouraged due to the cost of attending or the feeling
that they are not college material. Programs like TRIO Upward Bound provide
students with an opportunity to be exposed to something new and different. The
program becomes a parental figure. TRIO Upward Bound staff member Lance
Barkley explains, “The academic advisor, I call them the advocate. The advisor goes
to the school in place of the parent; they talk to the counselors because they know
what the students need in order to be eligible to enter college. They are what holds
the kids together.”
The goal of TRIO Upward Bound is to prepare low-income, potential first-
generation students for college success. The “ineffective” conclusion about TRIO
Upward Bound does not match some of the findings from the Mathematic Policy
Research Inc. study. Tierney & Jun (2001) concluded that a program with “cultural
integrity” has significant implications for students who are most “at-risk.” The
concept of cultural integrity is two-fold, and holds two central ideas about education.

168
First, education in culture is not a simple process of teaching neutral facts and figures
to a faceless population; it is an interactive process of individual identity
development and the creation of community (Tierney & Jun, 2001). This first
concept aligns with the implementation of the TRIO Upward Bound program at
USC. The students are increasing their awareness about college going information
and the necessary skills which they must develop in order to receive the “cultural
capital” necessary for success.
The notion of cultural capital, according to Bourdieu (1977a), is based on the
assumption that cultural knowledge, skills, and abilities are possessed and
often inherited by certain groups in society. Distinctive cultural knowledge is
transmitted through the families of each social class. As a consequence,
children of upper-class families inherit substantially different skills, abilities
manners, styles of interaction, and facility with language (Bourdieu, 1977b).
Cultural capital then refers to the sets of linguistic and cultural competencies
individuals inherit because of their class, racial and gender identities.
(Tierney & Jun, 2001)

The second idea encompasses how students, teachers, families and
administrators work together. The TRIO Upward Bound program works together
with the entire constituency groups (students, families, teachers and administrators)
to develop the cultural capital of the students in the program. It has an impact on all
the students in the program, not just those with lower educational expectations.
Cultural integrity is defined as:
…those programs teaching strategies that call upon students’ racial and
ethnic backgrounds in a positive manner in development of their pedagogies
and learning activities. Cultural integrity removes the problem from the child
and looks on the child’s background neither as neutral nor a negative factor
for learning. Instead, the adolescent’s cultural background is a critical

169
ingredient for acquiring cultural capital and achieving success” (Tierney &
Jun, 2001).

The standardized test scores (CAHSEE, SAT, AP) at the target school sites
are lower then the rest of the state of California for the majority of the students who
attend the target high schools.
Table 6: Percentage of Test Takers Passing the California High School Exit
Exam (CAHSEE) in 2004

Name of Target School % of test takers who
passed English/Language
Arts
% of test takers who
passed Mathematics
South H.S. 59 46
North H.S. 47 38
Washburn H.S. 82 76
Edison H.S. 53 39
Southwest H.S. 50 39
State of CA 75 74
Los Angeles Unified
School District
62 58
Source: CA Department of Education (CDE) DataQuest

Indicators for Best Practices
• Goal setting; creating individualized educational plans with realistic,
challenging goals to accomplish on a weekly, monthly, quarterly, bi-annual
and annual basis.
• The expectations for students, parents and staff members should be clearly
defined once the student and parent enter the program.

170
• Participation from the parents; attending all program orientations and the
ability for the program to create individual relationships with students by
meeting on a weekly basis at the target school site, at the program site, or
both sites.
• A structured learning environment: Saturday Academies offering high school
exit exam preparation, SAT preparation workshops, Senior seminars,
collectively working with students in a computer lab to submit college
applications, financial aid and scholarship applications and essay writing; a
Summer Residential component with supplemental instruction and/or high
school credit courses available to students; a structured environment during
the duration of the stay with the program- wake-up, meals, tutoring, class
schedules, recreation activities, free time, bedtime) with students who aspire
to attend college supported by program activities and supplemental
instruction exposing students to multiple pedagogical teaching approaches,
group learning, and technology.
• Cultural exposure tied into the instruction
Considerations for Future Research
The TRIO Upward Bound program had a positive impact on African-
American male high school students. The ability to create a program environment
conducive to learning was a major theme which emerged in this study. African-

171
American males, as well as all students, aspire to be involved in organized activities.
The lack of a variety of programs has caused students to disconnect.
Vocational education, after school activities, and sports programs are cut first
when there is a budget crisis. These programs keep young people interested in
positive productive activities. The TRIO Upward Bound program at USC created
this environment for these students.
The study of the academic achievement of African-American male high
school students is crucial. African-American male high school students are dropping
out of high school at alarming rates. The reasons for this disengagement should be
studied to identify the cause of this statistic and an opportunity to address why these
students are leaving high school at such high rates.
The stigma and perception of being a good student needs to be addressed in
the African-American community; namely how attitudes affect academic
achievement.
The pedagogical approaches, or how teachers deliver the information to the
students in the K-12 system, need to be reviewed in order to identify where students
lose interest in school. What factors affect the attitudes of African-American male
students, and at what level do African-American male students become disengaged
or disinterested, are additional questions that need to be addressed. Why is there a
substantial disconnection from academic achievement? Further research on college
preparation programs is needed to create an on-going “best practices” reference for

