This study revealed the perceptions of former foster youth and homeless youth as they related to educational policies that impacted the academic success of current foster and homeless youth. Foster youth and homeless youth high school graduation rates are low in comparison to non-homeless or non-foster peers. For example, 89 percent of non-foster youth completed high school, and only 59 percent of foster youth enrolled in 11th grade completed high school by the end of grade twelve (Burley, Mason, Halpern & Mina, 2011). To close the research gap this study looked at the academic success of homeless youth and foster youth as one inclusive population. This study relied on research regarding to educational barriers, low graduation rates, high special education enrollment, grade retention, school behavioral problems, poor academic performance, behavioral health challenges, school mobility, and low post-secondary educational attainment. The purpose of this research study was to better understand the impact of existing institutional policies on the high school academic success of foster and homeless youth.

Homeless youth face countless barriers that limit their ability to complete a high school diploma and transition to postsecondary education. Their experiences vary widely based on family, access to social services, and where they live. More than half of the 1.5 million homeless youth in America are in fact living "doubled-up," staying with family or friends because of economic hardship and often on the brink of full-on homelessness. Educational Experiences of Hidden Homeless Teenagers investigates the effects of these living situations on educational participation and higher education access. First-hand data from interviews, observations, and document analysis shed light on the experience of four doubled-up adolescents and their families. The author demonstrates how complex these residential situations are, while also identifying aspects of living doubled-up that encourage educational success. The findings of this powerful book will give students, researchers, and policymakers an invaluable look at how this understudied segment of the adolescent population navigates their education.

This research demonstrates that homelessness significantly impacts a young persons academic engagement and attainment. Education is a topic that remains at the core of many debates regarding young people, and is central to our understanding of what can lead to better employment and economic opportunities and overall well-being. However, youth who experience homelessness face extreme forms of social exclusion. Many come to the streets having to forego formal education. A high percentage of youth who become homeless are forced to leave school, and the complexities of homelessness disrupt their educational experiences. It is unclear how the education system in Canada - a key statutory institution in young peoples lives - and the youth homelessness sector respond to the disengagement of these youth from school. In our common approaches to supporting homeless youth, Canadian aid agencies respond by providing emergency services, such as shelter, food, counselling, and other supports. Unfortunately, education is often not prioritized; rather, reactive emergency services adopt a neoliberal orientation towards young people to help them become independent, focusing on training them for the job market. The focus shifts to paid work and therefore self-sufficiency; as a result, education is considered a part of the young persons past rather than their future. This dissertation includes analysis and research findings that are directly informed by surveys and interviews with 40 homeless youth from York Region, in Ontario, Canada. Their narratives reveal that it is nearly impossible to remain in school while homeless due to housing and familial instability, mental health challenges, and challenges in school. Social exclusion theory and a critique of neoliberalism highlights why young people get stuck in a cycle of poverty and homelessness, and a psychoanalytic lens considers how listening to stories of suffering may awaken the self-reflexivity needed to evoke a more active response. Alongside the voices of youth and other scholars doing this important work, I insist that the education system, the homelessness sector, and community-based services prioritize educational attainment for homeless youth; this may allow them to remain in school, move forward with their lives, and prevent them from winding up on the streets.

CSA Sociological Abstracts abstracts and indexes the international literature in sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences. The database provides abstracts of journal articles and citations to book reviews drawn from over 1,800+ serials publications, and also provides abstracts of books, book chapters, dissertations, and conference papers.

Post-secondary student retention and persistence is on the minds of professionals at various higher learning institutions due to the disparities in educational attainment. These disparities may lead to inhibited social mobility, and lack of cultural and social capital. This study examined what factors Southern Connecticut State University sophomore students perceived as aiding or impeding their degree path. It questioned how underrepresented students shaped their perception on their educational attainment and how this compares to the existing research and literature on the success practices of underrepresented students in higher education. The study was conducted using open-ended semi-structured interview questions administered to second year sophomore students at Southern Connecticut State University. Specifically, they were underrepresented students defined as being low-income, racial minority, and first-generation students. This study aimed to explore the narrative of underrepresented students by exploring why college access doesn't necessarily result in college completion.