Bridgette Davis: Lost in Transition: A mixed methods study of organizational intervention in the post-secondary transitions of low-income youth in Chicago.

The purpose of this study is to understand how the college team at the Noble Network of Charter Schools influences post-secondary transitions among average and below-average achieving, low-income youth in Chicago. The goal of this mixed-methods, longitudinal case-study is to capture the preparation and decisions in the year prior to high school graduation and the success and challenges in connecting to school, training or work in the year following this milestone. In the first phase of the project, I will quantitatively analyze historical Noble administrative data to identify the range of post-secondary outcomes among students with average and below-average test scores and GPAs. This analysis will inform the sample and collection of contemporaneous observation and interview data with students and staff in order to identify organizational practices that influence youth experiences during this transition and affect their longer-term outcomes. By examining the ways that the Noble Network team attempts to shape aspirations and alter structures of opportunity for low-income youth during post-secondary transitions, this research highlights the important role of formal organizations and their practices in reproducing or disrupting patterned outcomes of inequality.


Bridgette Davis

School of Social Service Administration