172
programs to help bridge the gap in achievement for historically underrepresented
students.
Is the K-12 system in this country unknowingly perpetuating information that
is hindering the academic achievement, attitudes and perception of African-
American male students? These are all vital questions to be examined when
considering issues for further research.
Conclusion
The TRIO Upward Bound program is developing the cultural capital for low-
income students, whose parents did not graduated from a college or university,
through the exposure and immersion of the student into the college experience.
Mathematic Policy Research Inc. does not take into consideration the non-academic
external variables which these students must overcome in order to be successful in
school. The ability of these students to get safely to school, and to establish cultural
capital through participation in TRIO Upward Bound, is not taken into consideration.
The impact TRIO Upward Bound has on the lives of the students who participate in
the program- those who attend the Saturday Academies which prepare them for
passing the tests necessary to graduate from high school and be accepted into
college- is tremendous. It does not take into consideration the summer residential
program which exposes students to a college environment with challenging courses,
a rigorous schedule and a learning community. It is difficult to measure these
variables with statistics.

173
TRIO programs help one in four low-income, first-generation students
nationally (Council for Opportunity in Education, COE, 2006: http://coenet.us).
These programs are effective in keeping students engaged in learning environments
at a relatively low cost- less then $5,000 per student. It costs $43,800 per year to
incarcerate a teenager convicted of a criminal offense. In California in 2002, 1,575
teenagers were incarcerated in county or state correctional facilities (Tale of Two
Cities, 2003). African-American male high school students are constantly being
pressured by their peers into making decisions about their future. It is beneficial to
society to have these young men preparing for college rather then preparing for
prison; at a savings of $38,800 per year.
In this study, the data illustrates that the TRIO Upward Bound program has a
positive impact on the academic achievement of African-American male students.
The program provides these students with resources which they utilize (supplemental
instruction, test preparation, college going information, summer residential
component, Saturday Academies and tutoring) to prepare themselves for college.
The TRIO Upward Bound program also provided an oasis for students to learn and
be safe with students with similar interests and goals. The program became
advocates for the students, with their high school counselors and families, and made
them understand the mission of the program and how it benefits everyone involved.
The majority of the students at the target school sites exceeded the state of
California average for participation in the Federal Free or Reduced Price Meal

174
Programs (Table 4). The statewide average of students participating in the Federal
Free or Reduced Price Meal Program is 49 percent; compared to the target school
sites that have participation rates up to 78.8 percent. The Federal Free or Reduced
Price Meal Program is a good indicator of the poverty which is prevalent at the
school sites.
The percentage of test takers in the state of California who passed the
CAHSEE was 75 percent for the English/Language Arts, and 74 percent for
Mathematics. The pass rate at the target schools was well below those rates
(Table 6).
The average SAT scores at the target schools was below the state and district
averages by at least 100 points (Table 7).
Table 7: Average SAT scores for 2003-2004
Name of Target School 2003-2004 Average SAT scores
South High School 710
North High School 752
Washburn High School 908
Edison High School 734
Southwest High School 748
State of CA 1015
Los Angeles Unified School District 893
Source: California Department of Education (CDE) Dataquest, 2006

Even though students are faced with these types of obstacles, they still are
following the college preparation track in high school. The percentage of 12
th

graders who took the SAT at the target schools exceeded the state of California- with
the exception of one school (Table 8).

175

Table 8: Percentage of Twelfth Graders taking the SAT for 2003-2004
Name of Target School 2003-2004 % 12th graders taking the
SAT
South High School 80.1
North High School 50.4
Washburn High School 79.0
Edison High School 24.6
Southwest High School 55.0
State of CA 35.3
Los Angeles Unified School District 47.4
Source: California Department of Education (CDE) Dataquest, 2006

The percentage of 11
th
and 12
th
graders who took Advanced Placement (AP) exams
(Table 9):
Table 9: Percentage of Advanced Placement Test Scores with a score of “3” or
higher for 2003-2004

Name of Target Schools 2003-2004 % AP test scores w/ 3 or
higher
South High School 15.1
North High School 19.7
Washburn High School 37.3
Edison High School 28.0
Southwest High School 21.1
State of CA 57.5
Los Angeles Unified School District 46.7
Source: California Department of Education (CDE) Dataquest, 2006

was consistent with the percentage of 12
th
graders who passed the AP exam with a
score of “3” or better on a “5” point scale (Table 10).

