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An ethnographic study of Boston Prep, a secondary school program for at-risk adolescents
Abstract
This ethnographic study of a local program for at-risk adolescents within the Boston Public Schools analyzed interviews of 23 students and 7 staff and field-based data. Major cultural thematic classifications depicted three developmental dimensions: time related to school, out of school, and beyond school; success defined as socio-expressive, instrumental, self-reflexive, and vicarious; and rapport of staff, students, and the educational institution. Despite being "overage" with an average of 2.3 years behind grade level, twenty-two of the respondents (96%) expressed a strong commitment to obtain a high school diploma. Seventeen (87%) had very specific future goals. A majority believed that positive rapport with the school staff motivated them to achieve. A "family-style" culture among the students inculcated school "success" values. This alternative program promoted an outcome-based learning system and language-arts-across-the-curriculum as an accelerated approach. In addition, this program emphasized small class sizes, a "team" management of administrative tasks, common planning and meeting times for staff, collaborations with outside community resources, and close home-school communication.
Subject Area
School counseling
Recommended Citation
Hilton, Pamela Jean, "An ethnographic study of Boston Prep, a secondary school program for at-risk adolescents" (1991). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI9120892.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI9120892