This dissertation in practice examines the college readiness of five African American high school male students in urban schools in Pittsburgh, PA based on their participation in a middle school mentoring program sponsored by an urban Black church. Situated within Michael Dantley’s critical spirituality theory and critical race theory, the author analyzed youths’ counter-narrative experiences of being mentored for college readiness in the Black church. The students had informal conversations with the researcher using a grounded theory approach to the semi-structured interview format. Students found mentors to be relatable advocates to their lived experiences in schools. In addition, the mentoring program provided students motivation for future aspirations to attend college. Finally, faith inspired students for success in school; even as they continued to grow in understanding the fullness of what faith means for their lives.
","abstract_html":"<p>This dissertation in practice examines the college readiness of five African American high school male students in urban schools in Pittsburgh, PA based on their participation in a middle school mentoring program sponsored by an urban Black church. Situated within Michael Dantley’s critical spirituality theory and critical race theory, the author analyzed youths’ counter-narrative experiences of being mentored for college readiness in the Black church. The students had informal conversations with the researcher using a grounded theory approach to the semi-structured interview format. Students found mentors to be relatable advocates to their lived experiences in schools. In addition, the mentoring program provided students motivation for future aspirations to attend college. Finally, faith inspired students for success in school; even as they continued to grow in understanding the fullness of what faith means for their lives.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Buckley, Mary Louise"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"EdD","degree_level":"Immediate Access","degree_discipline":"Educational Studies (General Education)","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Darius Prier","Anne Marie FitzGerald","William Curtis"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2017,"date_issued":"2017-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2017-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:09:13Z","subjects":["Black church; Black males; critical race theory; critical spirituality; mentoring; urban education"],"languages":["English"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/163","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Darius Prier","Anne Marie FitzGerald","William Curtis"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Buckley, Mary Louise"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2017-08-10T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Educational Studies (General Education)"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Immediate Access"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["EdD"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Black church; Black males; critical race theory; critical spirituality; mentoring; urban education"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["English"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/163"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This dissertation in practice examines the college readiness of five African American high school male students in urban schools in Pittsburgh, PA based on their participation in a middle school mentoring program sponsored by an urban Black church. Situated within Michael Dantley’s critical spirituality theory and critical race theory, the author analyzed youths’ counter-narrative experiences of being mentored for college readiness in the Black church. The students had informal conversations with the researcher using a grounded theory approach to the semi-structured interview format. Students found mentors to be relatable advocates to their lived experiences in schools. In addition, the mentoring program provided students motivation for future aspirations to attend college. Finally, faith inspired students for success in school; even as they continued to grow in understanding the fullness of what faith means for their lives.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Youth Bear Witness to Mentoring of the Black Church for College Readiness"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Darius Prier","Anne Marie FitzGerald","William Curtis"],"dc:creator":["Buckley, Mary Louise"],"dc:date.available":["2017-08-10T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["This dissertation in practice examines the college readiness of five African American high school male students in urban schools in Pittsburgh, PA based on their participation in a middle school mentoring program sponsored by an urban Black church. Situated within Michael Dantley’s critical spirituality theory and critical race theory, the author analyzed youths’ counter-narrative experiences of being mentored for college readiness in the Black church. The students had informal conversations with the researcher using a grounded theory approach to the semi-structured interview format. Students found mentors to be relatable advocates to their lived experiences in schools. In addition, the mentoring program provided students motivation for future aspirations to attend college. Finally, faith inspired students for success in school; even as they continued to grow in understanding the fullness of what faith means for their lives.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/163"],"dc:language":["English"],"dc:subject":["Black church; Black males; critical race theory; critical spirituality; mentoring; urban education"],"dc:title":["Youth Bear Witness to Mentoring of the Black Church for College Readiness"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Educational Studies (General Education)"],"thesis:degree_level":["Immediate Access"],"thesis:degree_name":["EdD"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:09:13Z"}