176

Table 10: Percentage of 11
th
and 12
th
Grade Students taking the AP Exam for
2003-2004

Name of Target Schools 2003-04 % 11
th
, 12th graders taking AP
exam
South High School 15.0
North High School 14.5
Washburn High School 70.1
Edison High School 20.8
Southwest High School 22.6
State of CA 19.8
Los Angeles Unified School District 28.2
Source: California Department of Education (CDE) Dataquest, 2006

The majority of the target school sites in this study had a higher percentage of
students who, based upon the 2002-2003 graduates, completed all of the University
of California (UC)/California State University (CSU) a-g course entrance
requirements with a grade of “C” or higher (Table 11).
Table 11: Percentage of High School Graduates completing all UC/CSU Course
Entrance Requirements for 2002-2003

Name of Target Schools % graduates completing all (UC/CSU)
course entrance requirements with a
grade of “C” or higher (based upon
2002-2003 graduates)
South High School 66.1
North High School 60.5
Washburn High School 21.8
Edison High School 31.5
Southwest High School 70.5
State of CA 33.6
Los Angeles Unified School District 42.3
Source: California Department of Education (CDE) Dataquest, 2006

177
The state of California receives the largest allocation of TRIO funds- more
then any other state in the country (Table 12).
Table 12: Impact of Talent Search and Upward Bound Program Elimination by
State--Top 5 States (2005)

Rank State Students Funding
Amount $
Number of
Projects
1
st
California 47,393 $45,580,737 135
2
nd
Texas 26,368 $32,618,315 102
3
rd
Alabama 22,993 $20,908,592 64
4
th
Illinois 19,527 $18,126,116 59
5
th
New York 19,294 $18,049,307 50
Source: Council for Opportunity in Education, (COE), 2005

The loss of these programs would significantly impact the neediest areas
(impoverished areas) in the state. The target schools in this study would be effected
as well as the other 47,393 low-income, potential first-generation college students
who participate in these programs. California also has 17 other “Outreach
Programs” supported by the state, but none have the longevity, history or track
record of TRIO (see Appendix N).
In many instances, federal policies have historically been an accountability
measure for the states and have provided consistency for the country. The federal
policies have been implemented to clarify inconsistent or differing court decisions.
Outreach Programs were established in an attempt to provide equal
opportunity for all of the students who wanted to attend a college or university. The
TRIO Upward Bound program is one of the oldest of these programs, and was
established to combat poverty. The African-American male students in this study

178
articulated the positive effects that TRIO Upward Bound had on them. The
information, the guidance, the TRIO Upward Bound experience (Saturday
Academies, Summer Residential Program, college visits, tutoring, one-on-one
counseling/advisement, and the cultural field trips) has been extremely positive. The
students at the target schools were following and meeting the college entrance
requirements (courses and entrance exams) but scored below the state of California
averages. This suggests to me that there is a gap occurring between the necessary
information which students need to get to college, and the learning environment in
which it is occurring. The target schools are at a disadvantage because they have to
deal with numerous external forces (high percentage of free lunch participation rates,
lower averages on the SAT exams, and a low percentage of students who take and
pass the Advanced Placement exam with a score of “3” or higher). The TRIO
Upward Bound program is a positive, effective program which assists historically
underrepresented students to get to college.
Until we achieve equity in wages; African-American males earn 78 percent
of what White males earn (Albelda, Drago, Shulman, 2004), educational attainment,
housing and incarceration rates (African-American males are overrepresented in the
judicial system) then targeting these programs for elimination is hypocrisy in regards
to equality.

179
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Appendices

Appendix A

Interview and focus group questions for students:
The interview and focus group questions are listed below:
1. What is the reason that you chose to apply to TRIO Upward Bound?
2. If you weren’t here apart of TRIO Upward Bound, what would you be doing?
3. What challenges do you face at your high school; (b) when you are not here
at your high school?
4. How do these challenges affect your experience at your high school?
5. Has anyone in your family attended college?
6. Do you enjoy school (high school)?
7. Do you live with both parents?
8. Have you ever participated in the Free Lunch program?
9. How would you describe your classes?
10. How do you feel about your teachers?
11. What do you think about TRIO Upward Bound?
12. Has TRIO Upward Bound affected your attitude towards school?

190
Appendix B
Interview and focus group questions for non-students; (Executive Director,
Coordinator, Counselor, and staff)
a. How long have you worked with low SES, first-generation students?
b. Do you think that the educational system has equal expectations for
all students?
c. How would you describe the education that TRIO Upward Bound
students receive?
d. Do you think that TRIO Upward Bound students act the same in
school as they do in their homes or communities? Explain.
e. Do students at your target schools receive a quality education?
f. What role do you play in the life of your students?
g. Outside of school, what issues (positive or negative) do TRIO
Upward Bound students face?
h. How do you select potential students for the TRIO Upward Bound
program?

