After-School Homework and

Advisory Program
Downtown College Prep

Cody King
Santa Clara University

King 2
This quarter I worked at Downtown College Prep, or DCP as it is referred to by most
students and teachers, and it is a charter high school in downtown San Jose located just minutes
from Santa Clara University. The student population of about 400 is comprised of mostly lowincome Latino students that were struggling in middle school before coming to DCP. The
administration specifically targets these students and as the assistant principal says, We actively
look to recruit Latino junior high students that had at least one or two Fs. Some important
demographics about DCP that put this into perspective include: 90% of students are from lowincome families, 96% are Latino, 80% were below grade level in math and/or reading when
starting at DCP, 4% of parents have a college degree, and 41% of parents did not finish high
school. I think the last two are very important; DCPs mission is to prepare students who will be
the first in their family to graduate from college to thrive at four-year universities, and they do a
pretty good job with 96% of DCP graduates going to college directly out of high school.
Even though almost all DCP graduates go to college, there is a lot of room to improve
and I think my action project can make a big impact. When talking to students, they told me that
they did not get a lot of education about college until their junior year and that they wish they
knew earlier what they know now. I think because the minimum track at DCP is the college
track, graduates can get into college, but some of the students think they could go to better
schools if they were better educated about college earlier in their high school careers. Almost all
of the students have parents who did not go to college, and two-fifths did not graduate high
school, so they cannot offer much guidance for their children regarding college and the necessary
preparation. Furthermore, their API score does not meet the CA standards, but it is close and I
have decided to create an after-school homework and advisory program for the students at DCP
based on the needs of the students that I have mentioned. Another problem I have heard from

King 3
teachers is that parent involvement is very low. This is understandable because a lot of lowincome families have parents who work a lot just to support the basic needs of their families.
One teacher explained to me that I have met very few parents and there are some students who
have never returned a signed progress report from their parents to me. I think it would be very
beneficial to the students to have greater parent support and involvement at school. My program
addresses these important issues and is intended to help students academically, educate students
and parents about college, and help teachers connect better with their students and their families.
Moreover, the writings of Anyon and Noguera relate to what my project is about and why I
chose to do it; Anyon talks about how the poverty of the surrounding neighborhood affect
schools by saying, It is widely acknowledged that one of the most important causes of poorly
funded, staffed, and resourced schools is the poverty of the families and neighborhoods in which
the schools are located (Anyon, 2005). DCP receives Title I funding and while DCP is doing
pretty well overall, it is still at a disadvantage when compared to schools in more affluent areas.
Noguera also touches on this topic and he explains, While middle-class parents often have
access to resources (e.g., education, time, transportation, etc.) and networks (contacts with
elected officials, PTAs, and, if necessary, attorneys) poor parents typically have no such
resources (Noguera, 2003). My plan is to have volunteers working in the program so that there
is no added cost to the school or parents. Various studies such as the article by Ladson-Billings
(2006) have shown that a big factor in the achievement gap between races is income, while race
alone has been found to play only a small factor. Whereas middle and upper class families can
pay for tutors and other after-school programs, low-income families, such as the families of
students at DCP, do not have those luxuries. So because my program uses volunteers, it would

King 4
allow DCP students to get extra help for free that they would otherwise not get due to their lack
of financial resources.
The main focus of this proposed program is the students of DCP and because the program
will be free, the students can get extra help that they would otherwise not get due to high costs. I
think that help with homework and preparation for tests at school can be very beneficial because
academic performance is an important factor in the college selection process, as well as the
awarding of merit-based scholarships and grants. Even if students are doing pretty well, there is
always room for them to improve. In addition to help with schoolwork, the program will offer
preparation for standardized tests at school that could help boost the schools API score. Test
preparation for the SAT and ACT would also be offered because this is another area where lowincome students are often at a disadvantage. The students are assessed by theses standardized
tests and even bear the responsibility of having school funding be determined by their
performance, but unfortunately, they are not given the proper tools to prepare for these tests and
low-income students cannot pay for extra help like middle and upper-class students can.
Recently there have been efforts by the College Board and Khan Academy to offer free tools for
SAT preparation. This is a huge and necessary step in which it is intended to level the playing
field and my program will do the same. In addition, my program would also have an advisory
program for school and college. Even though these are both offered at DCP, I think it is good to
start giving information about college to students early in high school, and this program would
also educate the parents about college. We may not start talking about financial aid in 9th grade
with students because that wouldnt mean much to them, but we could talk about college life and
the necessary courses to take. The basic track at DCP involves all of the required A-G courses,
but the program could help find the specific courses best suited for the individual student

King 5
whether that means staying at the DCP basic level or moving ahead to something more
challenging. Moreover, I also have an optional part for my program which would bring DCP
families and teachers closer together. I am making this an optional addition because it may
require extra funds from the school or parents and DCP parents often do not have much time to
spare. I think it is very important for parents to be involved in their students education. It would
be ideal for parents to be involved with teachers and able to guide and support their student, but
this cannot be expected or required in most cases.
My program is mainly focused on the DCP students, but can be expanded to include
teachers and families as well. This program would take place after school to supplement the
academic learning during the day and is intended to be a free resource in place of costly tutoring
and college test preparation. The main personnel for this program would be college student
volunteers, with Arrupe volunteers from Santa Clara University from nearby being ideal. The
Arrupe volunteers are college students who complete service as part of their courses and they
would be a great option because as they would have an incentive to be punctual and have
experience with college and the application process; I think they could be great role models for
the students as well and provide a lot of helpful guidance based on their experiences. Even
though I was a volunteer for a successful homework program in high school, I think there could
be an issue for high school students with attendance and they do not have the college experience.
Furthermore, it may be required that a teacher or faculty member be present for the program
because it takes place on campus with students, but a teacher might want to volunteer to be a
moderator, similar to that of a club. From my experiences at DCP, I have found the teachers to
care a lot about their students and I do not think it would be difficult to get a teacher to supervise
the program. Moreover, I think the standard DCP orientation for Arrupe volunteers would be

