Effective schools in inner-city communities : building self-efficacy in the Cristo Rey Schools (an interim report)

This is an interim report of a study examining the effectiveness of the Cristo Rey Network of Schools. The schools in this network are effective in educating socio-economically disadvantaged students through a curriculum that incorporates a corporate internship program. The hypothesis of the study is : "the longer students stay at Cristo Rey Schools, the more their self-efficacy beliefs are increased, which leads them to pursue and persist in higher educational opportunities." This hypothesis will be examined by conducting surveys at the beginning and at the end of the academic year, from September 2007 to June 2008. The following reports is based on the data obtained from the first survey conducted at St. Martin de Porres High School in Cleveland and De La Salle North Catholic High School in Portland in September 2007. The major findings tentatively supported the hyporthesis and showed that the students' experiences in the corporate internship program positively influenced their academic performance. In this interim report, the entire data from the two high schools was dealt with as one sample group rather than delving into the differences between thw two schools.