191
Appendix C

Satisfaction Survey:

USC EOPC
South Central
Upward Bound Program Survey
2005-2006
Sample Size N=55

We would appreciate you taking the time to complete the following survey so that
we may serve you in the best way possible.

Please respond to each question according to the following scale.

5. Strongly Agree
4. Agree
3. Neutral
3. Disagree
1. Strongly Disagree
N/A. Does not apply to me.

1. The Upward Bound staff clearly explained the benefits and responsibilities of
being a part of the Upward Bound Program in our initial meeting, summer
orientation, and/or Fall Orientation Meeting.

Rating__Mean= 4.538 (N=52)____

Comments:
________________________________________________________

2. I feel that the Upward Bound staff will listen to me if I talk about personal
problems related to my success in college.

Rating__Mean = 4.4363 (N=55)_____

Comments:
________________________________________________________

192

3. The Upward Bound staff has clearly explained my high school graduation
requirements and provided me with an individualized educational plan (IEP)
that meets my high school districts graduation requirements.

Rating__Mean = 4.5555 (N=54)_____

Comments:
________________________________________________________

4. The Upward Bound staff has provided helpful information about possible
careers or has provided me with information to understand the education and
training necessary for the career of my choice. This may include referrals to
the Career Center, Career workshops, Job shadowing or resource people
working in the field.

Rating__Mean = 4.2402 (N=54)_____

Comments:
________________________________________________________

5. The Upward Bound program has clearly explained the UNIVERSITY OF
CALIFORNIA/CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY (UC/CSU) A-G
college entrance requirements (minimum course requirements to enter a
college/university of out of high school).

Rating__Mean = 4.4259 (N=54)_____

Comments:
________________________________________________________

6. Tutoring offered by Upward Bound at my high school has helped me to better
understand course material and has enhanced my work in the class or classes
for which I had a tutor.

Rating__Mean = 3.7777 (N=27)______

193

Comments:
________________________________________________________

7. The Upward Bound after-school night tutoring program at USC has helped
me improve my academic performance and is convenient.

Rating__Mean = 3.6086 (N=23)_______

Comments:
________________________________________________________

8. The Upward Bound cultural/enrichment activity or activities I attended were
worthwhile and enjoyable (college visits, AIDS Walk, Picnic, etc).

Rating__Mean = 4.4038 (N=52)______

Comments:
________________________________________________________

9. The Upward Bound program has exposed me to USC campus resources that
will benefit my educational experience (i.e. computer labs, science labs,
classrooms, career center, library, campus center, etc.)

Rating__Mean = 4.0888 (N=45)______

Comments:
________________________________________________________

10. The Upward Bound summer program has prepared me for the upcoming
school year. Please rate each subject.

Rating:
Math_3.862 (N=29) Science_3.222 (N=27)
English_4.0 (N=29)

Comments:
________________________________________________________

194
11. The Upward Bound Saturday academies have provided workshops that are
beneficial to becoming a better student (CAHSEE, Senior seminar, classes,
SAT prep, etc.)

Rating__Mean = 4.5106 (N=47)_______

Comments:
___________________________________________________________

Additional comments (utilize the back if needed):

• I’m in C Track, no summer program =(
• They talk thoroughly
• They try to be your friend
• Every time we have meetings (referring to question #3)
• Tutors help out a lot
• They focus on Math/English (referring to question #10)
• It is good because somehow it will help us in life
• The Upward Bound Staff is always open to listen to my comments
• Upward Bound always explains to me on a daily basis the a-g requirements
• Every activity in Upward Bound is enjoyable
• They always provided cool workshops, SAT, Career
• The college tours were the best
• I think that they should have a summer program for juniors to help us prepare
for personal essay applications
• I think the SAT prep class could have focused more on what was going to be
on the test. It basically focused on basic English and projects that were not
related to the SAT
• I don’t attend tutoring
• I have never taken tutoring by Upward Bound
• Thank you
• I won’t tell them my personal problems (#2)
• I like the tutoring, it helped
• Need more field trips
• We should have more electives in the summer program
• Yeah, they explained it well
• Even if you didn’t pass a class they have a plan for me (#3)
• Not so much jobs, but options that are out there
• Got me on the right track
• They give very good advice