King 6
sufficient to get them prepared. It would be very similar to the work the Arrupe volunteers did at
DCP this quarter and it seemed to work out very well for the students, teachers, and volunteers.
In terms of the program structure, there would be three parts: tutoring and test preparation, a time
when students could ask the volunteers or a teacher for school or college guidance, and a period
for some information about college where the teacher and/or volunteers could talk about college
and students could ask questions. I do not think it makes sense to just have one college night
because it is too much information all at once and too overwhelming. I think the short sessions
over the course of the program would be a lot more helpful and less daunting. In addition,
missing a few information sessions would not be a big deal, unlike missing a lot of important
information at a single college night if they do not go. My intention would be for the program to
run two days per week for an hour and a half each time; the first day of the week would be for
tutoring and advising and the second day would have tutoring for the first hour, and a half hour
at the end to talk about college. The hope is that these low-income students can get extra help
that is normally unavailable to them due to financial constraints and as a result, perform at their
full potential and be successful in college. Additionally, it would be very beneficial for DCP
families to come to the program at least once per week. It would be a great way for teachers and
parents to get to know each other, as well as to have parents actively participate in their childs
education. It would inform the parents about college and the application process, so that they
would be able to guide their child and keep them on the right track. Many DCP parents did not
go to college or even graduate high school, so they do not know much about the process and
what the requirements are. While this aspect is very hard to make a reality, I think it would be
very beneficial to DCP teachers, students, and their families.

King 7
I think my tutoring and advising program has a good chance of being successful because
it would be offered at no cost to the school or families and it is similar to the Arrupe program in
which I participated that is already in place at DCP. While I do not worry about the attendance of
Arrupe volunteers, I do think students may not want to go all the time. Especially if their parents
are not there, they may not want to go to an academic program after they get finished with a long
day of school. I think providing refreshments would attract a lot of students, but it may cost too
much and having the program be free is probably important to most families and the school. The
focus is to provide a service for free that is usually expensive, so any added costs could be
problematic and cause the program to fail, depending on how much the school would be able to
assist. Another issue with the program is being able to get the parents involved. I think it would
be very beneficial, but also difficult. Most low-income families have parents that work quite a bit
just to support their family and do not have the extra time in the afternoons to spend at school
with their children. Stewart (2013) and Noguera (2003) both talk about the role of parent
involvement in the success of students, especially those from low-income families and Noguera
explains, One consistent feature of schools that succeed at educating poor children is that they
are guided by a coherent mission: one that is embraced enthusiastically by teachers, students, and
parents. DCP has a coherent mission, but there is little parent involvement and knowledge by
the parents about what their child is learning according to the teachers. I think this is a great
quote from Noguera because it says a few different things and is directly related to a lot of what
we talked about in class during the quarter. High stakes testing and curriculum reforms are rarely
beneficial, while a mission shared by a caring community of teachers and families succeed in
educating a population of students that notoriously underachieves. Furthermore, another potential
issue is with the Arrupe program. Especially since Santa Clara University is on the quarter

King 8
system, the volunteers are not at their placement school for very long (only eight weeks).
Personally, it was really hard for me and the students when I left the class on the last day. Over
the eight weeks the volunteers form a bond with the students and they begin to look up to you as
a role model. They also see you as someone who is there to help them and often times someone
who is there for them on a regular basis. To them they thought I might not have really cared
about them because I was there one day and gone the next. After thinking about it, the situation
reminded me of what happens with Teach For America. These teaching recruits are only required
to teach for two years and most of the time they do not stay past the required time; often they do
not even continue to teach and enter a different profession after that time is up. It seems
detrimental for teachers to be in and out in two years where low teacher retention is already an
issue most schools are trying to fix. When the students see Arrupe tutors come in and out, it
could cause problems in a way similar to when teachers come and go frequently. Lastly, I want
to create this program so that all children can have an equal opportunity to learn and succeed and
as Bill Ayers says, Education is a fundamental human right. I completely agree and do not
think students be should held back because of their familys limited financial resources. There
has been such a huge focus on standardized testing as a way to be an equalizer, but it puts lowincome students at a huge disadvantage. Overall, all students are not learning, but just learning
how to take tests and affluent families can pay for tutors that help them learn how to take the
tests even better. My program will help students learn, as well as prepare for these tests that are
inevitable. I think that my program would be very successful because it is free and uses Arrupe
volunteers. Ideally, I would get parents involved in the program, but I know that would be very
difficult, especially at DCP.

King 9
References
Anyon, Jean (2005). Radical Possibilities: Public Policy, Urban Education, and A New Social
Movement. London, UK: Routledge, 17-44.
Ladson-Billings, G. (2006). From the Achievement Gap to the Education Debt: Understanding
Achievement in U.S. Schools. Educational Researcher, 35(7), 312.
Noguera, P. (2003). City Schools and the American Dream: Reclaiming the Promise of
Public Education. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
Stewart, A. (2013). First Class: The Legacy of Dunbar, Americas First Black Public High
School. Chicago, IL: Chicago Review Press.