195
• I do not take tutoring
• I don’t attend the tutoring session
• I passed the CAHSEE with flying colors
• This program has helped me heavily in school. Making many of my high
school classes much easier. Also, giving me an option of becoming a better
student. This program is a great success to me and I’m thankful for it.
• They were very clear about everything that they said
• Someone came out to talk to me about my grades when they started dropping
• Talked to me about careers and career workshops
• I have learned more things about college that I didn’t know about before
• It helped me more in my classes
• The staff is very involved
• Include a game design workshop
• Many times during the Saturday Academy a lot of students don’t behave and
it makes it hard for us to learn. The math teacher offered for the Saturday
Academy isn’t very nice and hardly ever teaches anything
• Gives me advice when needed
• I feel I did better on the CAHSEE because of Kaplan
• All staff members seem very nice when you approach them to ask a question
• Classes we take are “fun” and educational
• Upward Bound has helped me a lot, they have given me a lot of important
information
• I really enjoyed the college visits, especially Sokia University
• I feel this is a great program
• Yes, I know them by heart (#3)
• I think it is a good idea to come on Saturday. I feel that the Upward Bound
program is great for the youth. I hope that it will keep going
• I haven’t been to the summer program, I’m in a track school
• I would like to experience the summer program, but since I’m in C track I
can’t come to this program. I would like to see something for kids who like
us in track school, it would be a wonderful experience

196
Appendix D
The mean answer for all of the questions in the survey exceeded a 3, or had a
positive response.

6. Strongly Agree
5. Agree
4. Neutral
4. Disagree
12. Strongly Disagree
N/A. Does not apply to me.

In response to a satisfaction survey administered to all TRIO Upward Bound
the results are in the table below.
USC EOPC
Upward Bound Program Survey
2005-2006
South Central Upward Bound results

Sample Size; N = 55

Question Mean Number of Respondents
Q1 4.5384 52
Q2 4.4363 55
Q3 4.5555 54
Q4 4.2402 54
Q5 4.4259 54
Q6 3.7777 27
Q7 3.6086 23
Q8 4.4038 52
Q9 4.0888 45
Q10 Math 3.862 29
Q10 Science 3.222 27
Q10 English 4.000 29
Q11 4.5106 47

197
Q1, Q3 and Q11 received the highest satisfaction rate from the students. The
questions are as follows:
Q1: The Upward Bound staff clearly explained the benefits and responsibilities of
being a part of the Upward Bound Program in our initial meeting, summer
orientation, and/or Fall Orientation Meeting.

Q3: The Upward Bound staff has clearly explained my high school graduation
requirements and provided me with an individualized educational plan (IEP)
that meets my high school districts graduation requirements.

Q11: The Upward Bound Saturday academies have provided workshops that are
beneficial to becoming a better student (CAHSEE, Senior seminar, classes,
SAT prep, etc.)

198
Appendix E
Federal TRIO Programs
2006 Annual Low Income Levels
Size of Family
Unit
48 Contiguous
States, D.C., and
Outlying
Jurisdictions
Alaska Hawaii
1 $14,700 $18,375 $16,905
2 $19,800 $24,750 $22,770
3 $24,900 $31,125 $28,635
4 $30,000 $37,500 $34,500
5 $35,100 $43,875 $40,365
6 $40,200 $50,250 $46,230
7 $45,300 $56,625 $52,095
8 $50,400 $63,00 $57,960
For family units with more than 8 members, add the following amount for each additional family
member: $5,100 for the 48 contiguous states, the District of Columbia and outlying jurisdictions;
$6,375 for Alaska; and $5,865 for Hawaii.
The term "low-income individual" means an individual whose family's taxable income for the
preceding year did not exceed 150 percent of the poverty level amount.
The figures shown under family income represent amounts equal to 150 percent of the family income
levels established by the Census Bureau for determining poverty status. The poverty guidelines were
published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the Federal Register, Vol. 71, No.
15, January 24, 2006, pp. 3848-3849.
[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 34, Volume 3, Parts 400 to end]
[Revised as of July 1, 2000]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 34CFR645.3]

[Page 303]

199
Appendix F

TITLE 34-EDUCATION

CHAPTER VI-OFFICE OF POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION,
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

PART 645-UPWARD BOUND PROGRAM-Table of Contents

Subpart A-General

Sec. 645.3 Who is eligible to participate in an Upward Bound project?

An individual is eligible to participate in a Regular, Veterans, or
a Math and Science Upward Bound project if the individual meets all of
the following requirements:
(a)(1) Is a citizen or national of the United States.
(2) Is a permanent resident of the United States.
(3) Is in the United States for other than a temporary purpose and
provides evidence from the Immigration and Naturalization Service of his
or her intent to become a permanent resident.
(4) Is a permanent resident of Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands,
or the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.
(5) Is a resident of the Freely Associated States-the Federated
States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, or the
Republic of Palau.
(b) Is-
(1) A potential first-generation college student; or
(2) A low-income individual.
(c) Has a need for academic support, as determined by the grantee,
in order to pursue successfully a program of education beyond high
school.
(d) At the time of initial selection, has completed the eighth grade
but has not entered the twelfth grade and is at least 13 years old but
not older than 19, although the Secretary may waive the age requirement
if the applicant demonstrates that the limitation would defeat the
purposes of the Upward Bound program. However, a veteran as defined in
Sec. 645.6, regardless of age, is eligible to participate in an Upward
Bound project if he or she satisfies the eligibility requirements in
paragraphs (a), (b), and (c) of this section.
(Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1070a-11 and 1070a-13)

200
Appendix G

The Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IV:
(http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/laws/majorlaw/civilr19.htm)
Document Number: PL 88-352
Date: 02 JUL 64
88th Congress, H. R. 7152
An Act
To enforce the constitutional right to vote, to confer jurisdiction upon the district
courts of the United States to provide injunctive relief against discrimination in
public accommodations, to authorize the Attorney General to institute suits to protect
constitutional rights in public facilities and public education, to extend the
Commission on Civil Rights, to prevent discrimination in federally assisted
programs, to establish a Commission on Equal Employment Opportunity, and for
other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of
America in Congress assembled, That this Act may be cited as the "Civil Rights Act
of 1964".
TITLE IV-DESEGREGATION OF PUBLIC EDUCATION
DEFINITIONS
SEC. 401. As used in this title-
(a) "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Education.
(b) "Desegregation" means the assignment of students to public schools and within
such schools without regard to their race, color, religion, or national origin, but
"desegregation" shall not mean the assignment of students to public schools in order
to overcome racial imbalance.
(c) "Public school" means any elementary or secondary educational institution, and
"public college" means any institution of higher education or any technical or
vocational school above the secondary school level, provided that such public school
or public college is operated by a State, subdivision of a State, or governmental

201
agency within a State, or operated wholly or predominantly from or through the use
of governmental funds or property, or funds or property derived from a governmental
source.
(d) "School board" means any agency or agencies which administer a system of one
or more public schools and any other agency which is responsible for the assignment
of students to or within such system.

202
Appendix H

University of California a-g college entrance requirements

Required "A-G" Courses
a. History/Social Science – 2 YEARS REQUIRED
Two years of history/social science, including one year of world history, cultures and
geography; and one year of U.S. history or one-half year of U.S. history and one-half
year of civics or American government.
b. English – 4 YEARS REQUIRED
Four years of college-preparatory English that include frequent and regular writing,
and reading of classic and modern literature. No more than one year of ESL-type
courses can be used to meet this requirement.
c. Mathematics – 3 YEARS REQUIRED, 4 YEARS RECOMMENDED
Three years of college-preparatory mathematics that include the topics covered in
elementary and advanced algebra and two- and three-dimensional geometry.
Approved integrated math courses may be used to fulfill part or all of this
requirement, as may math courses taken in the seventh and eighth grades that your
high school accepts as equivalent to its own math courses.
d. Laboratory Science – 2 YEARS REQUIRED, 3 YEARS
RECOMMENDED
Two years of laboratory science providing fundamental knowledge in two of these
three core disciplines: biology, chemistry and physics. Advanced laboratory science
classes that have biology, chemistry or physics as prerequisites and offer substantial
additional material may be used to fulfill this requirement. The final two years of an
approved three-year integrated science program may be used to fulfill this
requirement
e. Language Other than English – 2 YEARS REQUIRED, 3 YEARS
RECOMMENDED
Two years of the same language other than English. Courses should emphasize
speaking and understanding, and include instruction in grammar, vocabulary,
reading, composition and culture. Courses in languages other than English taken in
the seventh and eighth grades may be used to fulfill part of this requirement if your
high school accepts them as equivalent to its own courses.
f. Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) – 1 YEAR REQUIRED
A single yearlong approved arts course from a single VPA discipline: dance,
drama/theater, music or visual art.
g. College Preparatory Electives – 1 YEAR REQUIRED
One year (two semesters), in addition to those required in "a-f" above, chosen from
the following areas: visual and performing arts (non-introductory level courses),
history, social science, English, advanced mathematics, laboratory science and
language other than English (a third year in the language used for the "e"

203
requirement or two years of another language).

Examination Requirement
(http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/undergrad_adm/paths_to_adm/fre
shman/subject_reqs.html)
All applicants must submit scores from the following tests:
• The ACT Assessment plus Writing or the SAT Reasoning Test. The critical
reading, writing and mathematics scores on the SAT must be from the same
sitting. If you take the ACT, you will be asked to report your scores on each
section of the test as well as your composite score.
• Two SAT Subject Tests.
These must be in two different areas, chosen from the following: English,
history and social studies, mathematics (Level 2 only), science or language
other than English.

204
Appendix I
USC EOPC Summer Residential Program
Upward Bound Summer 2006 Schedule

Monday Tuesday Wed Thurs Friday
7:45-
10:05 Physiology Physiology Physiology Physiology Physiology
Writing Writing Writing Writing Writing
Statistics Statistics Statistics Statistics Statistics

10:15-
12:35 Physiology Physiology Physiology Physiology Physiology
Writing Writing Writing Writing Writing
Statistics Statistics Statistics Statistics Statistics

12:35-
1:15 Lunch Lunch Lunch Lunch Lunch

1:30-
3:00 Stats Sec Stats Sec Stats Sec Stats Sec Creat Writ
Writ Sec Writ Sec Writ Sec Writ Sec
Physio Sec Physio Sec Physio Sec Physio Sec
Beg Span sociology Beg Span Sociology
Int Span Int Span
Creat Writ Creat Writ
3:10-
4:40 Stats Sec Stats Sec Stats Sec Stats Sec Creat Writ
Writ Sec Writ Sec Writ Sec Writ Sec
Physio Sec Physio Sec Physio Sec Physio Sec
Int Span Sociology Int Span Sociology
Adv. Span Adv. Span
4:40-
5pm Change for Recreational Activities
5-6pm Dinner
6-
7:00pm Recreational Activities
7-
7:30pm Change for Study Hall
7:30-Study Hall

205
10pm
10-11pm In Room
11pm Lights Out

206
Appendix J

TRIO Upward Bound
Spring 2006
Saturday Academy Schedule

Date 9
th
Grade 10
th
Grade 11
th
Grade 12
th
Grade
January 28 Testing Testing Testing
February 4 Class Class SAT Prep
February 11 Class Class SAT Prep Scholarships
February 18 Testing SAT
Registration
Freshmen
Experience
February 25 TRIO Day TRIO Day TRIO Day TRIO Day
March 4 Class Class SAT Prep Academic
Integrity
March 11 Class Class SAT Prep
March 18 CCID CCID CCID CCID
March 25 Class Class SAT Prep Senior Seminar
April 1 BBQ-Softball BBQ-Softball BBQ-Softball BBQ-Softball
April 8 Class Class SAT Prep Money
Management
April 15 Workshops Workshops Workshops Understanding
Financial Aid
Award
Notification
Letters
April 22 AIDS Walk AIDS Walk AIDS Walk AIDS Walk
April 29 Post-Test Post-Test Post-Test Post-Test
May 6 Post-Test Post-Test Post-Test Post-Test
May 13 Workshops Workshops Workshops
May 27 Picnic Picnic Picnic Picnic

ALL Classes being Promptly at 9:00 a.m.

Important Dates:
1/07/06—Financial Aid Workshops
2/25/06—TRIO Day @ USC
3/18/06—College, Career Day @ USC
4/22/06—AIDS Walk
6/09/06—Senior Recognition Dinner

207
Tutoring:
Mondays: 4-6 PM
Tuesdays: 4-6 PM
Wednesdays: 4-6 PM
Thursdays: 4-6 PM
Tutoring will be taking place in the Community Computing
Center (CCC) located inside the University Park Village.
Bring any homework, assignments, projects that you need
assistance in.

208
Appendix K

State Determined Funds (SDF) per Full-time Equivalent Students (FTES)
2004-2005
K-12 $7,023
California Community Colleges (CCC) $4,559
California State University (CSU) $10,623
University of California (UC) $19,883
Source: Community College League of California: Governor’s Budget, 2006

209
Appendix L
TRIO Funding History: ($ in millions)
Fiscal
Year
Educational
Opportunity
Centers
McNair Student
Support
Services
Talent
Search
Upward
Bound
Staff
Training
Total
1965 $6.0 $6.0
1966 $2.0 $26.0 $28.0
1967 $2.5 $27.0 $29.5
1968 $4.0 $28.0 $32.0
1969 $4.0 $29.8 $33.8
1970 $10.0 $5.0 $29.6 $44.6
1971 $15.0 $5.0 $30.0 $50.0
1972 $15.0 $5.0 $31.0 $51.0
1973 $23.0 $6.0 $38.3 $67.3
1974 $3.0 $23.0 $6.0 $38.3 $70.3
1975 $3.0 $23.0 $6.0 $38.3 $70.3
1976 $3.0 $23.0 $6.0 $38.3 $70.3
1977 $4.0 $30.0 $8.9 $41.5 $85.0
1978 $5.2 $45.2 $12.5 $50.0 $2.0 $115.0
1979 $6.3 $55.0 $15.3 $61.0 $2.4 $140.0
1980 $7.7 $60.0 $15.3 $62.5 $2.0 $147.5
1981 $8.0 $63.9 $17.1 $66.5 $1.0 $156.5
1982 $7.8 $60.7 $17.1 $63.7 $0.9 $150.2
1983 $7.8 $60.7 $17.1 $68.2 $0.9 $154.7
1984 $8.1 $67.0 $17.8 $70.9 $0.9 $164.7
1985 $9.3 $70.3 $20.3 $74.0 $1.0 $174.9
1986 $8.9 $67.3 $19.4 $72.2 $0.9 $168.7
1987 $9.2 $70.1 $20.7 $75.3 $1.0 $176.3
1988 $10.8 $88.7 $21.8 $83.3 $1.2 $205.8
1989 $11.7 $1.5 $86.6 $26.2 $92.0 $1.3 $219.3
1990 $12.1 $3.0 $90.6 $27.1 $106.0 $1.5 $241.8
1991 $14.1 $5.0 $120.7 $46.0 $143.3 $3.7 $333.8
1992 $20.5 $9.6 $127.1 $65.7 $158.8 $2.0 $385.1
1993 $20.5 $9.6 $130.1 $65.5 $157.3 $1.9 $388.1
1994 $28.6 $9.9 $134.0 $81.6 $162.0 $2.0 $418.5
1995 $24.7 $21.0 $143.5 $78.8 $171.6 $2.0 $463.0
1996 $24.7 $21.0 $143.5 $78.8 $171.6 $2.0 $462.9
1997 $26.8 $20.4 $166.0 $82.1 $198.6 $3.3 $499.9
1998 $29.0 $20.8 $172.1 $98.7 $201.9 $3.7 $529.7
1999 $29.8 $32.1 $178.9 $98.4 $249.8 $4.8 $600.0

210
2000 $30.4 $34.5 $182.5 $100.4 $270.1 $5.8 $645.0
2001 $33.2 $35.8 $254.9 $110.0 $282.0 $6.2 $730.0
2002 $46.3 $36.9 $259.9 $140.8 $296.6 $6.3 $802.5
2003 $47.7 $41.9 $263.6 $144.8 $312.5 $7.5 $827.1
2004 $49.0 $41.9 $263.7 $145.7 $314.7 $6.5 $832.6
2005 $836.6
Source: Council for Opportunity in Education (COE), 2005

211
Appendix M
Methodologies
Individual Interviews Focus Groups Participant
Observation
Analysis

20 USC TRIO Upward
Bound male students
African-American)

1 w/ Executive Director,
Coordinator

1 w/ UB Staff
Executive Director,
Coordinator,
Academic Advisor,
Tutor

Saturday Sessions; 4
times

Two phases. First,
prepare transcripts;
find, refine, and
elaborate concepts,
themes and events;
code interviews,
retrieve
interviewees
statements,
identified concepts,
themes and events
1 w/Executive Director
1 w/UB Coordinator
1 w/Academic Advisor
2 w/ USC TRIO UB
male 9
th
and 10
th

grade participants
After school UB
activities; 4 times

Timeline:
September 2005-
February 2006
Timeline: September
2005-February 2006
Timeline: September
2005-February 2006
Timeline:
September 2005-
February 2006

Questionnaire administered to all participants

212
Appendix N

Informational Outreach Programs

• California Student Opportunity and Access Program (Cal Soap)
• Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) Outreach
• CSU Lottery-Funded Outreach
• Talent Search

Student Academic Preparation Programs
(some programs include informational outreach components)

• Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID)
• Central Valley Outreach Program (EAOP)
• Los Angeles Basin Initiative
• Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA)
• Middle College High School
• Pre-Collegiate Academic Development Program (PAD)
• Puente
• Upward Bound

School Improvement Programs

• ArtsBridge
• California Academic Partnership Program (CAPP)
• California Subject Matter Projects
• Collaborative Academic Preparation Initiative (CAPI)
• College Prep Initiative
• K-12 School-University Partnerships

Student tutoring comprises approximately 30 percent of program activities.
Includes school improvement components
Includes teacher professional development components
Also provides student tutoring services to improve students skills in CAPI schools
(Source: CPEC High School Outreach Program Inventory, 2002)

Abstract (if available)

Abstract The TRIO Upward Bound program has been in existence for over 40 years. The program is a federally funded pre-college program which supports the persistence and retention of low-income, potential first-generation students as they prepare for college. The TRIO programs have assisted thousands of students in their preparation and transition to higher education. An evaluation of the federal TRIO programs was completed and indicated that the program was "ineffective" in meeting its stated goals of preparing students for higher education. This conclusion contradicts previous evaluations of the TRIO Upward Bound programs.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Thayer, Scott William (author)

Core Title The impact of a TRIO upward bound program on the academic achievement of African-American male students

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Education (Leadership)

Defense Date 11/30/2006

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

Tag Academic Achievement,OAI-PMH Harvest

Language English

Advisor Jun, Alexander (committee chair), [illegible] (committee member), Clay, Charles S. (committee member)

Creator Email swthayer@pasadena.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-m295

Unique identifier UC1469143

Identifier etd-Thayer-20070227 (filename),usctheses-m40 (legacy collection record id),usctheses-c127-209715 (legacy record id),usctheses-m295 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-Thayer-20070227.pdf

Dmrecord 209715

Document Type Dissertation

Rights Thayer, Scott William

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